GRL: Highlights

I'm done my German Reading List (GRL). I read 52 books (14,545 pages) total in my quest to understand Germany- its people, language, history, literature, culture, etc. As with prior efforts of this nature, it was a fantastic and recommended experience. You can see the complete list here.  

Of the 52 books, I enjoyed most of them (34 got an "A-" or better in my book). Of these, I've chosen 11 that I recommend for those interested in becoming familiar with the seminal German events and books. Keep in mind: this doesn't necessarily mean I thought these were the 11 best, or even the 11 I most enjoyed- what follows are the 11 most appropriate for achieving the above objective.  Here they are, with some elaboration following:

Neil MacGregor	Germany: Memories of a Nation	History
Collins	Complete German	Language
The Brothers Grimm	Grimm's Fairy Tales	Fairy Tales
Thomas Mann	Buddenbrooks	Literature
DK Publishing	World War I- The Complete Visual History	History
Erich Maria Remarque	All Quiet on the Western Front	Memoir
DK Publishing	World War II- The Complete Visual History	History
Elie Wiesel	Night	Memoir
Peter Schneider	The Wall Jumper	Fiction
Michael Ende	The Never Ending Story	Fantasy
Cornelia Funke	Inkheart	Fantasy

Elaboration

History

You don't need to love history, but it's important to understand it. MacGregor's Memories of a Nation is an outstanding overview of German history, told in a highly visual style (this is the same author that produced A History of the World in 100 Objects).

No German treatment can ignore the two world wars. DK Publishing's volumes on WWI and II, respectively, are excellent and fair overviews to these horrifying conflicts. 

As I love history, I was tempted to include many more here. MacGregor gives a satisfying introduction, but look at the full reading list for more excellent works on specific periods- Nichols's The Reformation, Wedgwood's The Thirty Years War, Clark's Iron Kingdom, and Tuchman's The Guns of August come to mind.

Language

Live in Germany? Learn German. At least try. There are many good resources out there- apps (like DuoLingo), courses (online or in-person), and books. Of the books, I recommend Collins's Complete German. It's done extremely well, and a valuable reference.

Memoirs

There are many poignant memoirs out there, especially regarding the war years. All Quiet on the Western Front and Night are powerful looks at the horrors of WWI and WWII, respectively, from the common man's eyes.

Literature

I'm not going to lie . . . I found a lot of German literature (at least in my sampling) overly morose or despondent. But their popularity and endurance is a window into the soul of the German people, and well worth the time. Buddenbrooks is long but a great work. There are many other authors worthy of mention; check out the full list for more.

I'll include Grimm's Fairy Tales here, too. The original release had ~80 stories if memory serves; the collection swelled with subsequent editions until their final contained over 200 stories. I read a few iterations of selected tales (210 stories in this version, 21 stories here, and seven here)-  The one linked above was the best (the one with 21 stories). Don't read all 210 tales- many stories are repetitive and uninteresting. But there are a handful of good ones.

Fiction

What's the difference between fiction and literature? I don't really know. Perhaps you could count The Wall Jumper as literature instead, but however you bin it, I found it outstanding- a portrait of a divided land, looking at the contrasting mindsets of East and West Germans.

Fantasy

I fell in love with German fantasy writings. Chosing only two was hard, but I had to leave room for other works. Michael Ende's books were outstanding- if you like The Never Ending Story, check out Momo. Cornelia Funke's Inkheart was also excellent (and the first of a trilogy, if you wish to continue).

Conclusion

Eleven books is too few to fully 'get' Germany, but it's a great start. I recommend you read these, then branch out to other works as you better understand your goals and tastes.