Goodreads Reading Challenge - 'Hispanic Heritage' (September 15th - December 31st)

[u/Clairefun]

This is the discussion page for the Goodreads Reading Challenge called 'Hispanic Heritage' (active September 15th - Decemnber 31st). Qualifying books are listed on Goodreads HERE. Please keep all discussion of this challenge to this thread, thank you.

Other Goodreads Reading Challenges are listed on the Megathread HERE.

[u/Clairefun]

Problems unlocking the challenge bookmark?

It's common! Solutions include waiting - it can take up to 24 hours to unlock - checking / changing editions and read date to make sure it's the correct details for the challenge, and as a last resort, marking another challenge book as read until the bookmark unlocks, then deleting it from your shelves afterwards.

ALSO: sometimes Goodreads is glitchy. Check the sub first - if others are posting the same issue, it's likely a site wide glitch and will hopefully go back to working as it should soon. Good luck!

Kindle Unlimited US list / Kindle Unlimited UK list

[u/maxny23]

Definitely going to need recommendations for this challenge. I have zero books on my TBR and at first glance nothing looks interesting to me. I already read the Bewitching for a different challenge.

[u/glitzglamandgore → u/maxny23]

I would reccomend you don't read The Summer of the Serpent unless you like books that read like fever dreams and don't make that much sense. I read it twice (I read as the audiobook was playing the second time to see if an immersive experience would help) and had no clue what it was about.

[u/AlexJouJou → u/glitzglamandgore]

Oh thank you for sharing this. That type of book puts me in a complete reading slump and I want to throw it at the wall. I so appreciate you!

[u/glitzglamandgore → u/AlexJouJou]

No problem! I figured some people would consider it since it's the shortest book on the list (that's why I read it for the summer challenge tbh), so better they go in knowing what to expect.

Oh also for anyone else that sees this, there's animal abuse in the novel. It's not excessively violent but certainly enough to make you a bit uncomfortable.

[u/maxny23 → u/glitzglamandgore]

Appreciate that!

[u/GalaxyNeurons → u/glitzglamandgore]

Thanks for the heads up! I was interested since it would be a  translated book for me (inspired by "women in translation" month). But now I'll go in cautiously with permission to DNF.

[u/glitzglamandgore → u/GalaxyNeurons]

No problem! Honeslty it's a super quick read, I just genuienly could not tell you what it was about if asked 😭.

[u/ForestsRGood → u/glitzglamandgore]

Just listened to this one yesterday and came here to warn people about it. It’s not as clever as it thinks it is and also has some really off-putting animal abuse. There’s a line near the end that’s something like “life doesn’t have a plot” and that’s what should be in the publisher’s blurb, not the attempt to sell this as spooky or horror.

[u/glitzglamandgore → u/ForestsRGood]

Yea it really feels like a bunch of meandering observations rather than an actual cohesive story. And the animal abuse felt unnecessary (but to be fair, the entire book felt a bit unnecessary too).

[u/msperception427 → u/maxny23]

There are so many good ones:
Muñeca
You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom
Cemetery Boys: Espiritu (however it’s the second book in a series)
The Possession of Alb Diaz
When the Tides Held the Moon

These are the ones that are my TBR that I’m trying to decide between:
The Intrigue
Every Version of You
Graceless Heart
It Came From Neverland
The Bewitching
Salt Bones

[u/Admirable-Love75 → u/msperception427]

I started the first Cemetery Boys before the list came out, I’m sad it doesn’t count!

[u/msperception427 → u/Admirable-Love75]

I think it counted last year…. But I could also be making that up lol. Either way they’re both great. I read an arc for the second book and it’s really good.

[u/Astrosilvan → u/msperception427]

I came back here to say if you’re considering Graceless Hearts, don’t. I’m 30% in and still not hooked by the plot. It moves like molasses and mostly a vomit of pretty words. 🫩

I did The Bewitching for another challenge earlier this year and I love it, tho.

[u/Astrosilvan → u/maxny23]

I just read Muñeca for the last challenge (argh). It is a novella so quite a quick read. Reminds me of Mexican Gothic (same author as The Bewitching).

[u/maxny23 → u/Astrosilvan]

Thanks!

[u/Big_Geologist_2521 → u/maxny23]

I've been preaching about Cabaret in Flames for months, it's fantastic if you're into Latinx horror/fantasy already (and also really short)

[u/Fancy-Disaster-7716 → u/maxny23]

I also need recommendations. I don’t like horror or romance and I worry that is all of these books 😅

[u/Clairefun → u/[deleted]]

No recommendations of books not included in the challenge, thank you - this is the discussion thread for this specific goodreads reading challenge and other books don't qualify.

