5 Life-changing Books by Latino Authors that you Need to Read

The literary world can both help you find yourself or lose yourself in a story. Whether it's through the lens of Julia Alvarez or Gabriel García Márquez, there's always a magical world awaiting through the original words between Latin books.

You can't leave more inspiring words for yourself and others better than through a good book. So if you're looking for encouraging words between the pages of a good book, you're in luck.

Here are five life-changing pieces of Hispanic literature you can find on Amazon that you must read:

"How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

With the Garcia sisters from the Dominican Republic at the center of fifteen interconnected stories, this novel tells their arrival in New York City in 1960. It talks about immigration and Latin culture, just as it does family conflict and struggle.

It gives its readers a relatable and intimate look at the struggles with identity faced by immigrants.

It examines the globalization of English and how it affects non-English speakers who maintain a harmonious multicultural identity.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez

Published over fifty years ago, Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) became a classic read, garnering its author success and recognition as one of the greatest Spanish-language writers of all time.

It follows the story of the Buendia family, whose patriarch founded the town of Macondo, Colombia. It chronicles the conflict of wanting to be alone and the need for love.

At its time of publication, critics did not agree that its story was groundbreaking. But today, it is recognized as the "Bible of magical realism" and was dubbed by The Atlantic as a "classic".

"Don't Date Rosa Santos" by Nina Moreno

Debut author Nina Moreno may have written this book for teens but it still suits adult readers.

The protagonist, Rosa, comes from a family where women are cursed to lose their love at sea.

This Cuban-American novel mixes the ingredients of a regular rom-com with essential themes such as culture, family, grief, and loss. It wraps it up in a magical South Florida setting.

Don't Date Rosa Santos is perfect for fans of To All The Boys I've Loved Before and other stories that sweep you off your feet.

"Retablos: Stories from a Life Lived Along the Border" by Octavio Solis

This book paints a picture showing what life is really like on the Mexican border.

"Retablos" is composed of gorgeously written accounts of traumas, transformations, and moments that made Solis' childhood in the east side of El Paso.

It shows a glimpse of the experiences of the working class.

"Ordinary Girls: A Memoir" by Jaquira Diaz

This piece of Hispanic literature is a painful yet illuminating read.

Diaz displayed much courage when such exposed her family's history of violence, dysfunction, and substance abuse.

Diaz grew up in Puerto Rico's el Caserio Padre Rivera housing project, a place that she described to NPR as a neighborhood where outsiders didn't go. She grew up with a family that earned through a deadly trade.

As readers flip through the pages of the book that talks about her childhood, the memoir brings the promise of surviving even the most painful things.