Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
LatinaLista.net

(Author Carolina Garcia-Aguilera provides Latina Lista readers with a special overview of what her latest mystery, "Bloody Twist," is all about -- in her own words.)

Bloody Twist is the seventh novel in the Lupe Solano series.

Two years after having been shot (Bitter Sugar, 2001) Miami based, Cuban-American private investigator Lupe Solano is back on the job, helping Tommy MacDonald, criminal defense attorney and her sometimes lover, in his defense of twenty-two year old Madeline Meadows, Miami Beach's highest paid call girl.

Ms. Meadows is no ordinary call girl: she is a virgin, whose clients pay $5,000. an hour for her services. The client reports that she has just been interviewed by Miami Homicide Detective Maxwell Anderson (Lupe's former lover) in relation to the murders of two men she knows well: Dr. Steinberg, the ob-gyn who certifies that she is a virgin, and Mr. Robinson, a wealthy developer who is her steady client.

Although Tommy is drawn to his newest client (he rarely, if ever, has knowingly represented a virgin), a stunningly beautiful natural blond, he is skeptical of her story, and asks Lupe to begin her investigation.

In a race against time, Lupe finds herself conducting two investigations: the first finding out who murdered the men; and the second, discovering who the 'real' Madeline Meadows is.

Along the way, Lupe encounters Napoleon and Josephine, a set of killer Chihuahuas, as well as the Loredo twins, Ms. Meadows' pimps, marketing geniuses, who came up with the idea of offering ser services as 'the highest paid call girl in Miami who is a virgin'.

As she has done in the previous six books, during the course of her investigations, Lupe is forced to place herself in danger, but as before, she perseveres to uncover the truth, regardless of the price she has to pay to do so.

Filed 1 de Septiembre, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

LatinaLista.net -- The evolution of the Latino community in New York City is a vibrant and colorful history that deserves to be known. The only trouble is that the Big Apple's Hispanic community has a rainbow of sub-communities, each with their own histories and traditions.

Trying to bring these stories together for easy reading is an overwhelming task but thanks to the efforts of Claudio Remeseira those interested in the history of the Latino presence in New York City now have a handy resource in "Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook."

Described as an anthology of "scholarly, autobiographical, journalistic and literary essays," readers gain valuable insight into the language, literature, music and art that served, and continue to serve, as a common mode of expression for Latinos.

Essays ranging from "The Evolution of the Latino Community in New York," and "The Hispanic Impact Upon the United States" to "Spanish in New York" and "New York's Latin Music Landmarks," Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook provides an excellent overview of the steady impact Latinos have made in the most influential city in the country,which in many cases has traveled across the rest of the country.

According to the sourcebook, the total NYC population of Hispanic or Latino origin in 2007 stood at 2,259,069. The top three Latino cultures represented are from (1) Puerto Rico, (2) The Dominican Republic and (3) Mexico.

Remeseira points out that while NYC, and the state itself, lags behind such states as California and Texas that have larger Latino populations -- mainly Mexican-Americans -- the uniqueness of New York City is that because there is such a rich diversity of Latino subcultures it is contributing to the creation of what the future holds for all Latinos.

It is a pan-ethnic identity that serves as a bridge between Latinos of different "Mother Countries" but now of one nation they all call home.

Filed 9 de Agosto, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

LatinaLista.net

Reading is a skill that most people have to some degree, but remembering what we read is an ability that not everyone is blessed with. Whether it's a grocery list or the all-important information for an exam, memorizing is something you either can do very well or you can't -- unless you read Maximize Your Memory.

Originally published in Spanish by Rámon Campayo, world record holder in speed memory (In 2003, he shattered 15 world records in speed memorization.) and long term memory, the book translated into English is geared for students to help increase their reading speed, comprehension and memorization techniques, but it's also a book for anyone who wants to accomplish the same with their daily reading.

Campayo says that anyone can memorize, even the most complex of texts, if they just practice certain memory techniques that he's perfected. He wastes no time in putting words into action starting with explaining how the mind and memory work, dissecting the various types of "memorizable facts" and launching the first of many exercises to get the reader's mind in the memorization mode.

Like most books of this kind, the reader gets no benefit from just reading the book and not participating in the practice sessions found in each chapter. Yet, what was so enjoyable about this book was that the explanations and instructions are so easy to read and comprehend that it's not hard to ace some of the exercises -- with a little practice, of course. As each practice session is mastered, it's a natural motivator to move on to the next exercise.

