Readers' Top Picks: Foreign Novels for Language Enthusiasts

We’ve curated a selection of novels perfect for the winter break—books that are not only engaging but also helpful for language learners. As the year draws to a close, we've analyzed the most borrowed titles from our collection of English and German-language fiction to recommend the very best.

In English-language entertainment novels, the top spots went to Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People, Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed, and Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles. Renowned Swedish author Fredrik Backman is known for his humorous, character-driven stories set in small Swedish towns. Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed (2021) is a darkly funny meditation on love and nourishment. Fans of mythology will enjoy Madeline Miller’s award-winning retelling of the Trojan War, which blends gods, kings, and human emotions into a compelling narrative.

Timeless classics also ranked highly, with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice leading the list—a perennial favourite. Sally Rooney’s Normal People, a nuanced coming-of-age story about first love, received critical acclaim upon its release in 2018. Third place was shared by Manuel Mujica-Lainez’s Bomarzo, a fictionalized portrait of Renaissance Italy, and Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish: For Naomi Ginsberg, 1894–1956, a deeply personal poetic tribute.

Manuel Mujica-Lainez, a celebrated Argentine writer, frequently incorporates mythology into his works. His best-known novel, Bomarzo, is a fictionalized portrayal of Pier Francesco Orsini, a prominent figure of the Italian Renaissance, vividly brought to life through Mujica-Lainez’s unique perspective. Meanwhile, Allen Ginsberg, an iconic poet of the Beat Generation, offers a profoundly moving tribute to his mother in Kaddish, reflecting on her life and death in 1956. This edition, part of the Centaur Books series, includes the text in both English and Hungarian, along with Ginsberg’s famous poem Howl: For Carl Solomon.

Source: Canva.com

In the category of German-language entertainment novels, crime fiction dominated the list. Ken Follett’s Nacht über den Wassern, Agatha Christie’s Der Wachsblumenstrauß, and Hans Habe’s romantic novel Kathrin oder Der verlorene Frühling claimed the top spots. Meanwhile, in the broader category of German-language fiction, Selma Lagerlöf’s Die schönsten Sagen und Märchen, Eugen Ruge’s Metropol, and Juli Zeh’s Über Menschen were particularly popular.

All the books mentioned in this article are available to borrow, and their locations in our library can be found using FSZEK Online:

• Anxious People: A Novel / Fredrik Backman; transl. by Neil Smith. 14th ed. New York [etc.]: Atria Books, 2020.
• Milk Fed: A Novel / Melissa Broder. New York [etc.]: Scribner, 2021.
• The Song of Achilles / Madeline Miller. 28th ed. London [etc.]: Bloomsbury, 2017.
• Pride and Prejudice / Jane Austen; ed. with an introduction by Vivien Jones. London: Penguin, [2015].
• Normal People / Sally Rooney. 51st ed. London: Faber, 2022.
• Bomarzo / a novel by Manuel Mujica-Lainez; transl. from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970, cop. 1969.
• Kaddish: For Naomi Ginsberg, 1894–1956 = Kaddis: Naomi Ginsbergért, 1894–1956; Howl: For Carl Solomon = Üvöltés: Carl Solomonnak / Allen Ginsberg; [transl. by Eörsi István]. Budapest: Noran, cop. 2005. - (Kentaurkönyvek, ISSN 1416-0315; 27.)
• Nacht über den Wassern / Ken Follett; transl. by Gabriele Conrad and Lore Strassl. 19th ed. Bergisch Gladbach: Lübbe, 2002.
• Der Wachsblumenstrauß: Roman / Agatha Christie; transl. by Ursula Wulfekamp. Frankfurt/M: Fischer, 2003.
• Kathrin oder Der verlorene Frühling: Roman / Hans Habe. Munich: Heyne, 1984.