10 Brilliant Novels that Students Must Read | Improve English, Vocabulary, Reading Speed
Reading is a fun activity, which is enjoyed by children and adults alike. Stories, characters, fairy tales, fantasy worlds have been the centre of my world, since I can remember. When you read a book, it’s not just fun but also a very effective way to improve your English diction, vocabulary and sentence formation as well.
Today, we are extremely fortunate that there are billions of books to read. But choosing a book from the plethora of options is like choosing your favorite candy. For this reason, when you look for a book to read as a young reader, the level of difficulty and grammar should be kept in mind. Popular bestseller books are widely perceived to be difficult to read, but on the contrary, there are many which are written in simple English for the general public to grasp.
10 Books and Novels for Students
Here are 10 novels to improve english that you can begin with! They have been listed keeping in mind the difficulty, grammar, and storyline.
1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Published: 1970
Author: Roald Dahl
Difficulty: Easy
This book is great for picking up vocabulary as it has been written from the children's point of view. The structure and language of this book is crisp and short, which makes it a good pick for language learners. The book has many great illustrations that make it fun to read and imagine.
The story revolves around a clever fox called Mr.Fox, who tricks farmers and snatches away livestock from their farms. He keeps outwitting the farmers, making the story funny and interesting at the same time. Roald Dahl has been known to write books for children which are so interesting that they are read by all age groups. His other famous work is Matilda (1988) which was a favorite among children. Both Fantastic Mr. Fox and Matilda were made into films.
2. Malgudi Days
Published: 1943
Author: R.K. Narayan
Difficulty: Medium
R.K. Narayan is an author who was known for his fantastic vocabulary. He took Indian Literature to the world platform. In the same regard, his Malgudi Days uses simple English language to connect to the wider Indian diaspora. The book looks at the lives of common people living in a small town called Malgudi. Each chapter consists of a new story and facet of life. The book was widely loved and recreated as a TV series in 1987. The style of each chapter is simple to grasp. Also, since it's an Indian Book, there is vocabulary from the Hindi dictionary, which adds familiarity to the reading. This helps young readers connect with the novel and its characters.
3. Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Published: 1990
Author: Salman Rushdie
Difficulty: Medium
Salman Rushdie is a world-renowned author. He is known for his strong writing skills and a wide range of vocabulary. Haroun and the Sea of Adventures is one of his lesser-known novels. Rushdie has used a simple, yet complex sentence structure for this book, making it apt for students who want to learn new vocabulary and grammar. The novel is a story inside a story. It's about a boy named Haroun and his father who enter a magical world in order to save it. All the sequences in the novel take place in the form of a dream inside their heads.
4.The Cat in the Hat
Published: 1957
Author: Dr. Seuss
Difficulty: Medium
All books by Dr.Seuss are a must-read for students learning English. He is known for his tongue twisters and witty lines. Any grammar structure, vocabulary, phonetics - you name it and it's there in his books. His books are specially adapted to teach English to children who have a limited vocabulary. The Cat in The Hat Comes Back forces readers to speak, pronounce and also learn the pace of reading and writing English. The book uses rhyming schemes which are intriguing, to say the least. One example of this rhyming scheme is:
" Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than you"
5. The Post Office
Published: 1912
Author: Rabindranath Tagore
Difficulty: Easy
This short story is a bitter-sweet tale of a young chronically ill boy who is confined to his bed. The tale is about him sitting by the window while people pass him by and keep telling him about things going on around him. The Post Office was first released in 1912 in Bengali as Dhak Ghar. It was later translated into English in 1914. Tagore used simple sentences to portray complex emotions in this book. He especially used allusions (indirect references) to make the readers understand the child's plight. Evoking empathy is a hard task. Hence reading his works like Post Office would help readers (and future novelists) learn this technique. Rabindranath Tagore also won the Nobel Prize for his work 'Gitanjali'.
Published: 1952
Author: E.B. White
Difficulty: Medium
Charlotte's Web is a much-loved children's book. This book is widely used by teachers to improve the reading ability of their students in the class. Since it's s a children's book, it's written in clear and simple language. The book includes reasons for the kind of vocabulary being used within it. It provides meanings for the words that might be difficult for readers to understand. One example which is cited very often is:
"Well", said her mother, "one of the pigs is runt. It's very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it."
Here we can see how the word and its meaning have been provided. Do read the book to understand more!
7. A Wrinkle In Time
Published: 1962
Author: Madeleine L' Engle
Difficulty: Easy
This book deals with a lot of complex themes. Though the vocabulary is advanced, it is a good book to learn new words. This is the book to go to if a student wants to widen their dictionary and learn new words. The story follows the tale of the Murray Family. In the family, the youngest child is five years old, but he has a vocabulary that matches an adult's. Because he tries to learn one new word a day. Therefore when you follow his story, you learn one word a day at least. He learns words like uncanny, frenzied and shrill over the course of the story. Recently this book was adapted into a movie.
8. Peter Pan
Published: 1904 (Play) | 1911 (Novel)
Author: J. M. Barrie
Difficulty: Easy
Peter Pan is known to kids as a Disney character. Although Peter Pan was initially introduced in a play by J.M. Barrie, his story became so popular that it was adapted into a novel, then into an animated series and now it also has many live-action movies. Peter Pan is a classic tale that catches the attention of kids and adults alike. This book can help improve your listening skills more than reading, as it puts a lot of emphasis on the tone, pace, and plot of the story.
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Published: 1997
Author: J.K. Rowling
Difficulty: Medium
Harry Potter is a series well known to all, and does not require any introduction. Each word written by J.K. Rowling in this book has an emotion and strength of its own. The series has a self-created lore which makes it a challenging task to understand the novel. The book is a good basis to learn writing technique and to improve the diction of readers to an intermediate level.
10. The Happy Prince
Published: 1888
Author: Oscar Wilde
Difficulty: Easy
This is another easy to read children's short story. This story is a fable - fairy tale. It comes under the purview of novels that improve English because it teaches the language structure of old English. The vocabulary is the same as any modern language but it's structure is a bit different. Readers can learn a different written construction of English. Since it's a children's book, it is not very difficult to grasp. The story is about a golden statue and a bird. Their friendship, sacrifice and how they try to help people living around them forms the gist of the story.
There are many more books that can be read to spike your curiosity in literature and also to improve your English. Here are a few such books with different levels of difficulty.
11. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
12. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
13. Midnights Children - Salman Rushdie
14. Chandrakanta - Devaki Nandan Khatri
15. The Guide - R K Narayan
16. The Cinderella Murder - Mary Higgins Clark
17. Nine Lives to Die - Rita Mae Brown
18. The Atlantis Gene - A.G. Riddle
19. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
20. Mieko and the Fifth Treasure - Eleanor Coerr
21. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
22. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
23. The Wright Brothers - David McCullough
24. Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
25. Evil Under the Sun - Agatha Christie
26. Until the End of Time - Danielle Steel
27. 1st to Die - James Patterson
28. Mr. Mercedes - Stephen King
29. The Martian - Andy Weir
Reading books can improve your diction and language, but a little help always makes the road easier. There are many online tutorials to help improve your English language ability. If you read a book after taking a few online tutorials, your comprehension and understanding of the book will increase. In addition, if you want to study yourself, here are blogs you can look at:
- 5 Common Mistakes in English Grammar that Every Student Makes
- Best Books for Verbal Ability
- Top Ten Tips to Learn English | Practice English Lessons from Home
- Top 12 Must Read Classic Books for Literary Enthusiasts
- 8 Tips to Improve your English Vocabulary for IELTS
Which book helped you improve your English? Let us know in comments or via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
