How to improve your English: Books to read

As mentioned in previous posts, reading can be a great way to improve your English proficiency. There are two significant ways that reading can help: first, depending on the genre of book, reading a book may give you an idea to use or expand on, and second, reading exposes you to perfectly written text which means you could learn a thing or two just by being mindful of how a book is written. 

However, despite the potential benefits reading could yield for you, there are a lot of books to choose from, some of which can be helpful and some of which might overcomplicate things. This primarily depends on how advanced your proficiency is. For example, if you have only just begun to learn English you probably want to avoid any books written in the nineteenth century considering such books tend to include dense passages and complicated vocabulary. However, if you have been speaking English for a while, you might appreciate the advanced writing techniques used in such writing.

Therefore, I will be separating this post into two parts. The first will include recommended book genres for beginners, and the second will include book genres for you who are more proficient (or looking for a challenge). As a bonus, I will also include a section on what books to avoid. 

I. Books for Beginners (> 2 years)

Children's Books: Now these are for readers who are literally just starting to learn the basics of English. You will likely not find any profound ideas in these books or any creative forms of grammatical structure, but what you will find is the basics needed to write a coherent sentence. After all, children's books are meant to help children start understanding the language, so they can be a great help in introducing you to the basics. I have known plenty of nonnative speakers who began by reading children's books!

Recommended titles:
- Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
- Curious George by H.A Rey
- The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss 

Young Adult Fiction: These books tend to be a little more story oriented, so once you have become proficient at the basics, these might be an enjoyable next step. Young adult fiction tends to include relatively basic grammatical structure and pretty basic vocabulary, but these books may help you with organizational issues such as how to transition from paragraph to paragraph or from idea to idea. 

Recommended titles: 
-Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
-The Vampire Diaries by L.J Smith 
-Goosebumps by R.L Stine

General Knowledge Books: General knowledge books include any piece of nonfiction that is not theoretical or philosophical such as business, history, self-help, biographical, et cetera. These books typically are written in a way that anyone can understand; the grammar is often concise and well polished and the vocabulary is pretty basic, although depending on the genre, sometimes you will come across a word you need to look up the definition to. In addition to potentially improving your English proficiency, these books will improve your intellect. 


II. Books for Advanced Readers (< 2 years)

Literature: Literature is such a broad genre. It includes dozens and dozens of different types, the difficulty of which differs depending on the time period it was written. For example, a text written in the early twentieth century will most likely be a little more challenging to read than one that was written in the early twenty-first century (although this is not always the case). Regardless of which time period the literature you choose was written in, literature tends to include more complex grammatical structures and more advanced vocabulary. It may be a challenge to get through, but it can really expand your vocabulary.

Recommend Titles
-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
-Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
-The Odyssey by Homer

Poetry: Similar to literature, poetry is a very broad genre. It includes many different types including those as simple as haikus to those as complicated as sonnets. Regardless of what type you choose, poetry tends to include advanced, and often creative, grammatical structures. Poetry can also be quite enjoyable to read because of how short it tends to be. Of course, the length of poems varies as well. 

Recommended Titles: 
-Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
-The Wasteland by T.S Eliot (if you are looking for a real challenge)
-Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

III. Books to Avoid

Language Guidebooks: You may be wondering why I am advising you to avoid guidebooks that explain to you different grammatical functions. It is because these books tend to be rather confusing and could potentially hinder your progress. Admittedly, I have personally had difficulty completely understanding certain guidebooks. Some are great, don't get me wrong, but there are others which will have you reading the same passage over and over again without understanding what is being said. These guidebooks, or reference books as they are commonly referred to as, are a great supplementary tool to use while working with a teacher or mentor, but not so much when trying to improve your English proficiency on your own.

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When it comes to books there are a lot more out there. I have only mentioned but a few types. If you enjoy reading a type of book that we did not mention or have a specific book recommendation, leave us a comment below. As always, if you would like to personally work on improving your English proficiency with someone or perhaps to compile a list of potentially beneficial books you can read on your own, contact us at levelupproficiency@gmail.com. Happy reading!

Ryan M. Shea, English Proficiency Specialist