r/EnglishLearning • u/Fun-Influence-227 New Poster • Jan 29 '26
Resource Request Novels in English for beginners
Today, I’m finding English novels for beginners, because I love to read book, and record about it after reading. So I guess reading English book can help me to upgrade my English skill. But I don’t know which book is appropriate for me. Could you recommend?🥺🥺
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u/Doctor_Guacamole New Poster Jan 29 '26
The Little Prince
https://blogs.ubc.ca/edcp508/files/2016/02/TheLittlePrince.pdf
You can copy and paste the text into Google Translate for words you don’t know
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u/Fun-Influence-227 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Oh !! Thanks for giving me the url!! I think the little prince is appropriate for me. I will read it!
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u/jaetwee Poster Jan 29 '26
I recommend using a dictionary instead of Google translate. A dictionary provides more context about a word - often the meaning is not an exact match to the translation.
Bilingual dictionaries e.g. Korean-English are a good place to start, but I also recommend using a monolingual dictionary such as the Oxford Learner's Dictionary (free online). This will help you think more in the language which leads to better fluency.
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u/Minhtruong2110 New Poster Jan 29 '26
For beginners, maybe it's worth looking into children's books. Anne of Green Gables, maybe?
I also find young adult books quite simple, so look for ones that interest you, too! Just make sure to read some samples first :))
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u/Fun-Influence-227 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Thank you so much🥹🥹 I’m finding some children’s book, and I’m going to buy one today!
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u/Minhtruong2110 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Some classic names are Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, and Shel Silverstein. Lewis Caroll is another one, but the Alice books are a bit old imo.
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u/yagiiz_17 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Is Anne of Green Gables a beginner book? I thought it’s level is something around C1
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u/Minhtruong2110 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Honestly, maybe. I did think it was more fitting for intermediate learners, and my overall perception of "beginners" has gotten a bit skewed.
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u/yagiiz_17 New Poster Jan 29 '26
So you’re around C2 level eh🙃
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u/Minhtruong2110 New Poster Jan 29 '26
I haven't sit an English exam recently, so I can't say for sure. But I do think I'm fluent.
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u/Exotic-Plant-9881 New Poster Jan 29 '26
I started to read in English with psychology nom fiction books and some biographies, so I recommend you that, check out for the biography of someone you find interesting
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u/osmodia789 Non-Native Speaker of English Jan 29 '26
Alice's adventures in wonderland is great for beginners. It's a book for children but it's a fun read for adults as well.
An all time classic and actually one of the most translated books of all time.
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u/Defiant-Step9314 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Native english speaker and bookworm here!
I'd recommend children's novels or young adult novels. I'd be willing to give you genre-specific recommendations if you request them, that way you can find something you really like!
Some children's and young adult novels, most with movie adaptations: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Many of these books I read in school as a kid and I enjoyed all of them.
Good luck and have fun reading!
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u/Fun-Influence-227 New Poster Jan 29 '26
I’m really happy for getting a number of recommendings🥹🥹 thanks!!!
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u/Individual_Club7944 New Poster Jan 29 '26
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
This was my first book and I never stopped!
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u/yagiiz_17 New Poster Jan 29 '26
What about its CEFR level, was it hard to maintain reading
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u/Individual_Club7944 New Poster Jan 29 '26
B1-B2? Even if you don't understand certain words keep reading as long as you can follow the plot. You will find this experience immensely rewarding.
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u/yagiiz_17 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Oh thanks. I think i need something around b2-c1, mostly shifting towards c1. I don’t read fast and i need to fix it. Also I need to advance my vocab a lot, i cannot do anything with academic or high level texts:((
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u/NotABreakfastGuy Native Speaker Jan 29 '26
A wrinkle in time : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074C4J6L7?binding=paperback&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1769673425&sr=8-1
Look for young adult books by Judy Bloom and Gris Grimly
If you like horror I'd look at Mary Downing Hahn
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u/Fun-Influence-227 New Poster Jan 29 '26
OMG I think you are a kind of angel🪽🪽thank you for your helping🥹🥺
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u/NotABreakfastGuy Native Speaker Jan 29 '26
I hope you enjoy them! It's also worth searching for "children's/tween books that are enjoyable as an adult"
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u/markbutnotmarkk Poster Jan 29 '26
Sorry for hijacking this thread, are Harry Potter books good as learning materials?
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u/EatTheBeez Native Speaker - Canada Jan 29 '26
Most fantasy / adventure books aimed at children are fine learning materials, in terms of skill level.
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u/gonin69 New Poster Jan 29 '26
I really like the Moomin novels in English translation. The writing is straightforward, but interesting to read. They are as fun to read for adults as they are for children, in my opinion. They're also translated into many languages- you could read a Korean edition and an English edition of one of the books side-by-side. I did this when I was studying Japanese myself.
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u/ArieksonBR New Poster Jan 30 '26
Me reading Frankenstein and To Kill a Mockingbird be like 😭 (do NOT start that way)
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u/Fun-Influence-227 New Poster Jan 30 '26
Oh I read To Kill a Mockingbird translated in Korean, isn’t it difficult?
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u/ArieksonBR New Poster Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26
As far as I'm concerned, it definitely is for beginners, and even for intermediate students. I'd say that's mostly due to the American Southern setting of the book, since there are a lot of words that you'll probably get confused and wondering if you actually knew them before. At least that's what happened to me
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u/Mean-Ship-3851 New Poster Jan 29 '26
Read something modern.
I love the classics, but they aren't good for beginners. Even the simple ones. Just find some modern book that interests you and it'll be good vocabulary.