Recommended Reads

For more than a century, directors from both sides of the border have chosen Mexico as the location to create their cinematic art, leaving an indelible imprint on the imaginations of moviegoers and filmmakers worldwide. Now, for the first time, Made in Mexico: Hollywood South of the Border presents a comprehensive examination of more than one hundred Hollywood theatrical feature films made in Mexico between 1914 and the present day.

Lavishly illustrated throughout, Made in Mexico examines how Hollywood films depicted Mexico and how Mexico represented itself in relation to the films shot on location. It pulls back the curtain on how Hollywood filmmakers influenced Mexican films and Mexican filmmakers influenced Hollywood.

Listed chronologically and featuring cast, credits, synopsis, and contemporary reviews along with a production history for each entry, this book highlights the concept of "crossing borders " in which artists from both nations collaborated with one another. Made in Mexico also provides a brief historical perspective on the aesthetics, economics, and politics of the film industries in each country, giving readers a glimpse of the external forces at play in the production of these films.

With motion pictures permeating the cultural and historical landscape of both Mexico and the United States, this compulsively readable compendium demonstrates the far-reaching influences of the featured films on the popular culture of both nations.

"On screen, Danny Trejo is the most recognisable anti-hero in Hollywood - killed at least a hundred times, he steals every scene he's in. But off screen, he is so much more. The ultimate hard-knock-lifer, and a true man of the world, he has all the stories, and all the scars. Raised in an abusive home, Danny struggled from an early age with heroin addiction and doing time in some of the country's most notorious state prisons, including Folsom and San Quentin - where he met Charles Manson - before starring in such modern classics as Heat, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Machete. Now, Danny takes us over the peaks and through the valleys of his life, including meeting one of the world's most infamous serial killers and working with icons like Charles Bronson and Robert De Niro. In raw detail, Danny recounts how he managed the horrors of incarceration, rebuilt his life, and drew inspiration from the adrenaline-fueled robbing heists of his past for the film roles that forged his legend. Redemptive, poignant, and raw, Trejo is a portrait of a magnificent life and an unforgettable journey through tragedy, pain, and, finally, success. Told with cowboy appeal, gritty rebel wisdom, and total honesty,these are outlaw stories from the frontiers: the frontiers of prison, of Hollywood, and of life"--Publisher's description.

Having doubts about your next step? Ask yourself what artist Frida Kahlo would do in this "beautiful volume . . . sure to inspire" (Boston Globe).



NAMED A BEST GIFT BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: Instyle, Oprah Daily, Business Insider, Esquire, Boston Globe, and Redbook



Revered as much for her fierce spirit as she is for her art, Frida Kahlo stands today as a feminist symbol of daring creativity. Her paintings have earned her admirers around the world, but perhaps her greatest work of art was her own life. What Would Frida Do? celebrates this icon's signature style, outspoken politics, and boldness in love and art--even in the face of hardship and heartbreak. We see her tumultuous marriage with the famous muralist Diego Rivera and rumored flings with Leon Trotsky and Josephine Baker. In this irresistible read, writer Arianna Davis conjures Frida's brave spirit, encouraging women to create fearlessly and stand by their own truths.

This anthology presents a collection of twenty tales of extraordinary quality, written by the finest Mexican authors born during the first half of the twentieth century. Through these pages, readers will tour the real and the unreal, the faithfully rendered and the fantastic, as well as the tangible past of Mexican history. They will also travel between urban reflections on everyday life and intimate inventions that set Mexico apart from other landscapes, other cultures, and other literatures.

Named a New York Times Best Cookbook of Fall 2018

Filipino food is having its moment. Sour, sweet, funky, fatty, bright, rich, tangy, bold—no wonder adventurous eaters consider Filipino food the next big thing (Vogue declares it “the next great American cuisine”). Filipinos are the second-largest Asian population in America, and finally, after enjoying Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese food, we’re ready to embrace Filipino food, too. Written by trailblazing restaurateurs Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad, I Am a Filipino is a cookbook of modern Filipino recipes that captures the unexpected and addictive flavors of this vibrant and diverse cuisine.

The techniques (including braising, boiling, and grilling) are simple, the ingredients are readily available, and the results are extraordinary. There are puckeringly sour adobos with meat so tender you can cut it with a spoon, along with other national dishes like kare-kare (oxtail stew) and kinilaw (fresh seafood dressed in coconut milk and ginger). There are Chinese-influenced pansit (noodle dishes) and lumpia (spring rolls); Arab-inflected cuisine, with its layered spicy curries; and dishes that reflect the tastes and ingredients of the Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans who came to the Philippines and stayed. Included are beloved fried street snacks like ukoy (fritters), and an array of sweets and treats called meryenda. Filled with suitably bold and bright photographs, I Am a Filipino is like a classic kamayan dinner—one long, festive table piled high with food. Just dig in!

Ages 2 to 12 years. Book & CD. These 32-page, brilliantly illustrated books teach children language basics like vocabulary, the alphabet, numbers and colours, days of the week and much more. This dual language collection is easy to follow. Each set includes a hard cover book and a delightful CD. Available in 10 languages.

The first panoramic anthology of Hispano-American folk narratives, this core collection gathers one hundred tales arranged in the form of a "velorio," or wake. The tales are preceded by a selection of early Colonial legends foreshadowing the themes of Latino folklore, followed by modern Indian myths, riddles, chain riddles, and folk prayers.

A "gripping and poignant" (Wall Street Journal) account of the coming of the American Civil War, showing the crucial role of slaves who escaped to Mexico



The Underground Railroad to the North promised salvation to many American slaves before the Civil War. But thousands of people in the south-central United States escaped slavery not by heading north but by crossing the southern border into Mexico, where slavery was abolished in 1837.



In South to Freedom, prize-winning historian Alice L. Baumgartner tells the story of why Mexico abolished slavery and how its increasingly radical antislavery policies fueled the sectional crisis in the United States. Southerners hoped that annexing Texas and invading Mexico in the 1840s would stop runaways and secure slavery's future. Instead, the seizure of Alta California and Nuevo México upset the delicate political balance between free and slave states. This is an essential new perspective on antebellum America and the causes of the Civil War.



Winner of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award



Winner of the California Book Award for Nonfiction



Winner of the Caughey Western History Prize



Winner of the Willie Lee Rose Prize



Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Nonfiction



Finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize



Finalist for the California Independent Booksellers Alliance's Golden Poppy Award