Chris Pine’s 15 Favorite Books and Reading Recommendations

Chris Pine is best known for commanding the USS Enterprise as James T. Kirk in the modern Star Trek movies and playing Steve Trevor opposite Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman. He has also appeared in movies such as Hell or High Water, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Into the Woods, and The Princess Diaries 2.

However, Pine’s interests extend far beyond acting and filmmaking. Before becoming a Hollywood star, he studied English at the University of California, Berkeley. His literary background appears to have stayed with him because Pine remains an enthusiastic and adventurous reader. UC Berkeley identifies him as a member of its English class of 2002.

Pine does not seem interested in reading only the most popular books or the novels currently dominating bestseller lists. His taste covers Japanese detective fiction, experimental literature, classic novels, war reporting, true crime, historical fiction, and Cold War espionage.

In a 2023 conversation with Esquire, Pine was originally asked to select five recent favorites. Instead, he arrived with a much larger collection and discussed 15 books that had captured his attention. The resulting list offers a fascinating look at the stories, writers, and ideas that appeal to him.

Some of these selections are challenging, while others are more accessible. Together, they reveal a reader interested in moral ambiguity, political turmoil, war, ambition, identity, and the complicated forces that influence human behavior.

Here are Chris Pine’s 15 book recommendations.

Chris Pine’s 15 Recommended Books

• Lady Joker Volume 2 by Kaoru Takemura 
• Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
• Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
• The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen 
• Dispatches by Michael Herr 
• The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer 
• The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer 
• In Cold Blood Truman Capote 
• Underworld by Don DeLillo 
• Master of Souls by Irène Némirovsky 
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 
• The Master by Colm Toibin 
• The Magician by Colm Toibin 
• Berlin Noir by Bernie Gunther 
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre 

1. Lady Joker, Volume Two by Kaoru Takamura

Lady Joker, Volume Two continues Kaoru Takamura’s sprawling Japanese crime story about a group that targets a powerful beer company. Inspired partly by a real corporate kidnapping case, the novel examines far more than the crime itself.

Takamura explores class divisions, corporate influence, discrimination, policing, journalism, and the complicated motivations of the people involved. The story moves between numerous characters, giving readers a broad view of the investigation and the social conditions surrounding it.

This is not a fast, straightforward detective novel. It is a detailed examination of institutions and the individuals trapped inside them. Readers who enjoy morally complicated crime fiction, slow-burn mysteries, and novels about corruption should find plenty to admire.

Pine was reading the second volume at the time of his interview and praised Takamura as an important figure in Japanese detective fiction.

Readers should begin with Lady Joker, Volume One before moving on to the conclusion.

2. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights is one of the most unusual books on Chris Pine’s reading list. Rather than following one continuous plot, the novel is constructed from fragments, observations, historical episodes, travel stories, and philosophical reflections.

The pieces are connected by ideas about movement, mortality, anatomy, displacement, and the human desire to avoid becoming permanently fixed in one place. Some sections last for many pages, while others contain only a paragraph or a brief thought.

Its unconventional structure can initially feel disorienting. Pine acknowledged that he found portions of the book difficult to penetrate, especially because Tokarczuk frequently shifts away from a subject just as the reader becomes invested. Nevertheless, he felt that the book eventually came together for him.

Flights is an excellent choice for readers who enjoy experimental fiction and books that challenge conventional ideas about what a novel should be.

3. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

Set during the Vietnam War, Matterhorn follows a young Marine lieutenant and the soldiers under his command as they attempt to survive both the enemy and the military hierarchy surrounding them.

Karl Marlantes drew upon his own military experience to create an intense portrait of combat. Yet the novel is not concerned only with battles. It also examines exhaustion, fear, racism, poor leadership, ambition, friendship, and the psychological damage caused by war.

The novel’s length allows Marlantes to show the relentless nature of military life. The soldiers face hunger, disease, difficult terrain, questionable orders, and the constant possibility of death. Their struggles make Matterhorn feel less like a traditional story of battlefield heroism and more like an argument about the impersonal machinery of war.

While discussing the novel, Pine also strongly recommended Marlantes’s nonfiction book What It Is Like to Go to War, which examines the moral and psychological consequences of combat.

Readers interested in serious war literature should consider both books.

4. The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen

The Copenhagen Trilogy brings together Tove Ditlevsen’s three memoirs: Childhood, Youth, and Dependency. Across the collection, she writes about growing up in a working-class neighborhood, pursuing a literary career, navigating relationships, and struggling with addiction.

Ditlevsen’s prose is direct and intimate. She does not romanticize her life or attempt to transform every painful experience into an inspiring lesson. Instead, she presents ambition, marriage, motherhood, creativity, and dependency with startling honesty.

