CATALINA today announced its launch of a national book club, featuring fiction and non-fiction books written by today’s most popular Latina authors. The CATALINA book club, hosted on the magazine’s web site http://www.CatalinaMagazine.com/book.htm, serves as an online forum devoted to Hispanic and non-Hispanic readers looking for the best Latina-authored books.

Not only will readers be able to discuss featured books with the magazine’s staff each month, the online book club will go one step further by allowing readers to discuss the featured books directly with the authors. So far, the CATALINA book club has recruited a group of about a dozen authors, including novelists Caridad Piñeiro, Mary Castillo, Lara Rios, and Berta Platas.

Membership to the book club is free, and also includes invitations to CATALINA magazine’s private events, featuring Latina authors, book signings and giveaways, sponsored by Volvo Cars of North America.

"We are very pleased to partner with Catalina magazine on this groundbreaking initiative. Volvo is a brand that is built on strong human and intellectual values. Partnering with Catalina magazine in one more way of showing the importance of the Hispanic consumer to Volvo," said John Maloney, Vice President of Communications, Volvo Cars of North America.

The online book club, which picks a different book at the first of each month, chose award-winning novelist Caridad Piñeiro’s book Danger Calls as its inaugural pick. Following the club’s format, Pinero is answering members’ questions, as they read, throughout the month of February.

"As an author, it’s exciting to be selected for the honor of being included in the CATALINA book club. I am really looking forward to seeing what other books they select for the future and reading them myself!" Piñeiro said, adding: "It’s wonderful that CATALINA is recognizing the need that Latinas have in finding books that appeal to them and show Latino culture in a positive light. I also know from my fan mail that non-Latinas love the opportunity to experience the same thing, especially since Latino culture is becoming so important in mainstream America."

The club’s March pick is The In Between Men (Avon Trade), by author Mary Castillo. Readers are encouraged to join the club, buy the book, and meet online in March to chat with fellow readers and the author herself. "There's nothing more exciting than hearing how my characters touch the lives of my readers. I can't wait to chat with everyone," Castillo said.

Readers interested in joining CATALINA book club can register by e-mailing the club’s moderator, CATALINA senior writer Rosa Calves, at rosa@catalinamagazine.com.

About CATALINA:

CATALINA, created "for the mind, body, and soul of today’s Latina," is the official publication of the National Association of Latina Leaders, a non-profit advocacy group promoting Latina equality in the private and public sector. Since 2001, CATALINA has connected with millions of Latinas online, in print, and through national events. For more information, visit http://www.CatalinaMagazine.com.

About Caridad Piñeiro:

Caridad Piñeiro is a multi-published author whose love of the written word developed when her fifth grade teacher assigned a project – to write a book that would be placed in a class lending library. She has been hooked on writing ever since. Caridad’s eleventh novel, Sex and the South Beach Chicas, will be published by Downtown Press in September 2006. Caridad is also the author of the successful vampire series The Calling from Harlequin. When Caridad is not writing, she is a mom, wife and the first Latina partner in a Manhattan Intellectual Property law firm.