Stories and Novels to Learn German
This page is also available in: German
Here I recommend books, that are written by German authors (with some exceptions).
By reading them, not only will your German improve, but you will also enjoy many hours of suspense and entertainment.
Did I miss a book that you love? Please tell us, so that others can enjoy it as well!
Top Recommendations
Jump to my top recommendations:
Walter Moers
The City of Dreaming Books (Best Novel!)
If I could only recommend one novel to you, it would be The City of Dreaming Books*.
This book is about a city where books are the name of the game. No matter where you look, they are being read, written… and hunted!
Because this city is built on on huge libraries and so-called book hunters venture into this subterranean realm of books to snatch rare and valuable books.
In this world books are not only exciting and funny, but can also drive you into madness or even kill you.
Those who are brave enough to immerse themselves in this world, will not escape easily and binge-read the book in one session!
Since I have read the book, I see books from a completely different perspective. This book will whet your appetite. Once you are done with it, you just want to read, read, read!
The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books
The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books* is the sequel to The City of Dreaming Books. I have devoured this book in a heartbeat as well.
It is difficult to say anything about this book without giving spoilers for the first part. But in my opinion it is a good sequel.
Klaus Kordon
Mit dem Rücken zur Wand — With One’s Back to the Wall (Best Historical Novel!)
What was the social climate like, shortly before Hitler seized power?
A Berlin working-class family has their backs to the wall*, in a time where violent street battles between political opponents are the order of the day.
This historical novel allows the reader to plunge into this dangerous time. The emotions and the spirit of the time can thus be better conveyed than through the facts of a history book.
Even though the book is very popular and well-known in Germany, there is unfortunately no English translation.
Buy It Now To Learn German With Fun!*
Hans Peter Richter
Friedrich (Best Novel for German Beginners!)
Back then, there was Friedrich* — back at a time where German Jews were subjected to the hate and violence of their own neighbors.
The first-person narrator and Friedrich are playmates who meet often. But when Hitler seizes power, Friedrich and his family is being subjected to more and more harassment and violence.
The two friends are powerless against the events. The reserved and hardly judgemental narrative style reinforce the horror of a world that can hardly be understood today.
For me, the book was very moving. I can recommend this book especially for beginners, since it is targeted at young readers between the ages of 12 and 14 and the language is accordingly simple.
Michael Ende
The Neverending Story
I still vividly remember what a strong impression the film version of Micheal Ende’s Neverending Story* made on me.
This magical coming-of-age novel is about two world, the human world and a parallel world that is being destroyed by the “nothing”.
The protagonist of the human world at first only reads about the parallel world, but he gets more and more drawn into it or rather, the parallel world become more and more reality. Like the book The City of Dreaming Books, the power and strength of books is a subject.
One of my students said about the book:
The vocabulary and grammar are very easy, and the story is exciting and entertaining. Altogether I can recommend this book. 🙂
Momo
The subtitle of the book Momo* reads: The strange story of the time thieves and the child that brought the stolen time back to the people.
I vividly remember the grey gentlemen, the time thieves, from the screen adaption. They steal people’s time without them realizing it. They smoke dried “time flowers” to extract even the last bit of time out of them.
The story inspires to think about time. What is time? When we think we save time — don’t we sometimes forget to live life? How do children perceive time?
Altogether a wonderful story that will stay with you for a long time.
Cornelia Funke
Inkheart
Inkheart* is set in a magical world in which characters from books become reality, if they are “read out” by a person with a certain gift.
Who wouldn’t want to have that ability and come closer to their favorite characters. But what happens when the villains come to life?
Dragon Rider
A silver dragon looks for a mythical place with his friends, a goblin and a young orphan. The other dragons are skeptical weather that place even exists.
Like Harry Potter, this story takes place on earth and the majority of humans don’t know of the existence of magic and mythical creatures.
In many eastern cultures dragons are seen as symbols of luck, whereas they are rather seen as malicious and destructive in the west. This book is one of few western books in which dragons have healing powers.
This book is a recommendation from my flatmate, who describes it as a charming story with a very lovely end. She has read it when she was 9 years old, so the text is not too difficult.
She says it is a charming story with a very happy ending. Who wouldn’t want to read Dragon Rider* now?
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
The Sorrows of Young Werther
What would you do if your heart tells you one thing, but society another?
Young Werther is terribly in love with Lotte, but she is already in another relationship. His deep emotions are impressively portrayed in this epistolary novel.
The Sorrows of Young Werther* made Goethe famous in foreign countries as well.
It is being read in many German schools as part of the curriculum nowadays, where I as well read it for the first time.
Everyone who wants to learn German with a passion, should also have read a book from this very passionate movement of the German literature: Sturm und Drang (Storm and Drive/Urge/Stress).
Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis
The cryptic, bizarr and dreamlike stories by Kafka are known throughout the world.
His name is even used as an adjective: Something is Kafkaesque, if it is absurd, menacing, scary and unnecessarily complex.
The Metamorphosis* is an example for this: A man suddenly transforms into an insect. He does not know why and it is never explained. He tries to adjust, but is rejected by his social environment.
This book definitely is on my list of books I absolutely want to read. A friend of mine has read it and says the story is open to many interpretation.
You can read it multiple times and it is a new experience every time.
The story is cryptic and full of metaphors. The book might be a challenge for a German learner, but the engaging text will motivate you to also find his very own interpretation.
Erich Maria Remarque
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front* tells of the horrors of the first world war and how the people were persuaded through propaganda that war was something heroic. Thereby, E.M. Remarque also denounces those who made the war possible.
Therefore it is no wonder the Nazis banned and burned this book. Today the book is a classic and is being read my many people.
Kerstin Gier
For Every Solution, A Problem
A women writes farewell letter to everyone she knows and does not mince words. She tells them exactly what she thinks of them.
But the suicide does not work out. She goes on to live and now has to deal with people who know what she really thinks of them.
I haven’t read this book myself yet, but a friend of mine liked the radical honesty that is a theme of this book — which completely matches with my values.
The moral of the story: Honesty will get you further in life.
Morton Rhue
The Wave
Goebbels screams, “Do you want total war?” and the whole audience cheers. Hitler talks about the “eradication” of the jews and millions follow him. What makes people do such madness?
These are the questions that probably everyone has asked themselves at one point. And we are all convinced that we would act differently.
The same questions were also posed by students of a US-American Highschool. The teacher decided to do a reckless and very dangerous experiment…
This book is based on the real events that transpired at that time. Reading this book can help us to answer our questions.
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Everybody knows Harry Potter. And it’s simply written. That’s why Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone* (US: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) the perfect book to learn German.
Do I need to say more? 😉
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