The final portion is especially difficult because it follows her descent into addiction and the damage it causes. Despite the bleak subject matter, the trilogy remains compelling because of Ditlevsen’s sharp observations and emotional clarity.

This recommendation is ideal for readers interested in literary memoirs, Scandinavian literature, and candid accounts of artistic ambition.

5. Dispatches by Michael Herr

Michael Herr’s Dispatches is considered one of the defining works of writing about the Vietnam War. Herr reported from Vietnam for Esquire, and his experiences became the foundation of this unconventional and influential book.

Instead of presenting a conventional chronological history, Herr captures the atmosphere of the war through fragmented scenes, conversations, images, and memories. His style reflects the confusion and intensity experienced by the soldiers and reporters around him.

Pine compared its feeling to Apocalypse Now and described the book as resembling a rock-and-roll tour diary. That comparison captures the book’s strange mixture of terror, energy, exhaustion, and surrealism.

Readers looking for a straightforward military history may find the structure unusual. Those interested in immersive journalism and the psychological atmosphere of war, however, may consider it essential.

6. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

Published when Norman Mailer was still in his twenties, The Naked and the Dead follows a platoon of American soldiers fighting on a fictional Pacific island during World War II.

The novel explores the individual lives of the soldiers while examining power, obedience, masculinity, fear, and military leadership. Mailer repeatedly strips away romantic ideas about combat, portraying war as an experience shaped by confusion, physical suffering, bureaucracy, and decisions made by distant leaders.

Pine was particularly impressed by Mailer’s understanding of soldiers and the human psyche. He interpreted the novel as a forceful criticism of war and the systems that send people to die without a meaningful purpose.

It is a demanding novel, but it remains a major work of American war fiction.

7. The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

Chris Pine’s interest in Norman Mailer continued with The Executioner’s Song, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

The book tells the story of Gary Gilmore, who was convicted of murder and executed in Utah in 1977. Mailer uses extensive reporting to reconstruct Gilmore’s life, crimes, relationships, trial, and final months.

What makes the book so unsettling is its refusal to reduce Gilmore to a simple symbol of evil. Mailer examines his charisma, violence, contradictions, and influence on the people around him without excusing his actions.

Pine admired the book’s depth and its ability to reveal layer after layer of its central figures. He was especially interested in how Mailer makes Gilmore horrifying, tragic, destructive, and recognizably human at the same time.

Readers fascinated by true crime and morally complicated character studies should add this to their lists.

8. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Few books have influenced modern true crime as much as Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

The book reconstructs the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Capote examines the victims, investigators, community, and killers while writing with the detail and narrative momentum of a novel.

Rather than focusing only on the crime, Capote studies the lives of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, the two men convicted of the murders. This creates a deeply uncomfortable reading experience. The book asks readers to understand its subjects without forgetting the horror of what they did.

Pine called In Cold Blood a masterpiece and praised its ability to humanize people responsible for terrible acts.

It remains one of the strongest starting points for anyone interested in literary journalism or the history of true crime writing.

9. Underworld by Don DeLillo

Don DeLillo’s Underworld is an enormous novel about America during the second half of the twentieth century. Its many characters and storylines touch on the Cold War, nuclear anxiety, waste, art, baseball, consumer culture, crime, and memory.

The novel opens during the famous 1951 baseball game in which Bobby Thomson hit the “Shot Heard ’Round the World.” From there, DeLillo moves across decades, gradually connecting personal stories with major cultural and political developments.

Pine was particularly impressed by DeLillo’s language and the novel’s opening baseball sequence. He described the prose as intricate and luminous, capable of moving rapidly between precise observations and abstraction.

Underworld is not a casual read. Its size, structure, and density demand patience, but readers who appreciate ambitious American fiction may find it unforgettable.

10. Master of Souls by Irène Némirovsky

Master of Souls follows Dario Asfar, a struggling immigrant doctor who becomes increasingly willing to compromise his principles in pursuit of wealth, status, and acceptance.

Irène Némirovsky uses his rise to explore greed, ambition, social prejudice, and the destructive desire for more. The novel is much shorter than several other selections on Pine’s list, but its moral questions are no less significant.

Pine described it as a beautiful and effective parable about ambition and greed.

This is a strong choice for readers who enjoy concise literary fiction with flawed protagonists and sharp social criticism. It may also appeal to fans of Némirovsky’s better-known unfinished work, Suite Française.

11. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Set during the years surrounding the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities follows characters whose lives become connected across London and Paris.

The novel includes political unrest, imprisonment, sacrifice, romance, revenge, and one of the most famous endings in English literature. Although it deals with serious historical events, it also demonstrates Charles Dickens’s humor and talent for memorable characters.

Pine said he loved Dickens and viewed the novel as a relevant warning about inequality, social collapse, and the conditions that lead to revolution.

