How to find the grade level of a book

How To Determine Reading Level Of A Book: 5 Best Tools

Learning how to determine reading level of a book helps you find appropriate books for your child and challenge their abilities.

When choosing children’s books, the reading level of the book can be pretty important. You want to challenge children to read a bit higher than they think they can while not discouraging them with books that are too difficult. 

According to a US survey by Test Prep Insights, almost half of the respondents haven’t read a book in the past year. However, the same survey found readers prefer print books over ebooks.

So, whether you’re working with beginning readers who want to improve their habits or advanced readers in your life, learning how to determine the reading level of a book is a valuable tool. Thankfully, parents and educators have a number of tools available to help them.

This guide will discuss what reading levels are, how to find them and how you can ensure that the books you offer are suitable for the children in your life.

Contents

• Tips on How To Determine Reading Level Of A Book
• What is Reading Level?
• Why Reading Level is Important
• Reading Level and Interest Level
• Common Measures for Reading Levels
• Tools to Find the Reading Level of a Book
• A Final Word on How to Determine Reading Level of a Book
• FAQs About how to Determine Reading Level of a Book
• Author

Tips on How To Determine Reading Level Of A Book

So how can you determine the reading level of a book? Before delving into the tools available to help you find a book that your child can read, first, you must understand what reading level is.

What is Reading Level?

The reading level of a book determines how well a child can read it independently. Unfortunately, reading level is often confused with grade level, so a book with a fourth-grade reading level is designed with vocabulary and syntax that the average fourth grader can understand. 

However, it is not always as simple as picking a book that is leveled at your child’s grade level. Your child’s teacher can tell you that students fit into a wide range of levels, even within the same classroom. 

As your child’s reading skills develop, you’re going to need to find reading materials that match. Knowing how to read reading levels will help.

Why Reading Level is Important

Children who are learning to read need to have a text they can read successfully. If text is too easy, the child gets bored. If the text is too hard, the child gets frustrated.

This balance is where the reading level helps. Finding a book that matches your child’s abilities and interests will encourage successful reading, and reading level is key to that.

Reading Level and Interest Level

Another benchmark you can check into is interest level. This metric shows how interesting a particular book is likely to be to your child based on their age or grade level.

If a child is particularly behind or advanced in reading level, finding books they want to read but match their reading level becomes more challenging. Adding interest level to your decision-making will help guide you to the books they will be most interested in reading.

Common Measures for Reading Levels

Many tools measure reading levels. As you learn how to determine the reading level of a book, you will find that these tools make the job a lot easier, so you can find a book that fits the child’s reading level. Here are some popular reading systems to consider.

1. Fountas-Pinnell Guided Reading Level

Fountas and Pinnell created the Guided Reading Level. This leveled reading system assigns a level to individual books. Factors that impact that level include repetition of words, the complexity of sentences, and sentence length. 

This program uses specialized reading lists with books that already have a grade level measure.

2. Grade Level Equivalent

The Grade Level Equivalent leveled reading system assigns an actual grade level to the book based on what students typically can read at a particular stage of their education. This metric is labeled with a decimal point, where the first number is the grade level, and the number after the decimal point indicates the number of months into the school year the student would be. So, a score of 2.1 means second grade one month into the school year.

For parents that are new to reading levels, this can be a helpful metric as it shows a level they can easily relate to their student’s age and grade. However, parents need to realize that students develop their reading abilities at different speeds, so any particular child may read at, above, or below the published reading level.

3. Developmental Reading Assessment

The Developmental Reading Assessment, or DRA, assesses a child’s reading ability through a reading test. It then gives the student a score based on that test. Factors it checks include:

• Phonemic awareness
• Alphabetic principles/phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension
• Reading engagement

Books are given corresponding scores based on text complexity and vocabulary. Thus, teachers and parents can easily connect students to books that fit their abilities after taking the test by lining up the test scores with the scores of the book.

4. Lexile Framework for Reading

The Lexile Framework is a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development metric. It uses Scholastic Inventory Test scores to evaluate text and determine what reading level it is. 

To use the Lexile Framework, students must take a standard test or the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). This then matches them with a reading level that matches their ability.

