Bookstagrammers to follow for Latinx Heritage Month

Latinx Heritage Month runs Sept. 15-Oct. 15, and there are so many wonderful bookstagrammers who represent the different facets of Latinx identity. We put together a list of people to follow, and asked them to recommend a book that means something to them.

1. Vero (@readingvero) recommends: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. “It shows the Dominican Republic and its culture in a beautiful way. It’s a beautiful story about love and sisterhood that readers of all ages can enjoy.”
2. Candace (@ace.of.pages) recommends Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester. “Told in dual timelines, it covers everything from immigration, family, marriage, and there’s even a bit of mystery and magical realism. Even though I read it two years ago, it’s a book I pick up and read passages from to this day.”
3. Angie (@angiesreading) recommends: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone “because I haven’t been able to shut up about it since I read it back when the pandemic first started. Following the lives of two badass agents on opposing sides of a time war, this story is told in the form of letters. It’s witty, romantic, and full of suspense (and time travel!) — I couldn’t help but inhale it in one sitting!”
4. Melissa Veras (@melissaverasreads) recommends: The Murmur of the Bees by Sofía Segovia. “This is a beautiful and heartbreaking story about a child that is found abandoned covered in bees, and the family that takes him in. Set in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution and the influenza of 1918.”
5. Andrea (@pagecactus) recommends: Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika and Maritza Moulite. “Told in an epistolary format, this book explores the sometimes complicated relationships between not only mothers and their daughters but homelands and their people in the diaspora.” 
6. Marian (@marianp.readsavidly) recommends: “Tomas Rivera’s classic Chicanx novella Y No Se Trago La Tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. The book is composed of short, semi-autobiographical chapters that recount the challenges faced by the young male protagonist in the 1940s who works as a migrant laborer.  Rivera was the product of migrant labor and he became a university professor and chancellor of UC Riverside, the first Chicanx to do so.The book is meaningful to me because my dad also worked in his youth as part of a migrant labor family and likewise became an educator and the first in his family to graduate from college. Rivera’s words are meaningful as they reflect the young boy’s determination: “All he told her was that the earth did not devour anyone, nor did the sun…‘Not yet, you can’t swallow me up yet.’” 
7. Jessica (@armyofwords) recommends The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero. “A completely engrossing novel about an undocumented Peruvian immigrant in New York trying to survive circumstances and the people around her. It often felt like several swift punches to the gut to witness her journey, and yet I could not look away.”
8. Ana (@readingwithana) recommends Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. “This collection of short stories highlights the lives of various Latinx women of indigenous descent growing up in Colorado. Each story tackles issues such as motherhood, sisterhood, and generational trauma that many readers will be able to see themselves in the characters. Not to mention, Kali’s writing is breathtaking!”
9. Lauren (@bylaurencapellan) recommends Let It Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz. “A lesser known book by Angie Cruz on bookstagram but definitely worth checking out. Let It Rain Coffee covers so much about Dominican culture, history, and identity politics while in the homeland and in the United States.”
10. Lupita (@lupita.reads) recommends Fiebre Tropical by Juliana Delgado Lopera. “Unapologetically written in Spanglish, this novel is an ode to all of us bilingual children often forced to choose one language to dominate over the other. It’s an immigrant queer coming of age story of Francisca finding herself within the tangles of her fractured uber-religious family.  One of my favorite books of this year.” 
11. Kas (@kasandbooks) recommends With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. “I usually read thrillers but the book I really love right now is With The Fire On High. Personally it was extremely relatable and it touched up on important topics. I truly enjoyed how Acevedo captured the Puerto Rican and Philadelphian culture. I highly recommend this book.”
12. Jessica (@bohobookish) recommends Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz. “Díaz’s poignant memoir reflects on her early life in Puerto Rico to her Miami Beach upbringing, all while dealing with an abusive mother, neglectful father, drugs, violence, and depression. Díaz struggled in life and she unfolds each moment on the pages and shows resiliency that inspires readers.”