Campayo not only focuses on strengthening memory but he also talks about those outside forces that can inhibit it, like fear, worry or nervousness. He provides practical advice on how to create the best climate to read so it's retained and how to battle those incessant butterflies in the stomach some students have before a big exam.

In addition to sharing his memory techniques, Campayo explains how this leads into increasing reading speed and developing "photographic reading." He also shares what he calls his General Study System meant to help students study and memorize their test material.

While the book is written with students in mind, it's not a "far-fetched association" (You'll have to read the book to get my pun.) to say that none of us ever ceases being a student and wanting to improve our memory skills.

Yet, as Campayo explains the success in achieving that is how we "see" what we read.

Filed 17 de Abril, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

LatinaLista.net -- For too long in the medical community, it's been believed that when it comes to meeting the health needs of women, a "one-size-fits-all approach" suffices. Though Latinas, as most women, instinctively knew that philosophy was just plain wrong, few ever challenged it as thoroughly and matter-of-factly as Dr. Jane Delgado does in her book The Latina Guide to Health: Consejos and Caring Answers.

"Latinas are different in subtle ways that have a huge impact on our lives. We live longer than non-Hispanic women, but we suffer more from diseases that compromise the quality of our longer lives. The stress we experience in our close families, along with our dependence on family, turns one of our greatest strengths into our weakness. As a result, we are good at taking our children for their vaccines and wellness visits, but we do not make appointments to see our own health care providers." -- Dr. Jane Delgado

From the start of the book, Dr. Delgado tackles the issue that is dear to every Latina's corazon -- putting family first. Yet, in the process, Latinas don't just neglect their own health, but as Dr. Delgado points out, Latinas try to reconcile two different cultural approaches in taking care of their health needs. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.

While the beginning of the book reads more like a primer for people who are unfamiliar in dealing with the U.S. healthcare system or uncomfortable in interacting with medical personnel, it still serves as a good source of support in encouraging Latinas to not be afraid to ask questions -- and like a script provides exactly what questions to ask --, cautions it's important to read the fine print of a document before signing and understanding that subjects considered before to be too embarrassing or taboo to speak about among family and friends should no longer be avoided, but brought out into the open.

A nice twist in this health book for women is that it not only addresses the physical health needs but the mental and spiritual ones as well. Dr. Delgado gives advice in both categories on how women can recognize symptoms if they feel mentally or spiritually unwell and what resources are available to help.

A handy glossary of medical terms and a list of the most common conditions that affect Latinas round out the book. From alcohol to menopause, Dr. Delgado examines each condition and its symptoms and offers additional resources where to find information while answering the most basic questions Latinas have about each.

However, it's clear that Dr. Delgado's intent with this book, which is also available in Spanish, is not that it just be read and shelved away. She provides charts for readers to fill in about their vital health information -- blood pressure, weight, HDL, LDL; how many times they go to the doctor, list all prescribed medicine; if you're feeling blue, write down the reason for your mood, etc.

It's obvious that The Latina Guide to Health: Consejos and Caring is more than just a book. It's a dictionary, a workbook, a manual and most of all -- a printed record that illustrates how staying healthy is always a work-in-progress.

Filed 13 de Abril, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Joan Borysenko, Phd

We live in an over-intellectualized society where too many people are stuck in their heads. An Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, Dr. Judith Orloff is a bridge between traditional medicine and the intuitive/spiritual realm. In her book Second Sight, she helps us open to a part of us with a much wider vision than the linear mind: our inner voice.

Second Sight reads like a thriller. It is a page-turner that's hard to put down.

This pioneering book shares the struggles and well-won successes of a courageous physician who fights against a skeptical medical system to validate the power of intuition. This book will assure anyone who ever thought they were weird or crazy for having intuitive experiences that they are not.

In Part One, "Initiations," Dr. Orloff describes being an intuitive child who had premonitions about deaths and illnesses that frightened her and her physician-parents--so much so they forbade her to discuss them at home.

Judith grew up believing there was something wrong with her. This part of the book is extremely personal and frank. In riveting detail she describes how an ignored premonition of a patient's suicide attempt convinced her to get beyond her fears and integrate intuition into her medical practice.