You can look up the Lexile level of a book online on the Lexile website.

5. Accelerated Reader Book Levels

Accelerated Reader is a complex readability formula that rates text complexity. It uses grade level ratings to indicate what year and month a student could read a book independently. 

Accelerated Reader is different from straight grade level equivalents because it uses interest level as well. This indicates if the content of a book is age-appropriate for the particular grade level. 

Tools to Find the Reading Level of a Book

Understanding the different reading tests and reading level measures is important, but it does not help you learn how to determine the reading level of a book when your child wants to read something. Thankfully, you have several tools at your disposal to help. 

1. Scholastic’s Book Wizard

Scholastic offers a book wizard tool that has over 65,000 children’s books in the database. You can search using the title and author to find an individual book’s reading level. If you are looking for recommendations for your child, you can search by reading level, subject, grade level, or genre and get a list of suggestions. 

2. Renaissance ATOS Analyzer

If you can’t find your book or text in another tool, you can copy a portion of the text into the ATOS Analyzer to see how it rates. This tool uses a readability formula to tell you how easy something is to read. It also merges with the Lexile measure, so you can search for individual books if they are in the database.

3. Lexile Look Up

Lexile’s online tool lets you search for a book by its ISBN. Just enter the number on the Quick Book Search to see if it is in the database. The website also allows you to look at a list of books based on your child’s reading level.

4. Accelerated Reader Search Tool

The AR search tool lets you search for a particular book’s readability, Lexile level, and interest level. It reports a grade level based on whether or not a child will be challenged in the reading but not frustrated.

5. Correlation Chart

The Correlation Chart is part of the State of Washington public library system. It lets you find the reading level of a book, then use the tool to compare that to the reading level in another measurement. If you are looking for a specific measure but know another one, this tool can help you compare.

A Final Word on How to Determine Reading Level of a Book

Reading levels help you choose books for your child that fit their interests and abilities. You can avoid frustration and boredom by selecting appropriate books. Using reading levels also encourages more independent reading, especially with young readers. 

Parents can sometimes struggle with finding reading levels for different books, but using a book’s ISBN, you can search in several tools that have book lists based on reading level. Using these tools and asking your child’s teacher what their current reading level is will allow you to choose the right reading material for your child.

FAQs About how to Determine Reading Level of a Book

How to find the reading level of a book?

Using different tools, such as the Scholastic Book Wizard or the Accelerated Reader Search Tool, you can learn the reading level of many children’s books to help you choose appropriate reading options for your child.

How to determine my child’s Lexile reading level?

If your child is at school, they will be tested each year under their standardized testing program. This testing will give your child a Lexile reader measure. Simply ask your child’s teacher or check their standardized test score report to learn your child’s measure.

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How to Determine the Reading Level of a Book

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Fountas and Pinnell, Lexile Level, Primer, Pre-primer, Beginning Reader are all terms you may have heard if you have a young reader in your house. Seriously, what does it all mean? Is there actually a way how to determine the reading level of a book? If your child can read The Cat in Hat, which is a level J in Guided Reading, can she independently tackle Diary of a Worm, which has a Lexile Level of 510L or is she ready for Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix-Up, even though that one has a DRA of 30?

Through this post, I am going to attempt to elucidate and explain reading levels. So scroll through to find the system that your child’s teacher uses or pour yourself a large cup of coffee and sift through all of the various ways educators, librarians, and book publishers level and categorize books for young readers.

Reading Levels Are Like Starbucks Sizes

I admit, I don’t visit Starbucks unless I have a gift card. I am also that person who goes to Starbucks and still tries to order a large iced tea. The barista calmly asks if I would like a venti or a trenta and then explains that I need to choose between Passion Tango, Matcha Green, or Guava White Tea. Then comes the question of sweetened, unsweetened, or added lemonade.

For the young reader, finding a book that can be read independently can be as tricky as remembering all of the variables in a Starbucks order. Little readers who are not familiar with reading levels or taught to find a “good fit book” often go for books that are too easy and boring, too difficult and frustrating, or, like my kindergarten son, books that have too many unreadable Star Wars planet names like Kashyyyk. If a child knows her reading level, she can find books that contain sight words she knows, plot lines that are not too advanced, and vocabulary that is manageable.

