“Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes and celebrates the contributions Americans tracing their roots to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South American and the Spanish-speaking nations of the Caribbean have made to American society and culture” – United States Census Bureau
Whether you are in the mood for quiet and thoughtful, tense and unnerving, heartfelt and sweet, or sincere and compelling, exciting reads by Hispanic American authors are yours for the taking. The contributions from writers of Hispanic descent are monumental, and one of the ways we are honoring Hispanic Heritage Month is to share suggestions that celebrate the authentic experience in great storytelling.
Check out a fresh list of contemporary reads for Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15) or browse a sample below. For information on national events and much more, visit the Library of Congress website.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
In the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence and the execution of her father, Beatriz accepts Don Rodolfo Solorzano’s proposal of marriage and is whisked away to his remote country estate where she is faced with a malevolent presence linked to his first wife’s death.
Gothic historical fiction
Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera
The Guerreros have lived in Nothar Park, a predominantly Dominican part of New York City, for twenty years. When demolition begins on a neighboring tenement, Eusebia devises an increasingly dangerous series of schemes to stop construction of the luxury condos. Meanwhile, Eusebia’s daughter, Luz, becomes distracted by a sweltering romance with the handsome white developer at the company her mother so vehemently opposes.
Melodrama
The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa
Crashing the wedding of complete strangers who don’t belong together, Solange agrees to be the former groom’s pretend girlfriend to make up for her interference, and as they fake date for the benefit of his colleagues, they form an undeniable connection.
Romantic comedy
What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy
Set in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, this novel is a reckoning of the heartbreaking trauma of disaster, and – at the same time – an unforgettable testimony to the tenacity of the human spirit.
Literary fiction
Tears of the Trufflepig by Fernando A. Flores
A surreal debut novel set on the Texas-Mexico border, blending magical realism, sci-fi, and political parable to tell the story of an everyday man’s tumble into a bizarre and sinister criminal underworld.
Magical realism
