Ten Easy English Books For Beginners To Start A Reading Habit
Reading is a wonderful hobby. It stirs your soul, improves your concentration, stimulates your creativity, enriches your vocabulary, and makes you smart. It can also act as a great companion for people battling insomnia. Almost all readers would be familiar with the above-mentioned benefits of reading. Most of us have gotten into the habit of reading storybooks, children’s magazines like Tinkle, Amar Chitra Kadha, etc at a very young age. However, as we grew up and became adults, not all were able to continue exploring the joy of reading. Somewhere between our studies, chasing our dreams, providing a comfortable life for our families, we became completely ignorant of the simple happiness and satisfaction that came along with reading.
Tips to start reading books
The major obstacle to overcome is finding a suitable book that resonates with you and gets you hooked onto the habit of reading. People often get overwhelmed with thousands of options available to them and finally end up choosing the wrong book. Eventually, they will start to lose interest, which stops them from pursuing it. I have also ended up choosing extremely complicated books owing to their popularity and started hating myself for not being able to concentrate on even a page or two at a stretch.
The first thing to do while starting your reading journey is to identify the genre of your interest. If you start with something that is way out of your interest, you will start giving up very easily, thereby piling up your DNF stack. Once you get into the habit of reading, you can start exploring new genres and expanding your horizons in due course.
Personally speaking, the following are some books that are best suited for new readers. These books can also lift those who are experiencing a reading slump. Along with their simplicity, these are also extremely brilliant and captivating works, of some of my favorite authors.
Historical Fiction
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
How can I start writing about this topic without mentioning my favorite book by Khaled Hosseini? This is one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching books that I’ve ever read in my life.
Set in the backdrop of war-torn Afghanistan, this story depicts the hard-hitting realities of the miseries of people, especially women, during the Taliban rule in the 90s. The main focus of this book is the story of the inseparable and unusual bond of two women, Mariam and Laila, who try to fight their hardships together. Hosseini’s magical writing keeps the readers engrossed, wishing for the betterment of the lives of people who had to face constant brutalities due to regime changes in Afghanistan. This is definitely a must-read for not just new readers, but also for everyone belonging to the reading community.
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
This book talks about the holocaust from a 9-year old boy’s perspective. It also depicts the beautiful friendship between two boys of the same age under terrible circumstances. The innocence of the young boys makes this story even more painful. Although it is a very short and easy-to-read book, it can have a long-lasting impact on the readers’ minds.
Short-story collections
3. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
This book is a collection of nine short stories. Most of the stories are based on the lives of Americans of Indian origin. Being an Indian raised in the US, Jhumpa Lahiri was able to portray the lives of Indian Americans in a very convincing way. Short stories are one of the best means for kicking off your reading habit. I have enjoyed reading this book, although I felt more attached to some stories than others.
4. Three Thousand Stitches by Sudha Murthy
Sudha Murthy is very popular for her philanthropy. Apart from her social work, she has contributed a lot to the literary world. She is famous for writing short stories, among which this has turned out to be the favorite among the readers. She brings real-life incidents out in a very elegant and simple way, that makes the reader feel connected to the stories. This is definitely recommended for people who have the bare minimum time on their daily schedule to spare on reading.
Romance novels
5. The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
I had low expectations when I came across this book on Kindle. Nevertheless, I thought of giving it a shot as it was available for a very good deal. It talks about the story of two teenagers Roya and Bahman, who fell in love with each other after getting acquainted in a stationery shop. Bahman was an ambitious young boy, who had very clear perspectives about life and was determined to change the world. Madly in love with each other, they had dreamt about their lives together. But fate threw them into extremely difficult situations and a series of tragic events turned their lives upside down. Set among the political disruptions of Tehran in the 1950s, it beautifully portrays Iranian culture and traditions with Marjan’s rich and enchanting writing. It speaks about love, loss, and moving on. It also gives out a powerful message that it takes a lifetime to heal some wounds that have deeply impacted our minds.
6. The Fault in our Stars by John Green
Romance is one of the most favorite genres of people all around the globe. Whenever something related to romance fiction pops up, this is an obvious choice for a vast majority of people. This book revolves around the lives of teenagers fighting cancer. It starts with the life of Hazel Grace, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The story unfolds into different turns of events in her life after she befriends Augustus Waters, who also happens to be a cancer survivor. John Green follows emotional storytelling about the lives of these teens and their families. It deals with how the male protagonist, Augustus Waters, sees the world with a positive attitude, despite having to go through sufferings at a very young age. The author conveys the emotions of the protagonists in a deep way that makes the readers burst into tears towards the end of this book. Simple, yet, a heart-rending novel by John Green is a must-read for all.
Crime fiction
7. If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon’s novels are extremely fast-paced and entertaining. They are well received by people all over the world. If you want to explore something related to crime fiction, Sidney Sheldon’s books serve the purpose. This one focuses on the story of a young woman’s vengeance on people who framed her and made her end up in prison. Crushed down by the mafia, the woman had to emerge strong and brilliant from the lowest of the lows to stand on her own feet and move forward in her life. Powerful woman-centric storytelling makes the book relevant even today, although it was published more than two decades back.
8. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
What’s the relevance of this list, when the name of one of the most popular female writers of the last century is not given mention? Agatha Christie is not a new name among the readers and non-readers as well. She is well-known for her mystery novels. You can start with any novel of Agatha Christie, and still end up liking it, without even a tinge of boredom. Out of all her books that I have read, this is my absolute favorite one. It talks about the story of ten people who are stranded on a mysterious island and how various terrifying events make their days panic-stricken. Readers get deeply engaged with the book, making them equally petrified about the events happening on the island and their consequences.
Non-fiction
9. How To Be A Bawse by Lily Singh
I’m really not a fan of self-help books because of their repetitive and preachy nature. Yet, this one stands out from other motivational books that I have read before. Being a person who actively browses different videos on YouTube, I was quite a fan of Lily Singh and the content that she puts on her videos. That can be one of the reasons why I decided to pick this one. Unlike other self-help books, this really has its charm. Lily Singh teaches different life lessons in an interesting and funny way. This book is made more engaging by giving real-life examples of her struggles to become one of the most popular YouTubers. Grab a physical copy of this book if you are planning to read this. The beautiful pages and posters inside this book give a more colorful and attractive outlook to this. Some of the pages can be made as wallpaper posters for a daily dose of motivation.
10. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
This is one of the first non-fiction books that I’ve read in my life. This book talks about how various circumstances affect the decision-making capability of a person. It has a total of ten chapters, each covering different modes of thinking and situations that totally mess up with the rationality of human beings. There are a lot of takeaways from this simple, yet extremely brilliant book of Dan Ariely. The next time when you see something being offered to you at a lower price or as a free trial, you will think twice before moving ahead with your purchasing decision.
With everything being said above, you can choose any of the above books after identifying your favorite genre. I’m pretty sure that you’ll not be disappointed with any of the books mentioned here.