Best of the Year: The 9 Best Spanish Language Listens of 2022

Audible's Spanish Language Audiobook of the Year, 2022

Fresh off his starring role as Namor in this year’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Tenoch Huerta bares his soul in Orgullo Prieto. It’s a courageous and personal exposé of the widespread racism and colorism in Mexico and an indictment of the culture that shaped him. Huerta has long been one of Mexico’s most vociferous antiracist voices, speaking out about how few Brown actors are provided key acting roles in both domestic Telenovelas and on the major streaming giants. Huerta calls out these injustices in a conversational manner that doesn’t talk down to the listener or come across as ‘angry.’ For me, it’s one of the most heartfelt listens of the year because of the timely topic, and because Huerta is the man of the moment—and one to watch for. —Edwin D.

Ingrid Rojas Contrera’s The Fruit of the Drunken Tree made for one of the best listens of 2018, and now Rojas wows us again with El hombre que movía las nubes. This beautifully crafted multigenerational memoir weaves history, traditions, grief, and narrative into one of the most unique listens of the year. Curanderos (healers who uses folk remedies) have long been an interest of mine since I was kid, and this novel brings together a family history like no other, with multiple metaphors sprinkled throughout and even a dash of magical realism. It also makes you ponder the erasure of Indigenous culture and spirituality through white supremacy and Christian colonization. It’s a performance that cannot be praised enough. —E.D.

Isabel Allende’s Violeta reads like a memoir—but it isn’t. The sweeping narrative takes the listener on a journey that lasts 100 years, using its titular character and actual historical events as its backdrop. What unravels is a story that carefully weaves fact and fiction. During her life, Violeta witnesses a period of history that starts with the 1920 Spanish Flu and ends with the COVID-19 pandemic and takes the listener from Cuba to LA to Norway and to Chile. With Violeta, Allende triumphs as an author, while Chilean actress Javiera Gazitua is perfectly cast as the only performer who could voice this 11-hour epic. —E.D.

Paola Herrera, one of LatAm’s most powerful influencers, wrote La historia que te cuentas with the goal of helping others change the narrative they tell themselves about who they are and where they want to go. She starts by sharing her own struggles with economic and personal challenge and her decision to take control of her own destiny. Herrera was able to envision a new version of herself, and her inspiration shines through in this listen. Newcomers to self-dev will gravitate towards the simplicity with which she narrates her experiences and the ease of her techniques, and it’s sure to inspire millions to see a way forward and live their best lives. —E.D.

While the American lit scene is full of famous detectives, in Spanish, there’s one that stands above the rest: Inspector Kraken. The critical praise of El libro negro de las horas was amped to 100 prior to the novel’s release. And as the fourth book in Eva García Sáenz de Urturi’s Trilogia de la Ciudad Blanca mystery series, I couldn’t help but approach this new listen with caution—and I was wrong. All of us who love Inspector Kraken are in for a treat as we delve even deeper into the depths of Kraken’s character and family. If you haven't already listened to the Trilogia, you can enjoy this listen as a standalone mystery. But after listening to one, you'll probably want to listen to them all. —E.D.

Spanish-born author Arturo Pérez-Reverte returns with his most ambitious work yet: Revolución: Una Novela. Opening In 1910, the novel focuses on a mining engineer caught in the chaos of the start of the Mexican Revolution and features major historical figures from the bloody conflict. While critics have pounded on Pérez-Reverte’s Hollywood-writing style, it heightens the pace of the plot and makes for an easy listen. The way Pérez-Reverte captures the culture and speech of his characters is so spot-on that newcomers to his work might never suspect he’s not Mexican. Narrator Imanol Arias does a fantastic job placing the listener in the middle of the action, making Revolución one of the year’s best listens. —E.D.

María Dueñas stunned the Spanish lit scene with her debut, El tiempo entre costuras [The Time in Between], in 2009. Now, more than a decade later, the seamstress Sira is back and at the center of this listen. Sira harkens back to the best elements of post-war fiction but amps up the ante with its excellent historical research. Set in Jerusalem, London, Madrid, and Tangier, the novel addresses topics such as the British Mandate for Palestine, the Israeli-Arab conflict, the economic difficulties in post-World War II London, and international relations in post-Civil War Spain, among a range of interesting real-life issues that hook in the listener. —E.D.

Mujeres de fuego is a testament to the power of resistance. Mexican pop-folk singer Natalia Lafourcade narrates this factual story of a group of Indigenous women who stopped the systemic deforestation of their lands, armed only with sticks and stones. Little did they know that their act of courage would serve as an inspiration for liberation from corruption, violence, and lawlessness, achieving a freedom from governance not seen since pre-Hispanic times. Throughout their accounts, the women keep repeating the following refrain: “It was not one of us, but all of us.” Lafourcade's voice breathes life into the powerful stories of the women who fought for a peaceful solution in a time of conflict. And as an added bonus, this listen includes a newly recorded version of Lafourcade's hit “Hasta la raiz,” a treat for her fans. —E.D.