15 Latinx Summer Reads to Beat the Boredom
It looks like we’re heading for more time at home during coronavirus, no matter how many states are reopening the economy
Photo: Epic Reads/YouTube
It looks like we’re heading for more time at home during coronavirus, no matter how many states are reopening the economy. The safest place to be for now is en casa, which means that you’ll need some great entertainment to keep you busy during the summer months.
The season is also the time for diving into a fabulous book, so naturally we are already lining up our favorite summer reads. These 15 selections we discovered are by Latinx authors, and revolve around Latinx themes, making your upcoming June, July, and August reading that much more special.
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Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acevedo
We instantly want to know about any new books Elizabeth Acevedo has written. Her latest is Clap When You Land, a novel-in-verse that focuses on two Dominican girls–Camino, and Yahira Rios–whose lives are totally changed when their father dies in a plane crash. It’s through this tragedy that the two are able to connect after years of secrets.
Available at harpercollins.com, $11.99
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The More or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care, by Anna Borges
If there is a time to read, and learn, about proper self-care it’s now. We need to take the extra time we are given to make sure we are healthy and happy mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Thankfully, there are a slew of helpful books on self-care, including Anna Borges’ The More or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care. In it, Borges separates things that will add to our life into a handy A-to-Z list.
Available at amazon.com, $10.77
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Untamed Shore, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Next on our list of essential summer reads is Untamed Shore, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. The suspense novel takes us back to 1979, in Baja California, where we meet 18-year-old Viridiana. Bored with her beachside existence, Viridiana gets the excitement she seeks when three rich American tourists arrive at Baja for the summer. When one ends up dead, everything goes from summer fun to spinning out of control.
Available at amazon.com, $25.99
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Subduction, by Kristen Millares Young
Subduction topped the New Release in Hispanic American Literature Amazon Kindle chart, so you know it’s a good read for summer. Kristen Millares Young’s book follows Claudia, a Latina anthropologist who escapes drama at home for Neah Bay, part of the Makah Reservation in Washington. Her life changes when she meets Peter, who is back at the reservation to help his mother, as well as to find answers about his father’s murder.
Available at amazon.com, $16.95
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The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext
Getting lost in some wonderful poetry is a great idea for summer. You can read some of the best Latinx poetry on Latinidad in the book LatiNext, which is edited by Felicia Chavez, José Olivarez, and Willie Perdomo.
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The Worst Best Man, by Mia Sosa
Would it be summer reading without some fab chic lit? Mia Sosa brings the romance in her latest book, the rom-com The Worst Best Man. In it, Carolina Santos is a wedding planner who is left at the altar. She learns that she has to do a work presentation that can lead to major success–with Max, who is the brother of her ex-fiance, and the one who convinced him to not go through with the wedding.
Available at target.com, $12.62
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Buddha Takes the Mound: Enlightenment in 9 Innings, by Donald Lopez Ph.D.
There is life advice everywhere if you only take the time to look. Donald Lopez took the sport of baseball and found in it a deeper level that will make you love it more, one that explores “winning and losing, about who we are, about finitude and infinitude, about birth and death.”
Available at amazon.com, $19.99
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A Taste of Sage, by Yaffa S. Santos
In A Taste of Sage, Lumi Santana is a Dominican chef who has to close her restaurant and decides to work for Julien Dax, a chef at a traditional French restaurant. The two do not get along. Lumi also has the gift of synesthesia; in her case she can feel the emotion of a person by tasting their food. When she finally decides to try chef Julien’s food, everything changes.
Available at harpercollins.com, $15.99
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Afterlife, by Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez is another Latinx author who, when she drops a new book, everyone pays attention. Her latest work is Afterlife, in which retired college English Professor Antonia Vega loses her husband. After that, her sister disappears, and then she finds an undocumented, pregnant teen on her doorstep. In Afterlife, Antonia learns how to live this new version of what she once knew.
Available at barnesandnoble.com, $23.95
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The Happy Ever After Playlist, by Abby Jimenez
The Happy Ever After Playlist is a book by Abby Jimenez that you should also add to your summer reading list. It follows Sloan Monroe, who is putting her life back together after losing her fiance. When she takes home a stray puppy, she has no idea it will change her life. It turns out Tucker belongs to musician Jason, and of course, a romance between Abby and Jason ensues.
Available at target.com, $12.79
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Postcolonial Love Poem, by Natalie Diaz
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9WvIBHgNem/
Another poetry book you have to add to your online cart is Natalie Diaz’s Postcolonial Love Poem. In it, she tackles love and life through an Indigenous and Latinx filter. It is described as “an anthem of desire against erasure.”
Available at amazon.com, $10.99
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With a Star in My Hand: Rubén Darío, Poetry Hero, by Margarita Engle
This cool book by Margarita Engle tells the story of Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario, who started the Modernismo movement, in the novel-in-verse form. It’s beautiful as it’s poetry telling the story of poetry, by one poet to another.
Available at amazon.com, $12.79
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Flying Free: My Victory Over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, by Cecilia Rodriguez Aragon
We weren’t and still aren’t, being taught all about Latinx history in school, and the heroes contained within. So, it’s important that we learn about it and share it. And read the narratives that have come out, like Cecilia Rodriguez Aragon’s account. She wrote Flying Free: My Victory Over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, about how she beat the odds to make history.
Available at amazon.com, $26.99
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Island Affair, by Priscilla Oliveras
Island Affair is just the tropical summer read you need to dive into while cozy en casa. Priscilla Olivera’s book is the first in the Keys to Love series and is about Sara Vance, a social media influencer who is recovering from an eating disorder. When her boyfriend leaves her hanging for a family vacation to Key West, she gets firefighter and dive captain Luis Navarro to pretend to be her fiance.
Available at amazon.com, $12.76
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Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Dropping on June 30, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic sounds just like the book you want to pick up and not put down until its final page. It follows Noemi Taboada, who gets a letter from her cousin, who just married, and who is asking for rescue. The lavish Noemi travels to High Place, where she walks right into mystery, secrets, and danger.
Available at amazon.com, $25.31