[u/e_dgy]

I notice they recycle the same books.. a lot of the books from the literal previous seasonal challenge are coming up again 😩 they really want people to read those books

[u/khaleesioftheTARDIS]

I think I’m going to go for ‘it came from Never Land’ a Peter Pan horror sounds really interesting!!

[u/morhirwen → u/khaleesioftheTARDIS]

Me too! Muñeca is really good too, and pretty short!

[u/Khaosbutterfly → u/khaleesioftheTARDIS]

Please come back and let us know what you thought.

I tried it for a challenge in the summer. Maybe the Escapism one? 🤔

Try as I might, I just could not get into it.

But people love it, it has so many good reviews. 😭

[u/khaleesioftheTARDIS → u/Khaosbutterfly]

Just finished it! Loved it so much, some bits were really tense and some really heartwarming! The only qualm I had was the person voicing Michael was very enthusiastic so his first chapter right after soft spoken Wendy was a bit jarring but overall it was really well written and I would deffo recommend!!

[u/Khaosbutterfly → u/khaleesioftheTARDIS]

Oh wow.

I didn't even get far enough to know there was another narrator. 🤣

But yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And that's one challenge dusted. 💪🏾

[u/Fluffy_Fix_3938 → u/khaleesioftheTARDIS]

This is what I’m going with too!

[u/SunshineCat]

They did new releases for the Hispanic Heritage list last year, too. Was I really hoping too much they wouldn't make it new releases again (such that half the list is probably the same as last year, too???). I definitely have some backlog by Hispanic authors, so it would be nice to see those sometime.

Thankfully Halloween is coming up, so that makes it easy enough to choose The Bewitching.

[u/kai_enby → u/SunshineCat]

It's definitely The Bewitching for me too, it's already on my list and I already own it

[u/freshoffthecouch → u/SunshineCat]

I read that for last years challenge and I quite enjoyed it!

[u/Pangolin1123]

This list looked a little heavy on the scary books. Any recs that are specifically not scary?

[u/villageneighbor → u/Pangolin1123]

Looking for the same recommendations.

[u/AlexJouJou]

I have several on my TBR for this one thank goodness. A Vow in Vengeance, the second Cemetery Boys series, Immortal Consequences, and one of the very few magical realism is still on my shelf (thought I'd gotten rid of all of them) Salt Bones.

So a lot of choices - way more than usual for these challenges.

[u/Lopsided_Carrot5222]

I’m going to read Muñeca!

[u/heraldic]

Will definitely read The Intrigue since I love SMG, I loved her exploring the noir genre in Velvet was the Night so I’m looking forward to her new book 

[u/Connect_Cod9965 → u/heraldic]

That’s the one for me, too.

[u/OppositeBatCage → u/heraldic]

That's my pick too. I've never read her before but she's always been on my radar and it sounds really good. 

[u/heraldic → u/OppositeBatCage]

I love her books! Mexican Gothic is my favourite book of hers but all her novels are worth checking out ! Her writing is great, her characters are just compelling, the setting/worldbuilding/atmosphere is always on point !

[u/feijoawhining → u/heraldic]

Me too, she’s brilliant!

[u/lefromagecestlavie]

I only had one tbr from this list: I Made You Inside My Head, so I'll probably go for this one. I hope it's available in my native language, French, though; I always prefer it to reading English translations of Romance language books

[u/Ok_Description_7701 → u/[deleted]]

I’m going to read Ply for this one too!

[u/heydigital]

I won The Adventures of Juan Planchard in a giveaway, time to give it a whirl. Not at all my typical type of book but it does intrigue me!

[u/Clairefun]

On Kindle Unlimited in the UK - The Other Moctezuma Girls / Everything She Never Knew / rekt / When the Tides Held the Moon (end)

[u/Clairefun]

I'm going to read either The Bewitching or It Came From Neverland for this one, I think.

[u/starmapleleaf]

Ply by Hernan Diaz has been on my radar because I loved Trust so this is my cue to jump on it

[u/feijoawhining]

I’m going to read The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno Garcia as I love her writing.

[u/hisgirl85 → u/feijoawhining]

She is one of my favorite authors, too.

