When taking stock of the best books, whether it be per year or by genre, that list can look different depending on the languages you read in and even what country you are from. To honor the incredible authors worldwide who are creating iconic, meaningful, and bound-to-be historical books, this list aims to shine a light on international authors.
Check out the 10 best books by international authors, meaning these authors are not from North America or the U.K., and their original print was published in a non-English language. You might recognize some of these titles, and not have known it was written by an international author, but no matter what all of these books are now commercially available in English.
10. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Yes, this viral book has not lost value since being published in 2005 (coming up on a 20th anniversary), was originally published in the author’s native language, Swedish.
The book series follows one mysterious woman who is simultaneously running from her past and sprinting towards the unknown. Lisbeth is hired by a P.I. to investigate a 40-year-old mystery of a murder. While rectifying the case, more secrets unfold for the team and Lisbeth’s journey.
9. Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
An incredible novel that shines a light on an otherwise unknown way of life, Memoirs of a Geisha brings women’s stories to center stage during the 1920s-40s in Japan.
The art of being a Geisha is a highly misunderstood trade, albeit controversial in many old practices that support misogyny. How the women in this trade end up in their situations, as well as how they navigate the power dynamics of that world are illuminated in this engaging and fascinating novel.
8. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Without a doubt one of the most famous books around the world, and a coming-of-age story for age group, The Alchemist was originally published in Portuguese, Paulo Coelho’s mother tongue.
Our unnamed narrator is a shepherd in Andalucia, Spain, sometime in the 1700s. One day he meets a wizard who informs him of a treasure in a faraway land. The young man decides to leave everything he knows, and head to North Africa in search of his destiny. The moral of the story is you can always return, but seizing the moment is what life is all about. This quick read will help you realign your goals.
7. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is originally from Nigeria, and her collection of works is centered around the experience of Nigerian women in history and modern pathways.
Americanah is many things, a love story, a coming-of-age book, and most of all a conversation on race, ethnicity, and class. Follow the perfectly imperfect protagonist Ifemalu as she goes to study in the U.S. and in the process sees more than the world and opportunity but finds herself.
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6. The Shadow of Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón is one of the greatest modern Spanish writers, and his series The Cemetary of Forgotten Book Quartet was a viral international hit.
Start with the first book, Shadow of the Wind, which follows a young boy living in a post-Spanish Civil War Barcelona and his love affair with a special book that he picked out from a secret library as a young boy. One day, a strange man approaches him to buy the book, and upon rejection, it becomes a game of cat and mouse as the boy tries to uncover the truth about his beloved book. While the plot might seem quite innocent, give it a try for a mental escape to Barcelona.
5. Blindness by Jóse Saramago
For fans of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, this international hit by acclaimed Portuguese author Jose Saramago will be a page-turner.
The plot begins as an epidemic spreads throughout an unnamed city in which people are suddenly completely blind. The government attempted to contain the spread of the mysterious disease by quarantining the affected individuals. Without sight, the affected people are faced with their darkest demons as well as a society that is walking blindly into the future. The metaphors for society will have your head going in circles (in a good way).
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4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The White Tiger by Indian author Aravind Adiga is an incredible novel that follows the journey of a working-class driver for a wealthy family and his own journey to “success.” As an observer, he sees firsthand how the other half lives, but also how their actions enforce India’s caste system.
From working as a driver, to eventually becoming a business owner, the narrator walks you through his career and the dirty laundry that allowed him to attain wealth, commentating on the irony and maliciousness of capitalism and social class systems.
3. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Han Kang is a Korean author whose book Vegetarian put her on the international map. In the novel, a young woman living an ordinary life decides to become a vegetarian. This life decision leads to her community ostracizing her for making a lifestyle change outside of their customs.
The themes put autonomy and community into the conversation, layered by expectations put on women and how cultural manipulation can lead to control of life choices. Things take a sharp turn in this psychological thriller.
2. Life Of Pi by Yann Martel
Take a spiritual journey with Indian author Yann Martel in his viral novel about self-discovery and spirituality.
Our protagonist has always been fascinated by religion – and all of them. He is a self-proclaimed Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. On a strange turn of events, while his family is migrating from India, he finds himself stranded in the ocean on a rescue boat for 7 months, alone with a tiger. In that small boat he is faced with fear, and himself more than ever.
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1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
My Brilliant Friend is the first installment of the Neopolitan Novel Series in which Italian author Elena Ferrante narrates the story of friendship between girls turned women from the 1950s onward into their adult lives.
The first book in the series follows their life and friendship from childhood to adolescence, as they face their families, young love, and coming-of-age together. This beautiful account of female friendship is an intimate story of platonic love.
