“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
Some books hook us not just with their plots or characters, but with the sheer beauty of their language. Whether it’s lyrical prose, poetic descriptions, or lines that linger in your mind for days, beautifully written books have a special kind of magic. Today at What We Reading, we’re curating the most beautiful books ever written – stories that offer more than a narrative; they offer an experience. From literary classics to modern masterpieces, each of these books demonstrates the power of beautiful writing to move, inspire, and enchant. Whether you’re looking for books with lyrical language or novels that read like poetry, you’ll find something breathtaking here. So, if you’re in the mood for literature that’s as aesthetically pleasing as it is profound, these beautifully written books demand to be on your TBR pile.
The God Of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
First up on our list of the most beautiful books is The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Set in lush, southern India, the story follows twin siblings, Estha and Rahel, whose lives are moulded by a tragic event during their childhood. Through fragmented timelines and richly textured imagery, Roy explores themes of love, loss, caste, and forbidden desire.
The novel’s lyrical prose and stunning language elevate its heartbreaking story into something transcendent. Roy bends the rules of grammar and form with purpose, honing a writing voice that is both playful and profound. For readers who are drawn to books with beautiful prose and a distinctive narrative style, The God of Small Things is an unforgettable reading experience – one that lingers with you long after the final page. It’s a quintessential read for anyone looking for a novel that is beautifully written and emotionally resonant.
Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
Toru is a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo and is totally devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman. Their mutual passion is defined by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Toru starts to adapt to life on campus and the loneliness and isolation he encounters there, Naoko begins to find the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further inward into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and pulled toward a fiercely independent and liberated young woman.
A magnificent mix of the music, the mood, and the vibe that was the Swinging Sixties, Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is the story of one college student’s romantic coming of age, and one of the most lyrical and poetic depictions of a young man’s first, hopeless, and heroic love.
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
Lauded for its ravishing beauty and unsettling intelligence, Michael Ondaatje’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, charts the intersection of four profoundly damaged lives in an Italian villa at the close of the Second World War. Hana, the exhausted nurse; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burned man lying in an upstairs room.
Through shifting perspectives and fragmented memories, the novel explores themes of identity, love, betrayal, and the disintegration of boundaries, both personal and political. Ondaatje’s lyrical prose is brimming with sensual detail and poetic imagery, blurring the lines between memory and history. For any readers looking for books with poetic language and elegant storytelling, The English Patient is an invitation to linger over every sentence and soak up a slow, thoughtful experience.
A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is an epic, emotionally devastating novel known for its beautiful writing and unflinchingly candid portrayal of trauma, friendships and endurance. The story charts the lives of four college friends – Jude, Willem, Malcolm, and JB – as they navigate adulthood in New York City. At the centre of the story is Jude, a brilliant albeit troubled man whose past is gradually unveiled through haunting flashbacks.
As the years go by, the group’s bonds are pushed to their limits by ambition, love, loss, and the long shadows of Jude’s childhood abuse. Yanagihara’s lyrical prose is immersive and raw, capturing both the intimate moments of joy and the depths of suffering with incredible emotional depth. While the themes in A Little Life are certainly heavy, the novel’s stunning language and powerful character work make it truly unforgettable.
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The Shadow Of The Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Barcelona, 1945: A city gradually healing from the wounds of war, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who is mourning the loss of his mother, finds comfort in a mysterious book titled ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ penned by one Julian Carax. But when he sets off to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every other book Carax has ever written.
In fact, Daniel may just have the last of Carax’s books left in existence. Soon enough, Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s most sombre secrets in this epic tale of murder, madness, and doomed love. Through lyrical writing and intricate, atmospheric storytelling, Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind is one of the world’s most beautiful books, conjuring a gothic, rain-slicked Barcelona where novels hold dangerous power and the past is never fully buried.
Beloved – Toni Morrison
Beloved by Toni Morrison is a haunting, beautifully written novel that explores the lingering scars of slavery through the lens of memory, motherhood, and identity. Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the story revolves around Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman living with her daughter, Denver, in a house plagued by a malevolent spirit. When a mysterious young woman who calls herself “Beloved” arrives, Sethe’s buried traumas are brought to the surface, blending the past into the present.
Morrison’s lyrical prose is both poetic and emotionally searing, capturing the unspeakable pain of bondage and the fierce, complex love between a mother and her child. Through rich symbolism and non-linear narrative, Morrison creates a powerful meditation on what it means to survive, remember, and reclaim oneself in one of the most beautiful books with stunning language and profound emotional depth.
The Song Of Achilles – Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles is a tender and beautiful retelling of the myth of Achilles and Patroclus, told through the perspective of Patroclus himself. From their unlikely friendship in boyhood to the deep, passionate bond they form as young men, the novel charts their journey through love, identity and destiny during the years leading up to – and throughout – the Trojan War.
Miller’s lyrical prose breathes new life into ancient myth, imbuing every scene with emotional resonance and poetic detail. The end result is a story that feels timeless, yet deeply intimate, as the characters grapple with fate, glory, and the devastating costs of war. With its stunning language and heart-wrenching romance at the heart of it, The Song of Achilles is one of the most beautiful books in the world for exploring the depths of human connection.
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
This is the extraordinary love story shared between Clare and Henry. Clare and Henry met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six. They were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry was thirty. Impossible but true, Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets, and he suddenly finds himself being pulled into his past or future. In the face of this force that neither of them are able to control, Henry and Clare’s efforts to lead normal lives are both intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.
On the back of Audrey Niffenegger’s lyrical prose, The Time Traveler’s Wife captures the ache and wonder of love stretched across time, rendering ordinary moments with exquisite emotional detail. Both heartwarming and heartbreaking, the novel explores how love endures through unpredictability and absence.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God follows Janie Crawford, a Black woman in early twentieth-century Florida, as she searches for love, independence, and her own voice. Told through a powerful frame narrative, the story traces Janie’s journey through three marriages and a lifetime’s worth of challenges, each relationship bringing her closer to self-realisation.
Hurston’s lyrical prose is grounded in Black Southern vernacular and brimming with poetic imagery, capturing both the rhythms of everyday life and the grandeur of inner transformation. The novel explores themes of gender, race, resilience, and the pursuit of personal freedom with exceptional emotional depth. If you’re looking for books with stunning language and strong, complex characters, Their Eyes Were Watching God is a timeless classic that resonates just as deeply today as it did when it was first published back in 1937.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who is unable to read. Penned when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter chronicles a family’s history that began before he was born – a history rooted in Vietnam – and serves as a doorway into parts of his life that his mother has never known, culminating in an unforgettable revelation. Both a homage to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her child, the book is also a brutally candid exploration of race, class, and masculinity.
What makes Ocean Vuong’s work one of the most beautiful novels is the urgency and grace he uses to capture people caught between disparate worlds, asking readers questions about how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are in the process. One of the all-time great debut novels, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
