Born in Sacramento, California in 1973, Lisa Ling is a highly respected journalist, foreign correspondent, and television presenter lauded for her ability to tell complex stories with compassion and insight. Best known as a former co-host of The View, she also served as the host and executive producer of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) show Our America with Lisa Ling.
Ling launched her journalism career as a field correspondent for Channel One News, later rising the ranks to co-host the national early morning TV news program, The View. Over the course of her career, she’s reported from over 30 countries and covered a wide range of topics, including the war in Iraq, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In addition to her work on The View and Our America, Ling’s hosted several other shows, including National Geographic Explorer, Miracle Detectives, and This is Life with Lisa Ling. She’s received numerous awards for her journalism, including a Gracie Award for Outstanding Host and the Asia Society’s Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism.
Ling is also a New York Times bestselling author, for her memoir Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home. A poignant portrait of the power of familial love, it tells the electrifying story of her sister Laura’s capture by the North Koreans in 2009, and Ling’s efforts to secure her release by former President Bill Clinton.
Sharing ten of her favorite books with NY-based bookstore One Grand, Ling spoke on the life-changing history lessons of Howard Zinn, the emotional impact of The Joy Luck Club, and the profound meaning behind Paulo Coelho’s mini-masterpiece. Find her reading list below, and explore the bookshelves of other celebrated journalists right here.
Lisa Ling’s Reading List
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (also rec’d by RATM)
“The book that made me question everything and propelled me to demand to know the truth. Zinn’s exhaustive account is an accurate telling of our nation’s brutal history of oppression. It is not the history of our school textbooks.” -LL
Genghis Khan & The Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
“When we think of Genghis Khan, we think of one of history’s most violent pillagers and rapists. But in actuality, Genghis Khan was a great democratizer. His Mongol Empire conquered more territory in 25 years than the Romans did in 200. His strategy was to kill off the aristocracy and envelop the lowest members of society into his army. He allowed former servants to rise in rank and gain status in his empire.” -LL
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (also rec’d by Hillary Clinton & Kamala Harris)
“This emotional journey compelled me to want to understand the past of my own Taiwanese mother better. It is the story of four Chinese American women in San Francisco and how their mothers’ struggles in the Chinese homeland made them who they were. It is a highly emotional and exceptionally beautiful story.” -LL
Corelli’s Mandolin by Louise de Bernieres
“This delicious novel is part war story, part love story. Set in the beginning of World War II, it tells the story of Italian Captain Antonio Corelli of Mussolini’s Army as they invaded Greece. On the island lives Pelagia, the daughter of a Greek doctor with whom Captain Corelli begins an affair, despite her engagement to a fisherman who is headed to join Greek forces. It is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read.” -LL
News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez
“A journalistic account of ten notable Colombians kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Drug Cartel. It is a harrowing window into the chaos that ensued in Colombia during the ‘90s and how no one was immune to its grip.” -LL
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (also rec’d by Deepak Chopra)
“Rushdie combines historical reality and mythical fiction to deliver a magnificent and magical account of India’s transition to independence and partition. It tells the story of a young man born along with hundreds of others at the very moment India becomes independent and through these new lives come hopes, dreams, curses and complication.” -LL
The Girl in the Picture by Denise Chong
“As a journalist, I was so impressed by how extensively Denise Chong researched this work of nonfiction. This is the story of the young girl who was photographed running naked in horror after her village was napalmed during the war, and who came to symbolize for the world its utter disaster and devastating toll. It is a moving story of love, perseverance and belief.” -LL
We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch (also rec’d by Ben Affleck & Mia Farrow)
“If you want to know why the genocide in Rwanda happened in 1994, this is a must-read. This meticulously account is told from both the Hutu and Tutsi perspectives and is impressively comprehensive. It is so well told, in fact, that I felt like I was there experiencing the horror with my own eyes.” -LL
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (also rec’d by LeBron James, Malala Yousafzai, Neil Patrick Harris & Uzo Aduba)
“So often we feel the need to travel far to find treasure—that’s what the shepherd boy protagonist, Santiago, in The Alchemist, believes he needs to do. After an exhaustive, yet richly colorful journey, he finds that the greatest treasure can be found inside. This simple little book contains hugely profound meaning.” -LL
Oh The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss (also rec’d by Richard Branson)
“As a child of humble means, this book allowed me to believe that I could go anywhere and do anything. It reminds us that along life’s journey, things inevitably will go wrong and we will have setbacks. But the world has too much to offer and one should be open to whatever experiences avail themselves.” -LL
Looking for an Amazon alternative? Support local, independent booksellers by shopping Lisa Ling’s reading list on Bookshop.org: