Here I give a list of books and authors that Ive read and found very

interesting. These, I feel shall help you develop the reading habit to
begin with, and improve your reading comprehension in general. The
ultimate results may vary based on how much reading you actually do
everyday. I advise you to read a lot, not just the ones given here,
but other books and authors and most importantly newspapereditorials
and maga!ines"both political and general#.
$ost of these books fall under the %iction category, yet, Ive
subgrouped them to make your choice easier. &ou may choose any of the
books or authors from the category that matches your likes.
I%or the beginners "the ones who have yet to cultivate the reading habit#'
(harles )ickens"*reat +,pectations, )avid (opperfield, -liver Twist#.
$ark Twain"The /dventures of Tom 0awyer, Huckleberry %inn, The 1rince
and the 1auper#. 2ewis (arrol. 3onathan 0wift. 4udyard 5ipling.
4.2.0tevenson. 0ir /rthur (onan )oyle"all the 0herlock Holmes stories
and novels#. +nid 6lyton"the %amous %ive novel series and the
+nchanted 7ood#. the Hardy 6oys series. the 0ecret 0even series. the
Harry 1otter series. short story versions of 0hakespearean
dramas"Tales from 0hakespeare# by (harles 2amb. 4.5.8arayan.
II%iction, 0cifi /dventure, )rama, $ystery, )etective %iction %or
the ones who are already in the habit of reading'+arle 0tanley
*ardner' 1erry $ason books
0ir /rthur (onan )oyle. /gatha (hristie"there are more that 9: novels
by her#. 3effrey /rcher, 0idney 0heldon, Irwing 7allace, $ichael
(richton, $ario 1u!o"especially the *odfather and %ools )ie#. 1aolo
(oelho"The /lchemist#. /lfred Hitchcock, 1.*.7odehouse, *raham *reene,
H.*.7ells, +rich 0egal"especially 2ove 0tory#. +dgar /lan 1oe. $itch
/lbom. /rundhati 4oy, 5hushwanth 0ingh. 4.5.8arayan. )an 6rown,
0tephen 5ing.
IIIInspiration'
The /lchemist by 1aolo (oelho. The $onk 7ho 0old his %errari, the
*reatness *uide by 4obin 0harma. The ; Habits of Highly +ffective
1eople by 0tephen 4 (ovey. 7ings of %ire. $y +,periments with Truth.
Tuesdays with $orrie and %or -ne $ore )ay by $itch /lbom. %ools )ie by
$ario 1u!o.
I<4omance'
2ove 0tory by +rich 0egal. / farewell to /rms by +rnest Hemingway. The
0carlet 2etter by 8athaniel Hawthorne. /nna 5arenina by 2eo Tolstoy.
/n +=ual $usic by <ikram 0eth. *one 7ith the 7ind by
Idontrememberwho. / Tale of Two (ities by (harles )ickens. 4omeo
and 3uliet and other 0hakespearean romances. 7uthering Heights by
+mily 6ronte.
< 1oetry
3ohn 5eats, +mily )ickinson, 4abindranath Tagore, 1.6.0helley, 7illiam
7ordsworth, 0hakespeare, 8issim +!ekeil, 0arojini 8aidu, T.0.+liot.
FICTION
Title Author
Animal Farm George Orwell
1984 George Orwell
Lord of the flies William Golding
To kill a Mockingbird ar!er Lee
A town like Alice "e#il $h%te
A &ra'er for Owen Mean' (ohn )r#ing
The $ecret Agent (ose!h *onrad
The *all of the Wild (ack London
+im ,%d'ard +i!ling
Watershi! -own ,ichard Adams
A Tale of Two *ities *harles -ickens
The Alchemist &a%lo *oelho
+ane and Abel (effre' Archer
Three Men in a .oat (erome +/ (erome
The -a' of the (ackal Frederick Fors'th
The Old Man and the $ea 0rnest emingwa'
The Little &rince Antoine -e $aint1
02%!er'
The War of the Worlds / G/ Wells
The French Lie%tenant3s Woman (ohn Fowles
The $!' who came in from the *old (ohn le *arre
$o!hie3s World (ostein Gaarder
NON-FICTION
Title Author Subject
F%t%re $hock Al#in Toffler $ociet'
The 0nd of Work (erem' ,ifkin ociet'
0ntro!' 4 A "ew World 5iew do do
Time Wars4 The &rimar' *onflict in %man istor'
The .iotech *ent%r' do $cience and societ'
Who sho%ld !la' God do do
