Familia by Lauren E. Rico

 

Title:  Familia

Author:  Lauren E. Rico

Narrated by:  Frankie Corzo, Robb Moreira, Victoria Villarreal

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 3 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Libby and review copy through @Netgalley.  Physical copy from Kensington Books and Between the Chapters Book Club.  Thank-you!

Have you taken a DNA test to try to track your genealogy?  It’s on my list of things to do, but I haven’t done it yet.

Gabby DiMarco is a fact checker for a magazine.  For an article, she does a genealogy test.  The results point to her having a full blood sister and being Latina rather than Italian.  Gabby’s parents have passed away and she doesn’t have any family to ask.  When Isabell Ruiz reaches out to tell her she might be her missing sister, Gabby travels to Puerto Rico to discover whether the lab has made a mistake or whether she is not who she always thought she was.

My thoughts on this book:

·       This book is something my Grandma would have called a “good story.”  It was a great family drama that kept me fully engaged.

·       I read this book earlier this month for Hispanic Heritage Month.

·       There were many Great twists and turns in this story.  I really wanted to know who had kidnapped baby Marianna and why.  I love reading about cold cases.

·       I loved the setting in Puerto Rico.

·       Gabby has no family left and I so wanted her to be open to becoming part of her biological family.

·       The book had great characters.  Gabrielle and Isabella are both well-developed three-dimensional characters with both flaws and loveable attributes.  I especially loved Isabella’s husband Mateo – he was a gem!

·       I loved the mystery as well as the family drama as Isabelle and Gabby develop a relationship. 

·       This book would be a great movie or show.

·       The audiobook narrators were engaging.

·       The story was mostly told through the point of views of Gabby and Isabella, but there were other characters point of views who helped further the mystery.

Overall, Familia by Lauren E. Rico was an engaging mystery and family drama.

Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television by Todd S. Purdum

 

Title:  Desi Arnaz:  The Man Who Invented Television

Author:  Todd S. Purdum

Narrated by:  Todd S. Purdum

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 24 minutes

Source: Thank you #DesiArnazBook #HistoryBuffsBookClub @History_In_Five for the physical book review copy.  I purchased the audiobook copy on Audible.

Do you enjoy classic television shows?  If so, what are some of your favorites?  One of my favorite classic TV shows is I Love Lucy.  I watched the reruns a lot while I was growing up.

Desi Arnaz:  The Man Who Invented Television by Todd S. Purdum is a riveting biography that tells the story of Desi Arnaz from his childhood as a Cuban aristocrat to his groundbreaking artistic and business drive that made I Love Lucy a success, to his downfall.

My thoughts on this book:

·       Desi was raised in a wealthy and elite family in Santiago, Cuba.  After a revolution, his family fled to Miami and lived in fair different circumstances.

·       It seemed like Desi had a great personality and got along with a lot of people.

·       Desi faced racism that kept his career down.  He kept being called the “Mexican,” even though he was Cuban.

·       Ricardo Montalban arrived in Hollywood during Desi’s time as a young actor and received the types of roles that Desi really wanted.

·       Desi was the behind-the-scenes force who got the I Love Lucy show off the ground.

·       He was the first Latino to star in Network primetime TV.  He is also still the only Latino to be a studio head still sixty years later. 

·       He rose to great heights in the entertainment world and with his skill was able to diffuse the “Lucy is red” problem.

·       This biography was interesting and sad.  I teared up a few times while listening to the audiobook.

·       It was excellent on audiobook and kept me riveted while doing chores.  I liked that the author narrated the book.

·       Great research was involved in putting this book together.  The author used unpublished interviews, letters, journals, and other materials.  The Arnaz kids provided access to a lot of material.

·       Desi Arnaz was always underestimated due to his accent and being from Cuba, but he had a great sense for what the public wanted to see on television.

·       It was interested that he couldn’t read music, but he made it as a musician!

·       I was sad that Desi’s demons tore apart his relationship with Lucy.  It’s sad to love a real-life married couple on TV and find out that the husband was a serial cheater.

Overall, Desi Arnaz:  The Man Who Invented Television by Todd S. Purdum is a fascinating look into the life of Desi Arnaz and the many ways that he created the items we take for granted as a part of television today.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 

Title:  American Dirt

Author: Jeanine Cummins

Narrated by:  Yareli Arizmendi

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Length: Approximately16 hours and 43 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Overdrive 

 What is your favorite book about a journey?

 American Dirt is an audiobook that I could not stop listening too.  The story really wrapped me in and made me really care about the characters.  It was the March selection for the Rogue book club, but I listened to it in February.

 Lydia Quixano Perez lives in Acapulco and is happily married to her husband, a journalist, Sebastian.  The novel starts off with a tragedy as Lydia’s entire family is slaughtered at a quinceañera party.  Only Lydia and her young son, Luca, survive by hiding in the shower.  Lydia and Luca start a perilous journey north through Mexico to the United States.  The story also flashes back to tell the story leading up to the massacre. Lydia owned a book store and had a favorite patron, Javier, that she became friends with.  Little did she know that Javier was a crime lord.  What did Javier have to do with Lydia’s families death and why?  Will Lydia and Luca make it to the United States?

 I greatly enjoyed this story.  The Javier and Lydia connection was fascinating and I wanted to know more about it.  The story was very perilous and made me think about the journey of so many migrants to our southern border.  I liked to trace Lydia and Luca’s path on a map to see where they were.  The story had great hooks and keep me interested.  Yareli Arizmendi was a great narrator and I thought of her as the voice of Lydia.

 I had heard this book had a controversy about it and I had to look it up afterwards.  The controversy is the author Jeanine Cummins, is not from Mexico and is not a migrant.  While I do really like #ownvoices of people telling their own stories, I also respect that authors write fiction.  I read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck at the same time I listened to this audiobook.  John Steinbeck was not an Okie and did not have to flee westward and work on migrant farms, but he was able to shine a light on an important migration and story in our history.  I feel the same way about this book.  Cummins may not have experienced it, but she is shining a light on an important migration that is currently happening right now.  This will hopefully make one look for nonfiction perspectives on it.

 What do you think?

A Lot Like Adios by Alexis Daria

 Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!  It’s the last day, but I’ve made it with my review.  Do you have any favorite books by Hispanic authors?

 Fifteen years ago, Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx, his family, and his best friend Michelle Amato.  Together they used to write fan fiction for a beloved sci fi show.  Gabriel always had a crush on Michelle, but their feelings don’t come out until he is leaving.  Michelle tries to contact him after he leaves, but it seems that Gabriel has disappeared forever.  Until one day Michelle, now a freelance business graphic designer, is contacted by Gabriel’s partner to help with a brand redesign.  Gabriel now is part owner of a celebrity gym.  The two meet to go over the design and work together and sparks fly.  Will they be able to move on from the past?

 This novel has two of my favorite romance tropes – friends to lovers and second chance romance.  This is a very steamy romance.  I also really enjoyed their sci fi fan fiction that was interspersed between chapters.  I enjoyed that the two sexy main characters had a nerdy side to themselves.   I loved the banter between the two main characters, and the humor.  I had several points where I laughed out loud.  I also really loved how Gabriel had the chance to meet his family and work through the issues.  I like that he got to see that his parents are people and had grown over time as well. 

 I have not read You Had Me at Hola, but it’s high up on my list now!

 Overall, A Lot Like Adios is a spicy, fun romance.  I highly recommend it.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Netgalley and Avon.  Thank-you!