When I’m not in the comfort of my own home, the bodega feels like the next best thing. All my life, I’ve recognized bodegas – these small owner-operated convenience stores – as community anchors. They always provide the essentials, and something more. In here, stories are abundant, its customers a carousel of characters.
My debut book, Bodega Stories, follows the people who orbit my parents’ bodega in St. Petersburg, Florida, with interwoven stories from my parents’ beginning as bodega workers in Brooklyn, New York. Over the course of a year, I made countless visits to the store to see what I could gather about this place, what I could observe. And what I found was a portrait of seeking home.
Whether you call them something different where you live, bodegas have long proven to be integral parts of the communities they serve. And they’ve been the source of inspiration behind many books and other works of art. Here are five books that I have enjoyed that are related to the bodega.
Continue reading “Five Books That Center Bodegas, Recommended by Amaris Castillo”