Libraries of Leaders: On the Bookshelf of Dan Brown, Ernest Cline

Here’s what best-selling authors Malcom Gladwell, Ernest Cline and Dan Brown read and recommend.

American horror and supernatural fiction writer Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”

Three best-selling authors featured this week are avid readers. Here’s what Malcom Gladwell, Ernest Cline and Dan Brown read and recommend.

Malcom Gladwell

The British-born Canadian author has written five best-selling books and sold more than four million copies worldwide. His books rely heavily on scientific and scholastic research papers and texts, and often deal with subjects such as the unforeseen implications of advances in social and natural sciences. Here are some of his favourite books, according to Business Insider.

1. Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession by Janet Malcom

Psychoanalysis is the science of bringing latent or subconscious thoughts and desires to consciousness. This branch of science, founded by the legendary Sigmund Freud, aims to help individuals release repressed past experiences and subconscious emotions. Malcom provides an insight into how psychoanalysis works.

2. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

The book explores subjects that were not traditionally covered by mainstream economists. Its premise is that the study of incentives is at the heart of the study of economics.

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3.The Person And The Situation by Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett

The insightful work explores what one can really gain from the study of social psychology and explains how personal, environmental and situational factors impact human behaviour.

Ernest Cline

The American science fiction writer has two best-selling books to his credit which will be adapted into movies. Here are some of his favourite books, according to The Week magazine.

1. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

The book is about a poor boy who, by sheer luck, wins a contest that brings his family out of poverty and wins him a lifetime supply of chocolate. The story of the downtrodden boy lifted out of poverty by an eccentric businessman appealed to Cline.

2. Replay by Ken Grimwood

The book, highly recommended by Cline, tells the story of a man who dies of heart failure, then wakes up as an 18-year-old boy and relives his life in a time loop.

3. Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

This darkly humorous, apocalyptic story appealed to Cline especially because of the author’s astute observations on the human condition.

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Daniel Gerhard “Dan” Brown

Dan Brown is a best-selling thriller fiction writer. He is probably best known for his second book , The Da Vinci Code. Three of his books have been made into Hollywood movies, with Tom Hanks playing the protagonist Robert Langdon. Here are some of his favourite books, according to The Week.

1) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Considered one of Steinbeck’s masterpieces, the book tells the stories of two young displaced men during the Great Depression. Their shared dream to own a piece of land leads them to find work in California. A complex string of characters including a boss with a Napoleon complex, his lonely and attractive wife and a mule-skinner make for a compelling read.

2) Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Widely regarded as one of Shakespeare’s best comedies, the play revolves around two love affairs: One a formal relationship that has been blessed by the elders and another where a young army officer is aided by his commander in proposing to an attractive young lady, which leads to a lot of confusion about who the actual suitor is.

3) The Puzzle Palace: Inside America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization by James Bamford

An expose on the workings of America’s National Security Agency, it penetrates the core of the the organisation, the people that run and control it and the role they played in many controversial global events of the 1980s-90s .

(This March 2017 story was first published on BloombergQuint and has been reposted to mark Dan Brown’s birthday.)