Into the Beautiful North: A Novel | 
pickMost of the men, including her father, have left Nayeli‘s Sinaloan village, prompting her to travel to the US to Mexican men to come live there. She ends up with a very entertaining cast of characters. This book does a great job of balancing a relatively lighthearted tone with showing the racism and prejudice Nayeli experiences along the way.
Good Night, Irene
pickIt was my first novel by #luisalbertourrea and I was not disappointed. This is the story of 19-year-old Nayeli and her illegal adventure into the United States to find men to bring back home in an attempt to protect her hometown from criminals.
#mexico #readingwithmyson #readingandsnacking
What a nice spot to read. Feels good to get out of the house a bit. #socialdistancing #neverwithoutmycoffee
pickI had been looking forward to another Urrea as I loved House of Broken Angels. This one didn‘t disappoint. It feels Mexican in each and every sentence. 19 year old Nayeli and her girlfriends need men in their village to protect them from the bandidos. The plan is simple: they‘ll go into the US to bring the men back who left them for ‘Los Yunaites‘ and never returned!
#Summerfun #AnOldFavorite #LitsyBitsy #BookAndBlanket #ATY2020 #UnderratedBook
#WeeklyForecast 29/20
It‘s a lot, I know but I have lots of time to read this week. I am still at the beach and still working but there‘s still so much time to read, lovely 🤓. So finishing this haul is also my goal for
#JubilantJuly.
pickI adored this book. It was recommended to me as an antidote to the American Dirt controversy. I loved Urrea‘s House Of Broken Angels, and found this equally enchanting. It‘s gritty, and touching, and urgent, and also hilarious. Can‘t recommend it highly enough.
pickRead as part of the Open Canon Bookclub hosted by Wiley Cash. Published 9 years ago but so very timely as there are so many border discussions today. This story may provide a different perspective. The story recounts the journey of Nayeli and her friends. They journey to the U.S. to recruit men to return to their Mexican village to save it and bring new life back into their community. Funny and poignant- very good read.
pickI finished this road trip/coming of age novel last month. It was not what I expected at all, but an adventurous comedic border crossing and genre crossing book all wrapped up in an immigration story. So many memorable characters.
It's been ages since I've had a good #libraryhaul like this. The bottom 3 are checkouts-I started The Kiss Quotient & Only Human in audio but wasn't able to finish them before they were due back & the print copies came in before my renewals did. The Cooking Gene is for my virtual foodie book club. The top 4 are from the library bookstore. 1/2-off fiction so I got them all for $2.25--not too shabby. The 🐔🐔wonder when or if I will get them read!🤣
Next up in the Open Canon Bookclub. #wileycash
pickI enjoyed reading this. It was both silly and serious. Beautiful writing.
pickThis book was not at all what I expected and I'm not really sure what I think of it, but in the end I think I enjoyed it. I didn't expect it to be so silly. The humor at times seemed jarringly at odds with the extremely serious subject matter. 3/5 stars I would say.
I posted about this book not long ago, but it works for #journey. Funny, touching, maddening, it's an awesome adventure!! #jubilantjuly
pickI loved this book so much!! A wonderful adventure/quest story, hilarious, memorable characters... Nayeli and the notorious girlfriends (plus Tacho) set out for the US border to retrieve some of their wayward men. The absurdity and sadness of the US/Mexico immigration situation isn't shied away from, but there are no stereotypes here, just people doing the best they can. So good!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It's not page 101, but good lines nonetheless. 😀 #teasertuesday
Just started this...40 pages in and loving it so far! 😀#mexicanauthors
My #bookhaul after my #librarywander. I went with no plans and just chose books off the shelves. I've never read Urrea so I will start with him. I've read the other writers except Bayer. It was fun to have no agenda when I visited. 😊
I read this as part of a "One City, One Book" thing a few years ago. The story was good and moved at a quick pace. My DKG chapter had a good book discussion over it, too. #mexicanamericanauthors #maybookflowers
pickLovely, heart-warming, heart-breaking story of 19-Nayeli and friends who cross the border into the US to bring back her father and other men who left her small Mexican town years before to find work. Full of rich characters like Tia Irma who still makes me smile. Urrea brings them so much to life that I feel I shoud be able to meet them in person. #MexicanAuthors @RealLifeReading
pickI thought that this was a compelling read about a young woman and a couple of her friends that cross into the US illegally in order to find men to bring back to their village. Urrea was really effective at fleshing out his characters and making them three dimensional. Looking forward to reading more by him.
#marchintoreading #blameitonlitsy I saw this book in a post and stacked it. I bought it at the library recently, but haven't gotten to it yet.
pickSuper excited to see that this is one of the NEA's Big Read selections this year. It's funny yet poignant, silly but relevant and thought-provoking. Pick up a copy to read this year alongside thousands of others participating in the Big Read! Some libraries even offer book club supplies for free on Big Read books. If nothing else, scroll through the NEA's Big Read list this year - it's a killer list.
This was the first proper novel I read by Urrea. It's a take on The Magnificent Seven (and of course Seven Samurai) where a trio of girls leave for El Norte to retrieve the men who have left back to their Mexican village. It is funny and poignant, and I think of it often. I believe Urrea said Niki Caro (who directed The Whale Rider) got the movie rights, though looking it up now, it seems TNT has picked it up as well. #LatinxAuthors #FeistyFeb
pickGood read. A view of the US from the perspective of a young Mexican woman and her friends.
Loved the book when it came out and I've been waiting for the right moment to pick it up again. Saw The Magnificent Seven and now is the time. Can't wait to hang out with Nayeli and Atomiko again!
Totally smitten with this multi-voiced, charming novel--and not just because I snagged an autographed edition at Powell's!
Cannot wait to read this after hearing Luis Urrea talk about the real-life characters he brought into the page during a library talk this weekend in Portland, Oregon.
