March Reading List

This month I started off by reading a few books about Venice, while in Venice. Then I sprinkled the rest of the month with a little death, some Latinx literature, and a few nonfiction pieces. You know, the standard material. 

Venice is a Fish
Tiziano Scarpa 

This book was recommended to me by the friend I stayed with in Venice and I picked up a copy there. Written by a Venetian, it serves as both a cultural/historical guide to the city and a rumination on its beauty. The prose are divided into sections based on your senses and how you can use them to experience the city. I HIGHLY recommend this read if you’re headed to Venice. 

Suite Vénitienne
Sophie Calle

This was the book I brought with me to Venice. Sophie Calle is an artist and this editorial and photo series was written by her as she followed a man from Paris to Venice. It’s basically a few weeks of her stalking him in the city. It’s really creepy and cool and gives you a sense of a Venice that doesn’t exist anymore. It was written in the 1980s and already you couldn’t have the same experience. Highly, highly, highly recommend even if you’re not going to Italy. 

Becoming
Michelle Obama

I’ve been on the library wait list for Michelle for well over six months and I was SO excited when it came up. I can’t say enough about this book. It’s real, honest, funny, easy to read, and super relatable. I think women of any age can benefit from reading this. She doesn’t just talk about the presidency but about her own career trajectory, her experiences as a black woman, and life after the White House. Read it NOW. 

The Woman I Kept to Myself
Julia Alvarez 

I love, love Julia Alvarez and this was my first time reading poetry by her. It was a beautiful little book of interior poems. Based on just this book I prefer her prose but it was a nice way to get some of her precious words in a small dose. I enjoyed this but I would recommend Cristina Garcia’s poetry first. 

My Father’s Ghost is Climbing in the Rain
Patricio Pron

I selected this book because it was written by an Argentine author and I’m always trying to explore my literary patrimony. This was a really cool, abstract piece about a man whose father is dying. While going through the things in his office the son realizes his father had a very different life during the Dirty War than he realized. For most Argentines the war still hangs heavy on the national consciousness so this is extremely relevant. Eerie and abstract but worth the read.  

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
Nick Flynn

This was our book club selection this month. It’s a memoir style book about the author’s experience working at the Pine Street Inn, one of Boston’s best known homeless shelters. While working there he encounters his estranged, and now homeless, father. This is a great book. It’s a fast, energetic read and provides some insight into the homeless experience and the challenge of balancing your own needs with those of a deteriorating loved one. 

The Lady Matador’s Hotel
Cristina Garcia

I’m obsessed with Cristina Garcia and this book was no exception to her rule of perfection. Told in pieces bouncing between a few different characters it tells the story of hotel that sees questionable adoptions, broken gender barriers, and a former assassin roaming its halls. It’s not really a linear narrative so if you’re into traditional narrative structure it might not be for you. But it’s BEAUTIFUL and I recommend everything she writes. 

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Caitlin Doughty

This book is about a woman who works at a crematory and decides to become a mortician. I know, I know, you’re thinking ‘Death AGAIN, Celina?’ But this is actually very humorous and lighthearted as death books go. You learn a lot about the cremation process but not in a gory way. It also presents some interesting arguments about the death industry and America’s attitude towards death. 100000% recommend. 

On Black Sister’s Street
Chika Unigwe

On Black Sister’s Street was beautifully written but it’s definitely tough subject matter. It follows a group of women who were imported to Belgium from Africa for a prostitution ring, usually under false pretenses. Most of the women had previously been raped and had very challenging lives which is unveiled in the story. It’s not an easy read but it is gorgeous and it does detail a real and serious problem. 

Mrs. Jack: A Biography of Isabella Stewart Gardner
Louise Tharp

After reading about the Gardner Heist for our last book club I wanted to know more about the famed Mrs. Gardner. This biography though written in 1965 is wonderful. Very readable, tons of information but in a digestible format. Plus I kind of like that it was written before the heist because it focuses just on her and not on the ensuing scandal.