John Green
Author, Influencer, Podcaster, Writer
John Green is an American novelist and YouTuber whose books include The Fault in Our Stars (2012) and the nonfiction Everything Is Tuberculosis (2025). In 2007 he and his brother Hank launched the Vlogbrothers channel, and in 2012 they started the educational series Crash Course.
John Green's 122 Book Recommendations
- The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green: “The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by, yes, that is Zach Braff's brother, Joshua. Great coming-of-age novel, worth the price of admission just for Jacob Green's Bar Mitzvah thank-you notes.”
- The Optimist's Daughter: “The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty. Out of fashion these days but I think the best book by one of the best 20th century writers.”
- A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
- You Are an Artist
- The Golden Rule: “Speaking of beautiful, The Golden Rule by my mentor, Ilene Cooper. If you have a child you may have noticed that they don't, like, inherently excel at empathy.”
- The Enormous Room: “Cummings' first book, The Enormous Room. I don't know why this isn't famous.”
- The Cholera Years: “Another non-ficton book I've loved in these times- The Cholera Years, an analysis of the 19th-century cholera pandemics in New York City.”
- Sula: “I've recently re-read both Sula and The General in His Labyrinth, both of which get better every time I read them.”
- The General in His Labyrinth: “I've recently re-read both Sula and The General in His Labyrinth, both of which get better every time I read them.”
- Ordinary Beast: “Then there's poetry, I really need poetry right now like Nicole Sealey's beautiful book Ordinary Beast.”
- Space Struck: “And I really really need Paige Lewis' book, Space Struck. This book gives language to the overwhelming anxiety I'm feeling.”
- The Water Will Come: “Speaking of important topics, "The Water Will Come," a book about climate change and the future of humanity. Hank, I like science books but I don't usually find them, like page turny; This one really is.”
- The Hate U Give: “Aside from "The Hate U Give" which as I said in my blurb I truly believe will be remembered as a classic of our time...”
- Little Fires Everywhere (Movie Tie-In): “My favourite 2017 book in that genre has to be "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng which is just brilliant. I mean, I know lots of people are talking about it, but with good reason; it's amazing.”
- Calling a Wolf a Wolf: “Okay, poetry. I don't know why but I've read a lot of poetry this year and it's been a tremendous consolation to me... Then there's Kaveh Akbar's brilliant "Calling a Wolf a Wolf".”
- Just Kids: “Sarah and I both really love The Flame Throwers by Rachel Kushner and we also love Just Kids by Patti Smith.”
- Phosphorescence: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark: “Another book that acknowledges that we are not, like, observers of reality, but participants in it: "Phosphorescence" by Julia Baird. It's about living with cancer, and creatures that make their own light, and the science of human joy, and it is so, so good.”
- Upstream: “I know Mary Oliver is famous for her poems, but I love her essays, especially the ones collected in "Upstream". I dog-eared almost every page of this book.”
- The Song of the Cell: “I am absolutely blown away by Siddhartha Mukherjee’s new book The Song of the Cell. Like, I didn’t think I liked Biology, but it turns out I love Biology.”
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: “If you love somebody who loves video games or just great novels, I am so in love with Gabrielle Zevin’s book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.”
- The Source of Self-regard: “I think essay collections make a great gift Like, I love The Source of Self-Regard and Hilary Mantel’s Mantel Pieces The title is by far the worst thing about the book. The book itself is incredible.”
- Slaughterhouse-Five: “That book is really close to my heart... when I read it in 11th grade English, it helped bring me to life as a reader.”
- How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America: “Okay, let’s begin with How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith, who some of you know from Crash Course Black American History. This is a book about how the U.S.”
- Not the End of the World: “Well, I recommend that they read this book Not The End of the World by Hannah Richie from Our World in Data. I love Hannah Richie, I love Our World in Data, and I love this book.”
- Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things: “You have somebody in your life who's like really into business or unlocking their professional potential or whatever because I loved this book, Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. Like this is not the kind of book I usually like, but it really helped me understand that a lot of what I think of as my inability or ineptitude might be constructed and not really real, and that's had a pretty profound impact both in my relationship to business and in terms of what I think I can write.”
