What books does Harry Styles recommend?
The Harry Styles book recommendations assembled here reveal the reading habit behind the Grammy-winning musician's multi-platinum, poetic songwriting. Nineteen titles were surfaced through Rolling Stone cover stories, magazine interviews, listening-party mentions and even paparazzi shots of what he was carrying. Fiction and literature lead the list, threaded with poetry, philosophy and memoir. His most-cited favorite is Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood, which he describes as maybe the first book ever where all he wanted to do all day was read. Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking was, he says, the first book he read twice, while Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, given to him by a friend when they started travelling together, is one he calls a really important book. Charles Bukowski, Alain de Botton and Rumi round out a shelf that reads like a poet's private syllabus.
Last updated July 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
byHaruki Murakami
2000320 Pages“It was the first book, maybe ever, where all I wanted to do all day was read this.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Rolling Stone Cover Story, 2019
Read by Harry Styles
The Year of Magical Thinking
National Book Award Winner
byJoan Didion
2007242 Pages“I think that was the first book I read twice.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Rolling Stone Interview, 2022
Read by Harry Styles
Love Is a Mix Tape
Life, Loss, and What I Listened To
byRob Sheffield
2007242 Pages“I would suggest you read if you haven't read it already. It's really beautiful.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Interview with Timothee Chalamet for i-D magazine, 2018
Read by Tim Ferriss, Naval Ravikant, Bryan Johnson and 7 others
Siddhartha
An Indian Tale
byHermann Hesse
2002176 Pages“A friend gave me Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse when we started travelling together. It makes a lot of sense to me. I think it's a really important book.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Another Man Magazine Interview, 2018
Read by Harry Styles
The Course of Love
A Novel
byAlain de Botton
2016240 Pages“When it comes to relationships, you just expect yourself to be good at it… but being in a real relationship with someone is a skill.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Vogue Interview, 2020
Read by Harry Styles
byJon Ronson
2016338 Pages“It got me thinking, for a long time, about how scared I was of saying or doing the wrong thing, and how much trouble that would get me in. I was still growing up, making mistakes. I'm not ashamed of those things any more. I've seen subconscious changes in a lot of places in my life.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Dazed Magazine Interview, 2021
Read by Harry Styles
byCharles Bukowski
2009314 Pages“I just love the way Charles Bukowski uses language. It's so real, gritty, and filthy yet there is something so romantic about it all.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Interview with The Sun, 2016
Read by Harry Styles
byAlain De Botton
2006290 Pages“There's a chapter where he talks about the idea of emptiness being more important than fullness.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Dazed Magazine Interview, 2021
Read by Harry Styles
My Policeman
NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING HARRY STYLES
byBethan Roberts
2012356 Pages“For me, the reason why the story is so devastating is because ultimately to me, the whole story is about wasted time. I think wasted time is the most devastating thing, because it's the only thing we can't control.”
— Harry Styles
Source: My Policeman film press tour, 2022
Read by Harry Styles
byRichard Brautigan
1968156 PagesSource: Rolling Stone Cover Story, 2019
Read by Harry Styles
The White Album
Essays
byJoan Didion
2024189 Pages“It smells like what I imagine Joan Didion's house to smell like.”
— Harry Styles
Source: Dazed Beauty interview, 2019
Read by Tim Ferriss, Charlie Munger, Sam Altman and 22 others
Man's Search for Meaning
An Introduction to Logotherapy
byViktor E. Frankl
2006165 PagesSource: Rolling Stone Cover Story, 2022
Read by Harry Styles
Against Interpretation
And Other Essays
bySusan Sontag
2001340 PagesSource: Paparazzi photographs, October 2018
Read by Harry Styles
byThomas Stearns Eliot
1962100 PagesSource: Fine Line Listening Party in Paris, 2019
Read by Harry Styles
byCharles Bukowski
2009324 PagesSource: One Direction concert in Boston, 2014
Read by Harry Styles
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
byMarie Kondo
2014226 PagesSource: Spotted shopping at the Strand Bookstore, NYC, 2019
byLisa Taddeo
2019320 PagesSource: Rolling Stone interview and public recommendations list
Read by Harry Styles
The Essential Rumi
New Expanded Edition
byRumi, Coleman Barks
2010416 Pages(50,767)
Source: Another Man Magazine Interview, 2018
Read by Harry Styles
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
A Novel
byHaruki Murakami
1998625 PagesSource: Paparazzi photographs and interviews, 2019
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Harry Styles recommend?
His 19 picks include Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, Rob Sheffield's Love Is a Mix Tape, and Alain de Botton's The Course of Love, leaning toward literary fiction and poetry.
What is Harry Styles's favorite book?
Styles singles out Murakami's Norwegian Wood, calling it the first book, maybe ever, where all he wanted to do all day was read. He has also named Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking as the first book he read twice.
Where do Harry Styles's book recommendations come from?
They come from Rolling Stone cover stories, interviews with outlets like Dazed, Vogue and Another Man, a conversation with Timothee Chalamet for i-D, and books spotted in his hands by photographers or during listening parties.
What genres does Harry Styles read most?
Fiction and literature dominate his list, especially work by Murakami, Bukowski and Didion, alongside philosophy, psychology and memoir, plus poetry collections such as The Essential Rumi and Eliot's The Waste Land.
Does Harry Styles read poetry?
Yes. His recommendations include Charles Bukowski's Love is a Dog From Hell and You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense, T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, and The Essential Rumi, reflecting a strong pull toward verse.
All 19 Books Harry Styles Has Recommended
- Norwegian Wood · Haruki Murakami
- The Year of Magical Thinking · Joan Didion
- Love Is a Mix Tape · Rob Sheffield
- Siddhartha · Hermann Hesse
- The Course of Love · Alain de Botton
- So You've Been Publicly Shamed · Jon Ronson
- Love is a Dog From Hell · Charles Bukowski
- The Architecture of Happiness · Alain De Botton
- My Policeman · Bethan Roberts
- In Watermelon Sugar · Richard Brautigan
- The White Album · Joan Didion
- Man's Search for Meaning · Viktor E. Frankl
- Against Interpretation · Susan Sontag
- The Waste Land, and Other Poems · Thomas Stearns Eliot
- You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense · Charles Bukowski
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up · Marie Kondo
- Three Women · Lisa Taddeo
- The Essential Rumi · Rumi
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle · Haruki Murakami