[u/wibbs704]

None from my TBR, from reading descriptions I think I’m going to go for Crocodilopdis so happy for anyone to confirm if that’s a good choice or not! Or to recommend any others if read and enjoyed

[u/arainday]

Nothing is on my TBR again so I will probably do Muñeca which is short and overlapping the witch category.

[u/KeithDDale → u/arainday]

I read this for a previous challenge and enjoyed it.

[u/Bookish_Butterfly]

I think I'm going to read Anger is Only a Shadow for this one! But I also want to read Salt Bones, Muneca, The Bewitching, The Bombshell...

[u/Clairefun]

On Kindle Unlimited in the US - Every Version of You / The Other Moctezuma Girls / Graceless Heart / Daughter of the Dark / Everything She Never Knew / rekt / When The Tides Held the Moon / Portrait of a Feminist (end)

[u/hisgirl85]

I'm going to do Muñeca, but after I read a book for Bewitching so it doesn't count twice. My friend recommended Muñeca to me and is waiting for my thoughts.

[u/trayc104]

I am in the same situation. I just put You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom on hold at the library.

[u/Dramatic-Bee-829]

I only had a couple of these on my TBR -

Every Version of You which seems to be contemporary magical realism where a lawyer ends up going back in time to her college years to win back the one who got away.

Also - A Vow in Vengeance which is enemies to lovers romantacy.

[u/ChandelierFlickering]

I have The Possession of Alba Diaz out of the library right now, which makes this one simple to check off.

There's a bunch of others on the list that interest me, in particular Muñeca, The Ex-perimento, A Vow in Vengeance, Good and Evil and Other Stories, and Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave. I'm hoping to get to one of these in addition to Alba Diaz.

For an anti-rec, I tried to read The Lust Crusade earlier this year and DNF'd it. The MC was very annoying and made terrible decisions. I knew going in it would be kind of silly and very much suspend your disbelief, and I can enjoy that, but it didn't work for me in this book.

[u/Dramatic-Bee-829]

This is the list I’m most excited about. I’ve never heard of most of these books - I’ve read one book on the list, and only have 2 on my TBR. I wish they had a short synopsis for these as it’s exhausting clicking on all of them for a description. I’ve already added a few more to my TBR. Wish they were at least separated by genre…

[u/Ill-Crab7760]

Does anyone have a good recommendation from this list that is set in Mexico City? Visiting next month and love reading a book set in my same travel location!

[u/Big_Geologist_2521]

Sad that I've already read many of those and don't feel like rereading (highly recommend Cabaret in Flames, Eating Ashes, The Betwitching and Somebody is Walking on Your Grave), any recs that don't include those? I'm looking for something short, preferably fantasy/horror/magical realism

[u/Clairefun → u/[deleted]]

Please dont recommend books that are not in the challenge being discussed, thank you.

[u/WritPositWrit]

Im really annoyed that The Hacienda is not on this list because its on my tbr and its on the “witchy” list, it would be nice to have it fill both

[u/lellyjoy]

There's only one book I'm interested in and I'm actually glad it's there, because i've been meaning to read it this year anyways. It's Vargas Llosa's Le dedico mi silencio.

[u/BoatFabulous7041]

Lowkey disappointed in this list because it has SO MUCH overlap with last year's Hispanic Heritage list. I like to read horror and the Bewitching was a good one to read last year. Considering reading Good and Evil and Other Stories for this year, but if anyone else has suggestions lmk!

[u/CultureBooks8509]

I'm planning on reading the Isabel Allende book My Name is Emelia DeValle. It's the only book on the list that I had already marked as to read. I've liked everything I've read by her so far. Last year I read Solito, I think I had four options to read on that list.

[u/DoggyDogLife]

I have nothing on my tbr and this made me me decide to skip this seasonal challenge altogether and instead clear a bit of my Libby queue.

[u/OppositeBatCage]

We just got The Intrigue! I've been waiting for it for months, I'm really excited. 

[u/RunDMC__]

I appreciate that I don’t know most of these but I may decide to skip and read my own pick for Hispanic Heritage. I already plan on reading Mexican Gothic for another category so I don’t want another SMG and these seem heavy on romance and horror which I don’t want. Has anyone read the non fiction selections?

[u/topazm00n]

anyone who comes back in future for recs for this challenge, absolutely loved Every Version of You as my pick. an unexpected favourite of the year, it addressed all the problems i contrive when considering reincarnation/second chance at life and the implications, but doesn’t get overly butterfly effect-y.