A phrasebook or traditional guidebook will equip you with enough knowledge to order food and track down the must-see monuments, but in order to really get under the skin of Italy, you'll need a different kind of reading material.
Reading novels by Italian authors opens your eyes to the Italy beyond the tourist spots as well as telling the human side of history you never touched on in school.

Elena Ferrante, author of the four 'Neapolitan novels' which document the friendship of two women in a changing Italy, is the best known contemporary Italian novelist, though her identity remains a secret. But the Naples of her novels is definitely real, and their popularity has lured tourists to the working class neighbourhoods depicted in the books for a taste of authentic Italy.