Explain the Levels, Please

There are many different ways that books are leveled. Here are the three most popular methods for how to determine the reading level of a book.

Developmental

Children become readers by moving through different developmental reading stages. These stages range from the emergent pre-reader to the expert fluent reader. Typically, the emergent pre-reader is between six months and six years of age, while the expert fluent reader is 16 years and older. The developmental categories are broader categories than many of the other leveling systems.

Letter Levels

When I taught first and second grade, I found letter levels to be the most kid friendly way to organize a classroom library. If your child’s school levels books using Fountas and Pinnell, Reading A-Z, Scholastic Books, or Guided Reading Levels, then books will be leveled using a letter system. While it would be nice, these leveling systems do not always correlate. A book that is a Reading A-Z Level P, is not always a Level P using the Guided Reading Levels.

Number Levels

Books can be leveled through such systems as Lexile Numbers, The Direct Reading Assessment (DRA), and Reading Recovery. These systems measure texts by complexity and a reader’s skill level and then assign a number.

I Have My Child’s Reading Level, Now What?

Throughout the school year, your child’s teacher will probably perform  reading inventories or assessments with your child. These will determine your child’s reading level.

If you homeschool or your child’s school does not use leveled reading, then use a simple test called the “five finger test” to roughly determine your child’s reading level. Have your child choose a book and open to the second page. Ask your little one to read the text out loud. If your child struggles with independently reading five or more words on that page, the book is too difficult and is not a good fit. You should also ask some comprehension questions to make sure that your young reader understands what she is reading. When a book passes the five finger test, use one of the links below to determine that book’s reading level.

Once you have the reading level, take a look at these five helpful websites, apps, and charts that will help you and your child find or level the perfect book:

1. Book Wizard : Type in the title of a book to retrieve the Guided Reading Level and grade level.
2. Lexile Find-a-Book :Visit this site to find the Lexile Number for a specific book or to generate a list of books with a particular Lexile Number.
3. Reading A-Z Level Correlation Chart : This is the best conversion chart out there for reading levels.
4. Reading Levels Explained : Check out this very clean and user friendly site if you are still feeling overwhelmed by all of the reading level systems.
5. Literacy Leveler app : Download this app and then use it to scan a book’s ISBN to see its Lexile, DRA, and GRL.

Levels Should be Helpful, Not Stressful

Reading levels should not feel restrictive. They should be used as helpful tools and not as a draconian system that kills the love of reading. Encourage your child to read books on her level, but don’t be upset if she chooses to reread an old favorite or picks up a nonfiction book that has some advanced vocabulary. Imagine how horrible it would be if adults had to always adhere to a reading level. I am well aware of the fact that some of my beach reads are probably a fourth grade reading level, with a Guided Reading Level of Q, 820L, and DRA of 40. I may not always be challenged as a reader, but it is still fun to sip my trenta Passion Tango unsweetened iced tea and enjoy a book simply for the fun of reading.

Need some books to practice leveling? Help yourself to 50 Must-Read Books for Beginning Readers, 20 Must-Read Books for First Graders and Second Graders, The Best Chapter Books for Kids: Engaging with Words, and 70 Must-Read Books for 3rd Graders.

TOP books in English adapted by knowledge level

Why read in the original

The more that you read, the more that you’ll know.
The more that you know, the more places you'll go.

Dr. Seuss

Any English-speaking child will confirm that Dr. Seuss does not give bad advice. If you love to read, but are afraid to start with a voluminous and full-bodied English novel, don't worry. Especially for educational purposes, publishing houses produce adapted books in English: for beginners, for the intermediate level, and so on. Yes, you will get a complete picture of the work of art a little later, but you can congratulate yourself on the first English book you read already starting from the Elementary level!

You can apply for training here

1. Reading in English increases vocabulary

Reading in a foreign language enriches vocabulary, even if we ourselves do not realize it. Of course, in order to learn new vocabulary more effectively, it is better to read a book, writing out unfamiliar words and memorizing their translation. When choosing books to read, be guided by your learning goals: if you need colloquial speech, pay attention to modern “light” prose, but if you want to master special vocabulary, the most obvious advice is to read literature from the area of ​​​​your professional interests.

