I’ve had far too many people who have asked me for book recommendations, and the ever present question- “Which book should I start reading if I want to develop a reading habit?”. This post/blog lists down the books which most shaped my reading habits and preferences. A good chunk of these could be ones which I read when I was a teen, but I think that was when I figured out what genre I loved the most, what writing style I preferred and which authors I found most inspiring. I’ve read far too much non-fiction in the last 5 years (univ days), so tread with caution if my state of mind in uni influences these books. I love fantasy as a genre- so take my praise for fantasy authors with a pinch of salt, I cannot stop talking fantasy series. I’ll break it down into genres(5 for each), for easy stratification.

Fiction - Solo Books

1. If Tomorrow Comes- Sidney Sheldon: Tracy Whitney to this day remains one of my favourite characters. Her arc and development through the book is increditble, and the ending is perfect. Do give it a read if you’re into long solo stories.

2. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini: Beautiful writing, empathetic plot. It makes you cry, irrespective of how hard-faced you act.

3. A Prisoner of Birth- Jeffrey Archer: My second favourite Archer book. The plot and writing is extremely fast paced. The legal drama is possibly the best legal case I’ve read. Must read.

4. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer: I became an Archer fanboy post this book. Not only is this book a cult classic, it probably introduced a new form of storytelling by following multiple POVs(point of views), and having them interact with each others in subtle manners. Peak Archer for me.

5. Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir: The Martian was good. Project hail mary is better. Much better. The emotional connect with the main character and the scientific simplicity of concepts is impeccable. Any engineer who’s done JEE needs to read this. Its the spirit of the scientific method taken to unseen levels.

Non-Fiction Solo Books

1. Freakonomics- Steven Levitt: Data never lies, opinins based on feelings are wrong and completely random events have huge historical side-effects. A great book if you want to read crazy reasons why things happen.

2. Outliers- Malcolm Gladwell: Too many people have talked about this.

3. The Innovators - Walter Issacsson: He biographed Jobs, Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Einstein. He’s outdone himself in this book. It tells you not only how silicon valley was built, but also the stories that inspired it. California was build based on a sense of collaboration and free thinking which isn’t present anywhere else. That is what this book explains. Also, huge shoutout to Walter for bringing out the unknown charaters forgotted in history who probably had a much larger role to play.

4. No Rules Rules - Reed Hastings: Possibly the best book about how to build a company, and how to keep it thriving. The other management stuff is BS.

5. Subtle Art of not giving a F*** - Mark Manson: Too cliche, but I actually loved this. Totally changes the way you think.

6. Think Again - Adam Grant: Adam Grant is an incredible writer, so had to make space for his best book according to me. It tells you that the age old idea of sticking to your principles passed on through generations is proper BS. He is very academic in his writing, and backs up his points with data brilliantly.

Autobiographies/Biographies

1. Shoe Dog - Phil Knight: Best autobiography acc to me. He writes well, and he has a story worth the writing. It’s not the story of how Nike was built, its the story of how you puch yourself to your maximum. Must read autobiography.

2. Hit Refresh - Satya Nadella: Satya Nadella is the reason Microsoft is back, he’s an incredible businessman. He’s an even more incredible human being. Think refresh is his story of how empathy changed his worldview of business and why empathy is what we need going on. It’s very different from most buigraphies in terms of focus- and that is what makes it an incredible read. He’s genuine and to the point, and makes you re-prioritize what a business should value.

3. The Code Breaker - Walter Issacsson: Follows the story of Jennifer Doudna, inventor of CRISPR and Nobel Winner. Talks about how academia works and how major scientific discoveries actually happen (it’s not lightbulb moments). It’s also more relevant, since most of the story happens in the 2010’s.

4. Surely you’re joking Mr Feynman- Rickard feynman: He’s brilliant. He’s funny. He’s wierd. He enjoys life. You should be brilliant, funny, wierd and enjoy life. Its the book that most influences the scientific community, narrated by the guy who’s a rock star disguised as a physicist. Probably the most fun autobiography to read.