13. Emma (@bookish.em) recommends Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. “I was captivated by the cover and the book held my attention the entire way through. It was a new genre for me but I was so charmed by how beautifully (and authentically) culture and tradition were woven into the fantasy.”
14. Marissa (@allegedlymari) recommends Paola Santiago and The River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia. “I don’t read a lot of middle grade stories, but this book has me wanting to read all of them now. Reading about La llorona, el chupacabras, and other mythical monsters I myself grew up hearing about felt like a warm cup of champurrado.”
15. Mariana (@latinasleyendo) recommends The Book of Emma Reyes by Emma Reyes. “It is a Latin American classic and a lyrical portrait of an artist who conquers illiteracy, abandonment, and poverty and comes into her own as an artist and author. It is a powerful and underrated story and a must read for anyone looking for Latin American works in translation.”
16. Neycha (@thesweetheartreader) also recommends Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. “It’s dark, suspenseful, and atmospheric and introduced me to one of my new favorite literary heroines!”
17. Alejandra (@libros.con.coffee) recommends Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa. “This is my forever recommendation, especially to young Latinas! Using narrative, mythology, history, and poetry, Anzaldúa explores inhabiting intersecting identities and dualities—being Chicana, colonizer and colonized, indigenous and conqueror, being queer, speaking Spanglish, growing up on the border. It’s a groundbreaking classic that’s equally relevant today as it was nearly 35 years ago when it was written!”
18. Debbie (@debbiesbooknook) recommends The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. “Every time I read or hear it, it evokes many emotions and memories of my childhood and (very) Dominican upbringing. Acevedo is a master of words and I am in awe of how her writing profoundly touches my soul. I’m grateful her books will be around for generations to come!”
19. Nina (@literary.latina) recommends Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. “The author tackles all kinds of important issues through Juliet’s experiences as a queer Puerto Rican woman coming to an understanding of herself and feminism. Each time I read Juliet, she is less of a character in a book and more of a real friend that I feel like I know deeply.”
20. Andrea (@nastymuchachitareads) recommends Knitting the Fog by Claudia D. Hernández. “It is a bilingual memoir of poetry and prose by a Guatemalan writer recounting her childhood in her beloved homeland before migrating to the United States with her mother and sisters. I loved reading about her upbringing in Mayuelas and Tactic, where the setting is so central to the narrative; the generations of dynamic women who raised her; and her resettlement in Los Angeles.”
21. Karen (@idleutopia_reads) recommends Peel My Love like an Onion by Ana Castillo. “It gave me my reflection. I remember reading this book and feeling so grateful that it existed. It felt like finding a little crook that fit perfectly and ensconced your thoughts, fears and doubts in a comforting way that made you feel safe.”

And of course I have some extra recommendations of books I’ve read and loved recently from Latinx authors if you’re still looking for more books! (Who isn’t?) 

1. Running by Natalia Sylvester: Mari has no interest in politics, but her father’s running for president. She finds her voice and is forced to reckon with her father’s policies.
2. American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera: Nesto is giving his Afro-Caribbean food truck business one final shot when he meets Jude, a quiet librarian, and sparks fly.
3. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz: This is a YA book with as much emotional richness as any adult story. It’s about the early blossoming of a relationship between two loners.
4. The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio: A stunningly intimate look at the lived of undocumented immigrants. The author is one of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard and incorporates pieces of her story into the narrative.
5. Movies (and Other Things) by Shea Serrano, illustrated by Arturo Torres: One of my favorite people to follow on Twitter, Shea Serrano continues his “(and Other Things)” series by exploring the most random aspects of some great movies.

Ellen Zielinski Whitfield

Ellen Whitfield is senior publicist at Books Forward, an author publicity and book marketing firm committed to promoting voices from a diverse variety of communities. From book reviews and author events, to social media and digital marketing, we help authors find success and connect with readers. 

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