2. Reading improves spelling

English spelling is full of mysteries and surprises. The spelling of many words defies logic: you just have to memorize. And the best way to do this is to read more English-language literature so that the images of words are stored in memory.

3. Reading broadens one's horizons

E-books and blogs, news sites and social networking feeds: reading has reached a new level in the twenty-first century. A single information space makes it possible to learn about what is happening in the most remote corners of the world, to join the world's cultural and scientific heritage.

4. Reading in the original language boosts self-esteem

Listen to how you feel when you finish the last page of your first English novel: a wonderful feeling. “She reads Orwell in the original” sounds proud! Any psychologist will tell you that motivation is important when performing any task. So do not miss the opportunity to once again praise yourself, this one is not at all superfluous! :)

Reading English books in the original is not only useful, but also pleasant

Demo lesson for free and without registration!

Take a lesson, find out about the school and get a promo code for English classes

How to choose a book to read

• Choose adapted books in English for your level (see the list of recommended books for levels A2-C1 later in the article).
• Choose works according to your ability: start with short stories, gradually moving to larger literary forms.
• The more exciting the learning, the more effective it is: try to find books that are interesting for you. Detectives, thrillers, mysticism - or any other topic that awakens your imagination and makes you read the book to the end will do.

Children's books in English

If you know only a few hundred words in English, pay attention to children's literature: many children's books are also interesting for adults. In addition, children's literature, as a rule, is generously provided with illustrations, which helps to understand the plot.

Fun fact: the acclaimed children's writer Dr. Seuss, discussed earlier in our article, wrote his best book, The Cat in the Hat , using just 220 words. This list of the first children's words was compiled by the publisher, obliging the author to use them in his work: everything to earn the love of the target audience!

Free English-language children's books can be found on the Internet. For example, on the KidsWorldFun resource.

English comics

Like children's literature, comics are a great way to start reading in a new language. There are a great many genres of comics: there are comics for children, for adults, entertaining and educational.

• Free Online Comics Library
• Marvel Comics
• English grammar comics

Film scripts in English

One of the proven and effective methods of learning a new language, recommended by many polyglots, is to read books in the target language that are already familiar in translation. The same applies to film adaptations: it is useful to read the scripts of the films you have watched. Advantages: the context is known, the plot is clear, you can guess the meaning of new words in the course of the story.

• Movie Scripts and Screenplays
• 101 Greatest Screenplays
• Awesome Film

Books in English about personal development and professional literature

Reading them kills two birds with one stone: you learn English vocabulary that is relevant to you and learn new things about a topic that is important to you. If you are keenly interested in something, why not read about it in English? Another advantage of such literature is that it is easier to read than fiction novels. The style is simpler, the vocabulary is limited to the topic under consideration.

Reading in English improves vocabulary

3 "life hacks" for beginning readers of English literature

It is not necessary to understand every word

Сontext is king (context is king)! If you have grasped the main idea of ​​the story, that is enough. Moreover, if you understand everything you read, most likely you have taken a book of too low a level for yourself. Try to find such books where about 70% of the vocabulary will be familiar (the rest will have to be written out and learned).

Read aloud in English

It may seem strange, but reading has proven to be excellent for improving pronunciation and listening - if it is reading aloud. By reading aloud, you tune in to the sound range of the language being studied. However, it is important to work on pronunciation and in addition to reading, otherwise the incorrectly “guessed” pronunciation of a particular word may annoy you for years afterwards.

When reading in English, listen to audio books

When learning English, in which the same combination of letters can be pronounced in a dozen different ways, it is very important to pay attention to the correct pronunciation of new words. We have already written about the book + audiobook format: when reading an English-language book, you listen to its audio version, voiced by native English speakers. Very handy for learning pronunciation!