For readers intimidated by Dickens’s longest novels, A Tale of Two Cities offers a more approachable entry into his work. It combines historical drama with questions about justice, loyalty, and whether personal sacrifice can create redemption.

12. The Master by Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín’s The Master is a fictionalized portrait of novelist Henry James. Rather than constructing a conventional biography, Tóibín imagines James’s private thoughts, relationships, regrets, and creative process.

The result is a quiet and psychologically detailed novel about the emotional cost of devoting one’s life to art. James observes the world closely, yet he often remains separated from the intimacy and experiences he hopes to understand.

The book will be especially rewarding for readers interested in writers, creativity, and the tension between participation and observation.

Pine read The Master alongside Tóibín’s The Magician and said that he loved both novels deeply.

13. The Magician by Colm Tóibín

While The Master explores the life of Henry James, The Magician turns its attention to German novelist Thomas Mann.

The story follows Mann through a period of extraordinary political and social change. His life intersects with the decline of the German Empire, the First World War, the Weimar Republic, the rise of Nazi Germany, exile, and the cultural transformations of the twentieth century.

Tóibín also explores Mann’s family life, public reputation, hidden desires, and complicated role as both an artist and political figure.

Pine was fascinated by the extraordinary scope of Mann’s life and the historical eras through which he lived.

Readers who enjoy biographical fiction and novels about famous writers should consider reading The Master and The Magician together.

14. Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr

Berlin Noir collects the first three novels in Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series: March Violets, The Pale Criminal, and A German Requiem.

Bernie Gunther is a private detective and former police officer trying to survive and solve crimes in Germany during the rise and aftermath of the Nazi regime. He follows the tradition of hardboiled detectives, but the historical setting gives his investigations an additional sense of danger.

Gunther must navigate a society in which corruption, surveillance, intimidation, and state violence have become part of everyday life.

Pine said he loved the series and was interested in its portrayal of an ordinary person attempting to function inside a fascist system.

Fans of historical mysteries, noir fiction, and morally complex detectives should find this trilogy especially compelling.

15. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré

Chris Pine’s final recommendation is one of the greatest spy novels ever published.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold follows Alec Leamas, a weary British intelligence officer who is sent on a dangerous final mission involving East German intelligence. The operation quickly becomes more complicated than it first appears.

John le Carré rejects glamorous depictions of espionage. His spies inhabit a world of manipulation, secrecy, betrayal, and moral compromise. The people directing operations from a distance can be every bit as ruthless as the enemies they claim to oppose.

Pine selected this novel as the best place to begin reading le Carré. He also recommended continuing with the George Smiley books, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley’s People.

Anyone interested in Cold War fiction or intelligent spy thrillers should place The Spy Who Came in from the Cold near the top of their reading list.

What Chris Pine’s Reading List Reveals About Him

Chris Pine’s book recommendations are far more serious and wide-ranging than the average celebrity reading list. Several common themes appear across his selections.

He is clearly interested in war and its psychological consequences. Matterhorn, Dispatches, and The Naked and the Deadall reject simple narratives of heroism and instead examine the confusion, suffering, and moral compromises created by combat.

He is also drawn to criminals and morally ambiguous figures. Lady Joker, The Executioner’s Song, In Cold Blood, and Berlin Noir explore people operating outside the law or within deeply corrupt systems.

The list also reveals Pine’s interest in ambitious literary writing. Flights and Underworld experiment with structure and language, while The Master and The Magician transform the lives of famous writers into thoughtful fiction.

Even the classic selections feel purposeful. A Tale of Two Cities is not included simply because it is famous. Pine connects its depiction of inequality and revolution to modern political concerns.

This is ultimately the reading list of someone who wants books to challenge him. Pine appears most interested in stories that resist simple conclusions and force readers to reconsider their assumptions about justice, violence, power, and human nature.

Conclusion

Chris Pine may be known around the world for playing heroes such as Captain Kirk and Steve Trevor, but his book recommendations venture into much darker and more complicated territory.

His selections include celebrated classics, experimental novels, war reporting, literary true crime, historical mysteries, and sophisticated spy fiction. Some books are approachable, while others require significant patience and concentration.

That variety makes Chris Pine’s reading list so interesting. It does not feel designed to promote the newest releases or create an idealized public image. Instead, it reflects genuine curiosity and a willingness to explore difficult subjects.

Readers new to the list may want to begin with In Cold Blood, A Tale of Two Cities, or The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Those searching for a larger challenge can try Underworld, Flights, or The Naked and the Dead.

No matter where you begin, Chris Pine’s 15 book recommendations offer enough literary fiction, history, crime, and political intrigue to keep any ambitious reader busy.

How many of these books have you read, and which Chris Pine recommendation would you choose first?

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