Xochitl Gonzalez’s Favorite Books

Xochitl Gonzalez is the New York Times bestselling author of "Olga Dies Dreaming," named one of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, TIME, NPR, Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Book Riot, Good Reads, Reader’s Digest, Kirkus and this year's One Book, One Chicago selection. On Thursday, November 20, 2025, Chicago Public Library welcomed Gonzalez to Harold Washington Library Center for the One Book, One Chicago finale, where she spoke with Booklist's Donna Seaman about her career and what it means to have Chicagoans read "Olga Dies Dreaming" together. You can watch the keynote here, opens a new window.

Xochitl also shared her favorite books with us to share with CPL patrons! 

Reading Recommendations by Xochitl Gonzalez

"Madame Bovary, opens a new window, c'est moi!" Gonzalez says. "A timeless, timeless classic."

"I read this book [The Shining] before I was writing my second book.. it's kind of a meditation on the confines of modern marriage."

Of The Bluest Eye, opens a new window, Gonzalez comments, "I was so young when I first read this book and it was like the first time I remember seeing a feeling that I'd ever had in a book... nobody does it like Toni."

"Nick the narrator," of The Great Gatsby, opens a new window, "you think he's nobody... but actually he's kind of a little bit of shady guy. When you're less seduced by Gatsby, [Nick] is a very intriguing character."

"Talk about a book! I don't think I had ever read a book with a Latina narrator until I read The House on Mango Street, opens a new window by Sandra Cisneros. [When I met her] I cried."

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, opens a new window "captures this idea of ambition taking you from the people that you knew and people that you love. Subconsciously, maybe I was thinking about that when I was working on 'Olga.'"

"Humanity would be better if everyone read this book [One Hundred Years of Solitude, opens a new window]. He has an understanding of humans and community and generations and just all the things we carry with us."

The World According to Garp, opens a new window: "It's funny, absurd, but also really moving and grapples a lot things about relationships... one of the only books that I read where I like the movie as much as I like the book."

"I would call this [The Assistant, opens a new window] a working class classic... a slice of south Brooklyn living that I don't get to see very much in books."

Books by Xochitl Gonzalez

Olga Dies Dreaming, opens a new window

Anita De Monte Laughs Last, opens a new window

And be sure to check out our picks for fans of Olga Dies Dreaming, opens a new window.