Dan Brown's Reading List
The author of “The Da Vinci Code” and, most recently, “Inferno” made “the mistake” of reading “The Exorcist” at age 15: “It was the first and last horror book I’ve ever opened.”
Open in WellRead Daily app →By the Book: Dan Brown (2013)
NYT By the Book column (2013-06-20).
Source: www.nytimes.com
Madeleine L'Engle · Buy on Amazon
"My earliest memory of being utterly transfixed by a book was Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” Halfway through the book, I remember my mom telling me it was time for bed and not being able to sleep because I was so deeply concerned for the safety of the characters."
Malcolm Gladwell · Buy on Amazon
"The most pleasurable reading experience I’ve had recently was just last week — jogging on the beach with an audiobook of Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the Dog Saw.” I was so engrossed in his essay “The Ketchup Conundrum” that I ran an extra mile just to find out how it ended."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"Thrillers like “Coma,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “The Firm” all captivated me by providing glimpses into realms about which I knew very little — medical science, submarine technology and the law."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"Thrillers like “Coma,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “The Firm” all captivated me by providing glimpses into realms about which I knew very little — medical science, submarine technology and the law."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"Thrillers like “Coma,” “The Hunt for Red October” and “The Firm” all captivated me by providing glimpses into realms about which I knew very little — medical science, submarine technology and the law."
H. F. Saint · Buy on Amazon
"Some of my favorites through the years have been “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” by H. F. Saint; “Contact,” by Carl Sagan; and also the classic “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, which, while skirting the edges of horror, was such a lesson in creating suspense that I couldn’t put it down."
Carl Sagan · Buy on Amazon
"Some of my favorites through the years have been “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” by H. F. Saint; “Contact,” by Carl Sagan; and also the classic “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, which, while skirting the edges of horror, was such a lesson in creating suspense that I couldn’t put it down."
Bram Stoker · Buy on Amazon
"Some of my favorites through the years have been “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” by H. F. Saint; “Contact,” by Carl Sagan; and also the classic “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, which, while skirting the edges of horror, was such a lesson in creating suspense that I couldn’t put it down."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"I don’t read self-help, although I recently found myself helped inadvertently by reading “Moonwalking With Einstein,” which centers on the science of remembering. Strangely, I discovered that simply reading about the methods used by memory champions helped me improve my own memory."
Albert Zuckerman · Buy on Amazon
"Not long ago, I had an amusing experience meeting the author of a book I received as a gift nearly two decades ago — a book that in many ways changed my life. His book helped me complete my manuscript and get it published."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"My sister and I made weekly trips to the Exeter Public Library and returned carrying armloads of our favorites — Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, “Curious George,” “Madeline” and “Babar.”"
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"My sister and I made weekly trips to the Exeter Public Library and returned carrying armloads of our favorites — Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, “Curious George,” “Madeline” and “Babar.”"
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"My sister and I made weekly trips to the Exeter Public Library and returned carrying armloads of our favorites — Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, “Curious George,” “Madeline” and “Babar.”"
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"As we got older, I remember my parents reading to us every night — “Make Way for Ducklings,” “The Velveteen Rabbit” and Maurice Sendak’s “Chicken Soup With Rice,” which I preferred to his entirely terrifying “Where the Wild Things Are” (the notion of a child’s bedroom transforming into a monster-infested jungle made it impossible to sleep)."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"As we got older, I remember my parents reading to us every night — “Make Way for Ducklings,” “The Velveteen Rabbit” and Maurice Sendak’s “Chicken Soup With Rice,” which I preferred to his entirely terrifying “Where the Wild Things Are” (the notion of a child’s bedroom transforming into a monster-infested jungle made it impossible to sleep)."
Maurice Sendak · Buy on Amazon
"As we got older, I remember my parents reading to us every night — “Make Way for Ducklings,” “The Velveteen Rabbit” and Maurice Sendak’s “Chicken Soup With Rice,” which I preferred to his entirely terrifying “Where the Wild Things Are” (the notion of a child’s bedroom transforming into a monster-infested jungle made it impossible to sleep)."
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"Frank and Joe Hardy were responsible for my first experience in “binge reading.” I remember devouring the entire Hardy Boys series over one summer, enthralled by their bravery and cleverness."
Jack London · Buy on Amazon
"I also remember feeling enormous affection for the St. Bernard Buck in Jack London’s “Call of the Wild” and, in later years, Ralph in “Lord of the Flies.”"
Unknown · Buy on Amazon
"I also remember feeling enormous affection for the St. Bernard Buck in Jack London’s “Call of the Wild” and, in later years, Ralph in “Lord of the Flies.”"
Joseph Campbell · Buy on Amazon
"His writings on semiotics, comparative religion and mythology (in particular “The Power of Myth” and “The Hero With a Thousand Faces”) helped inspire the framework on which I built my character Robert Langdon."
Joseph Campbell · 1949 · Buy on Amazon
"His writings on semiotics, comparative religion and mythology (in particular “The Power of Myth” and “The Hero With a Thousand Faces”) helped inspire the framework on which I built my character Robert Langdon."
Favorite books (2022)
Favorite books recommended by Dan Brown, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/dan-brown-favorite-books/.
Source: radicalreads.com
Douglas Hofstadter · Buy on Amazon
"For anyone interested in the interrelation of different sciences and art forms, this book can be used as an eye-opening appetizer, a main course, or a delicious desert. I’m the son of a mathematician and a musician, so the interrelations were right up my alley."
Fred Wrixon · Buy on Amazon
"This is a phenomenal encyclopedia covering the art, science, history, and philosophy of cryptology. From the first Sumerian tablet ciphers to modern-day computer encryption, this illustrated timeline explores hundreds of cryptologic methods in addition to the men and women who developed them. Of particular interest are the battlefield codes used by the American founding fathers during the Revolutionary War."
John Steinbeck (also rec’d by Gabriel García Márquez ) · Buy on Amazon
"Simple, suspenseful, and poignant. Better yet, the first paragraph of every chapter is a master class in writing effective description."
John Langdon · Buy on Amazon
"John Langdon is one of the world’s true artistic geniuses. This book, in addition to being wonderfully entertaining, changed the way I think about symmetry, art and language. Read this, and you will never again look at religious icons or corporate logos in the same way."
William Shakespeare · Buy on Amazon
"I didn’t understand how funny this play truly was until I became an English teacher and had to teach it. There is no wittier dialogue anywhere."
James Bamford · Buy on Amazon
"Although dated, this book is still one of the most captivating looks inside the cover world of America’s premier intelligence agency, the National Security Agency. Bamford’s description of the longstanding synergy between the U.S. and Britain, who brilliantly exploit a loophole in the law that enables them to spy legally on American and British civilians, is particularly fascinating."