Category: Books

Blogging, Books, Writing

Embracing Change: My Journey to Substack

Mona Alvarado Frazier

While I haven’t left WordPress, I no longer blog here, but I send a monthly newsletter on Substack.

Here’s the link to subscribe: Mona’s Substack. I’d love for you to join me there. It’s free to subscribe.

Why the change? I encountered some issues with Mailchimp distributing my monthly newsletter, and Substack makes it easier to connect directly with you.

My intention on Substack:

Where life’s challenges meet creativity and culture. A space for encouragement and finding beauty in every chapter.

Recent posts on my Substack have explored the joy of traditions. One example is “Tamale Making Time: It’s That Time of Year.” They also delve into the challenges we all face, as seen in “Balancing Creativity with Responsibility: Acknowledge the Struggle.”

I also explore the power of community in Thankful for the Power of Community: Family, Readers, Writers and finding resilience in Finding Strength in Every Step: Moving Forward.

Thank you for being a part of my journey. I’m grateful for your support and our shared love of creativity and connection.

Looks like my newly adopted cat, Selena.

Happy New Year!

Book Review, Books, poetry

Summer Reads and Snacks: Book Recommendations with a Twist

Mona Alvarado Frazier

In my June Substack Post, I had fun matching summer reads to food and beverages. Although summer is half over, reading and snacking are not.

I recently finished two more books and recommend you borrow or buy them and take a read. (scroll to bottom)

Mona’s Substack

Two additional books:

If you’re a poetry fan, especially vivid poems that tell a story, then Richard Blanco’s HOMELAND OF MY BODY is a book you’ll love. The 117 poems focus on he and his mother’s homeland, identity, and the body. If I paired this with a beverage it would have to be non-alcoholic (water) because I’d be drunk and crying halfway through the book. Instead I’d have pieces of Ferrero Rocher chocolates to accompany the richness of the poems.

You know when a book is just so good you don’t want it to end? That’s how I felt about THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters. An indigenous family (Canada, Mi’kmaq) travel to Maine every year to harvest blueberries. Their four-year old daughter, Ruthie, goes missing from the fields, setting off a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors. In alternating chapters we hear from Ruthie and Joe, her brother, who was the last to see her. Pair this with iced tea and chocolate covered blueberries. But drink and eat slowly because you’ll read long into the night.

Subscribe to my Substack, Wanderlust and Words, for monthly posts that include writing, book publishing, and travel. You can also find me on Instagram.

If you’ve read a great story, pass it along in the comments and thank you for being here.