LATINO BOOK REVIEW
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Fiction

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Putinoika | Giannina Braschi
The study of literary works will never be exhaustive enough. There will always be some superficial first readings and other deeper ones that can rediscover certain secret nooks. This would be the case of Putinoika, a formidable book by Giannina Braschi that requires Continue reading... 11/30/24​


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My Chicano Heart | Daniel A. Olivas
​My Chicano Heart by Daniel A. Olivas is a captivating collection of stories that explores love in its many forms—romantic, familial, and self-reflective—through the lens of Chicano culture. The collection, part of The New Oeste Series
, offers a variety of narratives Continue reading... 10/05/24

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Candlelight Bridge | Cara Lopez Lee
In this stirring family saga set primarily in El Paso during the early 20th century, a multicultural family overcomes prejudice and adversity, but still struggles to remain intact. At the novel's onset, Candelaria Rivera is a young girl and her family is leaving their hometown Continue reading... 7/17/24​


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¡Cabrón! | Ena Columbié
We could say the stories by Ena Columbié that make up the collection "Cabrón" (Ediciones Furtivas, 2023) are transgressive, but the word has been used and misused so much that it has lost its punch. Let’s say instead that they are cabrones, like their title, in the Continue reading... 4/19/24


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Chicano Frankenstein | Daniel A. Olivas
Daniel A. Olivas's Chicano Frankenstein is a compelling and multifaceted narrative that boldly stitches together elements of political satire, science fiction, and existential exploration. Set in a near-future Pasadena, the novel reanimates Mary Shelley’s iconic creature Continue reading... 3/23/24​


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Tus pequeñas huellas | Oswaldo Estrada
What does it mean to be a migrant today, when migration can be considered a continuum that runs through our lives and is no longer represented by phenomena delimited in space and time? How do we survive uncertainty, without shelter, without a user manual? Continue reading... 11/18/23
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Loverbar by Lizbette Ocassio Russe book review
Loverbar | Lizbette Ocassio-Russe
​After a category 4 hurricane devastates her country, the first requisite of Graci, the focal character who stiches together a series of short stories set in Puerto Rico’s cuir
 community, is to stay put and rebuild. The second is to “know when to ask for help and accept it.” Continue reading... 5/20/23
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Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo book review
Children of Chicago | Cynthia Pelayo
In 
Children of Chicago (2021), acclaimed gothic and horror author Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo creates a new urban legend along the lines of Bloody Mary and the Candyman.  Repeat a nursey rhyme in a darkened room and he – the Pied Piper – will appear to fulfill your Continue reading... 11/18/22
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The other side of the river by Alda P. Dobbs book review
The Other Side of the River | Alda P. Dobbs
The Mexican refugee character that readers met in 
Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna (2021) is back, but this time she is on the other side—the United States’ side—of the border. In The Other Side of the River
, the second middle-age grade historical novel written by Alda Dobbs, Continue reading... 9/25/22
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Enviado Especial by Hernan Vera Alvarez book review
Enviado Especial | Hernán Vera Álvarez (Editor)
Es la mirada ajena, perspicaz, crítica y a veces indiscreta, lo que ofrece la antología Enviado especial (Suburbano Ediciones, 2022) editada por Hernán Vera Álvarez. ¿Cómo ven a los cubanos estos veinte autores de España y de Latinoamérica? El espejo que son los otros refleja Continue reading... 7/3/22
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Campus book review
Campus | Antonio Díaz Oliva
Campus, the latest novel by Antonio Díaz Oliva (ADO), is a dark, tragicomic satire of the power dynamics among Latin American academics fighting for a permanent position in Spanish departments at US universities. The novel is inhabited by a wide array of characters Continue reading... 6/9/22
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PictureI'm not hungry but I could eat book review
I'm Not Hungry But I Could Eat | Christopher Gonzalez
I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat
 by Christopher Gonzalez opens with a narrator hungry to fill the void of his early twenties loneliness with a picture—A representation of lost love. Each of Gonzalez’s fifteen stories follows a bisexual Puerto Rican man fueled by deep Continue reading... 4/1/22
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Gordo book review
Gordo | Jaime Cortez
​In this linked collection that is searing, poignant, and hysterical, Jaime Cortez brilliantly juggles the theme of competing otherness as a young boy in California comes of age queer and brown. The first few stories are set in a migrant workers camp in rural California Continue reading... 3/14/22
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How to order the universe book review
How to Order the Universe | María José Ferrada
Conjuring images of Addie Loggins and her con man, itinerant, bible salesman father, Moses Pray in the 1973 film Paper Moon, Chilean children’s author, Maria Jose Ferrada’s How to Order the Universe translated by Elizabeth Bryer delights in the endearing Continue reading... 1/3/22
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L.A. Weather book review
L.A. Weather | María Amparo Escandón
“In Los Angeles people are like ducks on a pond. They glide effortlessly on the tranquil surface, but when you go underwater you can see that they’re frantically paddling along.” And so goes L.A. Weather by Maria Amparo Escandon, a story about Continue reading... 12/9/21
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Link book review
Link | Susana Balán & Claudia Cano
Link and the Shooting Stars 
describes the journey of Link, a young horse looking for the place where the shooting stars land as a metaphor for the search for himself, to know who he really is. His dream describes the hero’s learning path taken by the people Continue reading... 11/16/21
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Death under the perseids book review
Death Under the Perseids | Teresa Dovalpage
​Beyond being a riveting and pleasurable read, Death Under the Perseids
 by Teresa Dovalpage provides an uncommon perspective on present-day Havana, one that is apolitical and unclouded by nostalgia. Nearly thirty, Mercedes, a native-born Habanera now Continue reading... 11/14/21
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Enero es el mes mas largo book review
Enero es el mes más largo | Keila Vall de la Ville
​In this book, the Venezuelan author turns everyday life into a story with characters who live in Caracas, New York, or Madison. And when everything seems normal between a young woman who helps a girl to bury a dead fish, between two teenagers surrounded by Continue reading... 9/29/21
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Of women and salt book review
Of Women and Salt | Gabriela Garcia
Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia is a multigenerational story that traces the ways women learn to resist power structures and endure suffering with a ferocity born of love and lack of choices. In the beginning, there is María Isabel, a woman whose survival requires Continue reading... 8/26/21
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The dangers of smoking in bed book review
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed | Mariana Enriquez
​Envy, greed, lust, and gluttony. In Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez’s riveting collection of short stories, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (translated by Megan McDowell), individuals are tempted by myriad cardinal sins. These macabre stories have some of the hallmarks of Continue reading... 5/25/21
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Mexican gothic book review
Mexican Gothic | Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Noemí is a well-to-do debutant in 1950’s Mexico City, living for the thrill of the next party, the next handsome young man to charm, and the occasional change in her university major to spice things up. Her life takes an unexpected turn when her newlywed cousin, Catalina
 Continue reading... 3/16/21
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Space invaders book review
Space Invaders | Nona Fernández
Potent, thoughtful, and marvelously written, 
Space Invaders follows a group of friends as they look back on the events leading up to their classmate Estrella González’s sudden disappearance during Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 military dictatorship in Chile. Continue reading... 1/27/21
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Cockfight book review
Cockfight | María Fernanda Ampuero
Deftly written with spare, exacting prose, Cockfight is a masterful collection of short stories by María Fernanda Ampuero, translated by Frances Riddle. The riveting collection presents searing portraits of family life. The compendium of stories Continue reading... 11/1/20
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Never look back book review
Never Look Back | Lilliam Rivera
Acclaimed young adult author Lilliam Rivera has written a riveting novel titled 
Never Look Back, a contemporary Afro-Latinx retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice Greek myth. It is summer in the Bronx. Dominican Pheus, the neighborhood troubadour is a bachata-singing Continue reading... 9/30/20
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Mouthful of birds book review
Mouthful of Birds | Samanta Schweblin
Argentine author Samanta Schweblin has written a collection of surreal stories in spare prose titled 
Mouthful  of Birds translated by Megan McDowell. This potent book long listed for the 2019 Man Booker Prize depicts snapshots of seemingly quotidian life, but with Continue reading... 9/6/20
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Cantoras book review
Cantoras | Carolina De Robertis
A gripping tale of love and survival, Cantoras follows five women as they forge their own paths in the midst of a brutal military dictatorship. Beginning in 1973 and spanning a period of twelve years, the Uruguayan dictatorship was responsible for the imprisonment, Continue reading... 8/2/20
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Hurricane season book review
Hurricane Season | Fernanda Melchor
Fernanda Melchor’s debut English-translated novel is a haunting masterpiece reminding us that there are no winners when it comes to intolerance. In a rural Mexican village marked by misogyny, addiction, machismo, and homophobia, the Witch is a lifeline for the local
 Continue reading...
 7/6/20
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The last train to key west book review
The Last Train to Key West | Chanel Cleeton
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton tells the story of the interrelated lives of three women: Helen Berner, Mirta Perez, and Elizabeth Preston. The chapters alternate between the main female characters and flesh out the plot in much greater detail. World Word I Continue reading...
 6/28/20
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Color me in book review
Color Me In | Natasha Diaz
​Color Me In is a coming-of-age YA novel about the important role defining one’s identity is in an individual’s journey to come-of-age. It is Nevaeh’s story, one about a high-school aged young woman forced to deal with the effects of polarizing social Continue reading... 1/4/20
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Juliet takes a breath book review
Juliet Takes a Breath | Gabby Rivera
After coming out as lesbian to her religious, Puerto Rican family, Juliet leaves the Bronx for the first time to take on an internship with a celebrity-status, feminist author in Portland. She arrives in this alien city characterized by a subculture of “hippie white” both elated by Continue reading... 10/25/19
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They could have named her anything book review
​​They Could Have Named Her Anything | Stephanie Jimenez
Working class Queens serves as the backdrop for this bildungswoman about an ambitious young student who makes a few regrettable decisions. Maria Anis Rosario is part Ecuadorian and part Puerto Rican 
Continue reading... 8/9/19
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Hipster death rattle book review
Hipster Death Rattle | Richie Narvaez
A rapidly changing Williamsburg serves as the  backdrop and catalyst for this whodunit about a slasher that appears to be targeting hipsters in gory machete attacks. Tony "Chino" Moran works as a part-time reporter for the Williamsburg Sentinel. He loves Continue reading... 7/31/19
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The affairs of the falcons book review
The Affairs of the Falcóns | Melissa Rivero
A cold and unwelcoming New York City sets the stage in this domestic drama about an undocumented Peruvian woman struggling to keep her family and shattered American dream from falling to pieces. Ana, her husband Lucho, and two children are living with Continue reading... 6/5/19
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Tears of the trufflepig book review
Tears of the Trufflepig | Fernando A. Flores
The Texas and Mexico border is re-imagined in this creative speculative fiction noir about a future where human and animal lives are even further commodified. 
In a small South Texas city, an investigative journalist is researching a story about elite 
dinners organized Continue reading... 5/29/19
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Sabrina y corina book review
Sabrina & Corina | Kali Fajardo-Anstine
The American West and Colorado serve as the backdrop for this engrossing collection of tales about Latinx & native women preserving in the face of despair. The title story, Sabrina & Corina, revolves around a young woman doing 
the makeup on the body of a cousin ​Continue reading...4/8/29
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Orlando and other stories book review
Orlando and Other Stories | Norman Antonio Zelaya
A rapidly gentrifying Mission neighborhood is the canvas for these linked stories about a Nica-American special education teacher scraping by in the Bay Area. Tonio grew up in the Mission area of San Francisco when it was still working class, but now feels like one of the few Continue reading...3/9/19
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Halsey street book review
Halsey Street | Naima Coster
A rapidly changing Brooklyn serves as the backdrop for this complex novel about family and acceptance. Penelope moves back to New York to be close to her elderly father Ralph, and is shocked at how gentrification has displaced her old neighbors with rich, corporate Continue reading...12/21/18
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Lost empress book review
Lost Empress | Sergio de la Pava
New Jersey and Riker's Island set the stage for this story about a scorned heiress who takes on the NFL and also an unlikely art heist. Millionaire Nina Gill starts a renegade football league after a family dispute leaves her fuming at the Dallas Cowboys. Continue reading... 11/1/18
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Everyone knows you go home book review
Natalia Sylvester | Everyone Knows You Go Home
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​The Rio Grande Valley and two harrowing tales of immigrants' sacrifice serve as the key ingredients in Natalia Sylvester's compelling sophomore novel. On the day of their wedding, Martin and Isabel are visited by the spirit of Martin's  Continue reading... 6/2/18
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In the distance book review
Hernan Diaz | In the Distance 
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​The antebellum American West serves as the landscape for Hernan Diaz's story of a Swedish immigrant named "the Hawk" who futilely searches for his lost brother. From the violent California Gold Rush to the lawless pioneer trail, the Hawk travels Eastward Continue reading... 5/14/18
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Elizabeth Acevedo book review
Elizabeth Acevedo | Poet X
​Xiomara, the protagonist in Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut YA book titled The Poet X, is an adolescent navigating her way through the confusions and challenges posed by both her Dominican mother’s strict Catholic expectations and Xiomara’s own inability Continue reading...
 4/12/18
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Arrimao book review
Edgar Smith | Arrimao
Two men from different walks of life travel to the land of opportunity in search of a new beginning. Each of them, driven by their life's passions, have chosen their journey. Despite their differences, both Roberto and Ricardo share many parallels, including Continue reading... 1/8/18
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Angelina takes flight book review
Diana J. Noble | Angelina Takes Flight
Evangelina lives a sheltered life with her family, including her precious abuelito, in the small town of Mariposa. Rumors spreading around are about how the Villistas are heading towards Norther Mexico, towards their beloved home, bringing with them Continue reading... 12/16/17
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Mariposas negras book review
Melanie Márquez Adams | Mariposas Negras
An enticing set of stories with elements of magical realism commonly associated with Latin American literature. Mariposas negras by Melanie Márquez Adams is a Spanish short story collection that delves in the mystical, macabre and eerie corners of the soul
Continue reading... 12/3/17
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Kings of 7th avenue book revue
Jonathan Marcantoni | Kings of 7th Avenue
A story of friendship, murder and uncontrolled passions –Kings of 7th Avenue by Jonathan Marcantoni is a novel that takes an unyielding look at some of the challenging social and gender roles within our Latino communities as well as the dreadful misogyny that is
 Continue reading... 6/4/2017
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Funcion de repulsa book review
Luis Panini | Función de repulsa
Función de repulsa by Luis Panini is like entering a museum of modern art, where the work in the form of installations, paintings, sculptures, etc. is presented for a pure conceptual effect.  In this museum of vignettes, the artist intentionally wants to induce Continue reading... 3/17/17
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La casa de los secretos book review
Maria de Lourdes Victoria | La casa de los secretos
La casa de los secretos is a historic fictional novel by María de Lourdes Victoria which takes place during two crucial time periods in Mexican history, the Mexican-American War and the Mexican Revolution. It is the story of Patricia, a widow who lives in a mansion Continue reading... 12/11/16
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Instructions to Read Cortazar book review
Instructions to Read Cortázar
T
o start reading Cortázar, maybe it would be prudent to avoid Rayuela, a novel that was described by Jose Saramago as being "in constant movement". It is impossible to stop it, as it is vast and to a certain degree, infinite. If we continue Morelli's reading Continue reading... 10/8/16
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The road to Llorona park book review
Christopher Carmona | The Road to Llorona Park
The Road to Llorona Park is a culturally rooted collection of short stories by Christopher Carmona which take place in the enchanting frontera of the Río Grande Valley of South Texas; a region that has become one of most electrifying literary scenes in the last Continue reading... 8/21/16
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Bonsai book review
Alejandro Zambra | Bonsái
Bonsái is the first novel of the Chilean author Alejandro Zambra. Due to its laconic language and his almost interrupted descriptions, we can not only consider it a short novel, but also a synthesis novel, or maybe a bonsai novel; an intimate short version of a Continue reading... 7/24/16
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Joe Jiménez | Bloodline 
Bloodline is a realistic fiction, young adult novel by Joe Jiménez which tells the coming of age story of Abram, a vulnerable yet tough seventeen year old "hijo de abuela" boy, who's on a path of discovery with his conflicted self, his first love, and derailed role Continue reading... 6/26/16
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El dios de darwin book review
Sabina Berman | El dios de Darwin
A clash between religion and science in the making since the findings of the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. El dios de Darwin is an acute fiction thriller that attempts to determine a common ground in our present time, narrated through the voice of a highly Continue reading... 5/21/16 
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Into the beautiful north book review
Luis Alberto Urrea | Into the Beautiful North
A small town in Sinaloa, Mexico is taken over by despicable drug cartel members who decide to feast on whatever they see fit. It's now up to the townspeople to come up with a solution. Into the Beautiful North is an epic novel by Luis Alberto Urrea which tells the Continue reading... 5/29/16
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The dead will rise and save us book review
Paul Pedroza } The Dead Will Rise and Save Us
The Dead Will Rise and Save Us is a collection of fifteen fictional stories by Paul Pedroza that take place in and around El Paso, Texas, giving life to the culturally rich and mysterious southern border region. The characters in the stories share Continue reading... 4/17/16
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El viejo y el man book review
Carlos Aguasaco | El viejo y el man
