Goodreads members have been reading books by Latino, Latina and Latinx authors all year long, according to Cybil Wallace, a senior editor at Goodreads. That includes Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s horror novel “Mexican Gothic” and “A Long Petal of the Sea” from beloved author Isabel Allende.
For our list of 15 of the most trending books from Latinx authors, Goodreads tallied up how many members mark a book “to read,” a book’s rating out of five stars and how many times a book is actually rated.
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Below, you’ll see popular books by Latinx authors that you might want to add to your own shelves. Most of them were published only a few months ago.
As always, you should check to see if your local independent bookstore has these titles in stock. To support local bookstores, we’re linking the books in our list to Bookshop. On Bookshop, you can choose between letting all the profits from your purchase go to a local bookstore of your choice or your order going into a collective fund that’s divided between independent bookstores. You can find all 15 books on Amazon, too.
Check out 15 of the most trending books on Goodreads by Latinx authors:
Her latest book, "A Long Petal of the Sea," follows Roser, a pregnant widow, and Victor Dalmau, the brother of her deceased lover, who flee Spain just before World War II breaks out and try to make a new home for themselves in Chile.
You can read more about Allende's newest novel on Goodreads and find it for $28 at Bookshop. It's also available on Amazon.
2
"Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Bookshop
This novel, set in 1950s Mexico, made it to our list of most-anticipated reads in June. In "Mexican Gothic," debutante Noemí Taboada goes to her newlywed cousin's countryside manor after receiving a mysterious letter from her. But her cousin's husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law are all hiding something, and Noemí finds herself doing some sleuthing.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $25 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
3
"You Had Me at Hola" by Alexis Daria
Amazon
"You Had Me at Hola" follows soap opera stars Jasmine Lin Rodriguez and Ashton Suárez. She just went through a public breakup, and he's worried about his career being over. While working on a new telenovela, sparks fly.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $15 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
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4
"Clap When You Land" by Elizabeth Acevedo
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"Clap When You Land" is a novel in verse, meaning it's told through poetry. The book is about two sisters, one who lives in New York City and the other who lives in the Dominican Republic, who find out that their dad has died in a plane crash. While apart from each other, Camino and Yahaira have to figure out their new world without him.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $17 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
5
"Hurricane Season" by Fernanda Melchor
Amazon
"Hurricane Season," which was originally published in 2017 (this translation was published in March), starts off with the discovery of a witch's corpse by a group of children. And the murder has everyone in a small Mexican village struggling to figure out how it happened.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $21 at Bookshop (you can preorder the paperback, too). It’s also available at Amazon.
6
"The Worst Best Man" by Mia Sosa
Amazon
Fans of rom-coms, you might want to check out "The Worst Best Man," which was published in February. The novel follows Carolina Santos, a wedding planner, who was left at the altar and now has to work with her almost brother-in-law — who actually encouraged Carolina's former fiancé to leave her at the altar.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $15 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
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7
"The Lost Book of Adana Moreau" by Michael Zapata
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"The Lost Book of Adana Moreau" takes place in 1920s New Orleans. Adana Moreau writes a science fiction novel that becomes popular once it is published. But as she's working on a sequel, she dies and supposedly destroys the only copy of the work in progress. But decades later, as Hurricane Katrina is about to hit the city, the manuscript is found once again by a stranger.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $25 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
8
"Children of the Land" by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Amazon
This memoir recounts how author Marcelo Hernandez Castillo grew up undocumented in California, including his father's deportation and a decade of being separated from his own wife and children as an adult.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $27 at Bookshop (you can preorder the paperback version, too). It’s also available at Amazon.
9
"The Undocumented Americans" by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Amazon
In "The Undocumented Americans," Karla Cornejo Villavicencio takes a trip across the country to talk to fellow undocumented immigrants about their stories.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $24 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
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10
"The Last Train to Key West" by Chanel Cleeton
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Published in June, "The Last Train to Key West" takes place in 1935, when one of the most powerful hurricane is about to hit the Florida Keys. It follows three women — Helen Berner, Elizabeth Preston and Mirta Perez — who have to navigate their own troubles along with the hurricane coming their way.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $15 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
11
"Little Eyes" by Samanta Schweblin
Bookshop
In Samanta Schweblin's new novel, people can own stuffed animals called "kentukis" — which have cameras for eyes, wheels for feet and are connected to a global server — that can let them "voyeuristically spend time in someone else's life." We're creeped out already.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $24 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
12
"Spirit Run" by Noé Álvarez
Bookshop
In this debut memoir, Noé Álvarez, the son of Mexican immigrants, runs in a Native American marathon from Canada to Guatemala, trying to figure out who he is during his travels.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $24 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
In "Afterlife," writer Antonia Vega has to deal with her retirement, the death of her husband and disappearance of her sister. And while dealing with everything going on, she finds a pregnant, undocumented teenager at a doorstep.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $24 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
14
"Tender Is the Flesh" by Augustina Bazterrica
Amazon
In the world of "Tender Is the Flesh," human meat is now legal to eat. The story follows Marcos, who works at slaughtering this new meat, as he becomes doubtful about what he does for a living.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $15 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
15
"The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez" by Rudy Ruiz
Bookshop
In "The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez," Fulgencio Ramirez and Carolina Mendelssohn fall in love in the 1950s. Their love is broken apart because they come from different backgrounds — Fulgencio is the son of immigrants and Carolina is the daughter of the local pharmacist. But 30 years later, Fulgencio finds out that Carolina's husband has died.
You can read more about this book on Goodreads and find it for $26 at Bookshop. It’s also available at Amazon.
