Friday, February 10, 2023

Hispanic Heritage Reading: Catching up

I have not blogged about Hispanic Heritage reading since 2019. I still wish there was a better name for it.

That section had two posts, and there were more comics than usual:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/01/national-hispanic-heritage-month-2019_14.html https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2020/01/national-hispanic-heritage-month-2019_15.html

I didn't write about it, but I was reading all along. I'd had a list that was my goal, and I was waiting to write until I finished that. This happened when I finished Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by Robert Maraniss on January 25th, while on vacation.

(I'd said that was coming up: https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/12/sports-movies.html.)

The thought was that I was going to finish all of the books related to Hispanic Heritage that were already on my list. Then I would go to the list of authors that came from Sandra Cisneros the following year. I guess I start that in September now, for 2023.

Of course, I did add books that were not expected. Also -- because I like to thwart myself -- I went through my Goodreads to-read list, and found four relevant books that were added to the Goodreads after I had entered books in the spreadsheet.

I think I will try and mix them in with the authors I took down from Sandra Cisneros.

As it is, here is the overall list of books:

A Box Full of Kittens by Sonia Manzano
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago
Aztlán and Viet Nam: Chicano and Chicana Experiences of the War edited by George Mariscal
Silver, Sword, & Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story by Maria Arana
Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots by Margarita Engle
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Dolores Huerta Stands Strong: The Woman Who Demanded Justice by Marlene Targ Brill
The Words of Cesar Chavez by Richard J Jensen
Decoding Despacito: An Oral History of Latin Music by Leila Cobo
Violence Girl by Alice Bag
What You Have Heard Is True by Carolyn Forché
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero by David Maraniss 

While I had already written about movies, I forgot that there were three others.

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado -- This was a documentary about a television personality who gave horoscopes and was very popular. I was not familiar with him, but it was interesting and there would be many people who do remember him and for whom it would be a big deal. There are some sad twists, but ultimately I am glad that this project came when it did, and that he was able to get some recognition again.  

Zoot Suit  -- Long ago in Spanish class we read a piece about Luis Valdez. He is known for being the writer and director of La Bamba, but he had done much more than that and I have always wanted to see one of his plays. As it turns out, there was a filmed version of Zoot Suit that even had some familiar faces in it (Edward James Olmos, Tyne Daly, and Tony Plana). Ultimately, at some point I should read more about El Teatro Campesino.

Encanto -- I'm sure I would have watched this eventually, but it happened sooner because of people writing about trauma, and also quoting lyrics from "Under the Surface" that sounded like me. I have written about the movie, but in a different context: https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/10/all-better.html

As you can see, as I have started writing more, other references come up. That includes Decoding Despacito (and that I will want to revisit it) and Aztlán and Viet Nam in writing about the daily songs:

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2022/12/hispanic-heritage-month-2022-songs.html 

I know that there are at least two topics that relate to some of the books that I will want to address further; then we will see how it goes. Given the years gone by, more than one post is probably fair.  

In the meantime, it may be interesting to know that 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente was in a Jeopardy! category on graphic memoirs. I had only read one of the clues previously (Fun Home by Alison Bechdel), but I have read all of them now. 

I read Violence Girl by Alice Bag because it was on a list of rock biographies, some of which I had read, and several of which I had no interest in, but she was one of six that I added to my list.

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