Happy Saturday, mis internet amigxs!

I've been bursting at the seams to break this news to you...and now that my travel plans have FINALLY been finalized, I can tell you: I'll be traveling to Santiago, Chile this week for the worldwide premiere of The House of the Spirits! This is an impossible sentence for me to write and comprehend. All the details are still falling into place, but you will be front and center with every single detail on my trip this week!

BOOK CLUB POLL

We're voting on June book club selections through tomorrow night.

And now, onto the remainder of April Latine book releases!

APRIL 21st
TRANSLATED FICTION

Exemplary Humans by Julana Lette and translated by Zoe Perry (Audiobook)100-year old Natalia is stuck inside her house reliving her past and watching everything go on outside her window. This is a story about her past and all our futures.

LITERARY FICTION

Last Night In Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez (Audiobook) Xochitl is back with another work of literary fiction, this time, about a girl in 2007 whose life becomes ensnared in the life of her neighbor...

NONFICTION

Prophecy: Prediction Power, and the Fight for the Future from Ancient Oracle to AI Carissa Velez (Audiobook) An urgent new look at prophecies—the predictions that determine our lives, from our personal finances and the quality of our healthcare to the news and social media we consume and the products foisted upon us.

The Sun and All the Other Stars by Karla Montalván (Audiobook) Publishin both English and Spanish, intentionally creating space for bilingual readers and intergenerational conversations within Latin families. The novel follows a Cuban American muralist who begins to recognize a pattern of generational heartbreak in her family. In searching for answers, she explores past-life regression — uncovering three former lives across different eras and geographies. Through these layered timelines, the book explores love, identity, migration, memory, and the cultural threads that shape who we become.

POETRY

The Selected Poems of José Emilio Pacheco by José Emilio Pacheco and edited by George McWhirter (Audiobook)

PICTURE BOOK

Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rivals! by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo & Pat Zietlow Miller and Illustrated by Joe Cepeda

Hold by Randy Ribay and Illustrated by Zeke Peña

APRIL 28th

HISTORICAL FICTION

Liar's Dice by Juliet Faithfull (Audiobook)Debut about a young teenage girl in 1970's Brazil who is torn away from her twin sister and must learn to fight for those she loves even when the odds are stacked against her

PICTURE BOOK

Mami's Magic Words by Kiara Valdes and illustrated by Richy Sánchez Ayala

What Kind of Queen? A Royal Biography of Drag Queen and Activist José Sarria by Kyle Casey Chu & Andrew W Shaffer and Illustrated by Cindy Lozito

We the People Is All the People: A Picture Book by Howard W Reeves and Illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Cheers,

Carmen

A MODERN GOTHIC HORROR?? Say less! This is the book I am leaning towards, so I have TWO options in case you want to save it for spooky season instead.

Demons clash with inheritance claims as secrets unfold and violence is unleashed over twelve harrowing hours trapped in a house with the worst thing imaginable: family.

Fireblooms by : speculative Queer YA romance set in a town that uses technology to prevent hate speech and bullying. SPECULATIVE LGBTQ ROMANCE, COMPLEX LATINX FAMILY DYNAMICS

And I'll Take Your Eyes Out by A.M. Sosa: Debut following a queer Chicano’s cannon-shot into adulthood amidst familial turmoil and the suffocating violence of Stockton, California in the early 2000s.

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs!

This week's introduction is VERY short for a myriad of reasons, but I did want to take a moment to acknowledge Sawyer Cole for mastermindering Bien Leidos Readathon this past weekend! They organized the schedule, bingo cards, volunteers, and amazing prizes. It was such a delightful weekend of reading in community! In fact, we read over 45 books in community and I'm so honored by all the participants who chatted and read with us all weekend.

I'll start by saying I missed a Latine release last week!

Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois: First of all, you should support Left Unread Books here on Bindery, if you aren't already. I'm not always perfect, and this was a HUGE oversight, so I'm giving away a swag box I received for Readathon Bingo on Discord this weekend!

And now on to...

THIS WEEK'S RELEASES!

BRING MOON JOY TO YOUR LITTLES

If Your Abuelo Is An Astronauta by Ana Siquiera and illustrated by Irena Frietas

SPACE POETRY?!

These Spaceships Weren't Built for Us: Poems by Alan Chazaro

GRAPHIC NOVEL

Death to Pachuco by Henry Barajas and Art by Rachel Merrill & Lee Loughridge

Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Axl the Axolotl Is Not a Frog by John Paul Brammer and Illustrated by Vanessa Morales

Nature's Partners: How Plants, Animals and Insects Team Up by Eugenia Perrella and Illustrated by Lucilla Tubaro

The Froggy Library by Julie Fiveash

NONFICTION

The Violence: My Family's Colombian War Adriana E. Ramirez (audiobook)

SELF-HELP

Light Work Journal by Keila Shaheen (audiobook)

xoxo,

Carmen

Happy Sunday, mis internet amigxs!

We're in the midst of Bien Leidos Readathon, so I will make this introduction VERY short today! I'm a bit tired, but it's been so fun to participate and get to know even more of you on Discord this weekend so far.

I'll start by saying I missed a Latine release last week!

Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois: First of all, you should support Left Unread Books here on Bindery, if you aren't already. I'm not always perfect, and this was a HUGE oversight, so I'm giving away a swag box I received for Readathon Bingo on Discord this weekend!

And now on to...

THIS WEEK'S RELEASES!

BRING MOON JOY TO YOUR LITTLES

If Your Abuelo Is An Astronauta by Ana Siquiera and illustrated by Irena Frietas: Bilingual picture book captures the love between grandchildren and long-distance grandparents, the complicated relationship between siblings, and the power of imagination

SPACE POETRY?!

These Spaceships Weren't Built for Us: Poems by Alan Chazaro: speculative poetry exploring latinx identity, memory and diaspora.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

Death to Pachuco by Henry Barajas and Art by Rachel Merrill & Lee Loughridge

Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa: A queer "enemies to lovers" journey of a lost princess and a changeling who was made to take the heir's place as part of a fey scheme.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Axl the Axolotl Is Not a Frog by John Paul Brammer and Illustrated by Vanessa Morales: author of Hola, Papi is here with his debut picture book!

Nature's Partners: How Plants, Animals and Insects Team Up by Eugenia Perrella and Illustrated by Lucilla Tubaro

The Froggy Library by Julie Fiveash

NONFICTION

The Violence: My Family's Colombian War Adriana E. Ramirez (audiobook): powerful chronicle of Colombia’s descent into decades of civil war through the lens of an intimate, multi-generational tale of upheaval and betrayal.

SELF-HELP

Light Work Journal by Keila Shaheen (audiobook) Empowering, guided journey to discover and charge up your most precious inner resources, your energy

xoxo,

Carmen

Good morning, mis internet amigxs!

It's finally here! Bien Leidos first annual Read-A-Thon weekend!

If you're on Bien Leidos Discord, just find the #Readathon channel. It has a cute pink flower emoji and is in the Bookish Discussions section.

Are you a Bien Leidos member who's NOT on Discord yet? Now is the perfect time to join!

If you haven't subscribed to Bien Leidos yet, now is the time! Subscribers at ALL MEMBERSHIP TIERS get access to Discord and the Readathon this weekend.

What is the Readathon? Well, quite simply, we'll be reading at home all weekend while chatting our current reads AND...competing for prizes!

Cole has put together bingo cards for the weekend and each day there will be 1 book winner each day and 1 mug/stickers (all pictured below) each day! So come for the readathon and stay for bookish chit chat!

We'd love to have you join Bien Leidos Discord! xo, Carmen

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs,

Before I start with book news, I wanted to make sure you've all seen the terrible library news coming from this administration: 125,000 libraries have been defunded AGAIN by the Trump administration and it's up to you to take action. Also, while you're calling your reps, make sure to tell them to vote NO on HR 7661, the national book ban.

We had such a lovely chat with Alvaro last night. For those that missed it, it was recorded and will be up soon.

We're currently reading The House of the Spirits this month. It's not too late to join us on Discord ahead of the Amazon Prime series premier on April 29th.

Everyone Who Is Gone is Here is our nonfiction pick that we're finishing up this month. You can check out our most recent update of book club selections in this post.

But for now, on to this week's Latine releases...

ROMANCE

How To Fake A Southern Gentleman by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt (Audiobook)

More Like Enemigas by Stephanie Hope (Audiobook)

PICTURE BOOK

Lucia's Goals by Angela Quezada Padron and illustrated by Christina Barragan Forshay

POETRY: April is National Poetry Month

Against Breaking: On The Power Of Poetry by Ada Limon (Audiobook)

Visitations by Julia Alvarez (Audiobook)

xoxo,

Carmen

Happy Saturday, mis internet amigxs,

I had a lot to say on Friday when I reviewed Now I Surrender on Friday, so today's opening will be relatively short. Reminder that we'll be chatting with Alvaro Enrigue on Monday night in lieu of the first hour of sprints. The link to join is here.

We're currently reading The House of the Spirits this month and it's not too late to join us on Discord ahead of the Amazon Prime series premier on April 29th. I have some news regarding the book that I cannot wait to tell you....

But for now, on to this week's Latine releases...

ROMANCE

How To Fake A Southern Gentleman by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt (Audiobook) Contemporary rom-com retelling of My Fair Lady taking place within the halls of a southern

More Like Enemigas by Stephanie Hope (Audiobook) Queer romance debut--heartfelt sapphic rivals to lovers romance with wedding hijinx, family secrets, and tons of spark featuring Cuban representation

PICTURE BOOK

Lucia's Goals by Angela Quezada Padron and illustrated by Christina Barragan Forshay: bilingual picture book about a young girl who's determined to prove everyone wrong that says girls aren't supposed to play soccer. Just in time for World Cup fever.

POETRY

Against Breaking: On The Power Of Poetry by Ada Limon (Audiobook) a timely and beautiful reflection from the 24th poet laureate of the United States, Limon, about the healing power of poetry.

Visitations by Julia Alvarez (Audiobook) Great Dominican writer, Alvarez, returns to her great love, poetry, to examine everything from her childhood to her later, "silver" years.

xoxo,

Carmen