Must-Read Books by Latino Authors This 2020
With a fresh start comes the promise of a fresh crop of fantastic books by Latino authors for you to add on your reading list this 2020. Thanks to publisher schedules, you could be updated of their release dates in the first half of the year at the tip of your fingertips. Indeed, 2020 is promising year for Latino and Latin American writers.
Here are seven books by Latino and Latin American authors to add to your 2020 reading list, according to Remezcla:
1. "Shadowshaper: Legacy" by Daniel José Older (JANUARY)
Fiction author Daniel Jose Older has recently announced on Twitter the completion of his urban fantasy trilogy, "Shadowshaper," last week. The first two books in the series revolve around the issues of gentrification and police violence against Black communities in Brooklyn, New York. The third book, Legacy, continues the journey of protagonist Sierra in finding out how to use her powers for good and keep her family safe. At the same time, it delves deeper into shadowshaper lore. For Shadowshaper avid readers, this is a great way to start your year but if you haven't read the rest of the Shadowshaper books, you can spend the early months of 2020 exploring Older's works.
The third installment to Shadowshaper is now available on Amazon.
2. "Hurricane Season" by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes (MARCH)
If you love reading dark tales, add this book to your reading list. "Hurricane Season" is the first book by acclaimed Mexican author Fernanda Melchor that has been translated into English. It revolves around the controversies surrounding the discovery of the Witch's body, whose death becomes a catalyst for gossip, speculation and personal narratives, from different villagers, each touching on the Witch's life. This book explores topics such as femicide and living in a community left behind by global capitalism touching on magical themes as well as Mexican superstitions such as "malas vibras."
3. "Postcolonial Love Poem" by Natalie Diaz (MARCH)
The title of Postcolonial Love Poem speaks what the book is all about: it is a book of poems about love, desire and longing. But it is so much more. From the perspective of an Indigenous Latina, know what it means to desire when so much of history has been bent on the destruction of love. The poems also give a creative insight what it is like when we hold other bodies - bodies of water, bodies of mountains, forests and animals - as dear as our own. Postcolonial Love Poem is an ode to existence and against erasure.
4. "Spirit Run" by Noé Álvarez (MARCH)
Author Noé Álvarez, a son of Mexican immigrants has he found the sense of belonging he had lacked in his time as a first-generation college student when he learned about Peace and Dignity Journeys. His participation in the 6,000-mile journey through lands that were once Indigenous is accounted in Spirit Run. It includes narratives of others who walked with him, all of them confronting legacies of loss and dispossession while exploring the American landscape.
5. "Afterlife" by Julia Alvarez (APRIL)
After a nearly 15-year break between adult novels, Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez is finally back. The How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies author returns this year with another beautiful addition to her best-selling adult novels. Afterlife revolves around the life of a recently-widowed literature professor who meets an undocumented girl and, in her grief, must answer the question: What do we owe each other?
6. "Thresholds" by Laura Mimosa Montes (MAY)
Poet Laura Mimosa Montes comes from the Bronx, New York and this location set in the '70s and '80s is the background of her poems in Thresholds. The author questions her own role as a bridge between the potential vibrant and artistic future of her neighborhood with the themes on gentrification, loss and a wild hope.
7. "Running" by Natalia Sylvester (MAY)
It's a breath of fresh air for adult fiction writer Natalia Sylvester as she releases her first entry in young adult literature. The Latin American author is mostly known for her two adult books, Chasing the Sun and Everybody Knows You Go Home. Running focuses on Mari, the 15-year-old daughter of a presidential candidate, dealing with all the press, tabloids and attention to her family which proves to be challenging. The story takes a turn when Mari realizes that her father's politics and political career are not what they seem and she is forced to decide to act against her father's agenda use her voice while she is basked in the national spotlight.
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