vvb32 reads: Robert Arellano

Showing posts with label Robert Arellano. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Havana Lunar by Robert Arellano

Havana Lunar
by Robert Arellano

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Twitter

Published: 2009
Publisher: Akashic Books
Genre: Mystery, Cuba, Havana
Paperback: 200
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
It's Friday, and when I get back to the attic I see that Julia hasn't returned.

One hungry, hallucinatory night in the dark heart of Havana, Mano Rodriguez, a young doctor with the revolutionary medical service, comes to the aid of a teenage jinetera named Julia. She takes refuge in his clinic to break away from the abusive chulo who prostituted her, and they form an unlikely allegiance that Mano thinks might save him from his twin burdens: the dead-end hospital assignment he was delegated after being blacklisted by the Cuban Communist Party and a Palo Monte curse on his love life commissioned by a vengeful ex-wife. But when the pimp and his bodyguards come after Julia and Mano, the violent chain-reaction plunges them all into the decadent catacombs of Havana's criminal underworld.

Inspired by fifty years of Cuban literary noir, from Cold Tales by Virgilio Piñera to Reinaldo Arenas’ Before Night Falls, Robert Arellano’s Havana Lunar intertwines an insider testimony on the collapse of socialist Cuba with a psychological mystery.

Zombie sighting:
We went through our morning chores like a pack of walking zombies: sweeping the patio, feeding and tending to the animals, readying the places for lunch in dubious hope that Manolito might return.
-chapter August 12, 1980, page 104

My two-bits:

Got a good dose of doctors and prostitutes during the times period in this mystery. Interesting to note that the story is not told by the detective's point of view.

~*~
* part of Books, Inc. Foreign Intrigue Book Club (here)

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Lovely Books and Things - 8.4.18

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
HAPPY THINGS:

1. August is National Romance Awareness month - who knew?
I found out while listening to the morning show of the local classics radio station, KDFC.

2. Got organized and reduced the file pile

3. Planner Par-Tea event at Crown and Crumpet - always love the high tea service and the "lucky dip" planner related goodies ;-)

Although not pictured, my Happy Planner was at the scene along with colored pens and stickers for decorating.

~*~
Bought:

Havana Lunar
by Robert Arellano
-Mystery, Caribbean, Havana
Amazon | Goodreads
AUGUST pick for the Foreign Intrigue Book Club (here).

Freebie:

The Curfew
by Jesse Ball
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
FOUND an ARC of this in the free bin at a local independent bookstore, Dog Eared Books, San Francisco.

SPEAKING of freebies, does any one want these swag pins for Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer? Let me know in comments or email me directly and I will send them your way.

Author event:

The Incendiaries
by R.O. Kwon
-Literary, Coming of Age, Asian American, Korean
Amazon | Goodreads
Green Apple Books on the Park, hosted a lively conversation about the release of The Incendiaries between author R.O. Kwon and poet Esme Weijun Wang. Cults are explored and examined in this novel.

The Completionist
by Siobhan Adcock
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
Green Apple Books on the Park, hosted a reading and Q&A with Siobhan Adcock for the release of The Completionist which is being recommended as a must-read after experiencing Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

PART of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2018 (here).

Library:

Her Pretty Face
by Robyn Harding
-Thriller, Women's Fiction
Release date: July 10, 2018
Amazon | Goodreads
PART of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2018 (here).

AND watched: on DVD

Juan of the Dead (2011)
Juan de los muertos (original title)
Director/Writer: Alejandro Brugués
Stars: Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andros Perugorría
-Action, Comedy, Havana, Horror, Zombies | imdb | my rating: 5
A group of slackers face an army of zombies. The Cuban government and media claim the living dead are dissidents revolting against the government.

MIX of zombie modes - slow, fast, climbers with a memorable makeshift guillotine scene.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2006)
Las Vegas, season 7
Miniature Killer storyline
Stars: William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger
-Crime, Drama, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 4
WATCHED this for the Miniature Killer story arc which drew me in.

