Trevor Noah's Reading List
South African comedian, former host of The Daily Show (2015–2022), and author of Born a Crime. Hosts the What Now? podcast.
Open in WellRead Daily app →Trevor Noah's Top 10 — One Grand Books (2018)
Top 10 books with personal commentary.
Source: onegrandbooks.com
Roald Dahl · 1977 · Buy on Amazon
"I loved fantasy books as a kid. I lived in my head, and Roald Dahl was the best of the best."
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry · 1943 · Buy on Amazon
"A wonderful fable, beautifully told. So simple and yet so complicated at the same time."
Rian Malan · 1990 · Buy on Amazon
"A brutal excavation of a white South African's conscience during the final days of apartheid."
Khaya Dlanga · 2015 · Buy on Amazon
"A hilarious memoir by a great South African essayist."
Yaa Gyasi · 2016 · Buy on Amazon
"A fascinating novel about the legacy of slavery and white supremacy on both continents."
Steve Martin · 2007 · Buy on Amazon
"One of the best accounts ever written about the art of stand-up."
Nelson Mandela · 1994 · Buy on Amazon
"He was as good a writer as he was a freedom fighter and president."
Chuck Klosterman · 2016 · Buy on Amazon
"A question I try to ask about my own deeply held convictions every day."
Sol Plaatje · 1916 · Buy on Amazon
"Some of the most compelling and celebrated accounts of the early days of apartheid."
By the Book: Trevor Noah (2016)
NYT By the Book column (2016-11-03).
Source: www.nytimes.com
Jill Leovy · Buy on Amazon
"a fascinating account of life in the L.A.P.D. homicide division that should change the way we all understand the policing problem in America."
Chuck Klosterman · 2016 · Buy on Amazon
"Which is a question I constantly ask myself because: What if we are?"
Yaa Gyasi · Buy on Amazon
"a fascinating novel about the legacy of the slave trade on both sides of the Atlantic."
Rian Malan · 1990 · Buy on Amazon
"a brutal excavation of a white South African's conscience at apartheid's end."
Khaya Dlanga · 2015 · Buy on Amazon
"His memoir, "To Quote Myself," is as good an account as you'll find about life in the country today."
Paul Beatty · Buy on Amazon
Roald Dahl · 1977 · Buy on Amazon
Heather Ann Thompson · Buy on Amazon
"about the Attica prison uprising, is sitting on top."
Favorite books (2021)
Favorite books recommended by Trevor Noah, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/trevor-noah-favorite-books/.
Source: radicalreads.com
Roald Dahl · Buy on Amazon
Roald Dahl · Buy on Amazon
Roald Dahl · Buy on Amazon
Roald Dahl · Buy on Amazon
"I loved fantasy books as a kid. I lived in my head, and Roald Dahl was the best of the best. This short story collection was one of my favorites."
Khaya Dlanga · Buy on Amazon
"A hilarious memoir by a great South African essayist. As good an account as you’ll find about life in the country today."
Yaa Gyasi · 2016 · Buy on Amazon
"Thanks to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, America and Africa are linked in more ways than we usually think about. This is a fascinating novel about the legacy of slavery and white supremacy on both continents."
Chuck Klosterman · 2016 · Buy on Amazon
"A question the architects of apartheid should have stopped and asked themselves at the start, and a question I try to ask about my own deeply held convictions every day."
C.S. Lewis (also rec’d by Tilda Swinton ) · Buy on Amazon
"I had to fight to convince my mom to get the Narnia books for me."
Nelson Mandela · Buy on Amazon
"He was as good a writer as he was a freedom fighter and president. This is a book worthy of his storied life."
Rian Malan · 1990 · Buy on Amazon
"A brutal excavation of a white South African’s conscience during the final days of apartheid."
Steve Martin (also rec’d by Bill Nye ) · Buy on Amazon
"One of the best accounts ever written about the art of stand-up and the life of the stand-up comic."
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (also rec’d by Hayao Miyazaki ) · Buy on Amazon
"A wonderful fable, beautifully told. It’s so simple and yet so complicated at the same time."
Sol Plaatje · Buy on Amazon
"Plaatje was a founder and first general secretary of the organization that became the African National Congress, and his writings have survived to become some of the most compelling and celebrated accounts of the early days of apartheid."
J.R.R. Tolkien (also rec’d by Elon Musk & Jane Goodall ) · Buy on Amazon