An American -ilemma G%nnar M'rdal $ociet'
The Liberal
)magination Lionel Trilling $ociet'
The 0nd of istor' and the Last Man Francis F%k%'ama $ociet'
O%r &osth%man F%t%re do $cience and societ'
The O!en $ociet' and its 0nemies +arl &o!!er $ociolog'
The making of the 0nglish Working *lass 0 & Thom!son $ociolog'
Working $t%ds Terkel ociolog'
The strange death of liberal 0ngland George -angerfield $ocial histor'
The ,ise of the West William Mc"eill $ocial histor'
The Great War and modern memor' &a%l F%ssell do
*hildren of *risis ,obert *oles $ocial !s'cholog'
The $tor' of &hiloso!h' Will -%rant &hiloso!h'
)nsight4 A st%d' of %man 6nderstanding .ernard Lonergan &hiloso!h'
The &ro!er $t%d' of Mankind )saiah .erlin &hiloso!h'
A Theor' of (%stice (ohn ,awls &hiloso!h'
The "at%re and -estin' of Man ,einhold "ieb%hr &hiloso!h'
&rinci!ia 0thica G 0 Moore &hiloso!h'
&hiloso!h' and *i#ilisation (ohn -ewe' &hiloso!h'
,eligion and the rise of *a!italism , Tawne' &hiloso!h'
The #arieties of ,eligio%s 02!erience William (ames ,eligion
Milleni%m Feli!e Fernande71Armesto istor'
&athfinders 4 A Global istor' of 02!loration do do
*i#ilisations 4*%lt%re8 Ambition and the Transformation of "at%re do do
Tr%th 4 A istor'and a G%ide forthe &er!le2ed do do
A $t%d' of istor' Arnold ( To'nbee istor'
The Art of Memor' Frances A 9ates *%lt%ral histor'
The Affl%ent $ociet' (ohn +ennethGalbraith
0conomic tho%ght0conomics8 &eace and La%ghter do do
The Liberal o%r do do
The General Theor' of 0m!lo'ment 0conomic tho%ght )nterest8 and ( M +e'nes 0conomic
Tho%ght
1. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint Exupery
2. Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richar !ach
". #llusions - Richar !ach
$. !rige Across %orever - Richar !ach
&. The Alche'ist - Paulo (oelho
). 1** years o+ solitue - ,a-riel ,arcia .ar/ue0
1. Love in the ti'e o+ cholera - ,a-riel ,arcia .ar/ue0
2. (atcher in the rye - J.D. Salinger
3. To 4ill a 'oc4ing -ir - 5arper Lee
1*. The -riges o+ 'aison county - Ro-ert Ja'es 6aller
11. (atch 22 - Joseph 5eller
12. Love Story - Erich Segal
1". The %ountainhea - Ayn Ran
1$. Atlas Shrugge - Ayn Ran
1&. 6e the people - Ayn Ran
1). 7ana - E'ile 8ola
11. A %are9ell to ar's - Ernest 5e'ing9ay
12. Across the river an into the trees - Ernest 5e'ing9ay
13. The ol 'an an the sea - Ernest 5e'ing9ay
2*. Jeeves an 9ooster: this is a series consisting o+ a-out &* -oo4s
approx.; - P, 6oehouse
:Russian authors;
21. Anna 4arenina - Leo Tolstoy
22. 6ar an peace - Leo Tolstoy
2". A collection o+ Short stories - .axi' ,or4y
2$. 7otes +ro' the unergroun - %yoor Dostoevs4y
2&. (ri'e an Punish'ent -%yoor Dostoevs4y
2). The -rothers 4ara'a0ov - %yoor Dostoevs4y
21. The Dou-le - %yoor Dostoevs4y
22. The Devils - %yoor Dostoevs4y
23. The #iot - %yoor Dostoevs4y
"*. Short Stories - Anton (he4hov
"1. ,rapes o+ 9rath - John Stein-ec4
"2. East o+ Een -John Stein-ec4
"". 7ineteen Eighty +our - ,eorge <r9ell
"$. Ani'al %ar' - ,eorge <r9ell
"&. 8en an the art o+ 'otorcycle 'aintenance - Ro-ert .. Pirsig
"). Re-ecca - Daphne Du .aurier
"1. Exous - Leon =ris
"2. Steppen9ol+ - 5er'ann 5esse
"3. The ,lass !ea ,a'e - 5er'ann 5esse
$*. Siharta - 5er'ann 5esse
$1. Da'ien - 5er'ann 5esse
$2. 5eart <+ Dar4ness - Joseph (onra
$". (ollection o+ short stories - ,uy De .aupassant
$$. 5al+ a Li+e - >.S. 7aipaul
$&. .e'ories o+ 'aness 13$1 - ?hush9ant Singh@ .anto etc.
$). ,ora - Ra-inranath Tagore
$1. .inightAs chilren - Sal'an Rushie
$2. Satanic >erses - Sal'an Rushie
$3. Shali'ar the clo9n - Sal'an Rushie
&*. The 5arry Potter series: ) -oo4s; - J.? . Ro9ling