Despite my Francophile leanings, I'll be downing tamales, enchiladas or a big-fat Chipotle burrito today to mark the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Some folks think May 5th marks Mexico's Independence Day, but it actually celebrates the Battala de Puebla in 1862, when Mexican forces defeated the French. Napoleon III's troops had invaded because the Mexican government was delaying debt payments, and though his army eventually was victorious, the battle at Puebla became a symbol of Mexico's stand agains foreign imperialism.
If you're curious (like me) about what's on the best-seller list in Mexico, you might be surprised to find Dan Brown's "El simbolo perdido" (The Lost Symbol), Bernhard Schlink's "El lector" (The Reader) and Orhan Pamuk's "El museo de la inocencia" (The Museum of Innocence). But #1 in fiction is Francisco Martin Moreno's "Arrebatos carnales," which is alternately translated as Fleshly Outbursts by Google and Sexual Fits by Yahoo! Sounds intriguing.