RECOMMENDED READS

Welcome to our literary circle, in which San Diegans pass the (printed) word on books

Marc Chery

Job: Supervisor, Humanities Section, Central Library @ Joan & Irwin Jacobs Common, San Diego Public Library

He recommends: “The Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio, translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn (W.W. Norton & Company, 2013; 947 pages)

Why? A 700-year-old book set during the time of the Black Death (1346-1353), the deadliest pandemic recorded in human history, resonates powerfully today. “The Decameron” is heralded as perhaps the greatest short-story collection of all time, written in 1348 after the bubonic plague — which killed an estimated 75 million in Europe, Asia and Africa — hit Florence. In “The Decameron,” 10 young Florentines retreat into isolation for two weeks in the countryside and pass the time by telling stories, resulting in 100 stories. Many are amusing. Some are sad. None are about the plague. On Feb. 16 and 26, the San Diego Public Library — along with La Jolla Historical Society, San Diego Writers, Ink, and Write Out Loud — will launch the San Diego Decameron Project, bringing together 100 San Diego writers to comment on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marianne Reiner

Job: Owner, Run for Cover Books

She recommends: “Aftershocks” by Nadia Owusu (Simon & Schuster, 2021; 299 pages)

Why? In her debut memoir “Aftershocks,” Nadia Owusu tells us with heartbreaking honesty about her life: the daughter of an Armenian American mother and a Ghanaian father, she spent her childhood in several different countries following the various U.N. posts her father was assigned to. Owusu’s life was shattered when her mother left her, her sister and their father when she was a young child. Her father, whom she was very close to, died when she was only 13. Her stepmother, with whom she had a complicated relationship, stepped in until their relationship was damaged by the revelation of a heavy secret. The beauty of this book resides in how this poignant story of grief, loss, love and finding your own borders is told with familiar emotion yet remains unique. I loved Owusu’s poetic and visceral writing style. Even as the intensity of her story was overwhelming me, I could not get enough of her words and clear voice. This first memoir is proof that Owusu has forged her own path through her writing.