My letter “Q” pick for this year’s A to Z Book Challenge was Querencia: Reflections on the New Mexico Homeland, edited by by Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, Levi Romero, and Spencer R. Herrera. Querencia is defined as homesickness or nostalgia for a place where you are free to be your true self, and as I was born and mostly raised in New Mexico, this book was like a warm sopapilla (with honey – none of that powdered sugar nonsense) and a cup of cocoa.

This collection of stories based around the Querencia theme come from Chicano, Indigenous, and Genizaro authors and is an exploration of the culture, history, literature, and media of New Mexico. I really enjoyed the individual viewpoints and learned a few things about varying cultures I hadn’t explored in depth before. All the contributors stressed the unity and community of under-represented people and cultures and gave their own unique view of what New Mexico living is and has been within those communities.

This was an engaging read, but a couple of the essays strayed into a list of aired grievances rather than discussion, which led me to a rating of four stars.