Via Criticas Magazine

Last week, I attended the MediaBistro Circus Conference on digital trends and media. Here are the pics from my Flickr set and others:

view slideshow

Web roundup:

- Latina Writers on 'blog' tour



May 19 - Mary Castillo, author of "Switchcraft"
May 20 - Caridad Ferrer, author of "It's Not About the Accent"
May 21 – Lara Rios, author of "Becoming Americana"
May 22 – Mayra Calvani, The Dark Phantom Review
May 23 – Caridad Piniero, author of "The Calling" Vampire series
May 24 – Jamie Martinez Wood, author of "Rogelia's House of Magic"
May 25 – Berta Platas, author of "Cinderella Lopez"
May 26 – Tracy Montoya, "I'll Be Watching You"
May 27 – Kathy Cano Murillo, aka "The Crafty Chica"
May 28 – Misa Ramirez, author of "Living the Vida Lola"

- Latina chefs get sleek from power diet

- Biographers profile trailblazing Latinas

- Cuban author living in Miami wins the prestigious Premio Alfaguara de Novela 2008. He will present his winning novel, Chiquita

- Brida, New from Paolo Coelho. Read an excerpt

- Check out USA Today's 2008 Summer books

- Booksellers' Selections for Summer Afternoons

What are your selections for Summer reading?

* "Life is a Beach" by

John Terriman

, on Flickr

I'll be attending the Mediabistro Circus, a 'conference' that covers both media and technology (two of my fave subjects), tomorrow and Wednesday.
Be sure to say "hello" if you're going to be there.

Check out their blog for updates.

Call for Reviewers!!

Criticas Magazine is seeking librarians to review Spanish-language books on a range of subjects, especially autobiography/ biography; commercial and/or literary fiction(includes original works in Spanish & world literature in translation); reference (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias, ESL/ language guides, etc.); religion; and self-help.

Reviewers should be familiar with general collection development in public and academic libraries and be willing to review books on a regular basis. Please send a résumé and sample book review to the editor at aida.bardales@reedbusiness.com.
All reviews for must be submitted in English.

There are the books you read, and then there are the books that change your life. We can all look back on the books that have shaped our perspective on politics, religion, money and love. Some will even become a source of inspiration for the rest of your life. From a seemingly infinite list of books of anecdotal or literal merit, we have narrowed..

read more | digg story

What do you really believe?

www.beliefnet.com/

Mine:

Quote:
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (98%)
3. New Age (95%)
4. Liberal Quakers (77%)
5. Scientology (73%)
6. Secular Humanism (72%)
7. Mahayana Buddhism (70%)
8. New Thought (68%)
9. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (65%)
10. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (63%)
11. Hinduism (60%)
12. Theravada Buddhism (59%)
13. Taoism (55%)
14. Reform Judaism (50%)
15. Orthodox Quaker (43%)
16. Nontheist (41%)
17. Sikhism (40%)
18. Jainism (39%)
19. Bahá'í Faith (32%)
20. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
21. Orthodox Judaism (21%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (20%)
23. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (19%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (18%)
25. Islam (18%)
26. Roman Catholic (18%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (14%)

From Publisher's weekly: A friend of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (and head of news at a Colombian radio station) says that the author "is putting the final touches to his new novel," after having said two years ago that he was finished with writing. Dario Arizmendi says, "He wrote a first draft which he didn't like, then another, then another; then, with the fifth draft, it was ready." Running about 250 pages, the book--described as "a novel of love"--should be publishable before the end of the year. Guardian

Las Comadres set up latino book clubs with discussions at select borders to celebrate Latino literature. The 2008 slate of books are:

June: A Handbook to Luck by Cristina Garcia
July: The King's Gold by Yxta Maya Murray
August: Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
September: More Than This by Margo Candela
October: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
November: The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters by Lorraine Lopez (I have a galley of this and haven't been able to put it down since yesterday)
December: Their Dogs Came with Them by Helena Maria Viramontes

read more digg story

I was told to work from home today by my boyfriend who has the inside scoop on NYC issues. Today Rev. Al Sharpton has planned a day of disobedience at 3pm at several locations all over the city and says they will shut the city down to protest the Sean Bell verdict.

It's still early and perhaps it's the quiet before the storm but as someone with an activist background, sort of hard to be a Hunter alumni and not be one - anyway, I've seen and heard nothing! No one I know is planning on going or getting involved. In one sense and I know this might anger some people - this is no Amadou_Diallo. I will never ever forget the day the verdict on that case came forth. It was raining heavily and I felt chills and then started crying for this innocent man whose name meant "beloved."

On to lighter topics: I saw this add today and it's interesting - get your books' weight in ...more books.

Are Your Shelves Full Of Books You've Already Read?Exchange them at NovelAction.com! Select any books from the website and send in an equal number of your books in exchange. With flat rate shipping and no transaction fees, Novel Action is the perfect place for avid readers. Join and order by May 30th and pay just $1.00 shipping to get 6 pounds of books. Use coupon code MediaB08. Check it out.

Last night, I had a blast. So many wonderful poets - but Bronx's, always beautiful La Bruja and perfomance poet Kirk Nugent were on fire!

My favorites from the evening:

Kirk Nugent - Pursue your passion



La Bruja spoofing the song Umbrella. Her version:

Arroz con Habichuela

As I have written before I have a tendency to stagnate, stay home, find comfort in the familiar and then get fraught with anxiety when I come to the realization that time stands still for no one.