The best way to get better at English is to enjoy your efforts to improve your language skills. That way you will be motivated to spend the time necessary to get better. So the short answer to which books you should read is to read the books that you will enjoy.

Which English books can I read if I am a beginner?

More good news is that there are many sources of books. At the early stages of your study of English, you could use graded readers. These are books with a reduced vocabulary and simplified grammar. They come in various levels so you will be able to find a level that suits your ability at any given point in time. One example of a source of graded readers is the Penguin selection. 

There are eight levels – starter and 1-7. How does this correspond to the Council of Europe 6-step classification system for languages (A1 – C2)? At B2 – C2 level you could read books in their original form. At the lower levels, A1 – B1, we recommend graded readers. 

• At A1 level you could begin at starter and when this becomes too easy, you can move up a level. 

• If you are at A2 level, why not begin at Level 1 and again move up when you can. 

• At B1 level, try level 3 and move up as soon as you have mastered this level. 

Which English books are good for B2 level?

At B2 level, you will be looking for books that are not the most complex. Stay away from books written a long time ago. The language has changed and you will not be familiar with old English. This means Charles Dickens, for example, is too challenging at this level. Try contemporary novels. One that has been popular with my students is Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”. Short stories are also often a good option. You could try Danielle McLaughlin’s collection “Dinosaurs on Other Planets”. 

Which English books are best for C1 level?

At C1 level I would still stick to 20th or 21st century writers. Penguin has George Orwell’s “1984” and Zadie Smith’s “White Teeth” in their selection. You won’t need a graded reader, but could read the original versions of books.

Which English books should I read at C2 level? 

At C2 level you could look at which set texts are tested in the Cambridge C2 Proficiency exam. This year they are “About a Boy” by Nick Hornby and “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith.

What are best books in English of all time?

I often get asked this question and I usually refer people to the BBC list of the best 100 novels.

I’ve tried to choose my Top 10 from this list, as hard a task as this is:

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

2. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

3. The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

4. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

5. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

6. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie

7. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

8. Middlemarch, George Eliot

9. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë 

10. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis

These are just a few ideas. The important thing is always to read something you enjoy. Happy reading!

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