Li Yun's Library: Puerto Rico

Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico: Book Recommendations (Part 1/3)

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First things first:
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​HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMI!

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Can't spend YOUR summer in Puerto Rico?

Then let me bring a little Puerto Rico into your summer in the best way I know how--through books!

This month's blog series, Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico, is inspired in part by my summers in Puerto Rico. I talk a little about those summer visits here.

Today's post--the first of a three part series-- features some of the books on my summer reading list.
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I hope you get inspired to add Puerto Rico books onto your list!

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Full Disclosure:

As always, I encourage you to support your local bookstores and libraries; if they don't already carry the books I recommend, please be sure to request that they order them today!

If, however, you plan to purchase any of these books online, please use my links; as an Amazon associate I will earn a small commission for qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

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Summer Reading List: Puerto Rico Edition

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Fiction

Love War Stories

by Ivelisse Rodriguez

Ivelisse Rodriguez's Love War Stories arrives on my doorstep today and I can't wait to dig in!

This debut collection of short stories centers the lives of Puerto Rican women and girls.

From Amazon: Cristina García, the author of Dreaming in Cuban raves, “Love War Stories serves up love every which way: thwarted, obsessive, suffered over, delirious, consummated, unexpected. It rejects cultural traditions yet remains beholden to them. It fights with itself and others. It worships Julia de Burgos (as do I). And at its best, it is sublime. Brava to Ivelisse Rodriguez for a stunning debut!”

It was just released on July 10th. Get your copy today!

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Poetry

Huracanda
by Mayra Santos Febres

If you receive my e-mail newsletters or you downloaded my FREE guide Hurricane María: Readings and Resources, then you have already heard about Santos Febres' newest poetry collection Huracanada. A section of this important collection grapples directly with Hurricane María and its aftermath as experienced by Santos Febres on the island. (The collection is entirely in Spanish).

From Libros 787: Después del paso del huracán María, hombres y mujeres se tiraron a la calle a socorrer a los demás. Este poemario es humilde homenaje a su ternura y a su valentía. En Huracanada de Mayra Santos-Febres nos llega una voz que desayuna en plural, mira afuera y se mira, se busca un aire y es testigo de su tiempo. Es una voz que sangra, rebusca, repiensa, reconoce las trampas, las luchas que siempre emprendemos hasta entender que hay un otro posible, no consumado ni con necesidad de ser consumido. Huracanada es una voz hembra sin traje ni artificio. Una voz íntima e informal con la cual se habla a los amigos. Una voz de formulación no binaria, sino materia, una poética que explora "lo que va siendo, y cómo esto cobra significancia en el tránsito". - Mayda Colón

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 Notes on the Return to the Island
by Bonafide Rojas

My friend Bonafide Rojas traveled to the island last summer and documented his experiences with insight and deep emotion that never shies away from addressing difficult political realities--a startling before Hurricane María portrait.

From Amazon: In this new collection Notes On The Return To The Island, Bonafide Rojas pays tribute, honors family & puts the lens on the current state of Puerto Rico. From United States colonialism to the creation of a fiscal control board due to the 70 billion dollar debt to his parents relationship with Puerto Rico. Rojas has presented a rare perspective of both “Aquí/Allá (here/there) of The Nuyorican experience in The Puerto Rican Diaspora. Notes On The Return To The Island will show you what’s happening inside Puerto Rico & allow you how they see the world staring at them.

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Words or Water

by Li Yun Alvarado

A little self promotion never hurt anyone...
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Urayoán Noel says: "Li Yun Alvarado's Words or Water is an affective map of the Nuyorican archipelago, as oceanic as it is embodied."

Evie Shockley says: "Li Yun Alvarado's poems carve a double-tongued space of longing and resistance, where we can pause to breathe. Read release and renewal in the soft, clear light of her words."

Magdalena Gomez says: "This book is simultaneously a meditation and a riptide. . . We are reminded that life is good even when it isn’t." 

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Nonfiction

​Roberto Alomar: Un Pelotero Especial
Roberto Alomar: A Special Baseball Player
by Jossie Alvarado

My uncle Jossie Alvarado's newest book is a must have for all baseball fans!

Available in both English and Spanish editions, this book is a large glossy archive of all things Roberto Alomar. In addition to a biography that spans from Alomar's childhood to his journey towards Cooperstown and beyond, the book includes photographs, stats, interviews, copies of primary sources, and even a collection of Alomar's baseball cards.

This is the definitive guide to Roberto Alomar's life and career compiled by Alomar family friend, baseball historian, and my uncle Jossie Alvarado.

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My Beloved World

by Sonia Sotomayor

I loved Sotomayor's memoir when I first read it--maybe because I too am a Boricua from the Bronx who went from humble beginnings to studying in the Ivy League and eventually earning an advance degree. Maybe because her thoughtful and humble approach to her life's work was deeply inspiring.

