Learning German added a new dimension to my book reading. And now that I have read exactly 100 books in German (July 2025), I would like to share with you my favorite German-language books so far. This list doesn’t include the books for which I read the German translation. No, these all books were written originally in German.
5. Nächste Ausfahrt Zukunft (“Next Exit: Future”)
Author: Ranga Yogeshwar
Genre: Extended essay, futurism
Best Part: philosophical ideas and the technical insights of the author
Trivia: The author is a famous physicist and science communicator in Germany; he was born in India and also has roots in Luxemburg. His books about explaining everyday things with science are also great reads: Ach so (“Is it so?”, Sonst noch Fragen (“Any other questions?”).
4. Qualityland (“Quality-Land”)
Author: Marc-Uwe Kling
Genre: Dystopian novel, Comedy, SciFi
Best Part: Humor that makes you think seriously about life, technology and society
Trivia: There is also a second part of the book – Qualityland 2.0. Also, another book series by Marc-Uwe Kling is equally genius in terms of humor that makes you think – Die Känguru Chroniken (“The Kangaroo Chronicles”) and 3 sequels. There is also a movie based on this series but it’s not really good.
3. Landeskunde Deutschland (“Regional Study: Germany”)
Author: Renate Luscher
Genre: Cultural, political and social History
Best Part: Learning about the defining moments from Germany’s past
Trivia: I read this book while preparing for the German citizenship test (not that I needed to; I just wanted to learn about Germany!) and it gave me great insights about the country where I had spent a decade of my life.
2. Schachnovelle (“The Chess Novella”)
Author: Stefan Zweig
Genre: Novella, psychological drama
Best Part: short size (just 80 pages or so), gripping narration, chilling story
Trivia: This was Stefan Zweig’s last and the most known work. He committed suicide not long after writing it. He has written some other great books – Der Amokläufer (“Person running amok”), Untergang eines Herzens (“Downfall of a heart”), 24 Stunden aus dem Leben einer Frau (“24 hours in the life of a woman”).
1. …trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen (“… and yet say yes to life”)
Author: Viktor E. Frankl
Genre: Memoirs, Holocaust
Best Part: Reading a psychologist’s observations about people in Nazi concentration camps
Trivia: In English, the book is also known as “Man’s search for meaning”. It refers to the core point of Viktor Frankl’s ideas – finding meaning in one’s work, relationship or life, even in the face of suffering. This also became the basis of a new school of therapy started by Mr Frankl – Logotherapy.