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Sabrina & Corina
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Latinas of Indigenous descent living in the American West take center stage in this haunting debut story collectiona powerful meditation on friendship, mothers and daughters, and the deep-rooted truths of our homelands. Here are stories that blaze like wildfires, with characters who made me laugh and broke my heart.Sandra Cisneros Kali Fajardo-Anstines magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit in the American West. Against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Coloradoa place that is as fierce as it is exquisitethese women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives: with caution, grace, and quiet force. In Sugar Babies, ancestry and heritage are hidden inside the earth but tend to rise during land disputes. Any Further West follows a sex worker and her daughter as they leave their ancestral home in southern Colorado only to find a foreign and hostile land in California. In Tomi, a woman leaves prison and finds herself in a gentrified city that is a shadow of the one she remembers from her childhood. And in the title story, Sabrina & Corina, a Denver family falls into a cycle of violence against women, coming together only through ritual. Sabrina & Corina is a moving narrative of unrelenting feminine power and an exploration of the universal experiences of abandonment, heritage, and an eternal sense of home. Advance praise for Sabrina & Corina Sabrina & Corina isnt just good, its masterful storytelling. Fajardo-Anstine is a fearless writer: her women are strong and scarred witnesses of the violations of their homelands, their culture, their bodies; her plots turn and surprise, unerring and organic in their comprehensiveness; her characters break your heart, but you keep on going because you know you are in the hands of a master. Her stories move through the heart of darkness and illuminate it with the soul of truth.Julia Alvarez, author of How the Garca Girls Lost Their Accents A terrific collection of storiesfiercely and beautifully made. Joy Williams Kali Fajardo-Anstine writes about hard truths in womens lives so knowingly, and with such a deft touch, I felt hyper-alert, as well as implicated and imperiled. In these achingly convincing stories, the writer is writing delicately, symbolically, about mortality itself.Ann Beattie
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TheBookDream
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Definitely worth a read! #indigenous #hispanic

TheBookHippie I loved this read. 2y
25 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Soubhiville
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

While I‘m glad to have read this, I‘m more happy to be done with it. The writing is excellent, but the stories are really dark and sad. It was very cool reading about Denver and other nearby Colorado areas. My mom‘s little town Montrose even got a mention.

Short stories about women and girls of mixed indigenous heritage, mostly focused on familial dynamics.

Tons of triggering content. But a very strong SS collection.

AmyG I got a box in the mail! Thank you so much. I am guessing it‘s for the holidays so I am saving it for Hanukkah. Ha….the only gifts I actually get are from my Litsy friends. 🤣 2y
Soubhiville Well yay for Litsy friends! You can open the box if you‘d like, everything is wrapped inside 🥰. I‘m glad it got there safely. 2y
66 likes2 comments
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thestarlesscasea
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Books finished in September 2022 📚 ✨️

Delia and Talia let me down with 3-star reads 🤷🏻‍♀️
Shapes of Native Nonfiction was great, 4 stars 👍🏻
Sabrina & Corina was ELITE, 5 stars, no notes 🏆

I read all of these in printed form, with the exception of Merry Inkmas, which I listened to during the tail end of my rough multi-day vertigo spell when I had my first case of The Rona 📖 🎧

Happy spooky month, everybody! 👻 🎃 🖤

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thestarlesscasea
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

One of the best short story collections I've ever read. None of the stories were duds. However, be warned: ALL of the stories were devastating in one way or another. Fajardo-Anstine explores abandonment, death, and grief; women feeling trapped in relationships, roles (especially motherhood), and poverty; domestic and other forms of violence; and the impacts of capitalism, gentrification, colonialism, and white supremacy. 📖

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bookandbedandtea
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

I'm still not a fan of short stories so, while I thought these were good, I wanted more of some of these characters. Sugar Babies, Sabrina And Corina, and All Her Names were my favorite but I thought they were all well executed. All the stories were about loss and struggle and they all made me think. Several of them I believe will stay with me for a long while.

bookandbedandtea @TheAromaofBooks I finally got around to my February #DoubleSpin! 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
24 likes2 comments
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Hooked_on_books
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This terrific short story collection explores Latinas in Colorado, often focusing on themes of trauma and maternal abandonment. They‘re not quite linked, but definitely associated, holding together as a true grouping. I didn‘t want to put this one down.

50 likes2 stack adds
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JGadz11
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Return one book to the library, bring six home.🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️✨ #goldenhour

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emmaturi
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This was a great short story collection set in Denver, Colorado featuring women of Latina indigenous ancestry.

29 likes3 stack adds
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andioop
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Pickpick

Astounded by how beautiful this is. Top 3 of the year.

