As Latin America marks the 200-year anniversary of wars for independence this year (starting with Spanish and Portugese colonies arming themselves against their colonial masters in 1808). In Americanos: Latin America’s Struggle for Independence, author John Charles Chasteen details the various battles that took place during that period that resulted in independence for 19 republics. Chasteen, by the way, is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Also in nonfiction is The Last Princess by Matthew Dennison, which details the life of Princess Beatrice. Nicknamed Baby all her life, she was the youngest child of Queen Victoria. She served as her mother’s secretary, and was responsible for compiling and editing the queen’s journals, which she did for 30 years after Victoria’s death.

On the fiction front, Rick Nelson — who currently works as director of the human resources department in Pasadena, Texas — has written a murder mystery staring a New Orleans detective, Jack Brenner. Brenner is investigating an old case involving the murder of his cousin and a fellow Civil Rights worker in 1972.