And the chapter "Female Lineage" also shares the "family secret" about intuition that her mother told her on her deathbed. You'll discover what that secret is when you read the book.

In Part Two, "Teachings," Second Sight shows you effective ways to cultivate your natural intuitive abilities including how to recognize intuitive experiences in daily life such as déjà vus and synchronicities.

There are particularly touching chapters on remembering dreams and embracing the spiritual path of the intuitive. She describes intuition as an outgrowth of spiritual evolution and an expansion of the heart--not just as information your pick up to win the lottery.

Second Sight is the rare book that is both inspiring and controversial. You will find a new friend in Judith as her writing style is as intimate as if she was talking to you in her living room.

In this revised edition with a new introduction by Judith, Second Sight will challenge you to reexamine your assumptions about the parameters of the human mind -- and your own wondrous potential.

Joan Borysenko Phd is a pioneer in Mind-Body Medicine, author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind

Filed 3 de Marzo, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jo Ann Hernández Author Oscar Casares shares the tale of two brothers in the poignantly touching novel Amigoland. Don Fidencio Rosales and Don Celestino are brothers who have not spoken to each other for many years over an argument they can't even remember what was about anymore.

Don Fidencio, 91, living in Amigoland, a nursing home, feels stripped of his independence and is resentful that he is forced to cope with the embarrassment of incontinence, insomnia and memory loss.

Don Celestino, ten years younger, is still living life to the fullest and has an affair with Socorro, his young housekeeper. She longs for a relationship and encourages him to reconnect with his brother. They visit Don Fidencio at the nursing home where the two brothers exchange old memories.

Don Fidencio claims his version of their past is true. The brothers finally make a plan to travel to Mexico and find out the truth once and for all. Don Celestino and Socorro break out Don Fidencio from Amigoland after his daughter refused to give him permission to go on the trip.

Socorro struggles with her wishes to be acknowledged by Don Celestino in public and to be introduced to his family. Being male, Don Celestino keeps his fears to himself and refuses her wishes with weak excuses.

The ending is a powerful tribute to how one man faces his weakening body and oncoming death with dignity and grace; how Socorro comes to terms with her independence and how one brother learns to admit his needs.

This book needs to be read by the young so they can learn how growing old is not for wimps. Hilariously truthful and insightfully honest, Oscar Casares shares the indignities of growing old.

The humor in this book is enough for a book review of its own. Scenes of the women talking to Socorro will remind you of your family "straightening you out."

This story is a novela coming to life. Read this book to understand that true wisdom always has a sense of humor.

Jo Ann Hernández is assistant Bookshelf editor and author of the award-winning "White Bread Competition" and "The Throwaway Piece," as well as, creator and publisher of BronzeWord Latino Authors web site.

Filed 20 de Febrero, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jo Ann Hernández 

Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco Stork, is the tale of Marcelo Sandoval, a 17-year-old with an Asperger's-like condition. He is forced to exit his comfort zone when his high-powered father steers Marcelo to work in his law firm's mailroom (in return, Marcelo can decide whether to stay in special ed, as he prefers, or be mainstreamed for his senior year).

Narrating with characteristically flat inflections and frequently forgetting to use the first person, Marcelo manifests his anomalies: he harbors an obsession with religion (he regularly meets with a plainspoken female rabbi, though he's not Jewish); hears internal music; and sleeps in a tree house.

Readers enter his private world as he navigates the unfamiliar realm of menial tasks and office politics with the ingenuity of a child, his voice never straying from authenticity even as the summer strips away some of his differences.

Stork introduces ethical dilemmas, the possibility of love, and other real world conflicts, all the while preserving the integrity of his characterizations and intensifying the novel's psychological and emotional stakes.

The novel extends the summer and his job at the law firm. He develops relationships with some of his co-workers and begins to learn about love and how to tell when people are telling the truth. Marcelo discovers things about his father, which rocks his world like no other experience ever has, and he soon finds himself faced with a decision that may force him to reinvent his life.

Jo Ann Hernández is assistant Bookshelf editor and author of the award-winning "White Bread Competition" and "The Throwaway Piece," as well as, creator and publisher of BronzeWord Latino Authors web site.

Filed 20 de Febrero, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jo Ann Hernández 

In Parents Who Cheat: How Children and Adults Are Affected When Their Parents Are Unfaithful, Ana Nogales, Ph.D., combines her experience from her thirty-five years of clinical practice with her current research, which includes an unprecedented 'Parents Who Cheat Survey,' to reveal the profound effects on children and adult children when one parent betrays the other.

