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A bookstore opening up in el barrio? Yeaup! And they're reading our Junot.

La Casa Azul Bookstore has launched its "Barrio Book Club" and its first pick is none other than Penguin's own The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The book club meeting date is fast approaching - Sunday, June 8th at 4pm - so if you're interested, visit La Casa Azul's Events Page for more information. The site asks that you send in an email to get the meeting location so act fast.

For those of you wondering, "What the heck's "el barrio?"...

In NYC, "el barrio" may refer to any neighborhood consisting primarily of Spanish-speaking residents, but the term is most often affectionately applied to the upper east side in Manhattan, especially between 103rd and about 116th streets. La Casa Azul Bookstore will not open its doors until the end of the year but if you have a chance to visit there's plenty of Latino culture to savor. You must FIRST have a cuchifrito - a deep fried food and not for the health conscious. My favorite is the "alcapurria" made of plantains and ground beef - SO yummy. Here's a pic so you know exactly what you're looking for.

I also recommend a café-con-leche (coffee light-and-sweet) and a slice of home-made flan from one of the many bakeries scattered around el barrio. On Thursday nights one of my favorite bomba-y-plena groups - Yerba Buena - performs at Camaradas. Drums, great voices, awesome rythms and dance. For your listening pleasure, check the links.

Have a lovely weekend, stay hydrated, join the Barrio Book Club if you can, and, if you haven't already had the pleasure, try a cuchifrito!

-- Christina Marie Castro, Assistant to the VP of Corporate Operations, Penguin Group (USA)

P.S. Here's the Merriam Webster definition of Barrio. How cool is that? A Spanish word in the American dictionary. Nice.

Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, fiction, Latino Book clubs, New York City bookstores, barrio book club, New York City book clubs, book-club, Penguin Books, books