English books: read and listen

Books adapted for beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of English (A2-C1)

A2 level - elementary level

Books in English help develop vocabulary

Level B1 - threshold or intermediate (threshold or intermediate)

Read English books in the original

Intermediate English (intermediate, B1-B2)

Learning English by reading books in the original is interesting and exciting

B2 - intermediate-advanced level (vantage or upper intermediate)

Airport Arthur Hailey Level: upper-intermediate Genre: thriller Volume: approx. 180000 characters English version: British/Canadian Disaster novel based on real events is fascinating even after half a century. Book: Airport Screen adaptation: Airport (1970)

The Talented Mr. Ripley Ripley Patricia Highsmith Level: upper-intermediate Genre: detective, drama Volume: approx. 130000 characters English version: American Tom Ripley is a 25-year-old young man who grew up without parents in an atmosphere of hatred and fear. Is it any wonder that his attitude to the world and people is not distinguished by special tenderness? .. Screen adaptation: The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) Audiobook download: mp3 (5 files, 182 minutes, 208 Mb)

Tomes are a girl's best friend!

С1 - advanced level of English (advanced)

Check if you know the top 100 English words

Useful:

10 "star" series that make learning English easy and fun

6 levels of English proficiency: steps to perfect English reading

2 language

Books in English for intermediate and advanced level

07/26/2017

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Fiction and journalistic literature enriches us with knowledge and always gives food for thought. No wonder they say: a book is a man's best friend, his helper and savior. And if you are learning English, then you definitely cannot do without reading books in the original at the intermediate level .

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

"If you can't enjoy reading a book over and over, there's no point in reading it at all."

---

~ Oscar Wilde

Unadapted literature at intermediate level and above offers you "living English in action": while reading, you will see how words work with each other and deviate as much as possible from the grammatical rules in the language.

In the article “How to quickly learn to read in the original in English”, we talked about techniques that help to read literature in English, and posted adapted literature in English by levels . Today we will talk about reading books in the original for an intermediate and sufficient level.

How to choose a book in the original for intermediate level

Reading books helps you expand your vocabulary: you memorize not just individual words, but also phrases and even whole sentences.

To improve your English, you need to read more in English. But there is one sad circumstance: according to statistics, every second throws reading in the original , having mastered no more than ⅓, and every fifth student of English at the intermediate level finds reading books in the original boring, useless and difficult.

The problem is that these people just don't know how to find the right book . How to choose the right book and read it to the end?

If you are just a beginner in English, we advise you to read the article "How to quickly learn to read English" first

If your level is intermediate, then before choosing a book to read, answer 3 questions for yourself:

• What level book do I need?
• How long should a book be in the original?
• What book topics are suitable for the intermediate level?

After answering these questions, make a personal commitment to yourself. Let's look at the questions in more detail.

Correspondence book in English intermediate level

First, you should find out what level of Intermediate you have (low, medium, high), because it may turn out that the English text will be too difficult for a higher level. In this case, you will not get any pleasure and benefit from reading.

A book that is too simple will mean that you are not going to level up and are in your comfort zone. For example, if your level is low intermediate , you cannot give preference to books of the pre-intermediate level, and even more so elementary.

Simple grammatical constructions and basic vocabulary will seem monotonous and boring to you. It's like playing in the sandbox, but as an adult: you can, but it's not interesting.

Important!

The book you have chosen must be slightly more difficult than your current level. If your level is high intermediate, feel free to choose adapted literature marked upper-intermediate.

It is worth mentioning that parallel texts in English and Russian, which have become very popular lately, are an excellent option. In our article “Bilingual books: what they are and how to read them”, you can find tips for reading literature with translation.

Volume of English book for intermediate level

Always ask yourself truthfully how much time you can spare to read a book.

For example, you have a long trip ahead of you. Think about how much time per day you can spend reading and based on this, choose the number of pages.

On the other hand, maybe you spend a lot of time at work or school, you have family obligations and you don't have much free time, choose short stories, comics or even articles. In this case, a thick book will seem like an eternity for you and you will soon abandon it.

Interesting:

The volume of a modern story ranges from one to three author's sheets, a story from two to eight sheets. If the volume of the work is more than ten author's sheets, then they speak of a novel.

Also, before choosing a book, imagine when you can finish it . If you can't immediately name any time frame, then this isn't the right book, at least for now.

