A few weeks ago, Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-García received praise and the stamp as one the new Latinx voices of horror. Her novel, Mexican Gothic, is not only causing a furor among fans of dark and unusual literature, but has also set a precedent in the way Latino authors are decolonizing and removing the patriarchy of the genre and its archetypes underpinned by the most classic narratives from Lovecraft, Poe, and Bram Stoker.

It also has a new international flavor. 

In the book, the Mexican-American tells the story of Noemí Taboada, a young Latina that comes to the aid of a cousin who lives with her sinister husband in a remote country house in a 1950s Mexico. In the plot, the house and what it hides are as threatening as racial supremacy and ideas of purity. 

For its original form of horror, Mexican Gothic is one of the 20 books that won the 2020 Goodreads Readers Choice Award in the category of Horror. It is an award that is not given by critics, but by the platform's users and is the best thermometer of what is being cooked up in bookstores and on the social media. 

But Moreno-García was not been the only Latina author applauded by readers. Elizabeth Acevedo also won the Best Young Adult Fiction Award for Clap When You Land, a novel that explores love, loss and family through the story of two sisters, Camino and Yahaira Rios. Both meet when their father dies in a plane crash and they have to learn about the ties (or knots) that bind families together and discover each other in the process. 

With more than 5 million reader votes cast this year, among the new winners of the highly-democratic reading award is writer Margaret Atwood, who surprised audiences with Deary, her first collection of poetry in more than a decade that brings together poems about "absences and endings, old age, the gifts of life and renewal," while mixing nature with the supernatural.

Also, the memoirs of former President Barack Obama, A Promised Land,  which captured the twists and turns of his life and career in an intimate and sincere way was awarded in the category of Autobiography. The illustrated book Antiracist Baby by Ibram X was also given the spotlight. Kendi became an instant best-selling author with the outbreak of Black Lives Matter protests for social justice and against the murder of African Americans in the United States.

Here you can find the complete list of winners:

Fiction: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Thriller & mystery: The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Historical fiction: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Fantasy: Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas

Romance: From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout

Science fiction: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Humour: Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle

Horror: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Non-fiction: Stamped by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi

Memories & autobiography: A Promised Land by Barack Obama

History & biography: Castel by Isabel Wilkerson

Science & technology A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough

Cookbooks: Modern Comfort Food by Ina Garten

Comic & graphic novel: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Poetry: Dearly by Margaret Atwood

Debut novel: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Young Adult fiction: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Young adult fantasy: The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

Children's book: The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan

Illustrated book: Antiracist Baby, por Ibram X. Kendi, ilustrado por Ashly Lukashevsky