50+ Books Every Latina Should Read in Her Lifetime

The Alchemist is Paulo Coelho's most noteworthy book — it centers on Santiago's journey to find a physical treasure, which ends up more of a life-purpose finding journey. This is the kind of book you pick up at different times in your life and always walk away with something different from it.

Under the Volcano is a novel that begins with the Day of the Dead in 1938 and unravels in a suspenseful, drama-filled way as Geoffrey Firmin is living with alcoholism, the reappearance of his estranged wife, and what seems to be the end of time.

Jorge Ramos is a media house in his own right. No Borders: A Journalist's Search for Home tells the story of how he became the person so many Latinos place their trust in.

Queen of America tells the story of a woman who finds her place in the world just as America is starting to become what it is.

Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida highlights what it's like to grow up Latino in a not-so-great neighborhood within a family that has many crosses to bear. Victor Martinez is able to weave a story that reels you in from the first page.

Viviendo focuses on Adamari López's upbringing, her battle with cancer, her relationship with Luis Fonsi, and how she triumphed through it all.

The Moor's Account reads as a historic novel that dreams up a narrative for what life may have been like for the first explorers and slaves who came to America. It gives an interesting angle to the development of the New World.

Junot Díaz weaves together stories of different degrees of love and love within different environments in This Is How You Lose Her.

A graphic novel, City of Clowns tells the story of Chino, who is trying to find himself, and what he stands for, after his philandering dad passes.

Sandra Cisneros tells Ceyala's story of trying to find her voice and have it be heard by the rest of her large family in Caramelo.

In An Island Like You, different stories come together to personify the struggle that exists when you leave your homeland for America. They all have similar themes that prove that transitions are anything but seamless.

Alejandro Jodorowsky pens his own immigration story touching on how family history and politics played a major role in it in Where the Bird Sings Best.

Yuri Herrera's novel focuses entirely on how the back-and-forth transition between the country you leave and the country you now call home can impact every aspect of your life. Signs Preceding the End of the World is an exploration of how the person develops as a result of said changes.

Emilio Estefan's The Rhythm of Success takes the reader on the journey of his musical career, coupled with anecdotes. This is a good read for anyone who wants to learn more about how the music producer's fame came to be.

Don Quixote is a must-read classic that's normally read in Latin American high schools. Sancho Panza and Don Quixote are off on a journey that is full of laughs, highs, and lows — and a little craziness.

The House on Mango Street is a short series of vignettes that center on Esperanza Cordero's experience of growing up Latina in Chicago. Any Latina, especially first generation, can relate to the spectrum of emotions Esperanza lives through after she moves.

As a Cuban-American, Carlos Frías knows only secondhand accounts of the island from his parents, until he's sent on assignment to cover the country after Fidel Castro became ill. Take Me With You centers on those days and how he got to know his roots.

From the very first page, Isabel Allende reels you in to her daughter's story. Anyone who picks up Paula feels like they're listening to a conversation between a daughter and a distraught mother trying to will her back to life through stories.

Sofrito is a fun read with both food and family at its center. Any Latina will be able to relate to how food and tradition are able to anchor you, no matter where one may be.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind is set in Barcelona as a boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace in a book and tries to find the other mysteriously missing works by the same author. A classic novel everyone should pick up.

Eleni N. Gage's The Ladies of Managua focuses on three generations of women within the same family who come together to mourn the loss of the patriarch of their family.

Oscar De La Hoya takes ownership of his own story in his memoir, writing about becoming one of the biggest successes in boxing history in American Son.

Ann Cameron's novel Colibrí centers on the title character's journey to get back to a family that was abducted. Throughout this journey, the reader learns about Mayan history and relates to Colibrí's conflict of survival versus doing what she deems morally right.

Juventud intertwines politics with a coming-of-age story that loops back around when the protagonist is 15 years older but still carrying the unanswered questions of her youth.

Isabel Allende writes prose that is enthralling from the first page. In The Infinite Plan, Gregory Reeves takes both a metaphorical and literal journey in hopes of finding himself.

In the Time of the Butterflies tells the story of the Mirabal sisters, three women who play a major role in the revolution against Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Even though the book is part fact and part fiction, it is inspired by a true piece of DR history, which makes it a must read for any Latina.

The Book of Unknown Americans is technically a young adult novel, but in reality it's an ode to love and the American dream. There are pieces of this classic that any Latina can relate to.

Through a compilation of interconnected stories, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents focuses on four sisters who move from the Dominican Republic to New York and all that transition implies. So many Latinas are the daughters of those who immigrated to the US, and Julia Alvarez is an amazing writer who is able to capture many of these realities.

Magical realism is interwoven in two stories that develop at the same time throughout The People of Paper. One is the story of the author and the journey of writing a novel, and the other is the story of the characters he is trying to create.

Storytelling, history, and music — some of Hispanic culture's richest traditions come together in the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. This is the kind of book you pick up if you're in the mood to fall in love with incredibly well-written prose.

Down These Mean Streets is the story of the author's life growing up in Spanish Harlem in a Puerto Rican family, getting involved in drugs, and ultimately ending up in jail. It's an honest account that turned into a literary classic.

