It’s that time of year again – and we’re not talking about pumpkin spice latte season (although, that’s not bad, either). It’s Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM), when we celebrate the stories that push the plights and accomplishments of Latinos to the forefront of the national conversation. There are many ways of doing this – whether it’s through documentaries, infographics, or the occasional Google Doodle. But, by far, the best way to learn about and better understand unique stories in the Hispanic community, in my opinion, is by reading them, directly from Hispanic voices themselves. Here I've gathered up my top very-different books I think you should check out right now.
4 Books to Read This Hispanic Heritage Month
The following are the four very-different books that should be on your reading list, even beyond October 15, the last day of HHM. No matter the book, or books, you decide to get, each, in my humble opinion, is sure to cover a facet of the community that deserves to be examined. If you’re more interested in one genre over another, each of these authors will be sure to deliver. And if you find a book you fall in love with, then it’s almost guaranteed that there’s more where your favorite came from.
Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far-Right and What It Means for America by Paola Ramos
Defectors is the newest addition to this list, recently released by Paola Ramos, the daughter of longtime Latino advocate and journalist Jorge Ramos. A universal experience within the Latino community in the U.S. is healing from political traumas over generations. In Ramos’ dissection of the American right, she looks into why many Latinos often sway towards a side that – at first glance – may seem unfitting. Throughout the book, she follows different cases throughout the country of various conservative and extreme right-leaning candidates appealing to the Latino vote. From there begins a whirlwind discussion that helps to explain a phenomenon that has long been debated within the community.
Ramos is also the author of Finding LatinX: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity. In this read that serves as Ramos’ debut (and an honorable mention on this list!), she works to define some of the subcultures and movements that have often silently shaped what it means to be Latino – especially in different areas of American society.
Always Running by Luis F. Rodriguez
Luis F. Rodriguez's book has had an interesting history among California's youth. If someone were to see you reading Always Running in the right neighborhood, they might look at you with enquiring surprise. It’s even been known to be one of the most censored books from teens. Because of that, we should warn that it deals with some intense themes, as this story shared by Rodriguez is that of his own growing up in gang culture in eastern Los Angeles. But the Mexican-American author, who found his way out of this life with his love of writing, is now a steadfast advocate for urban realities within the Chicano community.
What gives the book another layer of sensitivity is when Rodriguez is confronted with his son also getting involved with gang culture, offering him a unique opportunity to break a self-destructive cycle in his barrio. While Always Running remains a controversial read, the book has certainly proven to be worth a glance.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
Of course, this wouldn’t be a true Hispanic Heritage Month book list if we didn’t include a classic book by a classic author. Gabriel Garcia Márquez, the Nobel Prize-winning Colombian author who passed away a little over a decade ago, has been lauded as one of the most influential authors not only out of Latin America, but of all time. Any book by Márquez is truly perfect to fit into this list, but One Hundred Years of Solitude has stood the test of time as the quintessential, must-read classic.
Márquez’s signature use of magical realism frames this book beautifully, following the generational story of the fictional Buendia family and their founding of a utopia called Macondo. Throughout the book, a war between two parties, based on the conservative and liberal parties of Colombia, breaks out – leaving the youngest generation of Buendias to save the fate of the town their family founded.
This book is ultimately what clinched Márquez his laureate – one of only four Latin Americans at the time – making it a testament to the strong creative writing he employs to take you away to another world. Plus, an adaptation of the book is set to premiere on Netflix in December, so if you’re looking to get ahead of it, feel free to give this book a chance.
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
In another book with beautifully written magical realism, author Xochitl Gonzalez takes readers away to another familiar setting, New York. Here, Olga Dies Dreaming follows the story of a Puerto Rican wedding planner in the city as her beloved island grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. She and her brother, a local congressman, are used to having to deal with the needs of wealthy New Yorkers often – but when their formerly absent mother returns after the devastating effects of the hurricane, and as Olga begins to fall in love with a man who asks her to confront her past, Gonzalez’s book becomes a narrative exploring political corruption and strained relationships. Gonzalez is a rising talent in her own way, releasing another novel called Anita de Monte Laughs Last earlier this year, but this book set in Brooklyn is what first put her on the map.