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Friday, August 3, 2018

World Reads: Havana

World Reads
hosted by Stephanie Jane
details | my world posts
World Reads blog series challenge is to encourage and promote the reading of global literature. On the 5th of each month Stephanie Jane highlights five books. Everyone is welcome to join in by reading one or more books from a different country each month, write a post about them and include the World Reads banner.

My reading list:

Going to Havana, Cuba with these...

Havana Lunar
by Robert Arellano
-Mystery, Caribbean, Cuba, Havana
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

Next Year in Havana
by Chanel Cleeton
-Romance, Caribbean, Cuba, Havana
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF

WATCH:

Juan of the Dead (2011)
Juan de los muertos (original title)
Director/Writer: Alejandro Brugués
Stars: Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Jorge Molina, Andros Perugorría
-Action, Comedy, Havana, Horror, Zombies | imdb | my review | my rating: 5

LISTEN:

Havana
artist: Camilla Cabello and featuring Young Thug

Hey
Havana, ooh na-na (ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ay)
There's somethin' 'bout his manners (uh huh)
Havana, ooh na-na (uh)
He didn't walk up with that "how you doin'?" (uh)
(When he came in the room)
He said there's a lot of girls I can do with (uh)
(But I can't without you)
I knew him forever in a minute (hey)
(That summer night in June)
And papa says he got malo in him (uh)
He got me feelin' like
Ooh-ooh-ooh, I knew it when I met him
I loved him when I left him
Got me feelin' like
Ooh-ooh-ooh, and then I had to tell him
I had to go, oh na-na-na-na-na
Havana, ooh na-na (ay, ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na (uh huh)
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ay)
My heart is in Havana (ay)
Havana, ooh na-na
Jeffery
Just graduated, fresh on campus, mm
Fresh out East Atlanta with no manners, damn
Fresh out East Atlanta
Bump on her bumper like a traffic jam
Hey, I was quick to pay that girl like Uncle Sam (here you go, ay)
Back it on me, shawty cravin' on me
Get to diggin' on me (on me)
She waited on me (then what?)
Shawty cakin' on me, got the bacon on me (wait up)
This is history in the makin' on me (on me)
Point blank, close range, that be
If it cost a million, that's me (that's me)
I was gettin' mula, man they feel me
Havana, ooh na-na (ay, ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (oh, ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na (oh no)
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ay)
My heart is in Havana (ay)
Havana, ooh na-na
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na (oo-ooh)
Take me back, back, back like
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na (yeah, babe)
Take me back, back, back like
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na (yea, yeah)
Take me back, back, back like
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na (yea, babe)
Take me back, back, back
(Hey, hey)
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Take me back to my Havana
Havana, ooh na-na
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (oh, yeah)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na (ay, ay)
Oh, but my heart is in Havana
My heart is in Havana (ay)
Havana, ooh na-na
Uh huh
Oh na-na-na (oh na, yeah)
Oh na-na-na
Oh na-na-na
No, no, no, take me back
Oh na-na-na
Havana, ooh na-na

Songwriters: Adam Feeney / Jeffrey Williams / Pharrell Williams / Andrew Watt / Brian Lee / Ali Tamposa / Brittany Talia Hazzard / Camila Cabello

Havana lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Cypmp, Reservoir Media Management Inc.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Foreign Intrigue Book Club 2018

Foreign Intrigue Book Club
face-to-face (details)
Books, Inc. Laurel Village
Do you like to travel? Experience a country through the eyes of a local? Try the food of another country?

I tried this back in October and got hooked as it includes some much needed arm-chair traveling.

2017

October pick:

Murder Under the Bridge:
A Palestine Mystery
by Kate Jessica Raphael
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4

2018

January pick:

Whitefly
by Abdelilah Hamdouchi
translated by Jonathan Smolin
-Mystery, Africa, Morocco
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4
February pick:

The Dry
by Jane Harper
-Mystery, Australia
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5
March pick:

The Neruda Case
by Roberto Ampuero
-Mystery, Historical, Chile
Amazon | Goodreads | my review: DNF
April pick:

Death Going Down
by María Angélica Bosco
translated by Lucy Greaves
-Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Argentina, Buenos Aires
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4
May pick: