Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
“She knew and, despite the weight of it, accepted her role as liberator of a frightened man. María Isabel thought it had always been women who wove the future out of the scraps, always the characters, never the authors. She knew a woman could learn to resent this post, but she would instead find a… Continue reading Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
After the sudden death of her husband, Antonia would like nothing more than to recede into her solitary cocoon of grief. However, when the universe conspires to place her in the midst of telenovela-esque, high-stakes drama, she discovers that even after death, her loved ones come back to her in unexpected ways. Between the undocumented… Continue reading Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin
Originally published in Latino Book Review magazine at latinobookreview.com In Samanta Schweblin’s 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 robot pet—except behind their little eyes are live-streaming webcams controlled by another person connected… Continue reading Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
*Originally published in Latino Book Review at latinobookreview.com 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 women and the target of violence… Continue reading Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
After coming out as a 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 the prospect of living and learning with… Continue reading Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
The Affairs of the Falcóns
In the Affairs of the Falcóns, Rivero illustrates the complex politics and emotions at play within a single family trying to make their way as immigrants in a the US: the racism and classism within the Peruvian community, strained loyalties and the dissolution of marriages, children being raised as Americans but frequently reminded that they… Continue reading The Affairs of the Falcóns
Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin
Reading Mouthful of Birds feels like occupying some kind of hybrid world of dreams and folklore, where the subconscious masquerades as a stream of characters enacting scenes that aren’t fully coherent with reality, but every moment is vivid and visceral. The short stories are full of nightmarish scenarios, like someone auditioning to be an assassin… Continue reading Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Shaker Heights is the kind of community where garbage is stored always out of sight from the street, and every last detailed is planned, from the diversity of its population to the color scheme of each house. When a free-spirited artist, Mia, and her daughter Pearl move to town, their lives become entangled with the… Continue reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Infomocracy by Malka Older
An author and humanitarian worker, Malka Older’s novel Infomocracy comes at a pertinent time– when illegitimate information is being weaponized, and accuracy and transparency of data feels increasingly fragile. In Older’s utopian world of Infomocracy, Information with a capital “I” is glorified in a new world order. Here, groups of 100,000 people elect their own… Continue reading Infomocracy by Malka Older
Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
In this debut collection of stories, Fajardo-Anstine weaves together an exquisite tapestry of Indigenous Chicana women. Set in modern Denver as gentrification morphs the landscape into something unrecognizable, the characters navigate an unrelenting world through sheer determination and lack of any other alternative. These are stories about displacement and female relationships—about physical realities that are… Continue reading Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Severance by Ling Ma
Candace is an aspiring photographer who thrives on the routine of her young professional life in New York City. She navigates the city in contented anonymity and plays her part as a competent and vital cog in the mass production of Bibles for publishing clients. As an epidemic of Shen Fever threatens the global population,… Continue reading Severance by Ling Ma
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
“I do not even struggle to speak; the spark of words dies so deep in my chest there is not even space to mount them on an exhale.” One thing I love about essay and story collections is seeing the recurring images and ideas that pop up throughout, like the weeds (or wild flowers?) of… Continue reading Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez tells the story of 12-year-old Anita, whose family joins the resistance against Dictator Trujillo in the Dominican Republic during the 1960’s. While coping with the early stages of puberty, Anita also grapples with the concepts of justice and freedom as General Trujillo, “El Jefe”, and the secret police terrorize her family. It’s a… Continue reading Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give is a Black Lives Matter inspired novel about a 16-year-old girl seeking justice for her childhood best friend, Khalil, who is murdered by a police officer. Angie Thomas perfectly captures the teenage perspective of Starr Carter, who endures violence and trauma from a young age and is still learning what it… Continue reading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
“The city was an edgy arrangement of cement particles and yellow paint. Signs prohibiting things thronged the streets, leading citizens to see themselves as ever protected, safe, friendly, innocent, proud, and intermittently bewildered, blithe, and buoyant; salt of the only earth worth knowing.” The novel opens with surrealist undertones as the main character, a young… Continue reading Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
“The balanced valuing of emotion is certainly an act of self-respect. Even raw and messy emotions can be understood as a form of light, crackling and bursting with energy. We can use the light of rage in a positive way, in order to see into places we cannot usually see.” Women Who Run with… Continue reading Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
“There is nothing you cannot do when you are no one.” Roxane Gay has a truly inspiring ability to write about sexual violence through the unfiltered, unapologetic voice of a survivor. In this novel, she details the unravelling of a woman after she is kidnapped for ransom in Haiti—the destruction of a woman’s body… Continue reading An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
Of all of the coming of age stories I’ve read, this one is the first that made my heart swell with pride as I recognized bits myself in a young Mexican-American woman forging her identity in the uncharted territory of early adulthood. Julia is an emotional and short-tempered teenager who struggles to relate to both her parents… Continue reading I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
“The look on his face told her what had happened and that hurt burrowed deeper than anything she’d ever felt, deep enough to change from the thing she felt to the thing she was.” A Constellation of Vital Phenomena follows a group of interconnected characters in a small village in Chechnya following the fall… Continue reading A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen
For someone with only a surface-level understanding of the Vietnam War and its impact (especially beyond the narrow scope of the white, counterculture movement of the American 1960’s that dominates this chapter in US history books!), this novel felt like such an important read. It tells the story of a French-Vietnamese communist sleeper agent navigating… Continue reading The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen
Among Strange Victims by Daniel Saldaña Paris
“I don’t seek the permission of the Fates to find a soul mate with whom to deploy my melancholy; I can be alone, really alone, but I do ask the god of neural functions to let me retain this faint line of voice that crosses my cranium, allowing me to laugh at the world around… Continue reading Among Strange Victims by Daniel Saldaña Paris
The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez
One of my favorite reads of this year, The Circuit is a short autobiographical novel that introduces readers to the life of a child migrant worker from Mexico. Jiménez writes from the perspective of his childhood self, free from judgment or analysis. For Panchito, living in a tent with his family of five is just… Continue reading The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez
ode to shelf-care 