In trying to put together this post for Latinx Heritage Month, I realized that I was rather limited in my choices. I think most of us go through a time when we look back on our reading list and notice that it isn’t as diverse as it should be. I’m certainly guilty of this. It’s depressing to think that in order to read books by Latinx authors, you almost have to intentionally think about it. We even sometimes trick ourselves into thinking that we are reading diversely sometimes — I think we all remember the American Dirt fiasco — although this issue can in part be attributed to the publishing industry. There’s another side effect — even though I didn’t have a particularly long list of Latinx titles to choose from, I still found it was rather easy to create this post of favorites. I think that’s because while the market is saturated with white authors of all levels of talent, only the best of the best Latinx writers make it to the top. And because of that, I hope next year I have some shitty and/or “meh” Latinx books to choose from, because in a weird way, I think that would be a victory.
I’m just going to leave things on that weird unfinished tangent. Below, I’ve picked out a few Latinx-authored books in different genres. I hope that with this variety, you’ll find a read that speaks to you.
Fiction
Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
Poetry
A Cup of Water Under My Bed by Daisy Hernández
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón
If you’ve read any of these or take up any of the recommendations here, be sure to let me know! That’s all for now — happy reading!
Love,
Some Clarifications y otros poemas by Javier O. Huerta
