Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. I like to keep up with German book publications and my favorite German authors. While Germans also read many translated books, especially from the U.S., the UK, and Scandinavia, there are plenty of German language authors who are worth reading.
The following list contains books and authors which have been translated into English, so anybody who would like to read more German fiction (or non-fiction), but in English, can do so. Treat yourself or give the gift of reading German books in English to one of your Germanophile friends or family members.
If you live abroad but want to read books in German, I suggest the Gutenberg Projekt for works in the public domain, buying and downloading them from German booksellers, using German audible, or borrowing them from the library system Onleihe. You can read more in depth about it here.
German Fiction
Mysteries and Thrillers
Germans read a lot of mysteries, especially from Scandinavia. It is no wonder that Jussi Adler-Olsen, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Helene Thursten, and Jens Henrik Jensen sell as many books as they do. But there are plenty of German writers whose mysteries and thrillers land on the bestseller list. Here are some that you can also enjoy in English.
Mystery writers include Romy Hausmann, Sebastian Fitzek, Nele Neuhaus, Petra Hammersfahr, Charlotte Link, and Volker Kutscher.
You might recognize “The Sinner” by Petra Hammersfahr because it has been made into a TV series in the US. Nele Neuhaus‘ crime series set in the Taunus region with Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein has been made into several German TV shows. The TV show “Babylon Berlin”, streaming on Netflix, is based on the noir detective novels by Volker Kutscher.
(Literary) Fiction
The books below are a selection of novels by German authors, most of which I have read. Some authors have been around for decades and have earned a secure spot as one of the most prolific writers in the German language, like Jenny Erpenbeck, Julie Zeh, Judith Schalansky, Martin Suter, Christian Kracht, Nina George, Daniel Kehlmann, and Robert Seethaler. These are the ones that have been translated, obviously there are many, many more.
Others are writers who deal with topics of the younger generations like immigration, racism, home, identity, like Mithu Sanyal whose book “Identitti” was on the shortlist for the German Book Prize 2021. Other authors I can recommend are Selim Özdoğan, Mariana Leky, Isabel Bogdan, and Anja Kampmann.
Historical Fiction
Historical fiction has been trending lately in Germany, and the US. Here is a selection of books that have been translated into English and that are worth reading.
“The Passenger” was written in 1938 and the manuscript has recently been rediscovered. Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz was born in 1915, left Germany in 1935, and settled in England in 1939. After being interned as an “enemy”, despite his Jewish background, he was shipped to Australia. When returning by boat to England in 1942, the ship was sank by the Germans, and all passengers died. The book, “Der Reisende” in German, tells of several frantic days in which the protagonist Otto Silbermann travels by train through Germany trying to escape from the Nazis who started arresting Jews right after the Reichsprogromnacht (Night of Broken Glass) in November 1938. It’s harrowing and gripping.
Anne Weber‘s novelized story of the French resistance figher Anne Beaumanoir won the German Book Prize in 2020.
Daniel Kehlmann took the German medieval jester figure Till Eulenspiegel, moved him into the times of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), and tells his adventures. A brilliant and dark tale.
Speaking of dark, “The Hangman’s Daughter” by Oliver Pötzsch takes place in the 17th century and follows Magdalena, the hangman’s daughter who gets involved in a murder case and accusations of witchcraft. A fast paced thriller set against 1660’s Bavaria.
Two books about World War I are worth mentioning: Ernst Jünger‘s “Storm of Steel” based on his experience from 1915 to 1918, rather historical fact than fiction. And Erich Maria Remarque‘s “All Quiet on the Western Front” which has just been made into a new movie, streaming now on Netflix.
Science Fiction and Fantasy
There are not that many German language science fiction and fantasy writers that have been translated for English speaking readers. But there are three that I can recommend. Marc-Uwe Kling, Frank Schätzing, and Andreas Eschbach.
Humor and For Kids
Not many children’s books get translated, but some hugely successful books do make it into other countries. You might have heard of “Inkheart” by Cornelia Funke which has had a secure spot in children’s libraries since it was published in English in 2005.
“My Life as Lotta” (“Mein Lotta Leben” in German) by Alice Pantermüller has been a real hit in Germany with pre-teens, with multiple books published in the series and a movie. It is similar to “Dork Diaries” or “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” but with a German spin.
Humorous books are harder to translate that fiction because of its cultural references. But the “Kangaroo Chronicles” by Marc-Uwe Kling (yes, the same one who wrote “Qualityland”) is so witty and funny, that I had to include it here. The same author, who by the way studied philosophy, also writes children’s books, one of which is a picture book called “Das NEINhorn” or in English “The Unicorn that Said No”.
The Classics
As I said, many of the classic German language books are in the public domain and can be read in German, and often English, for free on Gutenberg Projekt. But that doesn’t make for a good present. So, here are a couple of the works that you can buy as books and in translation.
There are many, many more German language authors, too many in fact to list them here. Not all of them have been translated into English, so I am just showing you a small selection, mostly of texts that I have read myself and can recommend.
Poetry
I feel poems are the hardest literary medium to translate. Not only do you need to get the cadence and rhyming (if necessary) right, but you need to convey the feel and deeper meaning of the poem but within the strict limits of the structure of the poem.
If you know the language from which the poem has been translated, or are trying to learn the language, it can be helpful to have the original right next to the translated version. I have included some of those kinds of books here.
Non-Fiction
Saša Stanišić, originally from Bosnia, won the German Book Prize in 2019 for his memoir “Herkunft”. It has finally been translated into English with the title “Where You Come From”. Though I call it a memoir and listed it under Non-Fiction, there are other genres at play here, ending with a “Choose your own adventure” feature.
Another book I can highly recommend is “Speaking and Being” (“Sprache und Sein” in German) by Kübra Gümüşay. Anybody who is interested in the connection and interconnectedness of language and how we see the world and others, will enjoy this thought provoking book. Gümüşay was also one of the three authors who translated Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb”.
I have been a fan of Florian Illies ever since I read “Generation Golf”, a humorous look at the generation who grew up when everybody drove a VW Golf, mainly their parents. Since then Illies has focused on the connections between art, artists, literature, writers, and historical events. To enjoy “1913”, it is helpful to know a little about the history and politics of early 20th century Europe and the movements and sentiments in the literary and art scene at the time.
Last but not least: Reinhold Messner, the extreme mountaineer and adventurer. The German-speaking Italian from South Tyrol actually has a new book out in German called “Sinnbilder” that he wrote with his wife Diane Messner. It has not been translated yet. In the meantime, you can enjoy his conversation with journalist Thomas Hüetlin about his life, his career, his experiences, and the insights and wisdom he has gained.