Today, I'm drawn back to her memoir because when her colleagues in the supreme court upheld the Muslim Ban, she dissented, writing:

“The United States of America is a Nation built upon the promise of religious liberty. Our Founders honored that core promise by embedding the principle of religious neutrality in the First Amendment. The Court’s decision today fails to safeguard that fundamental principle. It leaves undisturbed a policy first advertised openly and unequivocally as a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” because the policy now masquerades behind a façade of national-security concerns. But this repackaging does little to cleanse Presidential Proclamation No. 9645 of the appearance of discrimination that the President’s words have created. Based on the evidence in the record, a reasonable observer would conclude that the Proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus. That alone suffices to show that plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their Establishment Clause claim. The majority holds otherwise by ignoring the facts, misconstruing our legal precedent, and turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering the Proclamation inflicts upon countless families and individuals, many of whom are United States citizens. Because that troubling result runs contrary to the Constitution and our precedent, I dissent.” - Justice Sotomayor.

From Amazon: The first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor has become an instant American icon. Now, with a candor and intimacy never undertaken by a sitting Justice, she recounts her life from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench, a journey that offers an inspiring testament to her own extraordinary determination and the power of believing in oneself.

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Coconuts and Collards: Recipes and Stories from Puerto Rico to the Deep South

by Von Diaz

I've been hearing a lot about this cookbook memoir, so I recently checked it out of the library. Like any good cookbook, this one contains a variety of recipes for each part of the meal: basics, appetizers, salads, soups and stews, fish and seafood, mains, side dishes, sauces (including mayo-ketchup!), desserts and drinks (you know she included coquito!). The glossy pages are also full of stunning photos of mouth-watering dishes.

Since I just checked out the book, I have yet to try the recipes myself (nor have I had my husband whip any of them up--he is after all the pernil chef in our house). That being said there are more than a few I'm excited to try: costillas de cerde con salsa de BBQ de guayaba / pork ribs with guava BBQ sauce, funche de coco (coconut grits), coconut-braised collards, and the tembleque to name just a few. I also can't wait to dig into Diaz's family stories about the meals that tie them together across space and time.

From Amazon: "When her family moved from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, Von Diaz traded plantains, roast pork, and malta for grits, fried chicken, and sweet tea. Brimming with humor and nostalgia, Coconuts and Collards is a recipe-packed memoir of growing up Latina in the Deep South... Inspired by her grandmother’s 1962 copy of Cocina Criolla--the Puerto Rican equivalent of the Joy of Cooking--Coconuts and Collards celebrates traditional recipes while fusing them with Diaz’s own family history and a contemporary Southern flair. Diaz discovers the connections between the food she grew up eating in Atlanta and the African and indigenous influences in so many Puerto Rican dishes."

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Comic Book

Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico

compiled by Edgardo Miranda Rodriguez

This collection is fire! A collectable for all comic book fans--especially those who love Puerto Rico. ¡Que Viva La Borinqueña!

​Form Amazon: Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuiliding Puerto Rico is an anthology featuring contributions from writers and artists from the comic book industry like Gail Simone, Greg Pak, Reginald Hudlin, Denys Cowan, Tony Daniel, Ken Lashley, Bill Sienkiewicz, Yanick Paquette, Gabby Rivera, Will Rosado, Jorge Jimenez, Mike Allred, Chris Sotomayor, to Puerto Rican and Latinx celebrities like Rosario Dawson, Ruben Blades, Javier Munoz, Sonia Manzano and over 100 more.

Produced and also featuring stories written by Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, this anthology teams up his original character LA BORINQUENA with some of the most iconic comic book heroes of all time from DC: Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, The Flash and many others.

Original stories also take us to the past to explore the beautiful history of PUERTO RICO as well as tales that envision a stronger and rebuilt island.

100% of the proceeds from this anthology will go to the continued work to help over 3 million Americans living in Puerto Rico, providing solar-powered lamps, food, clothing and so much more.

​These short stories remind us all that the true power of being a hero is inside each of us. When we come together as a united people, we will never be defeated! !El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido! Thanks to DC for generously giving our studio, Somos Arte, permission to use some of DC's iconic characters in original stories for this anthology, whose proceeds Somos Arte will contribute towards the continued hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

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Stay Tuned: Comelibritos Corner / Little Bookworm's Corner

Next week I'll share some of my comelibrito's favorite picture books featuring Puerto Rico. You'll want to snatch these up for the little people in your life!

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Before You Go...

Read:

Hurricane Season is Here: Three Ways to Help Puerto Rico Today

Part 2: Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico: Picture Book Recommendations

​Part 3: Spend Your Summer with Puerto Rico: Podcasts

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