It‘s December and I really really really didn‘t meet my reading goals this year. But I ended an unhealthy relationship, quit my job and am moving, am going through mental health treatment and trying to figure out my life. I know 2022 will be better (the bar is low), and I know I will be ok. I hope you guys have a great end of the year.

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mrp27
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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#SeptemberWrapUp

Glad I got to squeeze in 4 books this month featuring Hispanic authors and stories for Hispanic Heritage month.

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Chrissyreadit
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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@peanutnine thank you! This was a great swap package- I love your book choices, mask, bookmarks- and the ceramic is stunning! #staycationintimeswap #sits

sblbooks I really enjoyed Even As We Breathe, and it was written by a local author. 3y
SCBird And now you get to read Sabrina & Corina, after all! I love that! Excited to hear what you think. 3y
Chrissyreadit @Soff I thought that too- I‘m so excited! 3y
See All 11 Comments
Chrissyreadit @sblbooks oh! Im glad to hear that! 3y
peanutnine Yay!! I'm so glad you like it! ☺️ And that everything got there in one piece lol 3y
Gissy Love the bookish items and that book of Spirit Run!😱I need to read it! You gave me Sabrina & Corina in one swap. I need to read it! I‘m behind my reading goals due to this running training. Tomorrow we are going to do our first 16 miles. I‘m so slow, always the last one in the training☹️ 3y
Chrissyreadit @Gissy that‘s impressive! I bet I stacked Sabrina and Corina because of you. Also your slice of summer package shipped today. 3y
Gissy @Chrissyreadit That‘s nice! I‘m waiting for some items but they were ordered long time ago so I hope they will arrive this week or next week. I will post a picture when I send the box🤗 3y
Gaylagal2 Such a nice package Chrissy! And thank you so much for being such a sweet, gracious host. ❤️ Hopefully we'll be back for next year 🤙 3y
Chrissyreadit @Gaylagal2 this will continue as long as there is interest. It‘s my favorite. 3y
Gaylagal2 @Chrissyreadit So happy to hear that❤️ 3y
84 likes2 stack adds11 comments
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heyitsMacall
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Beautiful! These stories were so poetic, moving and easily digestible. I love that they were all set in Colorado too. It got me out of a slump of reading a few pages and switching books.

Kammbia1 My second favorite read of the year. 3y
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Well-ReadNeck
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Great short story collection.

Kammbia1 Absolutely! 3y
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Brooklyn.anne
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Gorgeous storytelling!!

Kammbia1 Agreed. My second favorite read of the year! 3y
7 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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JackieGreco
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Pickpick

I normally am not a fan of short stories but was really engaged by the stories of Denver and the people who have long histories there.

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That-Bookish-Hiker
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This book is a collection of stories about indigenous latinas living in the American west of Denver, Colorado.

This book is way more than that description. It‘s short stories showing the trial and tribulations women, not just women but indigenous women, go trough in daily life. My heart weeper and smiled for these women in the stories and the relationships they had. I can‘t wait to read more from this author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BookishMarginalia What a gorgeous cover! 4y
Kammbia1 Great cover and my second favorite read of the year! 3y
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mz_florez
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

I enjoyed reading Sabrina & Corina. I found myself so glued to it. The short stories had me wanting to consume the book in one day.
My favorite short story was "Ghost Stories". Ana the main character in the short story was relatable. Her struggles with school life, and her personal life can be felt through the words written by Kali. Must read.

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xicanti
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Yesterday I listened to a goodly chunk of the tagged book while I set up my bookish journal for 2021. The stories are excellent, albeit often pretty bleak, and I‘m now equipped with a splash page, a spending log, tally pages for all the vectors I care about, tracking pages for freebies/ARCs and library books, an A to Z spread, and two monthly bingo sheets. #audioplanning

night_shift 😱 pretty! 4y
BekaReid Gorgeous 4y
xicanti @UnidragonFrag @BekaReid I thrifted a lovely book of Jane Davenport art papers a few months back. They‘ll play a big role in my planner and my book journal going forward! 4y
43 likes3 comments
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Soubhiville
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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I host an annual Jolabokaflod party, and obviously this year it had to go virtual. We managed to still have a pretty good turn out, and did two swaps- one secret Santa style which we opened together, and one “in person”, in which we talked about favorite books we will now deliver to each other.

This was my secret Santa gift from my friend @SenatorMothma . I just love this cover, and I‘m looking forward to these stories!

erzascarletbookgasm Gorgeous cover and I‘ve seen good reviews in Litsy too. 👍 4y
Mccall0113 That chocolate looks amazing. 4y
Soubhiville @Mccall0113 I love mint and chocolate 😋. I also love that two of my friends found chocolate companies that donate part of profits to charity! 4y
58 likes1 stack add3 comments
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charl08
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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At the bookstore, I showed Tomi the teen section, an over flowing back corner with a dirty love seat. There were posters on the walls of nineties celebrities posing with copies of Beloved and Moby-Dick.

