Hispanic Heritage Month 2025 Reading List

Hispanic Heritage Month starts today!  This one was tough to pare down, I tried to get not only a range of themes and types of books, but also a range in every other sense.  Some of these were written in English, some were translated from Spanish.  Some are classics of the genre, others are modern works dealing with issues like ICE in the United States.  I'm looking forward to this month, hope I learn something

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"Tender is the Flesh" by Agustina Bazterrica (trans. Sarah Moss), 2017 (2020)

I know, I know, everyone has read this one except for me.  I'm on it!  Visceral horror and terrible dystopia, really I should have read this long long ago

"The Savage Detectives" by Roberto Bolaño (trans. Natasha Wimmer), 1998 (2007)

A modern classic (let . . . let me pretend that 1998 still counts as "modern".  Please.  Let me have this), one that's been near the top of my to-read for ages.  A book about the beautify of Latin American literature, I'm happy to cross it off my list

"Meddling Kids" by Edgar Cantero, 2017

A tongue-in-cheek "horror-comedy", and yes the title is the obvious reference.  Or maybe it's a gritty reboot, in that a group of childhood sleuths, now grown up, reunite to revisit a case they thought they'd settled . . .

"Our Share of the Night" by Mariana Enriquez (trans. Megan McDowell), 2017 (2023)

Whatever it is, Latin authors just crush the supernatural horror genre.  This is supposed to be one of the best, I can't wait

"The Death of Artemio Cruz" by Carlos Fuentes (trans. Alfred MacAdam), 1962 (1991)
, 
Another classic I need to read (there are too many Fuentes novels I haven't read, but this one is particularly egregious), about a gangster on his deathbed looking back on his life.  Very, very up my alley

"A Cruel Thirst" by Angela Montoya, 2024

I'm gonna be honestly, I don't know if this book has any Hispanic or Latin themes.  It's just supposed to be a really fucking good vampire novel, recommend by a friend whose opinion I trust.  So yup.  I'm down

"Her Body and Other Parties" by Carmen Maria Machado, 2017

Another fantastically lauded book that I've been meaning to read for ages, this is a genre-bender with scifi, horror, folklore, and other elements together to tell stories from Latin, feminist, and queer perspectives.  Yes, give me all of that

"There is a Rio Grande in Heaven" by Ruben Reyes Jr., 2024

A collection of stories by a Salvadorean immigrant, exploring identity and heritage.  Immediately got on my radar when it was published, making time to read it this month

"Daytripper" by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, 2010 (graphic novel)

Considered to be a modern masterpiece of the medium, a simple graphic novel following one man on each of the most important days of his lives

"Unearthed:  A Jessica Cruz Story" by Lilliam Rivera, 2021 (comic)

A very modern retelling of Jessica Cruz's story, set in contemporary America.  As in, it's basically Green Lantern vs. ICE.  Very excited to see how that plays out

"Prime Meridian" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, 2017 (novella)

Man, Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes a lot.  I'm slowly working my way through her back catalog, and it seems like she writes faster than I can read them.  This one looks great, about a young girl stuck in Mexico City, with dreams of going to Mars . . .

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Anyways, should be a great month.  As always, feel free to read along on any of these and let me know if you want to talk about them!

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