Latine Book Content Creators to Follow, And Not Just During Latine Heritage Month

Book Riot Managing Editor Vanessa Diaz is a writer and former bookseller from San Diego, CA whose Spanish is even faster than her English. When not reading or writing, she enjoys dreaming up travel itineraries and drinking entirely too much tea. She is a regular co-host on the All the Books podcast who especially loves mysteries, gothic lit, mythology/folklore, and all things witchy. Vanessa can be found on Instagram at @BuenosDiazSD or taking pictures of pretty trees in Portland, OR, where she now resides.

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We’re not even a week into September, and there’s already been an internet kerfuffle over Latine Heritage Month. My short and salty summary is that people are lazy and see a last name that ends in -ez and assume Latine identity without doing any kind of due diligence, and someone suggested that authors who’ve written Latine characters into their books who are not themselves Latine might have a place in Latine Heritage Month celebrations. Yeah, no. No times two. We’re not doing that over here. What we are going to do is celebrate by boosting creators who stay uplifting Latine authors and their work.

A couple of quick notitas before we begin: to start, Latine Heritage Month begins on September 15th and ends on October 15th (and yes, those dates are significant). You may also notice that this year, more folks are shifting to refer to it as Latine or Latinx Heritage Month instead of Hispanic Heritage Month. This allows for the inclusion of folks from non-Spanish-speaking Latin American backgrounds, and decenters Spain because she doesn’t even go here.

Now, onto the good stuff. Here are three Latine book content creators who stay on the Latine lit coverage beat, bringing fresh insights and fantastic book recommendations by and about our people. Each of these creators has a multi-platform presence, including newsletters and other cool bookish places to find and support their work beyond the ones I’ve linked – hit those links in bios to find out more.

Carmen | Tomes and Textiles

@tomesandtextiles on Instagram / TikTok / Threads / YouTube

Carmen of Tomes and Textiles is an inclusive book influencer focused on Latinx fiction and fashion. In addition to weekly videos highlighting new releases by Latinx authors, she regularly rounds up Latinx book recs on a theme, from fun seasonal reading to books relevant to current events. Carmen also provides literary pathways to learning about issues impacting our communities and is (as of today) just under 20 videos deep in a series on building a home library, a guide for curating a collection of essential US history and nonfiction titles to have on your shelves. This series is a direct response to the Trump administration’s attempts to gut education and library services, and I am paying very close attention.

Marines | My Name is Marines

@mynameismarines on Instagram / TikTok / Threads / YouTube

Marines is a self-described reader, reviewer, content creator, event organizer, editor, and champion of a well-told story. She doesn’t exclusively cover Latine lit but is a champion for our stories and diverse, inclusive lit at large. Her approach to reading is one that I really vibe with, and that’s that reading is the most enjoyable when we aren’t doing it alone.

Though I’m generally a “life is too short to read books I don’t like” person, Marines frequently challenges me to sit with the discomfort of finishing books that aren’t for me. I may not be a total convert to the church of completionism quite yet, but Marines reminds me that there is so much value (and enjoyment!) in critique and discussion of books, even the ones we don’t like. Her reviews are nuanced and thoughtful, and whether or not I agree with them, they always teach me something and regularly make me pause to consider a perspective I haven’t before.

Ashley | Coffee and Cuentos

@coffeeandcuentos on Instagram / TikTok / Threads /

Ashley is a fellow Chicana and PNW girlie who co-owns Night Worms, a monthly horror book subscription service for readers who like their reads on the spooky side. She runs a monthly book club dedicated to books by Latin American authors and drops the list of picks three months at a time to give folks plenty of time to plan and procure. Her list for October, November, and December is out now and includes horror, a new short story collection, and a witchy novella set on the US-Mexico border.

Ashley does more than just book club on the interwebs and regularly rounds up lists of Latine book recs that make me do a happy dance in my seat. Two of the roundups I favorited recently are this list of books about hauntings in Mexico and these fall reads for brujas. In short, Ashley gets me.

For more Latine books and authors to celebrate year round, check out our Latine Lit archives.

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