If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

Haruki Murakami, bestselling author

Reading sparks creativity, helps you think clearly, blah blah. But there is actually nothing better than curling up with a good book with a great theme, a cup of coffee by your side and a warm cat on your feet. Are we right or are we right?
If you have ever tried asking for book recommendations from your architect-friends, there is a 90 percent chance you would end up with a list of books written BY architects, or ABOUT architecture. Or The Fountainhead. (Which is actually a great book, but we will talk about that later!)

Don’t worry, here we have for you a list of books that are neither about architecture, nor The Fountainhead.

The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)– A contemporary take on human relations and the minute details of what makes up life. Set in a small town in southern India in an era of political disturbance, this novel makes us see life through the eyes of two young children, and how their lives are shaped by what happens around them. A very delicate and fragile story, yet boldly questioning bigger themes as love and loss and morality, this one is a thoughtful must-read for all the architecture enthusiasts out there.

Murakami’s works– Be it a secluded well in the backyard of an old house, or a remote cottage smack in the middle of an enchanted forest, Haruki Murakami has always given us surrealism in the ordinary. His settings set a tone for his magical realism, and take us away from the daily and the mundane. And, as an avid Murakami fan, I would say his settings are just as amazing and perfect as his storyline.

 The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)– A novella written in 1943, yet called timeless by many. It talks about thinking out of the box, and subtly touches topics such as love and understanding, without ever being too harsh. A beautiful, fairytale-style breather from all our regular fiction.

The Maze Runner (James Dashner)– A dystopian world, where danger lurks at every corner, and friendships are questioned and enemies keep changing. This entire series is great from an architectural perspective as it is something we don’t generally see in either real life or in fiction.

The Secret History (Donna Tartt)- It is a story about a murder, but without a mystery. It is immediately clear in the first chapter itself. But what makes this book appear on this list is its setting. Bleak winter vibes, dark days and gloomy surroundings, all set the tone for this storyline. The author does an amazing work of portraying the mood of the story without actually wording it. This is a great instance of the way architecture, surroundings and spaces affect our minds and actions.

That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake.