Books are great. Non-fiction books can teach you about the world, and the people in it. Fiction can do the same through made-up stories, while also transporting you to completely different worlds and realities. In a time when we are spending more time apart, books are the perfect way to spend quality time alone. On the flip side, books can also unite why the following list of Latina book clubs matter.
How many books have you told friends and family about? Raved about on social media? Gifted during the holidays and birthdays? While you can enjoy reading on your own, it’s also fun to share what you’ve read with others. Perhaps that’s why book clubs are popular–they allow you to dive headfirst into a new book on your own, and then meet up and discuss what you’ve found with others, who are reading the exact same option.
Was it on your new year’s resolutions list to read more books in 2022? Then, you’ll want to check out these seven Latina book clubs, uniting Latinas everywhere to read and chat about selected monthly books.
Modern Latina Book Club
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Linda Castillo is the Latina behind Modern Latina, an online community which she describes as offering “lifestyle content created and curated to inspire Latina women to live their best life.” Part of this community includes the Modern Latina Book Club, where readers take on the book of the month. Past selections include Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal, Velvet Was the Night, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Of Women and Salt, by Gabriela Garcia.
Veggie Mijxs Book Club
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You may already be following Amy Quichiz’s Veggie Mijas for advice on how to live a vegan life and advocate for “food and environmental justice.” But did you know that they have a book club?! The Veggie Mijxs Book Club selects a BIPOC-penned book to read, and then chats about it in a BIPOC-centered Zoom discussion on a designated Sunday. January 2022’s read is Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot, by Mikki Kendall.
Latinas & Libros
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We All Grow Latina is another Latina community dedicated to keeping us connected and empowered. In December of 2021, they announced that they were adding the Latinas & Libros book club to their arsenal of resources. These books are curated with Booklandia, a “Latina-owned anti-racista bookstore building home and classroom libraries.” An added bonus to Latina & Libros is that they host IG conversations with Latina authors about their new book releases.
Tia Chucha’s 2021 Social Justice Book Club
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“Where art and minds meet for change.” That’s how Sylmar, California-based indie bookstore and cultural center Tia Chucha’s describes itself. In addition to shopping Indigenous, Latinx, bilingual , antiracist books and more both in-store and online, you can also join the store’s Social Justice Book Club. Each month, a selection that focuses on social justice is read, and its content discussed on the third Saturday.
Modern Immigrant Book Club
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Another Latina-run book club to follow is the Modern Immigrant Book Club. It’s the creation of Vero, who also runs the bilingual Modern Immigrant podcast. The books chosen each month focus on “supporting and inspiring our journey.” Past books selected include Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, and Clap When You Land, by Elizabeth Acevedo.
Latina Writers
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Latina Writers, founded by V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi and Viv Maldonado, started off as a community meant to inform and support Latina writers. It then extended to include a book club which focuses on books written by Latina authors. Join Alex next month (presently on Discord, and soon on Zoom) as she reads Xochitl Gonzalez’s Olga Dies Dreaming as February’s book of the month.
LatinasRead
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Latinas read! That’s the truth, as well as the name of Nereyda Denisse’s Texas-based book club you should check out. Each month, local Latinas meet up, fun happy hour-style, in Austin to discuss the club’s latest read, while others join a monthly virtual meeting to share their insights. To get started, pick up a copy of The Beautiful Ones, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the LatinasRead selection for February.