El viejo y el man is a Spanish realistic fiction novel by Carlos Aguasaco which tells the story of Fidel Castro in his later years. No longer is he the encarnated symbol of power in Cuba, but a mere nostalgic shadow of what he once was. Forgotten by the media Continue reading... 3/27/16   
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Gustavo Rodriguez and his book Cien Cuyes
En la feria del libro de Miami... | Teresa Dovalpage
What do “Cuentos bifrontes,” binaural metaphysical meditations, sadomasochistic fantasies, and the mysterious disappearance of a luxury ocean liner in the middle of the sea have in common? Teresa Dovalpage’s agile and witty pen juggles them all to remind us of Continue reading... 9/15/24


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Cien cuyes | Gustavo Rodríguez
​Cien cuyes
, by Peruvian writer Gustavo Rodríguez, is a tragicomedy set in Lima, where apartments are replacing houses at an increasing rate, causing many to be left in the shadows and depriving a few of a valuable ocean view. For senior citizens, the vista from the Continue reading... 4/23/24

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Cast Away | Kase Johnsun
​Beautifully written, Cast Away puts a surprising twist on the immigrant’s story. A dual narrative consisting of two coming of age stories (one set in the 1920s and the other in the 90s), the novel explores the meeting point between home and identity. Continue reading... 3/24/24


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Last Seen in Havana | Teresa Dovalpage
​While fans of Teresa Dovalpage’s Havana Mystery will be richly rewarded by Last Seen in Havana, newcomers to the author’s oeuvre will deeply enjoy this introduction to the series. Similar to Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad novels, the five Havana Mystery feature Continue reading... 2/11/24
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The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos by Rodrigo R. Montoya book review
​​The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos | Rodrigo R. Montoya
Deeply compelling and impactful, The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos 
by Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya is a stunning reflection on community, grief, and cultural identity led by the eponymous Gregorio Pasos, a twenty-one-year-old son of Colombian immigrant Continue reading... 8/6/23
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La quinta soledad by Silviana wood book review
La Quinta Soledad | Silviana Wood
La Quinta Soledad del Valle, the title character of Silviana Wood’s epic novel, lives quietly in the hardscrabble Barrio Anita in Tucson, Arizona. She gets up early each morning to wait for her newspaper to be delivered, earns her keep typing letters and forms for young men Continue reading... 12/12/22
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The town of babylon by Alejandro Varela book review
The Town of Babylon | Alejandro Varela
​In this melancholic reflection on loss and acceptance, a young man returns to his hometown to help care for his ailing father. He encounters the same old prejudices of homophobia and xenophobia as before, but also new insight into the passing of his older brother and Continue reading... 10/24/22
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The inheritance by Rafael Reyez Ruiz book Review
The Inheritance | Rafael Reyes-Ruiz
Rafael Reyes-Ruiz was born in Colombia, received his PhD in the United States, and worked in Japan as well as the United Arab Emirates. This combination pays dividends in his latest novel, The Inheritance. The novel’s international arc blooms into an ethnographically Continue reading... 8/14/22

La guerras perdidas book review
Las guerras perdidas | Oswaldo Estrada
In 
Las guerras perdidas
 the characters always lose and are on the verge of destruction. However, in this hopeless scenario, the plot attempts to redeem them. In that world where nothing matters anymore, everything matters. Oswaldo Estrada approaches them and Continue reading... 6/22/22
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Yo Beato book review
Yo, Beato | Miguel Antonio Chávez
Ecuadorian author Miguel Antonio Chávez returns to the novel genre after La maniobra de Heimlich (2010) and Conejo ciego en Surinam (2013). Yo, Beato
 can be interpreted as a political satire disguised as a dystopia where humor acts as a hinge for a terrible situation Continue reading... 4/15/22
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Folk stories from the hills of puerto rico book review
Folk Stories from the Hills of Puerto Rico | Rafael Ocasio
In Folk Stories from the Hills of Puerto Rico / Cuentos folklóricos de las montañas de Puerto Rico (Rutgers University Press 2021) Rafael Ocasio returns to his Puerto Rican homeland to gather in a single volume much of the island's rich heritage of folklore. For Ocasio, Folk Stories Continue reading... 3/1/22
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El angel de la peste book review
El ángel de la peste | Santiago Vizcaíno
When the outside world has turned into chaos, what happens on the inside, behind closed doors? This is precisely the fictional universe we find in El Ángel de la Peste (La Caída, 2021), the most recent work by Ecuadorian writer Santiago Vizcaíno. Very much in the style Continue reading... 1/22/21
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Coatlicue girl book review
Coatilicue Girl | Gris Muñoz
The perfect blend of humor with a dash of melancholy, Muñoz's bilingual collection of poems and stories sheds light on growing up near the border, strong maternal familial ties, and nascent queer desire. 
