I want to read a book in English!
Reading is a great way to enjoy and expand your experience with English. While you are learning, here is a guide to choosing a book that will challenge and entertain you, without frustration!
When choosing a book, follow the 5-finger rule:
Open to the middle of the book and start reading.
Count 1 finger for each unknown word.
1-2 fingers: easy
3-4 fingers: a good challenge
5+: the book is too difficult, you might get frustrated
What type of book to choose:
1) Graded reader
Graded Readers are books of various genres that are specially created for learners of foreign languages. They may be simplified versions of existing works, original stories or books that are factual in nature. They are ‘graded’ to make the grammar and vocabulary easier. Books often include audio so you can listen to proper pronunciations. Some also have grammar and vocabulary activities.
Available levels A1-C1 (often labelled 1-6)
2) Bilingual
Bilingual books have the story presented in English and another language side by side. These books are usually not adapted the way a graded reader is. A great option for reading with kids who are working on their bi-lingual skills. With novels, be disciplined! Don't 'cheat' and skip ahead in your native language. It's a good way to see how grammar functions differently between the 2 languages.
3) Original: Paper book or E-book?
Go ahead, read the original! (just remember the 5-finger rule)
Paper:
fewer distractions (paper doesn't have wi-fi!)
easy to make notes
underline new vocab/grammar while you read
when you finish a chapter, look up new words and grammar
E-book:
access to almost every book
free books from your library. Use your library card!
Amazon, Google, etc let you buy any book you want!
Amazon offers a monthly unlimited subscription through Kindle unlimited. Try if free for a month to see all the books you have access to! Amazon Kindle Free Trial
Instant word look up
find the definition or translation of words as you read
highlight the new words so you can study them later!
Book Suggestions:
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson Adventure
Good for: First Certificate (set text 2018)
Suggested format: Graded Reader B1-B2
Famous tale of pirates, lost treasure maps, mutiny and derring-do has appealed to generations of readers. The novel is considered to be one of the greatest feats of storytelling in the English language, with characters such as the unforgettable Long John Silver becoming part of the cultural consciousness. Treasure Island is a coming-of-age story that will captivate both adults and children for as long as stories are told.
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens Classic Fiction
Good for: First Certificate (set text 2019)
Suggested format: Graded reader B1-B2
Young Pip lives with his sister and her husband the blacksmith, with few prospects for advancement until a mysterious benefactor takes him from the Kent marshes to London. Pip is haunted by figures from his past - the escaped convict Magwitch, the time-withered Miss Havisham and her proud and beautiful ward, Estella - and in time uncovers not just the origins of his great expectations but the mystery of his own heart.
Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín Historical novel
Good for: Cambridge Proficiency Exam (set text 2019)
Suggested Format: Original (C1+)
It's Ireland in the1950s and for Eilis Lacey, as for so many young Irish girls, opportunities are scarce. So when her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, Eilis knows she must go, leaving behind her family and her home for the first time.
Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed. She is far from home - and homesick. And just as she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland. There she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma - a devastating choice between duty and one great love.
The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman Romantic tragedy
Good for: Cambridge Proficiency Exam (set text 2019)
Suggested format: Original text (C1+)
A boat washes up on the shore of a remote lighthouse keeper's island. It holds a dead man - and a crying baby. The only two islanders, Tom and his wife Izzy, are about to make a devastating decision. They break the rules and follow their hearts. What happens next will break yours.
1st to Die, James Patterson Thriller
Good for: easy writing style, short chapters, action vocabulary
Suggested Format: original text (B2+)
The first book in the Women's Murder Club series. The series is about four friends who pool their skills together to crack San Francisco's toughest murder cases. The four women develop intense bonds as they pursue a killer whose crimes have stunned an entire city. Working together, they track down the most terrifying and unexpected killer they have ever encountered--before a shocking conclusion in which everything they knew turns out to be devastatingly wrong.
Surprise Me, Sophie Kinsella Romance
Good for: easy story, modern conversational language, slang and idioms
Suggested Format: Original text (B2+)
Married 10 years, Sylvie and Dan have a home, jobs, beautiful twin girls. They believe they know everything there is to know about each other. Until it's casually mentioned to them that they could be together for another sixty-eight years... and panic sets in.
They decide to create little surprises for each other, to keep their relationship fresh and fun. With "Project Surprise Me" - from unexpected gifts to restaurant dates to photo shoots - mishaps arise with disastrous and comical results. Gradually, the surprises turn to shocking discoveries. And when a scandal from the past is uncovered, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all...
The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan Modern Novel
Good for: easy writing style, short chapters. British slang. Lots of everyday vocabulary
Suggest: Original Text (B2+)
Once a celebrated author of short stories now in his twilight years, Anthony Peardew has spent half his life collecting lost objects, trying to atone for a promise broken many years before. Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant Laura, the one person he can trust to fulfil his legacy and reunite thousands of objects with their rightful owners. But the final wishes of the 'Keeper of Lost Things' have unforeseen repercussions which trigger a most serendipitous series of encounters...
Charlotte's Web, E.B. White Kids/Teens Classic
Good for: easy writing for kids, good story adults will enjoy.
Suggested format: Original text (B1+)
A beloved classic of children's literature that most native speakers read in school.
'Some Pig'. 'Humble'. 'Radiant.' These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.
This is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown Children's Classic
Good for: Parents reading to young learners
Suggested format: Bilingual
Goodnight Moon is classic children's literature in North America. The text is a rhyming poem, describing a bunny's bedtime ritual of saying "good night" to various inanimate and living objects in the bunny's bedroom: a red balloon, a pair of socks, the bunny's dollhouse, a bowl of mush, two kittens, etc.