One of my great joys of the last three years has been rediscovering reading for fun. All it took was finding a good book and applying some dedication, and I was hooked again. And what I rediscovered was not only the traditional benefits that I had forgotten (new knowledge, other perspectives, and language skills) but benefits essential to the times we are living in: focus, meditation, and slowing down, just to name a few.
Turns out reading is the cure to the endless madness on the internet. So read! Even if it’s just a magazine article, or a memoir from your favourite footballer (I recommend Roy Keane’s). I promise you’ll feel the benefits immediately.
Here’s a short list if you need somewhere to get started.
—Ronny Chieng
If you’re a movie nerd, this is the book for you. Here Tarantino gives a crash course and a master class on seminal 70s American films. He writes about films the way he talk about films like he talks—with encyclopaedic detail and context, which makes this a throughly entertaining and educational read about filmmaking and movie history.
From the smartest man in Hollywood comes an extremely unconventional book about being Asian American that works despite not following any rules of storytelling. The Asian American experience has never been described in a more accurate and relatable manner than the pop culture meta analysis here. And when you’re done with the book you can watch the amazing TV show based on the book (that I’m in).
This modern sci fi classic was a truly life-changing read. Epic in its scope across space and time but still grounded in its science and politics. Without giving anything away, it turns out I’ve only ever known science fiction as a genre from the West where individual heroes save the universe. So it was mindblowing for me to read an original story imbued with a fundamental Asian perspective—that we are all in this together.
I’m ashamed to say this acclaimed book got me back into reading (because I never should have stopped reading in the first place). Pachinko is epic period fiction, full of rich historical detail and characters that leap off the page. It’s one of those books that’s so well written that even people who might not expect to be into this genre will still love it.
Unfortunately I never had the language skills to learn the deep lessons of Buddhism from Chinese people. Luckily it turns out white people can also do a great job of explaining it in English. Literally every page of this book contains gems on how to have a better perspective on life, without ever diving into mysticism.
If you’re looking for a hidden gem this autobiography from Derek DelGaudio is another page turner. Detailing his entry into the world of illusions and card tricks and working as a professional card swindler, Derek uses his memoir to explore themes of morality and coming of age as a kid who never quite fit in.
If you want a book that will give context to what America is currently going through this is NOT that book. Instead it’s a remarkably concise but thorough biography of one of America’s founding Father’s. Even if you’re not a fan of anything in the previous sentence, the best reason to pick this book up is because it was written by one of the greatest writers and orators of all time, Mr Christopher Hitchens. And therefore, while maybe not my favorite biography, it turned out to be one of my favourite reads.
Ronny Chieng is the cover star of our March 2026 issue of Esquire Malaysia. Read the cover story here.
Photography: Alvin Kean Wong
Creative Direction: Ling Low
Styling consultant: Phillip Lim
Stylist: Charlie Ward
Groomer: Kento Utsubo using MAC Cosmetics
Producer: Even Yu, Apex Communications
Production Manager: Guoran Yu, Apex Communications
Art Direction: Shu Tan
Styling assistant: Devi Penny
Production Assistant: Zhilang Liu, Tony Ding
Lighting Tech: Takeki Yasuda
Digitech: Celso Assuncao
Esquire Malaysia
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