The book seamlessly skips between poems and prose, Continue reading... 12/13/21
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La trituradora y otros cuentos book review
La trituradora: y otros cuentos | María Cristina González
La Trituradora y otros cuentos, María Cristina González’s first book, is a marvelous example of the infinite possibilities of the short story. Throughout twenty-four stories, the reader gets to live with a community of voices and points of view that converge in an unpredictable Continue reading... 12/7/21
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Idrovus book review
IDROVUS | Elssie Cano
Beyond being a riveting and pleasurable read, 
Death Under the Perseids by Teresa Dovalpage provides an uncommon perspective on present-day Havana, one that is apolitical and unclouded by nostalgia. Nearly thirty, Mercedes, a native-born Habanera now living in Continue reading... 11/16/21
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Te quedan lindas las trenzas book review
Te quedan lindas las trenzas | Patricia Severín
Te quedan lindas las trenzas is the latest novel by Argentine writer Patricia Severín, recently published by Pro Latina Press of New York. Set in the sixties, the novel innovates in the genre of childhood memories and recounts the experiences of a girl in three different houses: Continue reading... 10/5/21
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Variations on the body book review
Variations on the Body | María Ospina
Violence seeps into the marrow of Colombian writer Maria Ospina’s captivating collection of short stories 
Variations on the Body translated by Heather Cleary. A type of violence grounded in place and time—1980s-1990s Colombia caught in the throes of Continue reading... 9/11/21
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Rumbos book review
Rumbos | Gabriel González Núñez
Rumbos
 is a collage of narratives that reflect on the fragile border between the supernatural and everyday life. Gabriel González Núñez shares extraordinary and ordinary tales with characters that range from starving vampires to apathetic immigration judges Continue reading... 7/19/21
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Eat the mouths that feeds you book review
Eat the Mouth That Feeds You | Carribean Fragoza
Coeditor of 
Boom California, UC Press’s cultural journal, Carribean Fragoza’s Eat The Mouth That Feeds You is a masterful debut collection centering themes of power, the body, and ancestral roots in the lives of the mostly Latina/ Chicana protagonists. Continue reading... 4/29/20
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Las voladoras book review
Las voladoras | Mónica Ojeda
Drawing from Ecuadorian folklore, oral storytelling traditions, and Inca mythology, Mónica Ojeda delivers a short fiction debut that is as discerning as it is visceral, a hair-raising and deft collection that expands the possibilities of contemporary Latin American
 Continue reading... 2/16/21
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Fiebre tropical book review
Fiebre Tropical | Juli Delgado Lopera
​Decked in beat-up Converse, black eyeliner, and hand-drawn blue stars—not to mention armed with her favorite Sylvia Plath book—fifteen-year-old Francisca is clever, rebellious, insightful. A recent transplant from Colombia, she is struggling to adjust to her new Continue reading... 11/23/20
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Afterlife book review
Afterlife | Julia Alvarez
A remarkable new work from one of our most celebrated Dominican-American novelists, Afterlife provides a penetrating insight into the life that comes after – not for those who leave, but for those who are left behind. A Dominican immigrant who has Continue reading... 10/10/20
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Things we lost in the fire book review
Things We Lost in the Fire | Mariana Enriquez​
A chilling, pulse-racing collection that unearths the sinister horrors lurking beneath the everyday. Disappearances, nightmares, and mysteries abound in Mariana Enriquez’s disquieting tales of contemporary Argentina: a student rips out her own fingernails and Continue reading... 9/11/20
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Incurables book review
Incurables | Oswaldo Estrada (Ed.)
