Books about Mexico

Discover GEEO’s recommended books to read before you travel to Mexico. Our book club is a way for travelers to learn through literature about the places they’ll be visiting.

These are some of our favorites about Mexico, so if you’re heading there, take a look (the GEEO book club is not a required element of our programs, just a bit of added fun)! We hope you will enjoy the books we have selected and they will enhance your experience.

You should be able to find most of our selections through the links below and in your local library system as well. Do you have any feedback on our selections or suggestions for additions? Contact us and let us know!

Recommended books to read before traveling to Mexico:

Fiction:

• The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Non-Fiction:

• The Maya, 9th Edition by Michael Coe and Stephen Houston (Amazon)
• Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

For those looking for more suggestions, here are some other books you may want to consider:

• Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya by Mary Ellen Miller and Karl Taube (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Ancient Civilizations of Central and South America: An Enthralling Introduction to the Olmecs, Maya, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Incas  (Ancient Mexico) by Enthralling History (Amazon)
• Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs by Michael D. Coe, Javier Urcid, and Rex Koontz (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution by Mariano Azuela (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Oxford History of Mexico by Michael Meyer (Editor) (Amazon)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A New Compact History of Mexico by Pablo Escalante Gonzalbo and Bernardo García Martínez ( Amazon)
• Zapata and the Mexican Revolution by John Womack (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Amazon)
• Aura by Carlos Fuentes (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Lluvia de Oro by Victor Villaseñor (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• I’ll Sell You a Dog by Juan Pablo Villalobos (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Bonus recommended films and videos to watch before traveling to Mexico:

GEEO travelers can register with SIMA Academy for free using a unique access code that we provide after our programs end. Feel free to contact us if you would like to receive the access code early. For this program, we recommend watching Cheran: The Burning Hope, La Casita Rosa, and Owners of the Forest. SIMA Academy utilizes the storytelling power of award-winning global short documentaries to nurture globally competent and socially active learners worldwide.

GEEO utilizes both Bookshop.org and Amazon Associates links for the above-suggested books. If you purchase a book through one of the links above, you’re supporting us as a nonprofit and helping more teachers travel through GEEO!