Style and genre of books for intermediate level

The main rule: the book should be interesting to you. Choose a topic based on your personal preferences and hobbies. If you are good at general topics, but “swim” in some narrowly focused ones, then put professional literature aside for now, you can return to it a little later.

For vacation reading, choose more serious literature, such as English classics or American classics. Having free time will help you follow the storyline (there are usually several in a novel) and give you the opportunity to focus on new words.

For reading on the job, for example, in public transport, read short stories and short stories in English . It is better if these are comedy stories that will set a positive mood for the whole day or help pass the way home.

Personal commitment when you read books in the original

To achieve concrete results, you need to make promises to yourself. For example, write down the following questions and answer them truthfully:

• How many pages can/can I read per day? - The answer can be approximate.
• When are you going to finish reading the selected book? - The date must be specific.

Suppose you have a vacation ahead of you and plan to finish the book by the end of the vacation. The book has 1075 pages that you will read for 31 days. Those. you need to read 35 pages a day. Not so much, right?!

Thanks to this, you will be able to motivate yourself and control your promises for reading English literature . Be sure to write down whether you managed to invest in the promised time frame. This can be a simple mark on a wall calendar or a more detailed diary entry with unfamiliar words and translations written out.

You will soon see that you are on the right path to improve your English.

50 Intermediate English Books

The original book should bring you joy and pleasure. Each page you read brings 10 to 50 new words and a few living grammatical phrases into your passive vocabulary.

In the list of "50 best books in English" we have tried to highlight books that are recommended for reading at the pre-intermediate level and above.

You can choose a book by genre (for pleasant reading) and difficulty (for learning English).