5. Playing it my way - Sachin Tendulkar: Not the greatest biography of all time. Sachin was my childhood idol (still is), and is probably the most loved person in Indian history. He’s honest, straightforward and knows his cricket. For someone who spent his childhood watching with anxiety as the little master took strike, this is a book which touched hearts.

Fiction - Non-Fantasy

I’ll have tonnes of fantasy reccos later, bear with me for this tiny detour.

1. Alex Rider Series - Anthony Horowitz: As a child, anyone who has ever read Alex Rider wants to be Alex Rider. He’s cool, somewhat clueless, an action hero and a teenager playing James Bond. Childhood defining book series. Don’t think many characters are so well written(Scorpia too is a brilliant read from a villain’s perspective) .

2. Young Samurai - Chris Bradford: I fell in love with Japan when I completed this 8 part series. It’s about ninjas, samurai and all the other cool Naruto stuff, but better. By far the most underrated series, too few people know about this.

3. Bartimaeous Trilogy and Ptolemy’s gate - Jonathan Stroud: Bartimaeous and Nathaneil are to me an impeccable example of how characters need to be written. Bartimaeous isnt funny- he’s hilarious. He’s how everyone should be. The story makes you sort of regret finishing the 3 part series so quickly. A very different magic format than the rest. Not really fantasy- but nearing it.

Fiction - Fantasy

Welcome to my favourite genre. Books here are traditionally 500-1000 pages, but no genre grips you and makes you fall in love with it as much as fantasy. Ordering things in the order that they influenced me(lowest to max)-

1. Harry Potter - JK Rowling: OK harry potter is not my favourite fantasy. It’s really good and a brilliant way to get into reading, but just isn’t what moved me the most- probably because the first 4 movies had released by the time I was old enough to read. Moving on.

2. Hunger Games - Suzanne Collings: Gripping storyline, lovely characters, sort of sad ending.

3. Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke: Inkheart is truly a brilliant concept. One of a kind fantasy, something you think about for many days after you read it. Dustbringer is the best.

4. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer: Who does not love an evil genius. Each Artemis Fowl book is teenage gold. It’s funny and modern, and would make you question if a life of non-crime is worth it.

5. Meluha Series - Amish Tripathi: Amish deserves a mention for bringing quality into indian literature and maintaining it. Incredible concepts which the bhakts would probably love. He talks a lot of philosophy without imposing it. Its humble, beautiful and the second best Indian series for me.

6. Ram Chandra Series - Amish Tripathi: Ok I’m not a bhakt, but this is for me the best Indian fantasy writing I’ve read. Scion of Ikshvaku and Sita are okay reads for this series. Raavan is one of the best book I’ve read by any author- Indian or not. You sympathize more with Raavan that with Ram or Sita to the dissappointment of your parents, but that’s how brilliant the storytelling for the third book is. Hats off to Amish.

TOP 3 INCOMING —————–

1. Inheritance Series- Cristopher Paolini: Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr made me want to write a novel myself. Paolini was 17 when he wrote Eragon. I think I visited the library everyday for 15 days enquiring if the 4th book had arrived. It was that good then. Childhood defining.

2. Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson: Fantasy nerds love Brandon Sanderson. I fell in love with fantasy after probably a 3 year break with Mistborn- the final empire. It’s so well written, the characters and the magic universe perfectly complement each other. Must read fantasy.

Notable mentions - Percy Jackson(Skipped because it got repetitive), Skullduggery Pleasant (because it stopped being fun after book 2), Famous 5/secret 7( for being too childish), Lord of The rings (for being too old school for me)……..

1. Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson: He’s now probably a fiction superstar writer. Characters are key. If you fall in love with a character, you fall in love with the arc and then you fall in love with the book. Kaladin Dalinar and Shallan are impeccable. Each book is probably 1000 pages, but worth every page. Enough said.

There you go.