About The Book Club:

Welcome to The Poder Circle Book Club—a quarterly, themed book club that aims to spark and facilitate important discussion around our shared experiences, our unique stories, and the issues that affect our comunidad. As Poderistas, we want to show the world that libros by Latinas matter—that our words have Poder. As people, we come from a long tradition of storytellers whose words have sparked movements. We honor that tradition by uplifting Latina voices, deepening our understanding of the Latinx experience, facilitating discussion, and inspiring action through words with impact. 

 

What To Expect:

There is no cost to join, all you have to do is subscribe to The Poder Circle Book Club list! Once signed up, you’ll receive:

  • bi-monthly Poder Circle Book Club emails
  • Exclusive Poder Circle Book Club content
  • Invitations to private events including virtual discussions with authors & the Poder Circle community
  • Quarterly discussion guides
  • Plus surprise appearances, giveaways y más

For the next two quarters, we’re thrilled to partner with author Julissa Arce, who will curate the Poder Circle Book Club selections. 

The theme of The Poder Circle Book Club is:

The Power of Letting Go

We’ve all held on to things that, somewhere deep within us, we know we need to let go of. It may be the expectations handed down by our families and culture, a relationship that has run its course, or a friendship we’ve outgrown. 

But letting go is rarely easy. Sometimes it takes several attempts before we’re truly ready to release what we’ve been carrying. We cling to what is familiar, what comforts us, what seems like a fulfillment of a dream, even when it’s a dream we didn’t choose for ourselves. Yet, only when we finally let go do we create space to receive what’s next. 

Join us as we read “Last Night in Brooklyn” by Xochitl Gonzalez. It’s a novel that explores expectations, friendship, love, and the complicated promises of the American Dream. The book asks us what happens if you let go of the life you’ve built when it no longer feels like your own. 

The Featured Selection

As we explore the theme of The Power of Letting Go, we can’t think of a better book to read together than:

About Last Night in Brooklyn

A NATIONAL BEST SELLER

NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 BY TIME, OPRAH DAILY, USA TODAY, PEOPLE, ELECTRIC LIT, HARPER’S BAZAAR, VULTURE, LITHUB, BOOK RIOT, PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY, THE BOSTON GLOBE, TOWN & COUNTRY, SHE READS, LIBRARY JOURNAL, AND MORE!

At twenty-six, Alicia Canales Forten feels smothered by her future. She’s in a long-distance relationship, living at home with her mother’s beliefs, saving up for her wedding to a future doctor. But after Alicia ventures out one night in the neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, she finds herself lured by the siren song of youth and possibility that the striving crowd of creatives holds, and moves in.

No one embodies this milieu more than La Garza, a larger-than-life, up-and-coming fashion designer whose epic house parties fuel neighborhood lore. La Garza’s life, observed by Alicia from her apartment across the street, seems to hold the allure and fearlessness Alicia has never dared to imagine for herself.

But when Alicia’s wealthy banker cousin moves to the neighborhood, she finds herself increasingly drawn into both his and La Garza’s precarious lives.

Against the backdrop of a potentially life-changing presidential election and a looming once-in-a-generation fiscal crisis, Last Night in Brooklyn explores the dark compromise of the American Dream for people of color living, unknowingly, in the twilight of a cultural moment. It is a story about everything money can buy—and the destruction of what it can’t.

At its heart, this is also a novel about letting go: of inherited expectations, of the futures others imagine for us, and of the identities we cling to because they feel safe. It asks a question many of us face at some point in our lives: What becomes possible when we release the life we thought we were supposed to want and make room for the one that is truly our own?

“No one writes about ambition, money, class, and the cost of survival in a world driven by profit over people quite like Gonzalez…Thrillingly alive and electrically entertaining from start to finish, Last Night in Brooklyn is a triumph.” — Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters
About the author Xochitl Gonzalez Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times-bestselling author of Anita de Monte Laughs Last, a Reese's Book Club Pick longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the award-winning Olga Dies Dreaming, named a Best of 2022 by The New York Times, TIME, Kirkus, Washington Post, and NPR. Gonzalez is a staff writer for The Atlantic and was recognized as a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Commentary. A native Brooklynite and proud public school graduate, Gonzalez holds a BA from Brown University and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.  Learn More
POder Circle Book Club Guest Curator Julissa Arce Julissa Arce is a bestselling author, speaker, producer, and public thinker whose work explores the myths of the American Dream, identity, and belonging. She is the author of the acclaimed books My (Underground) American Dream, Someone Like Me, and You Sound Like a White Girl. Her forthcoming book, Holding Onto What's Mine: Bad Bunny, Winning and Cultural Power argues that success only truly matters when it is used to strengthen our communities, using Bad Bunny's rise as a blueprint for holding onto culture while building power. A former Wall Street executive at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, Julissa rose to prominence while undocumented, an experience that reshaped her understanding of what it means to belong in America. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, TIME, Vogue, and CNBC, and she has been recognized as one of People en Español's 25 Most Powerful Women and as the City of Los Angeles' Woman of the Year. Julissa is also the co-founder of the Ascend Educational Fund, a scholarship and mentorship program for immigrant students. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and cat.
"Becoming the guest curator of the Poderistas Poder Circle Book Club feels like a full-circle moment. The club launched with my book in 2022, and the support of this community meant more than I can say. Now, I get to return that gift by championing books and authors I love and reading alongside all of you." — Julissa Arce, Author and Poder Circle Book Club Guest Curator

Accessibility

We understand that times are tough for many and joining a book club is sometimes not within your budget. Poderistas wants to ensure we can make The Poder Circle Book Club accessible to amigas who have a financial need. To honor this, we have reserved a limited amount of books that are available on a first-come, first-served basis for those who have a need. Please email hola@poderistas.com with the email subject ‘Book Club Accessibility’ to request a copy. In your email, please include your name, mailing information, and the book you’re interested in.

Deep Dive

After reading our featured book, keep exploring the Poder Circle quarterly theme of The Power of Letting Go with a curated selection of works created by Latinas coming soon!