50 best books in English

Original title of the book (year of first publication), Author	Book title	Genre	Difficulty
Paddington (1958), Thomas Michael Bond	Paddington Bear	Tales and stories about animals	-
Alice in Wonderland (1865), Lewis Carroll	Alice in Wonderland	Children's literature, Fiction	Many mathematical, linguistic and philosophical jokes and allusions
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Agatha Christie	Murder of Roger Ackroyd	detective	Criminal vocabulary
About a boy (1998), Nick Hornby	My boy	Novel, Fiction	-
Winnie-The-Pooh and All, All, All (1926), A. A. Milne	Winnie the Pooh and all all all	Prose, children's story	-
Charlotte's web (1952), Alvin Brooks White	Charlotte's Web	Family, children's literature	-
1984 (1949), George Orwell	nineteen eighty-fourth	Dystopian novel	Political terminology
As Time Goes By (1998), Michael Walsh	Play it again, Sam	Roman	Military (partial)
Love Actualy (2003), Richard Curtis	Real Love	Roman	British English
Women In Business (2001), James Carl Evans	Women in business	Biography	-
The Chocolate War (1974), Robert Cormier	Chocolate War	Teen Literature	Forbidden literature. May cause controversy.
The Graveyard Book (2008), Neil Gaiman	Graveyard story	Horror literature, Children's literature, Fantasy	-
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2011), Ransom Riggs	Home for Peculiar Children	Juvenile literature, Fantasy	-
A Wrinkle in Time (1962), Madeleine L'Engle	A Crack in Time	Juvenile literature, Science fantasy	Science fiction vocabulary
The Book Thief (2005), Markus Zuzak	Book Thief	Romance, Historical genre, Fiction	Military theme
An American Tragedy (1925), Theodore Dreiser	American Tragedy	novel, naturalism	Complex phrases, advanced vocabulary
The Catcher in the Rye (1951), Jerome Salinger	Catcher in the Rye	Realism, Literature about growing up	Complex phrases, advanced vocabulary
Eragon (2003), Christopher Paolini	Eragon	Fantasy, Dystopia, Related Searches	Names of the characters in the book
The Fault in Our Stars (2012), John Green	The Fault in the Stars	Teen Literature	Heartbreaking plot
The Giver (1993), Lois Lowry	Giver	Utopia and dystopia, Science fiction	Terminology
Emma (1815), Jane Austen	Emma	Roman morals	Complex phrases, advanced vocabulary
Berlin Express (2010), Michael Austin	Berlin Express	War romance	Military theme
The Devil Wears Prada (2003), Lauren Weisberger	The Devil Wears Prada	novel	-
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1995), Michael Crichton	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	Fantasy	Dinosaur names
My cousin Rachel (1951), Daphne du Maurier	My cousin Rachel	Romance, Love story, Detective	-
Bridget Jones's Diary (1996), Helen Fielding	Bridget Jones's diary	Comedy novel	British English
A Room with a View (1908), Edward Morgan Forster	Room with a view	Roman	British English
Three Men in a Boat (1889), Jerome K. Jerome	Three in a boat, not counting the dog	story	British English
The Enchanted Castle (1907), Edith Nasbit	Enchanted Castle	novel	-
Misery (1987), Stephen King	Misery	Psychological horror	Stephen King Special Style
The Bourne Identity (1980), Robert Ludlum	Bourne identification	Thriller, spy fiction	Criminal and spy vocabulary
Moby Dick (1851), Herman Melville	Moby Dick	Adventure novel, Epic, Nautical literature	Marine terminology
The Adventures of Peter Pan (1904), James Matthew Barry	The Adventures of Peter Pan	Adventure novel	-
The Great Gatsby (1992), Francis Scott Fitzgerald	The Great Gatsby	Romance, Drama, Fiction	There are archaisms
Gone with the Wind (1936), Margaret Mitchell	Gone with the Wind	Historical novel	Military theme
One Day (2009), David Nichols	One day	Roman	A heartbreaking romance
On the Beach (1957), Alex Garland	Beach	Roman	-
Treasure island (1883), Robert Louis Stevenson	Treasure Island	Adventure novel, Juvenile literature	-
Dracula (1897), Bram Stoker	Dracula	Horror literature, Gothic literature	Mystical vocabulary
Man from the South (1948), Roald Dahl	Man from the south	Fiction	Compound turns
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), Ernest Hemingway	For whom the bell tolls	Military prose	Military theme
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Oscar Wilde	The Picture of Dorian Gray	Philosophical novel	Complex speech turns, advanced vocabulary. Moral inconsistency of the author's statements.
Staying Together (2001), Judith Wilson	stay together	Roman	-
The Time Traveler's Wife (2003), Audrey Niffeneger	Time Traveler's Wife	novel, science fiction	Scientific terms
The Gift of the Magi (1905), O. Henry	Gift of the Magi	Story	-
“Harry Potter” (a series of novels since 1997), JK Rowling	Harry Potter	Romance, fantasy	Words made up by the author
The chronicles of Narnia (since 1950), Clive Staples Lewis	The Chronicles of Narnia	Fantasy	-
The twilight saga (2005-2008), Stephenie Meyer	Twilight	Romantic fantasy	-
The hunger games (2008), Susan Collins	The Hunger Games	Romance, post-apocalyptic	Words made up by the author
Girl in Translation (2011), Jin Kwok	Girl translated	novel	Words related to Chinese culture.

10 required reading books in English (intermediate level)

And now let's focus on 10 books in English from this list, which should be paid special attention.

In each of these books you will find:

• New words for you on completely different topics and even jokes
• Interesting grammar constructions
• A sea of ​​colloquial phrases that we use in modern life
• Examples you won't find in adapted English textbooks
• Experience for each hero you can wear

“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”

"Everything is simple, if you arrange the facts methodically"

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: detective

Year: 1926

English: British

Undoubtedly, this book is an ideal option for fans of detective stories and mysterious, intricate stories.

The novel is set in the fictional English village of Kings Abbott. The story is told from the perspective of Dr. James Sheppard, who becomes an assistant to detective Hercule Poirot. Together they have to solve the case of a strange murder that occurred in the district.

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

"The sadness will dissipate as the sun rises. It is like a mist"

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Genre: novel

Year: 1940

English: US

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American fighter sent behind Francoist lines to the partisans during the Spanish Civil War on an important mission.

This story tells about the hardships and cruelty of the Civil War, if you like it, then you will not find a better book - Ernest Hemingway was a talented writer and his works are popular to this day.

“Misery”

"In the darkness the mind is helpless and the logic is just a ghost"

Author: Stephen King

Genre: novel; psychological thriller

Year: 1987

English: US

Tickle your nerves will help the king of horror - Stephen King and his excellent work "Misery", recognized as a world bestseller.

