Xochitl Gonzalez on Elena Ferrante, 'The Joy Luck Club,' and the Book That Sealed a Friendship

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Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.

Raised by her janitor grandfather and lunch lady grandmother in a South Brooklyn railroad apartment, Xochitil Gonzalez is a NYT bestselling author (of the 2022 hit Olga Dies Dreaming, which was recommended by Jenna Bush Hager and won the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize in Fiction, the New York City Book Award, and the Gotham Book Prize and was featured in a Chanel ad). She is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Commentary (for her work at the Atlantic, where she’s the staff writer behind the “Brooklyn, Everywhere” newsletter); an Ivy League graduate (she got her art history and visual art degree at Brown, where she was the first Latina senior class president and where she’s currently a trustee); a board member at the Lower East Side Girls Club, a trustee at Brooklyn Public Library (where her first official event was celebrating Jay Z), and an MFA graduate from Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her latest novel is Anita de Monte Laughs Last (Flatiron), a fictionalized version of the life and death of an 80s Latina artist.

The Brooklyn-born and -based author was named for an Aztec goddess (pronounced “So-cheel”) by her Mexican-American father but went by Alicia (her babysitter’s name) when she lived with her mother’s Italian/Puerto Rican family. She studied in Italy at 19; used to own a wedding planning business (which informed Olga, whose protagonist is a wedding planner); is a proud public school graduate (where she fell in love with theater); is a 2-time elementary school champion of a Brooklyn storytelling contest, and is often inspired by Elle Decor. She was an arts and culture ambassador at the 2022 National Puerto Rican Day parade; was interviewed by Natalie Portman for her book club; loved shopping at Century 21 (she called it Centuries) so much she got a job there, where her discount was only 10%. She counts Bustelo coffee, Bounty paper towels, and Clorox all-purpose cleaner with bleach as household staples; reads tarot; always orders tomato juice on planes, has capers in the house, and is a regular at Dino restaurant in her old neighborhood of Fort Greene; regrets the Going-Out tube tops she wore to go clubbing in the early aughts; is a runner; spends too much money at Blick Art Supply; and lives with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Hectah Lavoe.

Fan of: Billy Joel classics, latkes, No. 6 clogs and Rachel Comey dresses, Wasa crackers and red lipstick (the “Latina magic wand”), Pratt Sculpture Park, Instant Pot, hostessing, Vallarta Supermarkets (which has a chorizo counter and stocks religious velas [candles] and Qui yogurt), Le Pen pens, crystals and martinis, the Farrow & Ball gray Dimpse. Not so much: Sweets, eating early, planning too far in advance. It’s never too early to plan on putting her book picks below on your TBR list.

The book that...

…helped me through loss:

The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante helped me survive the loss of one of my friends.

…kept me up way too late:

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

We The Animals by Justin Torres.

…I recommend over and over again:

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem.

...shaped my worldview:

The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav.

...I read in one sitting, it was that good:

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez.

…made me laugh out loud:

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño.

…I’d like turned into a TV show:

Olga Dies Dreaming.

...has the best title:

Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.

…helped me become a better writer:

When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Solà—it literally saved the draft of my novel by reminding me what an alive place this world is and how we can infuse our sentences with vibrancy.

…should be on every college syllabus:

Random Family by Adrienne Nicole LeBlanc.

...I’ve re-read the most:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

…I never returned to the library (mea culpa):

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

…sealed a friendship:

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. I met my best childhood friend at our local library in the 7th grade, and we were both sneak-reading V.C. Andrews. She was far more advanced in her canon than I was by then. It bonded us to this day.

...makes me feel seen:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

...surprised me:

Open Throat by Henry Hoke.

...I’d want signed by the author:

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

The literary organization/charity I support:

I’m a proud Trustee at the Brooklyn Public Library, my hometown and one of the nation’s largest public library systems with over 850,000 active card holders.

Olga Dies Dreaming

One Hundred Years of Solitude

The House on Mango Street

The Joy Luck Club

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

When I Sing, Mountains Dance

Flowers in the Attic

The Neapolitan Novels

I Have Some Questions for You

The Seat of the Soul

We the Animals

The Fortress of Solitude

The Savage Detectives

Anne of Green Gables

Open Throat

The Bonfire of the Vanities

Random Family

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