The New York Yankees' history will forever bow down to all Mariano Rivera brought to the team. Rivera tells his own story in The Closer and brings fans behind the scenes.

Maya's Notebook finds Isabel Allende writing a young adult, coming-of-age story about a teenager struggling to find herself after she's abandoned by her parents. It touches on the reality of how grief can shift one's path.

In My Beloved World, the reader is able to follow Sonia Sotomayor's journey from growing up in a not-so-great part of New York's Bronx to becoming the first Hispanic in the US Supreme Court. She is by definition a true role model to any Latina working to make her dreams a reality.

Héctor Tobar's The Barbarian Nurseries focuses on the story of a couple who are going through hardships that ultimately lead their maid to take care of the children and go on the lookout for an estranged family member who can take them on.

Baseball is known as America's favorite pastime, but it can also be seen as a reflection of how much America has changed. Playing America's Game details the history of how Latinos and baseball came together.

Breaking Through is an autobiographical tale of Francisco Jiménez's life after he arrived in America with his family. This is another tale that many immigrants can relate to because it doesn't romanticize the immigrant journey, instead it highlights the hardships and the reasons why they are endured.

The first mind-blowing thing about The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano is that it's written by the actress who played Maria on Sesame Street for over 40 years. The second mind-blowing thing is how it reminds you how deeply proud you are to be Latina.

The late and great Gabriel García Márquez is known for his amazing storytelling ability, and One Hundred Years of Solitude is the capstone to such an amazing career. In a novel that falls under the umbrella of magical realism, Márquez focuses on the family that founded the town of Macondo in Colombia.

If you're looking for a thriller written by a Latino, this is the way to go. The Nature of Truth takes place at a university and around the truths that a professor is hiding.

In this memoir, Daisy Hernández weaves together the stories of all the women in her life and all they have taught her. A Cup of Water Under My Bed is a book for anyone who has learned life lessons from powerful girls.

The history of Cuba plays a pivotal role in how Lucia Alvarez's life story pans out in The Red Umbrella. Up until her early teens, Lucia lived a stable life in Cuba, but she is then sent, with her brother, to live in America in an effort to protect them from Castro's reign in Cuba. The story is one immigrants and first-generation Americans alike will love.

Make Your Home Among Strangers garnered incredibly positive reviews. The novel focuses on a female protagonist who is transitioning from high school to college as a first-generation high school graduate. As she moves on campus, she comes face to face with a very big cultural shock. Ariel Hernandez's custody battle unfolds during the same time, offering a political backdrop for the novel.

War by Candlelight is a compilation of stories that range in location from New York to Lima, Peru. The theme that ties them all together is war, the one that unfolds both on a personal and political level.

In the award-winning book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Díaz hits themes that so many can relate to: the search for love, the nuances of growing up traditionally Latino in the United States, and the consistent desire to achieve the American dream.

In this novel, a young girl travels to the US alone looking for her dad, who crossed the border from Mexico in hopes of a better life for his family. Across a Hundred Mountains will resonate with anyone whose family came to the US chasing the American dream.

Ernesto Quiñonez's novel is a drama-filled page turner that includes a Robin Hood-like protagonist, who also happens to be dealing drugs. Bodega Dreams is full of all facets of what life in Spanish Harlem can be like.

Rudolfo Anaya tells the story of Ultima, an elderly "curandera," and Antonio, the young child she eventually helps guide through life's toughest moments. Bless Me, Ultima is storytelling magic, weaving together nuances of Hispanic culture that are oftentimes overlooked, like how Latinos value their elderly and how important the formation of the soul is among Catholics.

Becoming Naomi León centers on Naomi finding herself in the midst of family turmoil that is sparked by a mom who was never present and who prompts Naomi to hold on tighter to the family she has always known — her grandmother and younger brother. The intricacies of family are highlighted throughout the book, making it an honest read.

Ernesto Galarza's memoir, Barrio Boy, focuses on his family's move from Sierra Madre to California and all that entails.

As a young adult novel, Cuba 15 hits all the marks: it tells the story of how Violet is struggling to reconcile growing up in America with having to partake in traditions like quinceañeras.

Magical realism is a theme many Hispanic writers incorporate into their work, and Benjamin Alire Sáenz is no exception. He tells the story of two siblings who grow up in very different Americas, both brought together by a magical third party, in Carry Me Like Water.

Esperanza is at the center of a novel that shows the realities of having to leave everything you know behind for the sake of an unknown future in America. Esperanza Rising also highlights how hard Latinos new to the US have to work to become a part of a new community.

You can never go wrong with an Isabel Allende book, especially a page-turner like The House of the Spirits. The book has a close-knit family (very relatable to Latinas), drama, and love.

Wilfred Santiago pens Roberto Clemente's biography years after he died and left his mark on the baseball world. 21 tells the story of a young Puerto Rican boy who realized his dream of being a Hall of Fame baseball player.

Esmeralda Santiago pens an autobiographical book that begins with her birth and early years in Puerto Rico and through her journey adapting to life in New York. When I Was Puerto Rican is one of those books where the reader is able to see herself.

Valeria Luiselli's debut novel is set in Mexico City and focuses on Highway, who collects the teeth of notable people. The Story of My Teeth is a witty page-turner.