- An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us: “An Immense World by Ed Yong. Wow, this book really radically deepened my appreciation for and understanding of non-human animals.”
- Between the World and Me: “First, my favorite book of the year: Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a short, relentless, and brilliant meditation on race and history in the United States.”
- The White Boy Shuffle: “Also in the recommended to everyone on Earth category, The White Boy Shuffle, by Paul Beatty.”
- The Color Purple: “For the person in your life who loves reading but thinks they hate classics, Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather and The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Both these books are captivating and page-turny and intensely moving despite being read in schools.”
- A Little Life: “It's excellent, but her new book, A Little Life, is even better.”
- Gilead: “An older book I always like to recommend: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, which is both an excellent novel and kind of a religious one, which is a very rare combination in my experience.”
- A Brief History of Seven Killings: “Then there's A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, which is just a brilliant novel that uses an oral history format to tell this massive sprawling story that all revolves around the shooting of Bob Marley in Jamaica in 1976.”
- No god but God (Updated Edition): “Religion: anyone who wants to understand Islamic history or contemporary Islamic thought and practice should really read No god but God by Reza Aslan. Over the years I've read and reviewed dozens of introductions to Islamic history, this is my favorite.”
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers: “Okay, if you're interested in decreasing world suck, or know someone who is, you might like Behind the Beautiful Forevers, the most interesting and complex book about poverty I have ever read. That makes it sound really sad and un-fun, but it isn't sad, it's a little bit sad, it's just great, read it!”
- The Book Thief: “I recommend The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, or Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, gah, that book is good.”
- Persuasion: “Downton Abbey nerds, I recommend Mansfield Park, Persuasion, really any Jane Austen novel. I mean, the costume design in those novels is fantastic.”
- Bossypants: “The two books the Yeti and I read together this year and liked the most were Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon... and Bossypants, by Tina Fey.”
- The Art of Fielding: “I recommend The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, or Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, gah, that book is good.”
- Wolf Hall: “Crash Course: World History fans who enjoy fiction, let me recommend two very long books that you will not regret reading, Wolf Hall and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing.”
- The Emperor of All Maladies: “Crash Course: Biology enthusiasts, I am a huge fan of The Emperor of All Maladies, also, great title.”
- The Nickel Boys: “What’s the last great book you read? Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys.””
- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.: “Beginning in fourth or fifth grade, I fell hard for Lois Lowry’s Anastasia books, and Judy Blume’s “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,””
- Thirsty: “You probably haven't read MT Anderson's surprisingly brilliant vampire novel, Thirsty.”
- This Blinding Absence of Light: “A book I'm almost sure you haven't read, This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun, I'm probably saying his name wrong, I apologize. It's that, that, that name!”
- This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own: “This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own by Jonathan Rendall. Best book title ever!”
- Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: “Speaking of the South, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone: The Carter Family and their Legacy in American Music. This book inspired an early VlogBrothers video, link in the dooblydoo, but it's also just excellent!”
- The Untelling: “Tayari Jones is most famous for her book Leaving Atlanta, which is great, but this book, The Untelling, captures the precariousness of working-class life just beautifully.”
- The Last Summer of Reason: “And finally The Last Summer of Reason, a novel about a bookstore owner who lives in a country overtaken by extremists who believe that art is evil. So there you have it, 18 books I loved that aren't bestsellers but should be.”
- Boy Proof: “Cecil Castellucci's book, Boy Proof came out in 2005, and the haunting and beautiful story of this outcast girl named Egg, has stuck with me ever since.”
- Playing the Moldovans at Tennis: “Also excellent, Tony Hawks' follow-up book, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, in which he plays tennis with every member of the Moldovan National Soccer team.”
- Death Comes for the Archbishop: “Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather may be the most important novel about American religion. Why doesn't every American high school student have to read this?”
- Show Way: “One more picture book: Show Way by Jacque Woodson, one of my all-time favorite picture books and also one of Henry's favorites.”
- Round Ireland with a Fridge: “Okay, couple of funny books: Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks, not Tony Hawk. It's about a guy who hitchhikes around the circumference of Ireland with a refrigerator; it is one of the funniest things I've ever read.”
