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Learn how to find success in the digital world or experience a young woman’s journey for belonging in these two books by local authors.
Brand Up
By Stacey Ross Cohen, with Jason Shaffer and Alex Katzman
Post Hill Press (2023)
192 pages (pbk, audiobook)
As CEO and founder of Co-Communications, brand guru Stacey Cohen knows a thing or two about success. Having started her first company at age 14, Cohen has discussed her achievements on the TEDx stage and been featured in publications like Forbes and Crain’s Entrepreneur. With Brand Up, Cohen has produced a modern day manual about how to develop a unique voice, navigate social media, ace interviews, and excel at networking. Through Cohen’s approachable prose and useful exercises, media moguls-to-be can learn how to identify their special abilities, develop these skills, and leverage them to foment an effective social media presence and set out on the path to entrepreneurship.
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Las Madres
By Esmeralda Santiago
Knopf (2023)
384 pages (pbk, kindle, audiobook)
Spanning two generations from 1975 Puerto Rico to the Bronx circa 2017, Esmeralda Santiago’s Las Madres is a sincere portrait of loss, belonging, faith, what mothers pass on to their daughters, and the enduring love of family. When a talented young Puerto Rican dancer named Luz sustains life-altering brain injuries and loses both parents in a devastating car wreck, she must fight to build friendships and overcome memory loss. Two young women, Ada and Shirley, come to her aid and help Luz heal from trauma, with the trio eventually being known as “las madres” by their loving children. Years later, Luz’s daughter Marysol joins her on a trip with “las madres” as well as Shirley’s daughter, Graciela, to Puerto Rico to help unearth Luz’s long-forgotten past. However, just as the women arrive, a hurricane traps them and leaves a devasted island in its wake. Full of vibrant prose and sensitive character portraits, what ensues is a spellbinding tale of dangerous storms, secrets, and a love that endures through both memory and time.
