Novels to read during Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15th-October 15th, honors the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans with ancestry in Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. To help you celebrate through reading, our librarians put together a list of fiction by Latinx authors published between 2016-2018; see the full list and place holds in our catalog.

The Living Infinite by Chantel Acevedo
A real 19th-century Bourbon infanta is the inspiration for this novel about a princess who writes a rebellious feminist memoir. Fresh, fast-moving historical fiction from a master storyteller.

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara
A cast of gay and transgender kids navigate the Harlem ball scene of the 1980s and 1990s. Inspired by the House of Xtravaganza made famous in the documentary, Paris Is Burning.

The Regional Office Is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales
When a prophecy suggests that an insider might bring down a powerful underground organization, devoted recruit Sarah and young assassin Rose find their respective lives clashing in a dispute that threatens everything they know.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Eight stories showcase Machado’s fluency in the bizarre, magical, and sharply frightening depths of the imagination. Each of these stories has a strange and surprising idea that communicates, in a shockingly visceral way, the experience of living inside a woman’s body.

Lost Empress by Sergio de la Pava
A madcap, football-obsessed tale of crossed destinies and criminal plots gone awry.

The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles
Two girls from a sugar plantation in early 20th-century Brazil pursue pop stardom. Samba music and its allure beats beneath this winding and sinuous tale of ambition, memory, and identity.

What Happens In Summer by Caridad Piñeiro
Years after a failed summer fling, Jonathan and Connie are thrown together again. Their attraction is alive and well, but their fundamental differences are still getting in the way. Aren’t they?

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
Across one bittersweet weekend in their San Diego neighborhood, revelers mingle and celebrate the lives of family patriarch Miguel “Big Angel” De La Cruz and his mother, recounting the many tales that have passed into family lore.

~ posted by Andrea G.

Evelyn 7s, or Seven Evelyns

As a librarian, a lot of books cross my desk. One of my favorite side effects of this is noticing when multiple books have very specific yet oddly similar titles, even though the books themselves have very little in common. In that vein, today I present you with Seven Evelyns:

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
In this novel, rookie journalist Monique Grant scores the interview of a lifetime: aging Hollywood starlet Evelyn Hugo, who at 79 is finally ready to tell her secrets. Beginning with her childhood in Hell’s Kitchen, Evelyn tells her story one husband at a time, revealing along the way she crafted a career in Hollywood and the secrets she’s long kept secret.

New Fiction Roundup – September 2018

9/4: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory – When her boyfriend surprises her with a Jumbotron proposal at a baseball game, Nik says no, and is saved when a stranger steps in to whisk her away. That stranger is Carlos, and could there be a spark between the two?

9/4: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker – Set in the midst of literature’s most famous war, Barker imagines the events of The Iliad as experienced by the captured women living in a Greek camp in the final weeks of the Trojan War.

9/11: She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore – In a novel shot through with magical realism, Moore reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three characters who share an uncommon bond. A Peak Pick!

9/18: 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day in this literary puzzle. Evelyn Hardcastle dies at a party Aiden Bishop is attending. Waking up the next morning, Aiden finds it is once again the morning of the party, only he is in the body of a different guest. He’ll inhabit 8 people on that day, until he can solve the crime.

#BookBingoNW2018: About the Environment

One of the many things I appreciate about the Book Bingo categories is that quite a few can be filled by both fiction or nonfiction, leaving the choice up to the reader. Today let’s look at the “About the Environment” category, which at first glance lends itself primarily to nonfiction, and instead see what fiction we could read.

T.C. Boyle has written several novels in which environmental concerns play

New fiction roundup – August 2018

This month’s roundup begins with a book that slipped past the July new fiction roundup, and continues on to the story of a dancer in the court of Korea’s last royal dynasty, a pregnant mistress on the run, a reclusive detective that comes down from the hills for one last case, and much more.

7/31: This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero – Twins Adrian and Zooey Kimrean couldn’t be more different: Adrian icily logical, Zooey impulsively creative. But they share a private investigator business, and also one body. Their new case has them tracking down the killer of a crime boss’s son.

8/7: The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin – In the final years of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, orphan-turned-dancer Yi Jin is caught up in the dizzying sweep of court life.

8/7: The Last Hours by Minette Walters – When the Black Death enters England in June of 1348, Lady Anne decides to quarantine her estate of Develish, both nobility and serfs. When food stocks run low, tensions rise.