September 15th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month.  Here in the United States, we take this time to celebrate the many contributions that the Hispanic community has made and continues to make in our society.  This list of books explores different aspects of the Hispanic and Latinx experience. Whether you’re looking for a good read or want to learn more about our neighbors to the south, these books will surely hit the spot.  Happy reading!

Velorio by Xavier Navarro Aquino

Set in the wake of Hurricane Maria, Xavier Navarro Aquino’s unforgettable debut novel follows a remarkable group of survivors searching for hope on an island torn apart by both natural disaster and human violence.

Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala, Translated by Anna Kushner

From the author of the award-winning The Black Cathedral, a darkly magical tale of a haunted young dreamer, born in the wrong body and time, who believes himself to be a doomed prophetess from ancient Greek mythology.

Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra, Translated by Megan McDowell

The internationally acclaimed author, heralded as one of the most important writers of his generation, returns with the most substantial work of his career: an emotionally captivating, very funny novel about fathers and sons, ambition and failure, and the many forms of family.

More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez

An evocative drama about a woman who’s caught leading a double life after one husband murders the other, and the true-crime writer who becomes obsessed with telling her story—this masterful work of literary suspense marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

The Girls in Queens by Christine Kandic Torres

A writer brimming with talent makes her exciting literary debut with a tale of two Latinx women coming of age in Queens, New York, an emotionally resonant novel infused with the insight, power, and poignancy of Angie Cruz’s Dominicana, Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn, and Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots­, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria

Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera

An exhilarating debut novel following members of a Dominican family in New York City who take radically different paths when faced with encroaching gentrification.

After the Hurricane by Leah Franqui

Reminiscent of Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt, Leah Franqui brings us an engrossing, deeply personal novel with a mystery at its heart as a daughter returns to Puerto Rico to search for her troubled father, who has gone missing after Hurricane Maria.

High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez

This witty memoir traces a touching and often hilarious spiralic path to embracing a gay, Latinx identity against a culture of machismo—from a cockfighting ring in Nicaragua to cities across the U.S.—and the bath houses, night clubs, and drag queens who help redefine pride.

Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sánchez

From the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, an utterly original memoir-in-essays that is as deeply moving as it is hilarious

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

From the author of the critically acclaimed novel Fruit of the Drunken Tree, comes a dazzling, kaleidoscopic memoir reclaiming her family’s otherworldly legacy.

Illegally Yours by Rafael Agustin

For fans of Fresh Off the Boat, a funny and poignant memoir about how as a teenager, TV writer Rafael Agustin (Jane the Virgin) accidentally discovered he was undocumented and how that revelation turned everything he thought he knew about himself and his family upside down.

Solito by Javier Zamora

A young poet tells the unforgettable story of his harrowing migration from El Salvador to the United States at the age of nine in this moving, page-turning memoir hailed as “the mythic journey of our era” (Sandra Cisneros)

A Woman of Endurance by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa

Combining the haunting power of Toni Morrison’s Beloved with the evocative atmosphere of Phillippa Gregory’s A Respectable Trade, Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s groundbreaking novel illuminates a little discussed aspect of history—the Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade—witnessed through the experiences of Pola, an African captive used as a breeder to bear more slaves.

Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton

When Isabel Perez travels to Barcelona to save her sister Beatriz, she discovers a shocking family secret in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton’s new novel.

The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa

The USA Today bestselling author of The Worst Best Man is back with another hilarious #ownvoices rom-com about two strangers who get trapped in a lie and have to fake date their way out of it…

A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” but make it Latinx when a Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American whiskey distiller are blackmailed into a fake relationship by their scheming octogenarian grandfathers.

Twice a Quinceañera by Yamile Saied Méndez

Instead of losing the deposit on her wedding venue, a jilted bride decides to throw herself a quinceañera (times two) for her 30th birthday in this effervescent rom-com from Yamile Saied Méndez, the acclaimed author of the Reese Witherspoon YA Book Club Pick FURIA. For fans of Never Been Kissed, 13 Going on 30, and The Wedding Singer…con azucar y amor.

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

A Latinx, queer retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, set in the early days of the Trump presidency, in which a queer, biracial young woman must untangle her complicated relationship with the scion of a wealthy, white dynasty, in what becomes a complex and nuanced rumination on race, colorism, class, sexuality, and privilege.

Mi Cocina : Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico by Rick Martinez

An enticing, regional, and stunning exploration of Mexican cuisine from beloved food writer and host of the Babish Culinary Universe show “Pruébalo” on YouTube and Food52’s “Sweet Heat” series, Rick Martinez.

Have you read any books from this list?  What are your favorite books by Hispanic and Latinx authors?  What books would you add to the list?