The plot of the work is based on the relationship between the two heroes of the book - the popular writer Paul Sheldon and his admirer Annie Wilkes. Having got into a car accident, Paul gets seriously injured. Annie's former nurse brings him to her home, where the writer receives doses of pain medication and treatment. And then the most interesting happens!

“Girl in Translation”

"Louses were the only thing which overcame racial barriers"

Author: Jin Kwok

Genre: novel

Year: 2011

English: US

The amazing story of schoolgirl Kimberly and her mother who emigrated from Hong Kong to the USA, Brooklyn. Not knowing the language and living in terrible conditions, they are trying to adapt to a new life. However, this test makes Kimbrely stronger and more purposeful.

Jin Kwok, being a Chinese herself, perfectly described the clash of two different cultures - Eastern and Western.

“The Enchanted Castle”

"And yet there was time for many happenings"

Author: Edith Nasbit

Genre: fairy tale

Year: 1907

English: British

Fairy tales are written not only for children, but also for adults! You will see this by reading the magical story of Edith Nesbit. Despite the fact that the fairy tale was written more than a hundred years ago, it has not lost its relevance and liveliness.

The heroes of the fairy tales of the English writer Edith Nesbit are ordinary children who have escaped from the city to the "space" of the summer holidays. And the amazing adventure begins. A funny monster living in a sand hole, or a ring found in a castle, fulfill their every wish. However, having received what they want, children find themselves in such incredible situations from which it is not easy to find a way out.

“The Catcher in the Rye”

Girls. You never know what they're going to think."

Author: Jerome Salinger

Genre: novel

Year: 1951

English: US

The story tells about a 16-year-old American, his life and active position, namely, the rejection of common canons and moral principles.

The Catcher in the Rye is one of the top 100 English-language novels of the 20th century, so it's not to be missed.

“The Time Traveler's Wife”

"Running is many things to me: survival, calmness, euphoria, solitude"

Author: Audrey Niffeneger

Genre: novel, science fiction

Year: 2003

English: US

In this novel you will find both a love story and fantasy.

This is a love story about a man with a genetic disorder that allows him to travel through time unpredictably, and his wife, who has to deal with his frequent and dangerous absences. The novel became a bestseller and won numerous awards, and was also made into a film adaptation.

“The Devil Wears Prada”

"The extra calories do not find place in their bodies, but occupy all their thoughts"

Author: Lauren Weisberger

Genre: novel

Year: 2003

English: US

Do you like fashion, glossy magazines, designer clothes? The world bestseller by American writer Lauren Weisberger will reveal the veil of secrecy to you - how does fashion work from the inside?

The novel is about a young girl who comes to work for a fashionable glossy magazine. But she could not even think that her boss was a real tyrant in a skirt.

“An American Tragedy”

"People love money even more than good appearance"

Author: Theodor Dreiser

Genre: novel, naturalism

Year: 1925

English: US

A long and tragic story of a young boy from a poor family who aspired to riches.

The theme of wealth and poverty is relevant to this day; what sacrifices a person can make in order to get what he wants, whether he will take the side of good or evil.

“Three Men in a Boat” (Three in a boat, not counting the dog)

“I like work. It fascinates me. I am able to sit and look at it for hours”

Author: Jerome K. Jerome

Genre: story

Year: 1889

English: British

A wonderful humorous story about the journey of three men along the river. The book does not leave anyone indifferent to this day, although the story was written already in the 19th century!

Some tips on how to read books in the original at an intermediate level

Do not despair if you come across a lot of new words. Translate only those without which you cannot understand the essence of the sentence. Over time, you will see that they occur quite often and you will quickly remember them.

Most people buy books in English with great enthusiasm and motivation. Then, after reading three pages, they quit, because everything seems very difficult to them.

Motivation disappears, and the book begins to gather dust on the shelf. You can learn how to avoid difficulties and not stop at the beginning of the journey in the article "The most common mistakes in learning English"

How to read books in the original language while remaining motivated, gaining new knowledge and unforgettable impressions?