Parents Who Cheat explains how a child's perception of love and marriage can be forever altered, how self-esteem and trust are often severely damaged, and why adult children, whose parents were unfaithful, often choose unfaithful partners or become unfaithful themselves.

When parents sexually betray each other, children are often left with a host of emotions that reverberate well into adulthood: Shock, rage, shame, confusion, loss of trust --these are common responses of those whose parents were unfaithful.

It is no wonder, then, that an adult child's romantic relationships will be deeply affected by a parent's broken vow.

Ana Nogales offers advice and practical solutions for those children impacted by parental infidelity and lights the way towards the process of healing, forgiveness, and developing healthier and more trusting relationships with both parents and partners.

Jo Ann Hernández is assistant Bookshelf editor and author of the award-winning "White Bread Competition" and "The Throwaway Piece," as well as, creator and publisher of BronzeWord Latino Authors web site.

Filed 20 de Febrero, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jo Ann Hernández 

Two-time WBC boxing champion Mia Rosales- St. John is one of the most famous and popular competitors in women's boxing today. Now, in her first book, The Knockout Workout: 3 Winning Steps to Improve Your Body and Your Life, Mia reveals how she overcame racism, alcoholism and an eating disorder to become a world class athlete, a sports pioneer, a happy, healthy mother of two and a role model to Latinas everywhere.

Mia Rosales-St. John literally fought her way to the top. She rose to fame a decade ago fighting alongside Oscar De la Hoya and other legends of the sport on pay-per-view channels around the world.

In "The Knockout Workout," Mia uses her own life experiences and training techniques to show readers how to lose weight and work their body into knockout shape. Complete with meal plans, detailed exercise instructions, champion mental strategies, and photographs, this complete program is for anyone, regardless of age or experience, who wants their get-fit routine to pack a punch!

Jo Ann Hernández is assistant Bookshelf editor and author of the award-winning "White Bread Competition" and "The Throwaway Piece," as well as, creator and publisher of BronzeWord Latino Authors web site.

Filed 20 de Febrero, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Jo Ann Hernández 

A groundbreaking anthology of short fiction by Latino mystery writers, Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, features an intriguing and unpredictable cast of sleuths, murderers and crime victims.

Edited by Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez, with a foreword by Ralph E. Rodriguez Ph.D., author of Brown Gumshoes: Detective Fiction and the Search for Chicana/o Identity (University of Texas Press, 2005), the anthology represents the reflections of the authors' and society's preoccupation with identity, self, and territory. The stories run the gamut of the mystery genre, from traditional to noir, from the private investigator to the police procedural, and even include a ''chick lit'' mystery.

Featured contributors are award-winning writers such as Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Rolando Hinojosa, Manuel Ramos and Sergio Troncoso, as well as, emerging writers who deserve more recognition.

In Lucha Corpi's story, ''Hollow Point at the Synapses,'' her unique narrator -- a bullet -- describes the instant before killing a young Peruvian woman:

''I feel the pull of the hammer. The pressure mounts. I am now in place. The moment is upon me. Swiftly and efficiently, I will do what I must, what I was created for. In an instant, I am off, traveling at a speed reserved only for death.''

''The Right Profile'' features a Miami private investigator who goes undercover to prove a deadbeat father can pay child support, and she delights in testifying against him in court. In ''The Skull of Pancho Villa'' by Edgar-finalist Manuel Ramos someone has stolen the family heirloom and it's up to Gus Corral to get it back. And in ''A New York Chicano,'' a successful bachelor from El Paso, a graduate of NYU working for Merrill Lynch in Manhattan, gets his revenge against a xenophobic newscaster.

Hit List collects for the first time short fiction by many of the authors who have been pioneers in the Latino mystery genre, using it to showcase their unique cultures, neighborhoods and realities.

It is a collection of stories, that according to the El Paso Times, will "engross, entertain and fully satisfy any lover of mystery fiction."

After reading it, it's no mystery why.

Jo Ann Hernández is assistant Bookshelf editor and author of the award-winning "White Bread Competition" and "The Throwaway Piece," as well as, creator and publisher of BronzeWord Latino Authors web site.

Filed 20 de Febrero, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0)