9 great novels to help improve your English

Below, we reveal nine novels including William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and George Orwell’s Animal Farm to help improve your English…

1. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
   This classic tale takes place in the English countryside and shares the adventures of the animals that live by the river. Grahame’s simple use of language with imaginative stories makes this a pleasurable read for both adults and children.

2. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
   This book is a modern classic and a popular study text for schools all over the world. When a group of boys are isolated on a desert island, the society they create descends into ruthless behaviour. Golding uses dramatic and descriptive language, almost like poetry, that makes you feel as though you’re in the scenes yourself.

3. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
   Ernest Hemingway is well-known for his clear, straightforward writing style and short sentence structure, which is great for English language learners and many people have read it in school. It’s the courageous tale of a Cuban fisherman and his battle to land a giant marlin and it’s a perfect introduction to Hemingway as an author.

4. Animal Farm – George Orwell
   This short, allegorical novel tells the story of animals rebelling against their human masters, and is a satire of Stalin era in the Soviet Union. Orwell uses simple English to appeal to all reading levels with a ‘less is more’ approach, and the animals speak in short, clear sentences.

5. Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
   When Mitch Albom reconnects with Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor, he learns valuable life lessons and shares with readers all the funny, insightful wisdom that Morrie reveals in the last months of his life. It’s a great book to pick up a more conversational style of reading and writing. It’s also a great book to be read aloud.

6. High Fidelity – Nick Hornby
   A must-read for any music lover, this modern story uses a casual style of language and is written from the point of view of the main character, Rob, a heartbroken vinyl record storeowner living in north London. It has a quick-pace feel with short, funny conversations between characters that really keep the story moving.

7. The Giver – Lois Lowry
   Lowry uses short sentences and simple grammar to create a story that’s attention-grabbing right from the start. It’s about a boy called Jonas and the community he is part of – where freedom, individuality and choice don’t exist.

8. Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl
   Roald Dahl is one of the greatest children’s authors and very popular with adults too. Beginning with a children’s book is a good way to begin reading English novels, as they often have exciting plots and fun dialogue.

9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
   This is the story about the adventures of a young boy with autism, Christopher. When he discovers the murder of his neighbour’s dog, he decides to investigate it. As it’s told from Christopher’s point of view, his matter-of-fact explanations for everything he sees are clear and easy to understand and take you on an intriguing journey.