10 Books To Read During Hispanic Heritage Month

The past several years have given rise to some of the brightest Hispanic voices in literature. From romance to dystopia to literary fiction, there are books in every genre to dive into.

Literary fiction readers have especially good selections. If you read and loved Pulitzer Prize finalist Xochitl Gonzalez’s recent Great Gatsby re-telling Last Night in Brooklyn, don’t miss her debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming — a witty and honest look at family dynamics and the wealth gap in New York City. Agustina Bazterrica’s speculative novel Tender Is the Flesh is a dark look into the systemic cruelty and factory farming.

Several novels star LGBTQ+ protagonists. Santiago Jose Sanchez’s debut, Hombrecito, traces the life of a young queer man navigating his identity alongside his familial relationships. Cynthia Gómez’s sapphic speculative horror Muñeca explores curses and dark magic alongside class and generational trauma.

From tender family sagas to coming-of-age tales, here are 10 books to enjoy during Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond.

Oyé by Melissa Mogollon

As a huge hurricane threatens to hit Miami, an eccentric grandmother refuses to evacuate and instead moves into her granddaughter Luciana’s bedroom. A high school senior, Luciana would normally be spending her days with friends and skating, but Abue’s sudden medical diagnosis turns Luciana into a caretaker, struggling to meet her grandmother’s every demand. Told as a series of phone calls from Luciana to her absent sister, this coming-of-age tale traces the family’s unbreakable bond.

Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez

In this series of essays, poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer Erika L. Sánchez chronicles growing up as a self-described disappointment as the child of Mexican immigrants in Chicago. Covering everything from mental health to bodily autonomy to comedy to white feminism, Sanchez explores her inner life and the world around her with insight, honesty, and laugh-out-loud humor.

Mutual Discord by Liana De la Rosa

Sick of watching male co-workers take credit for her achievements, Sofia Mendoza has quit her corporate job to devote herself to her anonymous online persona celebrating women who have been erased from history. The only problem? None of her family and friends know she’s left. When she strikes up a friendship with one of her followers, their chemistry threatens to upend the life she’s worked to build.

Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez

In Oakland in 1968, Violeta Miramontes, heir to a colonial Spanish fortune, has been paralyzed by a mysterious illness. Working-class witch Nati Fuentes, however, is convinced dark magic is at play. Nati becomes Violeta’s caretaker and soon learns that she’s correct. As romance begins to blossom between the pair, the two must discover who cursed Violeta and why.

Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera

The Guerreros are longtime residents of Nothar Park, a (fictional) largely Dominican area in New York City. Now, after 20 years in the area, developers are threatening the fiber of their community. Eusebia, the family matriarch and a staple of the neighborhood, plots to sabotage the plans for new luxury buildings. Meanwhile, her daughter Luz, a top law associate, finds herself romantically involved with one of the very developers her mother despises. As their neighborhood changes before their eyes, the pair’s disagreements come to a dramatic head.

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Set in a dystopian world where a virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans, Marcos makes his living slaughtering human livestock on his farm. When a new specimen of a rare variety makes its way into his hands, however, he breaks one of the society’s most serious rules: making personal contact.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

Olga, a high-end wedding planner, is struggling to find love in her own life. Her brother Prieto is a congressman representing their Brooklyn neighborhood, which is besieged by gentrification. Their mother, Blanca, a radical, had left years ago to fight for a militant political cause. But when a hurricane brings Blanca back into their orbits, their lives are forever changed.

Hombrecito by Santiago Jose Sanchez

Santiago Jose Sanchez’s coming-of-age debut follows a young boy (also named Santiago) as he and his mother leave his father behind in Colombia to move to Miami. In their new home, his mother grows distant and their relationship becomes more fraught. Years later, when Santiago is an adult haunted by feelings of loss, his mother invites him on a trip back to their homeland, where he tries to make peace with their past.

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

The novel opens with 15-year-old Talia as she escapes a correctional facility in the mountains of Colombia. She’s trying to reach her father in Bogotá, who is waiting with a fateful plane ticket to the United States that will reunite her family. Weaving between the present day and the past when her parents Mauro and Elena were teenagers, Engel paints a picture of how a family fragmented across worlds.

Galápagos by Fátima Vélez

Bogotá-based painter Lorenzo was spending his life watching old movies in his partner’s bed when his fingernails began to fall off due to an unspeakable illness. Confronted with his own mortality, Lorenzo sets off on a journey to tie up the loose ends in his life, which ultimately culminates in a boat ride with a group of other bohemian artists afflicted by the same disease. As they sail and eat and love, the group enjoys what will be their last days.