- Regarding the Pain of Others: “Hugely influential book: Susan Sontag's Regarding the Pain of Others which made me think a lot about the difference between representing and exploiting pain in art. Also in an image saturated age, this is absolutely required reading about the unreliability of the image.”
- Why Fish Don't Exist: “Lulu Miller's stunning and brilliant and completely un-sum-up-able, Why Fish Don't Exist. I love this book so much... Why Fish Don't Exist is what The Anthropocene Reviewed wants to be when it grows up.”
- The King Is Always Above the People: “Secondly, "The King is Always Above the People" by Daniel Alarcón. So full disclosure, I went to high school with Daniel, where he beat me out for the creative writing award three years in a row.”
- The Inexplicable Logic of My Life: “First, the "Inexplicable Logic of my Life" by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, whose books are always so tender and generous to the reader... but this one might be my favourite.”
- The Man Who Couldn't Stop: “I also loved "The Man Who Couldn't Stop" by David Adam. Some readers of "Turtles All the Way Down" may want to learn more about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and this is a good place to start.”
- We are Okay: “Secondly, "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour, a poetic meditation on loss that took me right back to those last days of adolescence.”
- I Am Still Alive: “I also have to recommend one YA novel I re-read to ease my anxiety- I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall.”
- Piecing Me Together: “And then there's "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson, a book that genuinely changed the way I think about the role art plays in human life.”
- Counting Descent: “Okay, poetry. I don't know why but I've read a lot of poetry this year and it's been a tremendous consolation to me... And lastly, Clint Smith's "Counting Descent".”
- City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris: “First, "City of Light, City of Poison," a history book that reads like a thriller about the first police chief of Paris investing a series of poisonings that may have involved aristocrats close to Louis the XIV. It is bonkers and I especially enjoyed the portrayals of what life was like for regular people in 17th century Paris.”
- City of Thorns: “I also loved "City of Thorns" by Ben Rawlence which follows a handful of refugees over the course of many years living in Dadaab refugee camp which was once home to over 500,000 people. It's a difficult book that doesn't offer easy answers but it shows us that refugee stories are human stories.”
- The Bookseller's Tale: “This book, "The Bookseller's Tale", is the first in my favorite series. It's set in Oxford in 1353 and the world of medieval bookmaking is just such a great backdrop.”
- Tuff: “If you want to belly-laugh and be truly astonished by linguistic acrobatics, I recommend "Tuff" by Paul Beatty. Now Beatty is more famous for his books, "The White Boy Shuffle" and the Booker Award Winning "The Sellout", but I first read this book twenty years ago and I've been thinking about it ever since.”
- Miracle's Boys: “Jacqueline Woodson's "Miracle's Boys". This novel is ostensibly for kids ten and up, and I know many kids who've loved it, but I am a forty-four-year-old person and I also love it.”
- The Black Death: “I really love the book, "The Black Death" by Rosemary Horrox. It's a collection of first person accounts of the four year period in which approximately half of all Europeans died of plague.”
- Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present: “Another disease book I love is Frank Snowden's "Epidemics and Society". It helped me understand that infectious disease has, like, always been one of the most important historical forces.”
- The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred: “A physics book: I love "The Disordered Cosmos" by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. I think about it every day.”
- All Together Now: How a Group of Football Fans Righted a Wrong and Brought Their Football Club Home: “I realize I'm biased here, but "All Together Now" by long-time AFC Wimbledon CEO, Erik Samuelson, is so enjoyable! I mean, it is the greatest underdog sports story of all time, told by one of the people who made it happen.”
- Pilgrim Bell: Poems: “I love "Pilgrim Bell", the new book of poems by Kaveh Akbar. He writes the kind of poems that get richer and more interesting the more time you spend with them.”
- How to Cook and Eat in Chinese: “Lastly, you have probably not read this 1945 cookbook, "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese" by Buwei Yang Chao... it is a wonderfully post-modern cookbook... It is also hugely historically important.”
- All My Rage: “WOW And if I had to pick a favorite Young Adult novel I’ve read this year It would probably be All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir I’ve recommended her books in the past but this is her first stand alone books and her first contemporary novel And oh my God, it’s beautiful Also, as evidenced by the fact that I just wrote one. I think essay collections make a great gift Like, I love The Source of Self-Regard and Hilary Mantel’s Mantel Pieces The title is by far the worst thing about the book.”
