I’m writing a book “500 best books originally written in
English for Japanese audience”, and this is a tentative list of 75 non-fiction
books（76 at the moment). I have lists for fiction
books, children’s
books, and classics
separately.
This list is not completed and I would like your input. Some of the book’s
audience are beginning readers of English and some are native level, so I need
a mix of books that would appeal to these various levels that I believe
are enjoyable for the Japanese readers. Some are entertaining, and some
are mind stimulating, and some of them are informative. The most
important thing is that the book gives a Japanese reader a good reading experience.
If that experience encourages the reader to pick up another English book, it
will be a success.
The following are the criteria I used for the tentative list.
1) The reader feels “ I’m glad I have read this book”.
2) The book has a reasonably wide range of audience.
3) The book must be reasonably well written.
4) The book must be still in print and available in Japan.
I’m including some books I personally do not like very much, because I believe
there are many Japanese readers who can learn to enjoy English books from
them. Because of the limited number I can list for the book, I decided to
chose only one book by each author.
I separated into several genres, but please keep in mind that some of them are
mixture of different genres.
回想録／伝記 Biographies, memoirs
Angela’s Ashes by
Frank McCourt
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Look me in the Eye by John Elder Robison
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
Open by Andre Agassi
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Marley & Me by John Grogan
Dewey by Vicki Myron, Bret Witter
Saving Sammy by Beth
Alison Maloney
政治経済、時事、ルポ
In Cold Blood (1965) by Truman Capote
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Googled by Ken Auletta
Embracing Defeat
by John W. Dower
Columbine by Dave Cullen
A Thousand Lives by
Julia Scheeres
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Seabuiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The Great
Derangement by Matt Taibbi
Game Change by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared M. Diamond
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Lost in Shangri-La
Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams
A Year in Province by Peter Mayle
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace
自然／科学／医学／音楽／心理／教育
Nature, Science,
Medicine, Music
A Brief History of Time (2005年改訂版) by Stephen Hawking
Elegant Universe by Brian Greene
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
How Music Works by David Byrne
How Doctors Think
by Jerome Groopman
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
Telling Lies
by Paul Ekman
Influence by Robert B. Cialdini
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
Stuff by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee
Moonwalking
with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis, et al
How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
Sticks and Stones by Emily Bazelon
NurtureShock by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman
Play by Stuart Brown
ビジネス／経営／社会科学／実用書／自己啓発 Business, management, and marketing, social
science
Bowling Alone
The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
Tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell
The End of Big by Nicco Mele
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko by Daniel H. Pink
The Dip by Seth Godin
Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead by David Meerman
Scott & Brian Halligan
Emotional Intelligence
by Daniel Goleman
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–and it’s all small stuff by
Richard Carlson
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
How Starbucks Saved My Life
by Michael Gates Gill
The Happiness Trap
by Russ Harris
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Fall in Love for Life by Barbara Cooper
On Writing by Stephen King
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR’s National Story Project
Give Your Speech, Change the World by Nick Morgan
ユーモア Humor
The Darwin Awards by Wendy Northcutt
I Suck at Girls
by Justin Halpern
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
その他のジャンル
(art, cooking, and other genre)
Asylum by Christopher Payne
Dancers Among Us
by Jordan Matter
PostSecret by Frank Warren
Guinness World Records
Barefoot Contessa Foolproof by Ina Garten
The Fannie Farmer Cookbook by Marion Cunningham
*****The following books are also considered******
500冊にするためにリストから落とした作品。
Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt
Helter Skelter by
Vincent Bugliosi
Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
J. D. Salinger by Kenneth Slawenski
Escape by Carolyn
Jessop
A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke
Life in Rewind by
Terry Weible Murphy & Michael A. Jenike
I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
Dreamers, Discoverers & Dynamos by Lucy Jo Palladino Ph.
D.
A Little
History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton
Einstein Never Used Flashcards by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff,
et al
The Best American Essays
The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
Story by Robert McKee
This is Your Brain on
Music by Daniel J. Levitin
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
***
Justice by Michael Sandel(日本で過剰に評価されているほど米国では評価されていないし、ここで紹介する必要もないほど知られているから）
Strong in the Rain (今の日本人には、かえって良くないかもしれないから）
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo
How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus（非常に売れた作品なので、紹介しなくてもよいかも…）
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, Musicophelia
by Oliver Sacks, etc. Because of “one book by one author for one
genre”policy
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
1776 by David McCullough
Incognito by David Eagleman ( I instead chose his short
stories, Sum)
A Girl Named Zippy
A Heart-Breaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Pattern Language, Alexander, et al
Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman
Bossy Pants (A very good book, but Japanese audience don’t
know who she is)
Influence, Cialdini
Northern Nurse
One Hundred Names for Love
The Snow Leopard, Matthiessen
The Songlines, Chatwin
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her
American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
The Wisdom of Crowds
Townie: A Memoir
Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language
Undaunted Courage
Darth Vader and Son
Yokai Attack
It’s Not How Good You Are, …
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell（映画に比べて本の評価があまりにも低い。著者に好感が抱けないという意見が多い）
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff（手紙のやりとりは面白いが、制限ある中に入れる価値があるかどうか不明）
NO MATTER HOW LOUD I SHOUT by Edward Humes
Food Inc. by Participant Media