ROADS LESS TRAVELLED: MARCH 2026 - MEXICAN AUTHORS
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2026
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1PaulCranswick
Land of the Aztecs; bordering the USA along its Northern borders, nation of revolution, wonderful food, the smog and thin air of Mexico City, the beaches of Acapulco and......Salma Hayek!
3PaulCranswick
What I will read :
The Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
at the very least and probably at least one more.
The Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
at the very least and probably at least one more.
4Kristelh
I also am planning to read Lost Children Archives. I've had it on my shelf for awhile.
5ChrisG1
I've checked Pedro Paramo out of my local library for this month's book.
6avatiakh
I'll be reading Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, another bestseller that I never got to.
7JayneCM
I will be reading Liliana's Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera-Garza.
8alcottacre
>3 PaulCranswick: I will be reading that one for sure as well, Paul. Not sure I will get in anything else this month though, what with being out of town for a week or so.
9ELiz_M
I have been wanting to read Hurricane Season for a while and may also get to On Lighthouses.
10booksaplenty1949
Library informs me that The Old Gringo has arrived so hope to start that soon.
11avatiakh
Well, I finished Like Water for Chocolate which was easy to read at least.
13avatiakh
>12 amanda4242: Yep. Unimpressive but the pages flew by which is more than I could say of Allende's The House of Spirits.
14PaulCranswick
>12 amanda4242: & >13 avatiakh: At least it was mercifully brief!
>7 JayneCM: That interests my Jayne since I have not heard of it before.
>7 JayneCM: That interests my Jayne since I have not heard of it before.
15JayneCM
>14 PaulCranswick: It won the Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography in 2024. Definitely a difficult subject, but one that needs more exposure.
16raton-liseur
I've not participated in February (nothing on my shelves from this part of the world), but enjoyed the conversation and might decide to read one or two books that were discussed.
For Mexico, I have too many books to read in one month, so decided to start with El Naranjo / The Orange Tree by Carlos Fuentes, a collection of 5 short stories.
I am reading in Spanish (not my mother tongue) then translated, hence the reading is pretty slow but it's nice to read in Spanish again!
I have read two for the moment and really enjoyed them.
For Mexico, I have too many books to read in one month, so decided to start with El Naranjo / The Orange Tree by Carlos Fuentes, a collection of 5 short stories.
I am reading in Spanish (not my mother tongue) then translated, hence the reading is pretty slow but it's nice to read in Spanish again!
I have read two for the moment and really enjoyed them.
17ChrisG1
Finished Pedro Paramo. Not really my kind of read, but interesting & well written.
18booksaplenty1949
Finished The Old Gringo, my 25th book read this year. Enjoyed it; saw similarities to Nostromo in its attempt to represent in a fictional plot the complicated colonial history of Hispanic America. As in Conrad’s novel, the characters were somewhat formulaic, and the main female character was the least successfully realised. But happy to have been nudged by this challenge to pick up something I would otherwise not have read.
19Kristelh
I completed Lost Children Archives for this challenge. The author, Valeria Luiselli, born in Mexico City, Mexico, August 16, 1983.
Quote:
"Maybe it is better to keep the children's stories as far away from the media as possible, anyway, because the more attention a potentially controversial issue receives in the media, the more susceptible it is to becoming politicized, and in these times, a politicized issue is no longer a matter that urgently calls for committed debate in the public arena but rather a bargaining chip that parties use frivolously in order to move their own agendas forward." pg 79
Quote:
"Maybe it is better to keep the children's stories as far away from the media as possible, anyway, because the more attention a potentially controversial issue receives in the media, the more susceptible it is to becoming politicized, and in these times, a politicized issue is no longer a matter that urgently calls for committed debate in the public arena but rather a bargaining chip that parties use frivolously in order to move their own agendas forward." pg 79
20raton-liseur
I completed El Naranjo / The Orange Tree by Carlos Fuentes. I really enjoyed it (except one short story, probably the shortest of the five included in this collection). All short stories are about culture meeting, mixing, melting, and individuals identity in a mixed-race society. The four short stories I liked all have an historical figure as their main character: Cortes' translator, Cortes' sons, Scipio Africanus the Younger or Christopher Colombus.
I am about to start Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo.
Finally I would like to highlight an author I have not read this month (because I could not resist ans read her last book as soon as I got it in January). She is a young author, Dahlia de la Cerda, mainly writing about the narcos. Her books are not for the faint of heart, but there is something about her writing that I really like and can only recommend. There is only one book from her translated into English, Perras de reserva / Reservoir Bitches, a collection of linked short stories, which is really worth it!
I am about to start Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo.
Finally I would like to highlight an author I have not read this month (because I could not resist ans read her last book as soon as I got it in January). She is a young author, Dahlia de la Cerda, mainly writing about the narcos. Her books are not for the faint of heart, but there is something about her writing that I really like and can only recommend. There is only one book from her translated into English, Perras de reserva / Reservoir Bitches, a collection of linked short stories, which is really worth it!