- Mantel Pieces: Royal Bodies and Other Writing from the London Review of Books: “I think essay collections make a great gift Like, I love The Source of Self-Regard and Hilary Mantel’s Mantel Pieces The title is by far the worst thing about the book. The book itself is incredible.”
- Stigmatized: A Tuberculosis Memoir: “Stigmatized by Handa Enkh-Amgalan is a wonderful memoir about a young woman, growing up in an impoverished community in Mongolia.”
- Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History: “From Phantom Plague by Vidya Krishnan. It’s probably my favorite overall history of TB because it’s approachable and readable, but at the same time very rigorously researched.”
- If You Come Softly: “Woodson is one of my favorite writers and If You Come Softly is one of my favorite books.”
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: “This gorgeous first edition of Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, I think about this book almost every day.”
- The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World: “Like a few years ago, Mike Rugnetta gave me the book “The Body in Pain” by Elaine Scarry, which I never would have otherwise read, and which totally changed the way I think about pain and the relationship between pain and language, and if it hadn’t been for that gift, I might not have written “Turtles All the Way Down.” And then I might never have gotten that world on a turtle, plus there’s the whole Reddit secret Santa thing. So every year, I sign up for the Reddit secret Santa exchange, in which you are paired with two random people: one of whom you give a gift to and the other of whom gives a gift to you.”
- Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir: “My other favorite book this year is Ashley C. Ford’s Somebody’s Daughter.”
- I Have Some Questions for You: “My favorite novel of the year was Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You, which is crimey and podcasty, but also just brilliant. Rebecca Makkai writes some of the best sentences around and it's very rare that I read a work of fiction and turn to Sarah and say, "Why can't I write like this?" but several times while reading this book I turned to Sarah and said, "Why can't I write like this?" My favorite tuberculosis book of the year, and yes I have a favorite tuberculosis book of the year, is The Black Angels by Maria Smilios.”
- The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis: “My favorite tuberculosis book of the year, and yes I have a favorite tuberculosis book of the year, is The Black Angels by Maria Smilios. This is a great great gift for anybody who's interested in history.”
- Leslie F*cking Jones: A Memoir: “Leslie Jones wrote this and it's great.”
- This Boy: The Early Lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney: “If you're interested in music and especially like the history of rock and roll, I really recommend This Boy by my mentor Eileen Cooper. Oh my God, John Lennon had a childhood.”
- Toussaint L'Ouverture: The Fight for Haiti's Freedom: “When you're getting interested in a subject or you want to really learn about something, read the kids book. Like Walter Dean Myers book about the Haitian Revolution or this book about tuberculosis, like, they answer all the questions that like the grown-up history books assume that you already know.”
- Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure: “When you're getting interested in a subject or you want to really learn about something, read the kids book. Like Walter Dean Myers book about the Haitian Revolution or this book about tuberculosis, like, they answer all the questions that like the grown-up history books assume that you already know.”
- Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama: “For graphic novel fans, Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother? is the perfect gift for your mother, provided that you and your mother have a very, very dysfunctional relationship.”
- City of Clowns: “And I also recommend City of Clowns, illustrated by Sheila Alvarado and written by Daniel Alarcón, who beat me in 1994 in our high school's creative writing contest. He's since gone on to even greater things, including this brilliant story about a young journalist in Peru grieving his father.”
- The People in the Trees: “If you have a giftee who likes quote-unquote "literary fiction"... I have several recommendations, beginning with Hanya Yanagihara. Her first novel was a very strange book with a deeply unreliable narrator... It's excellent.”
- Midnight Robber: “For science fiction fans, or also fans of A Brief History of Seven Killings, I recommend Nalo Hopkinson's Midnight Robber, which is set in a world colonized by Caribbean peoples. It's really stuck with me.”
- The Flamethrowers: “Sarah and I both really love The Flame Throwers by Rachel Kushner and we also love Just Kids by Patti Smith.”
- SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome: “History: I loved Mary Beard's recent history of Ancient Rome, SPQR.”
