AAP, Borders, Las Comadres Announce Launch of First National Latino Book Club

    NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Las Comadres, the national
 Latina organization, in cooperation with the Association of American
 Publishers (AAP) and Borders(R) has announced the launch of Las Comadres
 and Friends National Latino Book Club at select Borders stores in Arizona,
 California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.
 Membership will be open to anyone interested in reading English-language
 works written by Latina or Latino authors. Best-selling author Esmeralda
 Santiago will serve as the official spokesperson for the book club.
 
 
 
     Las Comadres Para Las Americas, the book club's parent organization,
 fosters communication on a variety of topics through its
 community-building, networking web site www.lascomadres.org, boasting a
 membership of 10,000 in sixty cities nationwide. The book club has grown
 out of a series of highly successful monthly teleconferences hosted by the
 Las Comadres network, with each teleconference featuring one book
 club-selected author. The first Las Comadres live event was held at
 Borders' Columbus Circle location in New York City in March 2007. The
 initial launch of the Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club
 will be limited to 15 cities, but future plans call for expanding the book
 club to all sixty cities where Las Comadres' members are located.
 
 
 
     The titles for the book club, which include everything from memoir to
 fiction to children's literature, were selected by a committee of Las
 Comadres members as well as Borders' Hispanic interest buyer. The 2008
 selections are:
 
 
 
     June -- A Handbook to Luck by Cristina Garcia (Vintage)
 
     July -- The King's Gold by Yxta Maya Murray (HarperCollins)
 
     August -- Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest (Washington
 Square Press)
 
     September -- More Than This by Margo Candela (Fireside)
 
     October -- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
 (Riverhead)
 
     November -- The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters by Lorraine Lopez (Grand
 Central)
 
     December -- And Their Dogs Came With Them by Helena Maria Viramontes
 (Washington Square Press)
 
 
 
     Borders will host book clubs in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois,
 Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah with participating authors.
 Customers can visit http://www.BordersStores.com for details on stores
 participating in the Las Comadres book club in their neighborhoods.
 
 
 
     About Las Comadres
 
     Las Comadres is a nationwide grassroots-based group of Latinas that was
 launched informally in April 2000 in Austin, Texas, and has now grown to a
 national network that includes sixty U.S. cities. Its 10,000 strong
 membership keeps Latinas connected via email networks, teleconferences, and
 monthly potluck events in individual cities. More information on Las
 Comadres can be found at http://www.lascomadres.org.
 
 
 
     About AAP
 
     AAP is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing
 industry. The association's more than 300 members include most of the major
 commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and
 non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP
 members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational
 materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional
 markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and
 services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the
 defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and
 abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the
 association's highest priorities.
 
 
 
     About Borders, Inc.
 
     Borders is a subsidiary of Borders Group, Inc., a $3.8 billion global
 retailer of books, music, movies, periodicals and gift and stationery items
 with over 30,000 employees and more than 1,100 stores worldwide primarily
 operating under the Borders(R) and Waldenbooks(R) brand names. Currently,
 there are over 500 Borders superstores in the U.S. that carry up to 200,000
 titles. Customers enjoy a comfortable shopping experience, as well as a
 host of in-store events and community-centered activities when they visit
 their local Borders stores. For more information, visit
 http://www.bordersgroupinc.com.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCE Association of American Publishers