"See," I told him. "Even Buffy the Vampire Slayer likes to read." When he asked who that was, I said never mind and told him to pick out a book.

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Chelsea.Poole
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

#audiobook, read by various narrators, collection of #shortstories - featuring Latina women. I don't often read short stories because I have trouble connecting with characters and settings in the short amount of time I have with them. However, this was not the case with this collection. A couple scenes from this book will stay with me for some time. also, that cover 😍

readordierachel I liked this one too! 4y
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Angitron
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This was a lovely collection of stories, all centered on Latinx lives in Colorado, mostly around Denver. They were quiet and beautiful stories, many laced with a touch of sadness and a sense of something lost in the face of Denver‘s rapid gentrification. I wasn‘t blown away, but I enjoyed them!

readordierachel I enjoyed them too! 4y
20 likes1 comment
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kspenmoll
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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#porchlife #TGIF #wineandbooks

Time to relax with a book, popcorn, & wine. Excited to read this book especially because it is short stories. So I can absorb one story at a time, slowly.

staci.reads In love wine amd popcorn 🍿! I always feel like I'm chanelling my inner Olivia Pope! 😁 4y
kspenmoll @staci.reads 😀Olivia P! 4y
70 likes2 comments
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charl08
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Book mail! A few #penguins there too...

58 likes2 comments
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MicheleinPhilly
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

I probably read 1 short story collection a year as they are just not my thing but this was absolute dynamite. She writes in the author‘s note that this collection took a decade to write and it shows. The care and precision and grace in these stories will stick with me for a long time. 5🌟

ValerieAndBooks Looks good. Love the cover, too! 4y
charl08 Sold! Thanks for this review. 4y
Angitron I‘ve been wanting to read this one and your review moved it to the top of my TBR! 4y
Reviewsbylola Ooooh I‘m stacking this just in case. I usually feel the same way about short stories so you have me hopeful. 4y
52 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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Nitpickyabouttrains
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Short stories mostly about indigenous peoples living in the us.

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coffees
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Oops, forgot to post this one! I read it during #midyearrush and I have to say, a lot of these #shortstories really hit you in the feels. They're short but tell SO MUCH. They are also very sad, telling the struggles Latina women go through in white communities, in their own, and usually at the hands of men. That said, the stories also feel very hopeful. Many potential triggers like abortion, abuse, sexuality, etc #fiction

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coffees
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Did you guys ever have to carry around those babies in high school? We had flour babies 😂😂 First story was very...interesting, a commentary on motherhood I think #midyearrush

Catherine_Willoughby Went to a catholic school , this would never happen with the nuns running the place - we had at least 4 teen pregnancies during my 6 years there 4y
coffees @Catherine_Willoughby I believe that, although even with these types of projects teen pregnancies still happened 4y
13 likes2 comments
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Emilymdxn
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This felt like what short story collections should always be like. Every one was just the right length, none felt skippable or less good than the others. The different ways of approaching Latina and Native women were so fascinating, deep and touching. The writer‘s style was quite cool but with so much emotion underneath it and nothing ever felt forced. I‘d read everything else by this author in a heartbeat

60 likes4 stack adds
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BiblioLitten
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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My dreams these days are a combo of Contagion, Hunger Games and Chernobyl (I didn‘t watch any of these lately), so I have decided to take it easy. 🤯
For the #EasterExtravaganza readathon I plan to finish one book, read one short story a day, and start a new book. I finished Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte yesterday and started the tagged book for stories.
#covercrush

Andrew65 That‘s great goals and a great start! 5y
readordierachel I love this cover too! And the stories were good. 5y
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Becker
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Mehso-so

This collection of short stories was okay, but I didn‘t really connect with any of them. Just a personal taste issue I suppose but it was a very dull reading experience for me. 😐

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ReadingEnvy
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Books Read February 2020: 31-50
This year of reading so far has felt a bit slower, what with the Faulkner class, the Erdrich readalong, and the Odyssey readalong. Some of that reading is not represented here because I'm still making progress. ⤵️

ReadingEnvy A third of this month's reading came from the Tournament of Books. Two of my five-star reads come from the longlist, actually.

Total Books Read: 20

Audiobook: 4
eBook: 5
Print: 11

ARC: 3
Library: 11
Personal Copy: 5

Erdrich project: 1
Faulkner project: 3
Middle East 2020: 1
TBR Explode: 1
Tournament of Books: 7
5y
54 likes1 comment
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Twocougs
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Wow, stunning writing of deep heartbreak, love, family. These stories tug and chip away at your heart. I fell in love with these women and men. These tales are told with such respect and honor. Only problem is I wanted more.

TheBookbabeblog84 The cover alone is making me want to pick it up. 5y
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tholmz
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Loved this one.