The human body has been frequently considered a site of literary inscription. The images of a sick body, a disabled body, or a body in pain, convey several understandings about the vulnerability of human existence. In 2666 Roberto Bolaño speaks of “a pain that turns Continue reading... 8/24/20
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Little eyes book review
Little Eyes | Samanta Schweblin
In Samanta Schweblin’s novel Little Eyes, people around the world are delighted by a new technology bringing anonymous online relationships to a new level. Kentukis are small stuffed animals on wheels, like a furry robot pet—except behind their little eyes are Continue reading... 7/8/20
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Clap when you land book review
Clap When You Land | Elizabeth Acevedo
A novel-in-verse that explores the intricacies of love and mourning. Clap When You Land tells the story of Camino and Yahaira, two sisters whose fates become intertwined when a tragic accident forces them to discover the truth about their father—and each other. Continue reading... 6/29/20
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Where we come from book review
Where We Come From | Oscar Cásares
Brownsville is the setting for this gripping story about family, being a good samaritan, and unintended consequences. Nina is a middle-aged woman who lives with her infirm mother and takes care of her when their housekeeper, from the Mexican city of Matamoros Continue reading... ​3/9/20
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Tonta book review
Tonta | Jaime Hernandez
Jaime Hernandez—one of three brothers who created the now-classic Love & Rockets comics of the 80s—centers his most recent project around the character of Tonta in his graphic novel that bears the same name. The story expertly captures the angst of Continue reading... 12/15/19
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Puro amor book review
Puro Amor | Sandra Cisneros
Houses matter to Sandra Cisneros. She describes a "house with windows so small they like like they're holding their breaths" in her debut 
The House on Mango Street, beloved eyes "like little houses" in her novel Caramelo, 
and she writes of her lifelong quest to find autonomy Continue reading...8/22/19
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Dominicana book review
Dominicana | Angie Cruz
Set in Washington Heights, Manhattan in the 1960s, when Malcolm X and John F. Kennedy were assassinated, and protestors fought to end Jim Crow and the Vietnam War, 15-year-old Ana Canción arrives in New York from the Dominican Republic newly
 Continue reading... 8/7/19
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Dealing in Dreams book review
Dealing in Dreams | Lilliam Rivera
​​I
t’s a new world order and the women are in charge. In Lilliam Rivera’s Dealing in Dreams dystopian novel there is reversal in power dynamics where all-female gangs are in charge of protecting order in Mega City. Through battles and bloodshed Continue reading...6/13/19
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Lifeforce book review
​​Lifeforce | Annie Rodriguez
​Annie Rodriguez’s debut novel Lifeforce, a YA novel published by Green Place Books, is set in the backdrop of a hospital, allowing for the humanization of its three most important but somewhat inhuman characters: a witch, a lycan, a vampire. The narrative takes Continue reading...6/3/19
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With the fire on high book review
With the Fire on High | Elizabeth Acevedo
A love letter to the single mom, good food, and community, Elizabeth Acevedo tells the coming-of-age story of Emoni Santiago in 
With the Fire on High, her follow-up novel to her award-winning debut, Poet X. 
Emoni is a single mom finishing high school Continue reading... ​5/3/19
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Relatos y cuentos coloniales de ultratumba
Relatos y cuentos coloniales de ultratumba 
Relatos y cuentos coloniales de ultratumba 
is a compilation of nine short horror stories from colonial Mexico. Some of the frightening accounts are extracts from colonial chronicles and others from popular versions. It was printed by Editorial Epoca, S.A. de C.V. in Mexico Continue reading... 3/16/19
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Next year in Havana book review
Next Year in Havana | Chanel Cleeton
Next Year in Havana is developed on the notion of postmemory coined by Marianne Hirsch. Postmemory is the relationship of the second generation to events before their births that are transferred to them as powerful and meaningful stories. These constitute memories Continue reading... 2/5/19
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Fight like a man book review
Fight Like a Man | Christine Granados
The border region of El Paso and Juarez sets the stage for this novella about a middle-aged woman experiencing a sexual re-awakening that turns reckless. 
Monica is pregnant, but not by her husband. The spark left her marriage years ago; her and her husband Sal live together Continue reading... 12/18/18
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El rinche book review
El Rinche | Christopher Carmona
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The moon hung low on that unusual April night. It wanted a better look at the incident that would change everything. It was a beautiful night for injustice. For treachery. For a knot in the narrative thread. The skies were filled with so many stars that chased every Continue reading... 7/30/18
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Sao Paulo Noir book review
São Paulo Noir | Ed. by Tony Bellotto
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A bottle of whisky filled with violence, prostitution, mystery, kidnapping and death. São Paulo Noir, is part of the Akashic noir, short story anthology, book series that includes over one hundred book titles. Each set in a major city around the globe. Continue reading...
