7 books to help you learn English

                     07 books to help you learn English

Reading books is a great way to improve your English. As you’re enjoying the story, you’re learning hundreds of useful words, phrases and expressions without even realising it. Plus,  you’re improving your knowledge of grammar. You can read graded readers (simplified  versions of books) or the original versions (if you’ve got a high level of English). The following are some books recommended by students of English.

1 Three Men In A Boat

by Jerome K. Jerom 

This book is about three 

friends (Jerome, Harris, 

and George) who decide 

to go on a trip down

 the 

River Thames with their 

dog, Montmorency. As 

they travel along the water, 

they get into  

all sorts of trouble. The thing 

you’ll love about this book is the humour 

as it’s written in  

an ironic style.

2 An Officer and a Spy

by Robert Harris

Georges Picquart runs a top-secret 

department in the French secret service.

He finds that the evidence 

against a man called Alfred 

Dreyfus for spying is false. 

While Picquart investigates 

the case, he risks his 

career and his life to prove 

that Dreyfus is innocent. 

This book is based on a 

true story known as the

“Dreyfus affair”. I found it really interesting 

and I enjoyed reading it.

3 Dracula

by Bram Stoker

Dracula was first published 

in 1897 and has been an 

inspiration for many writers

and film producers. The 

writer, Bram Stoker, based 

the character of Dracula on

a 15th-century prince called 

Vlad Dracul. The book is mostly written

as a series of letters and diary extracts. 

Events in the novel take place in England 

and Transylvania during 1893. I love horror 

stories, but this is definitely one of my 

favourites.

4 Love Actually

by Richard Curtis

Love Actually has nine mini-stories all about 

the importance of love. It takes place a few 

weeks before Christmas and jumps from 

story to story. Some of 

the characters who 

appear in the book include Daniel, who has 

just lost his

 wife in a tragic accident, Harry, 

who starts an affair with a colleague, Jamie,

who falls in love with his Portuguese maid after his wife 

leaves him, and Billy, who is an aging rock star. This book is 

actually the screenplay for the film, so it isn’t like an ordinary 

book. However, I like romantic stories, and loved the movie, 

so this book was perfect for me.

5 Sons of Fortune

by Jeffrey Archer

by Jeffrey Archer 

Two twins are separated at birth and 

lead very different lives. One brother, 

Nat, grows up with a school teacher and 

insurance salesperson

 as parents. After 

graduating from university, he serves 

in the Vietnam War. 

The other brother, 

Fletcher, grows up with multimillionaire 

parents and 

becomes a criminal defence lawyer. Both 

brothers continue on their separate paths until one has to 

defend the other for a murder he didn’t commit. This is a

great book and really exciting.

6   1984

by George Orwell

Winston Smith lives in the 

fictitious country of Oceania, 

which is ruled by a dictator called 

Big Brother. The world is divided 

into three zones that cover the

entire globe: Oceania, Eurasia, and 

Eastasia. Big Brother is at constant

war with the two other super states. He also 

watches over his citizens at all times. I really like 

politics so this book was great for me.

7 The Da Vinci Code

by Dan Brown

While in Paris on business, 

Harvard professor Robert Langdon

receives an urgent call from the 

French police. They want him to

decode a cryptic message left 

by the murdered curator of the 

Louvre 

museum. Robert solves 

it and discovers that the message leads to a

number of clues hidden in works of art by the 

Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci. Langdon joins 

forces with French cryptologist Sophie Neveu, the

granddaughter of the murdered curator. If you like 

mysteries, you’ll love this book.