Where to Find English Books at Your Level

5 websites where you can find English books

Do you need to have a high level of English to read English books?

No. You can read graded readers, which are books that use easy words and sentences to help you practice reading and understand the language better. You’ll enjoy whatever you’re reading without checking words in a dictionary every two sentences. 

There are graded readers for every level of language proficiency: starters, elementary, intermediate etc.

But where can you get them from? Here are some of the best websites.

Penguin Readers

Penguin readers cover a variety of genres including classic and contemporary literature, non-fiction, and popular fiction. They have 8 levels of reading difficulty. 

Penguin readers levels
Source: Penguin Readers

The story word count refers to how many words there are in the book while headwords are similar to a dictionary entry where a group of words share the same basic meaning. E.g. helps, helping, helpful, helpless.

You can explore Penguin readers here.

Oxford Graded Readers

Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more – the Oxford Bookworms Library has a book for every student. They also have a level test that can help you choose the right book for you.  

level test
Source: elt.oup.com

Have a look at their main website. Make sure you select your country at the top of the page. You can also visit the Spanish site, which I find easier to browse. 

Macmillan Readers

The Macmillan Readers series has books from Starter to Upper Intermediate (A1-B2). The collection includes popular classics, contemporary titles, original fiction, plays, autobiographies and non-fiction. Most titles are also available as eBooks and audio downloads.

Source: macmillanenglish.com

You can browse their catalog here. Again, make sure you select your country at the top of the page.

Collins English Readers

Collins graded readers
Source: collins.co.uk

These readers include a series on Agatha Christie and one called “Amazing People”. 

This is the main website.

Cambridge English Readers

It seems that these readers only include fiction books. The levels range from beginner to advanced and I believe the best place to buy these is on Amazon.  

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You can read this short guide I wrote to help you choose a book but don’t worry too much about finding the best book to read. Just make sure it’s suitable for your level and pick one you find interesting.

I hope this is helpful.

Happy (graded) reading! 

Fabio Cerpelloni is an English language teacher, writer, author, and podcaster from Italy. You can find out more about him and his work by clicking on his glass of beer in the photo.