- A Thousand Mornings: Poems: “For poetry fans, this year I read two books of poetry I absolutely loved, A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver and Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück.”
- Faithful and Virtuous Night: Poems: “For poetry fans, this year I read two books of poetry I absolutely loved, A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver and Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück.”
- First & Then: “Two recent books I really enjoyed: First & Then by Emma Mills AKA Elmify on YouTube which is funny and my kind of romance, and The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds.”
- The Boy in the Black Suit: “Two recent books I really enjoyed: First & Then by Emma Mills AKA Elmify on YouTube which is funny and my kind of romance, and The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds.”
- Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie: “There may be a new generation of YA readers who haven't read a bunch of books published ten or more years ago so I have some recommendations on that front. Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black, Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.”
- Ball Don't Lie: “Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black, Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Those are very different books, they'd probably be called respectively a fantasy, a sports book, a romance, and a contemporary realistic book.”
- The Truth About Forever: “Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black, Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Those are very different books, they'd probably be called respectively a fantasy, a sports book, a romance, and a contemporary realistic book.”
- The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: “If you like the fictional exploits of the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers, you might also like the Ballad of The Whiskey Robber, an amazing true story about a Hungarian hockey player who is a professional hockey goalie and a bank robber! Also a prison escapee, but I don't want to spoil anything.”
- Mansfield Park: “Downton Abbey nerds, I recommend Mansfield Park, Persuasion, really any Jane Austen novel. I mean, the costume design in those novels is fantastic.”
- The Blood of the Lamb: “I also recommend that you read Peter de Vries' book, The Blood of the Lamb.”
- Telegraph Avenue: “The two books the Yeti and I read together this year and liked the most were Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon... and Bossypants, by Tina Fey.”
- Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon: “And if you want to read a great book about the Harry Potter fandom, I recommend Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli.”
- Everybody Sees the Ants: “And if you liked the no-spoilers parts, then I recommend Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King and If I Stay by Gayle Forman.”
- If I Stay: “And if you liked the no-spoilers parts, then I recommend Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King and If I Stay by Gayle Forman.”
- To Say Nothing of the Dog: “I recommend the great and under-appreciated To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis which is maybe my favorite time travel book ever.”
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: “And Sherlock fans, this is gonna sound crazy, but stay with me, I recommend that you read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”
- One of Us: Conjoined Twins and the Future of Normal: “One of Us by Alice Domurat Dreger, which is by far the best non-fiction book ever written about conjoined twins.”
- Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything: “Also E Lockhart's Fly on the Wall, a brilliant feminist reworking of Kafka's Metamorphosis.”
- Kendra: “Speaking of which, Kendra by Coe Booth. Her first book Tyrell is more famous, I like this one just as much.”
- Parable of the Sower: “What book should everybody read before the age of 21? Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower.””
- Speak: “I never thought about writing for teenagers until I was 22 and read “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, and “Monster,” by Walter Dean Myers. Both those novels are capital-g Great.”
- Monster: “I never thought about writing for teenagers until I was 22 and read “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, and “Monster,” by Walter Dean Myers. Both those novels are capital-g Great.”
- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party: “I also often recommend to adults “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,” by M. T. Anderson, and “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks,” by E. Lockhart.”
- The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks: “I also often recommend to adults “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,” by M. T. Anderson, and “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks,” by E. Lockhart.”
- Sister Mine: “My favorite novels about conjoined twins (or formerly conjoined twins) are “Sister Mine,” by Nalo Hopkinson, and “God’s Fool,” by Mark Slouka.”
- God's Fool: “My favorite novels about conjoined twins (or formerly conjoined twins) are “Sister Mine,” by Nalo Hopkinson, and “God’s Fool,” by Mark Slouka.”
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: “I loved Mildred D. Taylor’s “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and Wilson Rawls’s “Where the Red Fern Grows.” As a kid, I loved books that made me cry.”
- Where the Red Fern Grows: “I loved Mildred D. Taylor’s “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and Wilson Rawls’s “Where the Red Fern Grows.” As a kid, I loved books that made me cry.”
- Immune: “Really excited to discuss the fascinating book IMMUNE with author and @Kurz_Gesagt founder Philipp Dettmer.”