What kind of English books do you advise?

[Maggie]

Hi everyone,

In recent days, I would like to read English books to learn English and know something new. As far as I know, my friend who's major is English. Their English teachers ask them to read some English books which are probably so-called Bible. However, in my opinion, I think read that kind of English books do help our English but not in pratice. I want to read some books which we'll really use it in our life and help communications with others.

I actually find out a book which is traslated to Chinese. And I discovery that the English name of the book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff. After I read some chapters from this book of English version, I think the articles are not very difficult and I also can learn some useful terms from it. Moreover, I like the contents of the books. I want to follow what the author says to be a nicer person.

In summary, I'm wondering what's your suggestions. Do you advise me to read this kind of book? Or what kinds of books do you suggest English learners to read? Could you also give me some books name?

Thanks a lot.

Maggie
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[Mister Micawber]

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Well, I certainly don't suggest the Bible, but I don't suggest that type of self-help book either. Both no doubt carry useful messages, but the Bible's English includes outdated grammar and vocabulary, while the Richard Carlson type book often contains slang that can be inappropriate or may soon disappear.

If students ask me, I suggest shorter,easier modern literary pieces like The Old Man and the Sea, I Heard the Owl Call My Name, or A Pale View of Hills.
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[Jamie (K)]

Wait a minute! Wait a minute! The Bible can be bad reading or good reading for ESL students, depending on the translation they use. The King James Version or the Douay Rheims version are a bad choice, because their English is extremely archaic and hard to understand. However, the translations called the New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, the New English Bible and the New American Bible are written in modern-day English. Anyone seriously learning English will eventually have to encounter both the Bible and Shakespeare, because those are the sources of a huge number of fixed expressions and metaphors that we use in everyday English.

Not all self-help books are full of fleeting slang, so I also disagree on those and would recommend some, if they are well written. I don't think they are any more full of slang than magazines are, and we do recommend that students read magazines. The trouble is that I don't like that genre, and so I can't recommend anything. I would suggest that you search out a book you like on Amazon, and then see what else Amazon recommends. Check the books for which you can "look inside", so that you can see the level of the English in them.

I do agree that easy-to-read novels are good, and I would add to Mister Micawber's suggestions John Steinbeck's shorter novels, like "The Red Pony" and "Of Mice and Men" (even though it's full of dialect). There are other good choices.