What books does Prajakta Koli recommend?
Reaching well past her comedy origins, Prajakta Koli, the Indian creator known online as MostlySane who crossed over into Netflix and Bollywood, offers book recommendations that span a surprisingly wide range. Her 15 picks run from literary fiction to romance to memoir, gathered from her YouTube book videos and interviews, a bookshelf feature on Instagram, and press round-ups of her favorite reads. Fiction leads the list, trailed by psychology, history, and biography. The book she loves most in the world is Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, which she says she has read "like four times and I don't mind reading it one more time." Elsewhere she is candid about her enthusiasms, calling Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood "very therapeutic" and confessing she went "mad" over Sarah J. Maas's romantasy. It is the reading list of someone equally at home with a comic-book ramen cookbook and Yuval Noah Harari.
Last updated February 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
byHaruki Murakami
2000320 Pages“Murakami is very psychedelic, it's very therapeutic. When you read a Murakami book it takes you days to get out of that plot.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube interview on 'Kitabi Qabeela'
Read by Prajakta Koli
The Diary of a Young Girl
The Definitive Edition
byAnne Frank
1947368 Pages(3,939,951)
“It's my favorite book in the whole world. I've read that book like four times and I don't mind reading it one more time.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IF YOU HATE READING!'
Read by Prajakta Koli
bySue Townsend
1982272 Pages“A light hearted and funny read that would make you relaxed and not demand any sort of heavy attention or deep reading.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IF YOU HATE READING!'
bySarah J. Maas
2015432 Pages(4,252,136)
“Mad, went mad over them... I fell in love with the first one. It's like fantasy fiction romance... 'Romantasy'.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube interview on 'Kitabi Qabeela'
Read by Prajakta Koli
The Fine Print
Dreamland Billionaires, Book 1
byLauren Asher
2021448 Pages“Agar Spanish Love Deception se meri puberty hit hui thi to Fine Print se meri virginity loose hui thi.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'My Favourite Romance Books'
Read by Prajakta Koli
A Princess Remembers
The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur
byGayatri Devi
1976408 Pages“I love it, I absolutely love it... Although she was so elite and so graceful, her writing is really honest and polite at the same time.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IF YOU HATE READING!'
Read by Prajakta Koli
Jaya
An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata
byDevdutt Pattanaik
2010372 PagesSource: YourStory article '4 must-read iconic books recommended by Prajakta Koli'
Read by Prajakta Koli
The Palace of Illusions
A Novel
byChitra Banerjee Divakaruni
2009384 PagesSource: Instagram Bookshelf Recommendation
byAli Hazelwood
2021400 Pages(1,916,740)
“Oh my god, such a cute book... honestly I felt like it was a breath of fresh air.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'My Favourite Romance Books'
Read by Prajakta Koli
byKaran Johar, Poonam Saxena
2017352 Pages“Very honest... it's not just about a story of a man it's also about us as people who look at some people differently.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IF YOU HATE READING!'
Read by Prajakta Koli
The Devil Wears Prada
A Novel
byLauren Weisberger
2003368 Pages“The book is even better [than the movie]. So I think it's one of my favorite in the chick lit category.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube video 'BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IF YOU HATE READING!'
byMichelle Obama
2018448 Pages(1,200,000)
Source: HerZindagi article 'Top 10 Books Recommended By Prajakta Koli'
Read by Prajakta Koli
Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook
A Comic Book Cookbook
byHugh Amano, Sarah Becan
2019192 Pages“I found these two books... Ramen and Dumplings recipes from Japan... hand written hand illustrated in comics.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube interview on 'Kitabi Qabeela'
byJ.K. Rowling
1997223 Pages“You have to fall in love with the first book to commit to eight books.”
— Prajakta Koli
Source: YouTube interview on 'Kitabi Qabeela'
Read by Tim Ferriss, Barack Obama, Ray Dalio and 21 others
byYuval Noah Harari
2014443 Pages(1,100,000)
Source: YouTube video 'BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IF YOU HATE READING!'
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Prajakta Koli recommend?
Her 15 picks include The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, spanning memoir, literary fiction, and romance.
What is Prajakta Koli's favorite book?
Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl. She calls it "my favorite book in the whole world," adding that she has "read that book like four times and I don't mind reading it one more time."
Where do Prajakta Koli's book recommendations come from?
Most come from her own YouTube videos, including her romance-books video and her "Books You Should Read If You Hate Reading" video, plus an interview on the show Kitabi Qabeela, an Instagram bookshelf feature, and press articles listing her recommendations.
Does Prajakta Koli recommend romance novels?
Yes, enthusiastically. She went "mad" over Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses, calling it "fantasy fiction romance," and describes Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis as "such a cute book" and "a breath of fresh air."
What genres does Prajakta Koli read most?
Fiction dominates her list, followed by psychology and human behavior, history, and biographies and memoirs. Her tastes range from Indian titles like Jaya and The Palace of Illusions to Western chick lit and mythology retellings.
All 15 Books Prajakta Koli Has Recommended
- Norwegian Wood · Haruki Murakami
- The Diary of a Young Girl · Anne Frank
- The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ · Sue Townsend
- A Court of Thorns and Roses · Sarah J. Maas
- The Fine Print · Lauren Asher
- A Princess Remembers · Gayatri Devi
- Jaya · Devdutt Pattanaik
- The Palace of Illusions · Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- The Love Hypothesis · Ali Hazelwood
- An Unsuitable Boy · Karan Johar
- The Devil Wears Prada · Lauren Weisberger
- Becoming · Michelle Obama
- Let's Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook · Hugh Amano
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone · J.K. Rowling
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind · Yuval Noah Harari