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ImperfectCJ
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This short story collection didn't blow my mind, but it was solid. The setting, both physical and emotional, was vivid throughout, but as with most short story collections, I suspect this will stay with me more as impressions and scenes than as distinct stories.

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ReadingEnvy
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

This book of short stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (and from the Tournament of Books longlist) focuses on the lives of Latina and/or indigenous women living in an area of Denver. Families, traditions, and violence are important themes.

This is an #ownvoices collection

Cathythoughts Beautiful pic ✨ 5y
ReadingEnvy @Cathythoughts thank you, we had unusual snow today so I could not resist 5y
59 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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ImperfectCJ
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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"Though the southern Colorado soil is normally hard and cakey, it had snowed and then rained an unusual amount that spring."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

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DreesReads
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Book 5 of 2020. I liked this story collection, but I was expecting more. Between the award nomination and all the raving I have seen about this book, I expected a standout. Instead it was just a decent collection. I liked the Colorado connection, but wanted more about landscape, flora/fauna, weather. About what makes Colorado unique. #shortstories

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thereflectiveflaneur
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

In short... whatever you are doing now STOP. Go to the book store or kindle e-store and purchase this short story collection! Absolutely STUNNING!!!!!!!! WOW! Just WOW, WOW and more WOW! The audiobook is fabulous also!

BarbaraBB Okay I am convinced ❤️ 5y
thereflectiveflaneur @BarbaraBB I am sure you won‘t be disappointed! 5y
MariettaSG Why though? 5y
thereflectiveflaneur Captivating voices (each story is read by a new person on the audiobook), interesting scenarios (kept me second guessing), complex characters (some heart breaking and some infuriating but in a good way), and the writing is perfect. It is not too indulgent that the writer shows off and clarity is lost. It‘s her first published work and I think she is one to watch. She reminds me of Jhumpa Lahiri. 5y
MariettaSG Thanks for that. Sounds fabulous! 5y
9 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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danimgill
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

The upside to spending the day couch-ridden with the last of this cold was finishing this volume of short stories! It was a strong collection about various Latina women living in Denver and a perspective I‘m glad to have sat with for a little while.

readordierachel I liked this one too! 5y
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Sg1224
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

If I could give this 5 pick‘s I would! The arrangement of these short stories helped illuminate POV‘s rarely told through the lens of a multigenerational family perspective and women of color. Some of them broke me in ways I wasn‘t expecting. My 2019 favorite read! The book cover alone...❤️❤️🙌🙌

Soubhiville Yes! I love the cover so much. I‘m going to keep this on my TBR. 5y
erzascarletbookgasm Love the cover 👍 5y
14 likes1 stack add2 comments
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theshrinkette
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Happy @DeweysReadathon friends!First up! #readathon

Kalalalatja Pretty cover! 5y
27 likes1 comment
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mklong
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

A collection of short stories about women living in Colorado, who are all decedents of Indigenous tribes in Latin America. The standouts for me were “Sugar Babies,” “Sabrina and Corina,” “Sisters,” and “Tomi” but they are all well written. As others have noted, the voices of the characters, and many of their challenges, do feel repetitive by the end, but overall I‘m glad to see this on the NBA shortlist.

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readordierachel
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

Started strong and became a touch repetitive toward the end, but I really like the ground Fajardo-Anstine covers. "Sugar Babies," "Sisters," and "Remedies" were my favorites.

Cathythoughts Beautiful cover ✨♥️ 5y
readordierachel @Cathythoughts Isn't it? One of the prettiest I've seen 😍 5y
73 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Redwritinghood
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Pickpick

#NBAfiction2019 A collection of stories centered around Native and Hispanic women in Colorado, particularly the Denver area. All the different relationships between women within a family are explored - grandmother, mothers, sisters, cousins. Themes include absent mothers, poverty, gentrification, and the ways women can hurt themselves and others through their relationships. I wanted more variation in the stories, but still a solid collection. 4⭐️

readordierachel I totally agree about the variation. Some of these felt so similar. 5y
50 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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nomadreader
Sabrina & Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Starting my 2019 @NationalBook fiction longlist reading next! #NationalBookAward

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cathipink
Sabrina and Corina: Stories | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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The National Book Award for fiction long list is out and it's *so good*. Excited to explore the 5 I haven't read.

Ruthiella I‘ve read Trust Exercise and Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I hope to read The Nickel Boys before the end of year.😀 5y
Pedrocamacho I‘ve work to do 😊 5y
cathipink Ack, I lied, I've only read 4! 😬 @Ruthiella I'll have to go look for your reviews. I've read The Need, Sabrina, The Other Americans, and Fleishman. We own Nickel Boys and Red Leopard, and on the library list for On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. 5y
16 likes3 comments