6/23/18
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The wild book book review
Juan Villoro | The Wild Book
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​A wondrous book of magic and adventures. The Wild Book by the renown Mexican author, Juan Villoro, is the story of a boy who moves in with his reclusive and awkward uncle, during his summer break, after the separation of his parents. Continue reading... 5/6/18
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Rio animas book review
​Pilo Galindo | Río Ánimas
​Pilo Galindo (Nov. 10, 1957) is a Mexican scriptwriter and narrator from in Ciudad Juarez. He has lived in the border city all his life, and has won several national literary awards. His play, Río Ánimas, is a story about love, abandonment and mystical beliefs that Continue reading... 2/15/18
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The knight of lightning fixtures book review
Daniel Olivas | The King of Lightning Fixtures
Los Angeles and its residents serve as the muse for Daniel Olivas’ 30 excellently crafted tales of love, lust, anxiety and everything in between. The very first story, Good Things Happen at Tina’s Cafe, sets the tone as fast-paced and not afraid of big jumps in plot.  Continue reading... 1/27/18
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The house of broken angels book review
Luis Alberto Urrea | The House of Broken Angels
Once again, Luis Alberto Urrea comes back stronger than ever as he demonstrates his literary prowess through his new, explosive and heartfelt novel, The House of Broken Angels. It is the epic story of an American family. "One that happens to speak Spanish". Continue reading... 1/16/18
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Debris book review
David Miklos | Debris
​Puerto Trinidad is a town left behind, haunted by the memories it hides. Mothers. The young. Those who have escaped. Cycles of life and death, secrets and curiosity. Somehow bound by consciousness and separated by time and distance, the Continue reading...  12/27/17
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The cholo tree book review
Daniel Chacón | The Cholo Tree
​They say he has no future. He is a cholo up to no good, with no hopes for a life outside of the streets. Lucky to have survived a near-death experience he can't quite recall, even Victor's own mother refuses to be associated with "one of his kind". But what they don't Continue reading... 12/18/17
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Little mocos book review
John Paul Jaramillo | Little Mocos
​A piercingly dark novel charged with extreme family trauma and poverty. Little Mocos by John Paul Jaramillo is the story of two cousins from Southern Colorado, Manito and Bea, who become products of a socially impairing environment that includes alcoholism Continue reading... 11/20/17
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The inexplicable logic of my life
Benjamin Alire Saenz | The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
​Memories are riddles that map identity, but do not necessarily define a person’s character. That is a lesson Salvador and his friends, Samantha and Fito, come to learn in a journey of loss, grief, acceptance, and faith during their senior year at El Paso Continue reading... 8/12/17
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The magician of Vienna
Sergio Pitol | The Magician of Vienna
The Magician of Vienna is admirably the final volume of Sergio Pitol's "Trilogy of Memory," following The Art of Flight and The Journey. In this book, the author recounts, in a an essay format that is part memoir and part fiction, his encounters with literature  Continue reading... 5/14/17
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The ilac crest book review
Cristina ​Rivera Garza | The Iliac Crest
The Iliac Crest, a novel originally published in Spanish as La cresta de ilión by the renown Mexican author Cristina Rivera Garza, will debut its English version this Fall 2017. With a skillful translation by Sarah Booker, The Iliac Crest, renews its flight in search of new Continue reading... 
8/1/17
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The ruins book review
Rafael Reyes Ruiz | The Ruins
The Ruins is a cross-cultural novel by Rafael Reyes-Ruiz that explores the relationship between memory and nostalgia in a plot that takes place in several continents. It is the story of Tomás Rodrigues, a professor in Japan, who finds himself haunted by his Continue reading... 4/13/17
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Wendy Ortiz | Bruja
Since the beginning of time we have been fascinated and intrigued by dreams and their meanings. An alternative reality that peeks through the window of our subconscious where anything can happen. Bruja, by Wendy Ortiz, is a crossover of this parallel Continue reading... 3/11/17
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El sotano del caracol book review
Elvia Ardalani | El sótano del caracol
E​l sótano del caracol by Elvia Ardalani is the story of three women: Asunción, Evangelina and Luz Maria, moved by love and loss.  Women who have learned to carry their heart as a shell to confront adversity.  Contrary to what would be the natural response, Continue reading... 1/1/16
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The patagonia files book review
Mary Helen Mourra | The Patagonia Files
A new and explosive take on Latin America's greatest challenges​​ through an international legal thriller that exposes today's tragic global issues, including corporate greed, foreign investment, conflicts with indigenous cultures, climate change and Continue reading... 12/31/16
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White light book review
Vanessa García | White Light
Veronica Gonzáles, a struggling Latina artist, is trying to find her place in the constricted world of painting. Moved by her endless determination and her willingness not to become a high school art teacher Veronica pushes herself forward in an attempt to overcome her Continue reading... 11/21/16
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El hombre de la dicha perenne book review
Eligio Coronado | El hombre de la dicha perenne
Finding wisdom and transcending towards illumination is not an easy task in life. The paths are various and distinct. In El hombre de la dicha perenne, Eligio Coronado in an impeccable prose with sparkles of camouflaged poetry, shows us one of these paths. Continue reading... 11/06/16
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