Books Recommended by Soman Chainani
The Little Mermaid
Hans Christian Andersen
Source: "You look at The Little Mermaid [movie]. Arielle should die brutally in that movie because she’s an idiot, a complete idiot. [...] To read the original [book], where she dies at the end, suddenly made sense." - Soman Chainani
Peter Pan
J. M. Barrie
Source: "Featured a title character who was at once charming and also a complete narcissistic, pathological demon. It was that ambiguous space between good and evil that I sparked to as a kid." - Soman Chainani
The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales
Maria Tatar
Source: "Exposed me to the original Grimm’s stories, which are horrific and dark and insane. And half the time, the evil character wins and half the time the good character wins." - Soman Chainani
His Dark Materials (3 books)
Philip Pullman
Source: "[The first book is] a little bit easier but then two and three are intense." - Soman Chainani
The Velvet Rage
Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World
Alan Downs
Source: "Ostensibly about if you grow up a gay man, [how] to deal with it in the world. But I think it’s more about modern masculinity and about what it means to be a man in America." - Soman Chainani
Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu
Source: "I remember reading it and being like okay, this makes no sense. But you just keep reading it again and again and slowly, I started to get the point of it." - Soman Chainani
The War of Art
Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield
Source: "Half drill sergeant, half Zen voodoo master, [the author] shot me out of my stupor and taught me the meaning of creative discipline." - Soman Chainani
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara
Source: "The greatest work of fiction I’ve ever read, with the simplest theme: All of us come with baggage and wounds and pain; all of us." - Soman Chainani
Garden Cities of To-Morrow
Ebenezer Howard
Source: Soman Chainani referenced this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
Source: Soman Chainani referenced this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
Cirque du Soleil
The Spark - Igniting the Creative Fire that Lives within Us All
John U. Bacon
Source: "One of my favorite books." - Soman Chainani
The Neverending Story
Michael Ende
Source: "An amazing book." - Soman Chainani
FAQ
Did Soman Chainani recommend all these books?
Not necessarily. This book list has Soman Chainani must-read recommendations, but it also has a mix of mentions and suggestions.
How do you know Soman Chainani mentioned these books?
Every suggestion made by Soman Chainani is validated by our editors. You can find the sources to the recommendations linked next to the books.
Did Soman Chainani actually create this list?
No. This reading list was curated by our editors based on confirmed mentions from Soman Chainani, the sources are made available under each recommendation.
30 books
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