Here are my favorite books associated with the Netherlands. Click on a book title or image to purchase.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. That means at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission from your purchase which will go toward bringing you more travel tips, tricks, and tidbits!

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a young girl who lived in a secret annex with her family during the Holocaust so that they could avoid being deported to concentration camps. Their close quarters became even more cramped when Hermann and Auguste van Pels moved in with their son, Peter, followed by Fritz Pfeffer. Through Anne’s writing, we get a glimpse of what it was like for Jews across Europe who were forced to hide in hope that their lives would be spared. Anne was very mature and self aware for her age. Her honesty throughout the diary is gripping. Although she was sometimes scared and tensions were high, she strove to maintain a positive outlook. However, she was not afraid to speak her mind when she saw fit. Anne had dreams of one day becoming a famous writer. She unwittingly achieved her goal, but sadly did not receive the recognition she yearned for until after her death in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.

Thoughts: When I first read Anne’s diary in middle school, I was captivated by the young girl who had so much in common with myself: She was positive, and loved books, and was full of life, and wanted to be a writer like me. I reread this book before my last trip to Amsterdam and dreaded reaching the end because I was once again captured by Anne, but knew the sad reality she faced. Her writing is honest, mature, and filled with humor. I laughed out loud several times and also cried. Every person should read this book at least once. I gleaned so much more from it the second time around though.

The Miniaturist – Jessie Burton

In 17th century Amsterdam, 18 year old Nella Oortman marries a wealthy merchant double her age. Life in her new home is not at all what she imagined. Her new husband, Johannes, has little to do with her. His sister, Marin, is the equivalent of a Dutch Ms. Danvers. One day, Johannes buys Nella a beautiful, expensive dollhouse and instructs her to purchase whatever she wants for it. Nella is at first offended that he thinks of her as being so childish, but she quickly becomes enamored with the dollhouse and the miniatures that she orders for it … that is until the person making the miniatures begins sending pieces not asked for. These pieces are details that only one living in the house would know about and eerily, the miniaturist begins predicting future events with each new arrival that comes to Nella’s doorstep. Nella begins searching for the mysterious miniaturist and hopes in doing so she will be able to find out some of the secrets Marin and Johannes seem so eager to keep.

Thoughts: I love historical fiction, but this one is especially fun because it has an air of whimsy and the supernatural. Burton does a wonderful job developing complex characters fully capable of carrying an equally complex plot. There isn’t a lot of heart pounding action in this book, but the mystery shrouding the dollhouse and the miniaturist will draw you in and have you hooked. I couldn’t put this book down. It was refreshing.

The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

In this young adult novel, Hazel is suffering from thyroid cancer, and her mother forces her to go to a youth cancer support group so she can meet people with similar ailments. It is at one of these meetings that she meets Augustus, a dreamy teen who has beaten cancer and is there to support a friend. Hazel and Augustus form a friendship which quickly turns romantic. Augustus tracks down the author of Hazel’s favorite book, and the pair fly to Amsterdam to meet him via a charity for children who have cancer. However, the meeting does not go as anticipated.

Thoughts: I wasn’t sure if I would like this book, because it falls outside of genres I normally read. Yet, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. It is a love story tinged with both hope and doom. I was excited for Hazel and Augustus to have found each other, but nervous of their fate. I would laugh out loud while reading, but then quickly brace myself in worry that their love story would come to an abrupt end. John Green tells this story beautifully and has oodles of philosophical sentences perfect for all your sappy social media captions. A few points in the plot are a little too coincidental to be believable and at times the characters lack depth, but overall I enjoyed this book.