To help celebrate National Latinx Heritage Month—which runs annually from September 15 to October 15— I have collected 20 books published this year by Latine authors.
Fiction
All the Mothers by Domenica Ruta
From New York Times bestselling author Domenica Ruta comes a “delightful and honest” novel about a single mom reimagining what the perfect family can look like.
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes Jr.
From the critically acclaimed author of There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, a piercing debut novel following two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war—a stunning exploration of the mechanisms of fate, the gravity of the past, and the endurance of love.
Genre: Literary Fiction
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.
Genre: Historical Fantasy; Gothic Fiction
Guatemalan Rhapsody: Stories by Jared Lemus
A vibrant debut story collection—poignant, unflinching, and immersive—masterfully moving between sharp wit and profound tenderness, Guatemalan Rhapsody offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of an ever-changing country, the people who claim it as home, and those who no longer do.
Genre: Short Stories; Literary Fiction
Loca by Alejandro Heredia
From Lambda Literary Award–winning author Alejandro Heredia comes a spellbinding debut about intersectionality, enduring friendship, and found family set at the turn of the millennium in 1999, following two Afro-Caribbean friends as they journey beyond the confined expectations of their home country in the Dominican Republic and begin new lives in New York City.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela
A whipsmart, blazingly funny novel about heartbreak, unconventional love, and the way society could be, from National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela.
Genre: Literary Fiction
My Train Leaves at Three by Natalie Guerrero
By a striking new voice in fiction, an electric coming-of-age novel that explores grief, family, sexuality, and love as an ambitious young woman from Washington Heights tries to make it on Broadway.
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn’t trust… from bestselling author Isabel Cañas.
Genre: Horror
Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan
Three women in one twisted family race for answers in this “stunning” mystery set in the Mexicali borderlands that “breathes new life into the myth of Persephone and Demeter” (Ana Reyes, author of The House in the Pines).
Genre: Thriller
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
The Shape of Water meets The Greatest Showman in this beautifully illustrated queer historical cozy fantasy, as a young Puerto Rican immigrant goes through a journey of love and self-discovery after capturing a merman for a Coney Island sideshow act in turn-of-the 20th century New York.
Genre: Fantasy
Witch You Would by Lia Amador
When a young witch gets a life-changing chance to compete in a magical reality show, sparks fly as she’s partnered with a man she can’t stand. Can they beat snobby rivals, fix spells gone wrong, and survive increasingly dangerous sabotage attempts to win the grand prize—and each other’s hearts?
Genre: Romance
Nonfiction
Alligator Tears: A Memoir in Stories by Edgar Gomez
A darkly comic memoir-in-essays about the scam of the American Dream and doing whatever it takes to survive in the Sunshine State—from the award-winning author of High-Risk Homosexual.
Genre: Memoir; Essays
The Asylum Seekers: A Chronicle of Life, Death, and Community at the Border by Cristina Rathbone
A remarkable, decimating work of reporting by award-winning journalist and priest Cristina Rathbone about asylum seekers trapped at a port of entry to the US: the trauma they carry, the community they create, and the faith they maintain.
Genre: Journalism; Politics & Society
The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math by Alix Dick & Antero Garcia
An undocumented activist and a social scientist come together to tally of the structural costs of undocumented life. As Alix and Antero tally the costs of undocumented life, they present a final bill of what is owed to the immigrant community. In this way, their book flips the traditional narrative about the economics of immigration on its head.
Genre: Memoir; Politics & Society
Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star by Tamara Yajia
A hilarious, moving memoir by Argentine-American comedian Tamara Yajia about growing up between two worlds. Featuring an unlikely combination of comedy and tragedy, generational struggle, and filthy sex jokes, Tamara Yajia’s debut memoir is the messy, blazing story of a young Argentine trying to survive while holding on to her confidence, ambition, and sense of humor.
Genre: Memoir
Detained by D. Esperanza & Gerardo Iván Morales
The first-ever memoir of a child’s experience in detention on the US/Mexico border under President Trump’s infamous family separation policy. Timely, powerful, and unforgettable, Detained brings the border crisis to vivid life.
Genre: Memoir
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color by Caro De Robertis
From the acclaimed novelist, a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of trans and gender nonconforming elders of color–from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens–who tell their own stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance.
Genre: Politics & Society; LGBTQIA+
Hello Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies by Manuel Betancourt
Witty and winkingly playful, Manuel Betancourt’s Hello Stranger explores modern queer romance and the expansive possibilities of ephemeral intimacies.
Genre: Politics & Society; LGBTQIA+
The Darién Gap: A Reporter’s Journey Through the Deadly Crossroads of the Americas by Belén Fernández
The narrow Darién Gap, the only land bridge connecting South and Central America, encompasses a spectacularly hostile jungle, covered in steep mountains, dense rainforests, and flood-prone marshes. Journalist Belén Fernández travels through the Darién Gap to report on the dehumanizing and deadly stretch of land that has become a mass graveyard for migrants. Engrossing and heartrending, The Darién Gap is a poignant and compassionate indictment of structural inequality and institutionalized inhumanity in a world where the have-nots must risk death for a chance at a better life–or any life at all.
Genre: Politics & Society; Travel
Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer’s Families and the Search for a Cure by Jennie Erin Smith
The riveting account of a community from the remote mountains of Colombia whose rare and fatal genetic mutation is unlocking the secrets of Alzheimer’s disease. Smith’s immersive storytelling brings this complex drama to life, inviting readers on a scientific journey that is as deeply moving as it is engrossing.
Genre: Science & Technology
