"Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America" By Juan Gonzalez(01 of10)
Open Image Modal"Reading this history empowered me. Impeccable research by the author to recover a lost history of Latino migration to the USA, that offers the macro reasons why our parents or grandparents ended up traveling north of the Rio Grande. Gonzalez then delves micro and travels back to each home country, and traces the exploitation/military occupation/political strife that that was happening there that led to immigration."
"The Altar of My Soul" By Marta Moreno Vega(02 of10)
Open Image Modal"This is a gorgeous true story of Vega's spiritual awakening and her journey to becoming a Santeria priestess. It dispels many of the myths surrounding this ancient African religion that traveled with Africans on slave ships. The book is filled with rich history of Puerto Rico and New York City circa 1950, Puerto Ricans of African heritage and music. After reading this novel, I rushed to meet with my elders and mined them for family spiritual history."
"The Alchemist" By Paulo Coelho(03 of10)
Open Image Modal"If it's true that a book finds you when you are ready to heed its message, then I can see how and why this gem - which has sold over 65 million copies worldwide -- landed on my lap over a decade ago. I was at a bar in Old San Juan with my best friend and a young man, who could be cast as a young Santiago, came up to me and gave me his old copy. It changed my life. It's a gem that reminds me to never abandon my dreams."
"The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" By Junot Diaz(04 of10)
Open Image Modal"I adore this book, not just because it takes place in Jersey, where I grew up - and Rutgers University where Diaz and I went to college-- but because the author does a stellar job at weaving Dominican history, love and laugh-out-loud humor. It is masterful storytelling, pure and simple."
"House on Mango Street" By Sandra Cisneros(05 of10)
Open Image Modal"When I read it as an adult, I wished that I'd read it when I was growing up in the 'hood in Jersey. Cisneros gave dignity to the people in my life--the neighbors and the neighborhood that to outsiders was on the edge, but to me was all love. Mine was called Apartment on Waldo Street. Doesn't have the same ring to it..."
"Farming of the Bones" By Edwige Danticat(06 of10)
Open Image Modal"I feel a kinship with this Haitian-American writer because we share Caribbean roots and migrated around the same age and era to New York. Her virtuosity at capturing the heartbeat of a people and a nation is delicious to experience. I can smell the Caribbean Sea when I read her beautiful work. This one book is about the harsh and storied history that binds the two nations that occupy Hispaniola--suffice to say- I cried at the end."
"The Boy Without A Flag: Tales of the South Bronx" By Abraham Rodriguez(07 of10)
Open Image Modal"This short story collection -- and debut -- by one of the most gifted and original (and in my opinion, underrated) writers of my generation is raw, searing and gorgeous. Yeah, the teens in this Bronx 'wasteland' are filled with misery and crazy, but their humanity, beauty and light shine through. It's gritty, powerful, humorous and filled with life."
"Where a Nickel Costs A Dime" By Willie Perdomo(08 of10)
Open Image Modal"Not just because I married this award-winning poet, but because this is a classic poetry collection that captures various forms of poetic traditions from the Beat Poets, to the Nuyorican School to the best of the Harlem renaissance writers - and he makes it his own. Perdomo's muscular language touches the reader to her/his core like good poetry should. You hear the cacophony of rhythms of Harlem and smell rice and beans wafting from tenement windows. It's more than writing, the images in the collection feel like a feature film."
"Love in the Time of Cholera" By Gabriel Garcia Marquez(09 of10)
Open Image Modal"When I first read about Macondo in the masterful, One Hundred Years of Solitude, I swore that Gabo was writing about the Caribbean town where my family lives and where I spent my childhood summers. They may call it magic realism in literature but to me its beyond magic--it's as real as real gets. And I know because I have witnessed crazy. But as much as I love "100..." "LITTOC.." is my fave of the author-- hands down the greatest and most inspiring love story in the history of literature. From the first line about the smell of almonds I was captivated."
"Women with Big Eyes" By Angeles Mastretta(10 of10)
Open Image Modal"Extraordinary ordinary women come alive in this chunky collection of 39 short stories about larger than life tias who share intimate lessons on love and life. It's a mischievous world these aunts inhabit, and when you enter their universe it is pure magic. No surprise that Mastreta is often lauded as the female version of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his heir apparent. Soulful, funny and irreverent, just like the women in my family."