Five Books to Read this Hispanic Heritage Month

Since 1968, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th – October 15th every year to honor the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and celebrate heritage rooted in all Latin American countries. We’re proud to publish a wide selection of Hispanic and Latin American titles, including two book series (Latinx Histories and Latin America in Translation) as well as the oldest continuously published Latin American Studies journal, The Latin Americanist.

To celebrate we’ve curated a reading list of five must-read books for you to add to your shelf this month.

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Sharing Yerba Mate: How South America’s Most Popular Drink Defined a Region by Rebekah E. Pite

2024 Arthur P. Whitaker Prize, Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies
2024 Southern Cone Studies Section Book Award in Social Sciences, Latin American Studies Association
USA Winner, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, Alcohol Free Drinks; Digital; Latin America – Published Outside Latin America

“The consumption of mate is a familiar feature of the societies bordering the Río de la Plata. Less well known is the role this beverage played in constructing social and national identities in this region. This beautifully written and illustrated book explains how and why this occurred. In doing so, it provides fresh perspectives on gender, race, class, labor, the urban-rural divide, business practices, and politics in these nations. It is a fascinating story that will captivate scholars and the general public alike.”—Sandra McGee Deutsch, professor emerita, University of Texas at El Paso

The Sandinista Revolution: A Global Latin American History Mateo Jarquín

“The Sandinista Revolution makes the case for diplomatic history brilliantly . . . Jarquín’s contribution to the broader project of understanding Latin America’s last great revolution is . . . impressive.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Jarquín takes a balanced and nuanced approach. . . . Refreshingly, he sees the Sandinista Revolution outside the narrow prism of US foreign policy debates. VERDICT: A meticulous political history of the Sandinistas during the long 1980s.”—Library Journal

Ybor City: Crucible of the Latina South by Sarah McNamara

2023 Sara A. Whaley Book Prize, National Women’s Studies Association
Honorable Mention, 2024 First Book Award, Immigration and Ethnic History Society
Bronze Medal, 2023 Florida Book Awards, Florida Nonfiction

“Ybor City is the best that Latinx history has to offer—deeply researched and rigorous but with respect toward diasporic peoples and the rich communities they build and evolve within.”—NACLA Report on the Americas

“The book is not some alternative perspective on what happened in Ybor City, but real history and storytelling verified by records in the archives of the USF special collections, petitions in the City of Tampa archives, and the city directories that are part of a treasure chest of artifacts at the Tampa Bay History Center.”—Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

A Compact History of Latin America’s Cold War by Vanni Pettinà. Translated by Quentin Pope

“A Compact History of Latin Ameria’s Cold War shines a light on the role of Latin American nations on both sides of the region’s bitter conflicts. . . . Pettinà’s nuanced interpretation has something to offer even the most ardent anti-imperialists.”—Jacobin

“Convincingly advances the notion that any good analysis of the Cold War in Latin America should acknowledge the fact that the global bifurcation of the world along conflicting ideologies and economic projects was paralleled in Latin America by an internal rivalry [Pettinà] calls an internal fracture. . . . An innovative study perfectly suited for classroom use.”—Latin Americanist

Latin American Street Food: The Best Flavors of Markets, Beaches, and Roadside Stands from Mexico to Argentina by Sandra A. Gutierrez

Grand prize winner, M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing, Les Dames d’Escoffier International

“Ms. Gutierrez’s recipes make it possible for readers to experience Latin American street food that is authentic in every respect.”—Wall Street Journal

“Sandra Gutierrez takes the reader and home cook on a culinary road trip through 20 Latin American countries and introduces us to the best of each country’s street food in 150 fun, authentic recipes.”—Huffington Post