English Vocabulary: How to Talk about Books

Do you read a lot? Do you love talking to other people about your favorite books? Here are 14 sentences you can say about a book you are reading or a book that you have read.

 

“Have you read the new Harry Potter book yet?”

You have heard about the new book, or you have just finished reading the new Harry Potter. You want to talk to other people about the new Harry Potter book.

Use the present perfect to ask if someone has done something. You are not asking when they did something, only if they did something.

Yet
Use yet with the present perfect when you want to say up until this point in time. When you use yet with the present perfect, you are also saying that you expect that it will happen in the future. Yet is only used in questions or negative sentences, and it is used at the end of the sentence.

I haven’t read the new Harry Potter yet.

Note: Yet in this sentence is an adverb. Yet can also be used as a conjunction. Yet as a conjunction is used differently than yet as an adverb.

Learn more : English Grammar: Have You Ever Done Something? (Present Perfect)

 

“What’s it about?”

You haven’t read the new Harry Potter book. You have not heard about the new Harry Potter book. You want someone to describe the story to you or tell you the plot.

Use the simple present tense to talk about the story:
It’s about a boy who discovers that he is a wizard!

plot = the series of events that happen in the story

In the first question, we introduced the book we are talking about: the new Harry Potter book. Now, we can use it instead of the new Harry Potter book.

 

“I couldn’t put it down!”

You liked the book so much that you didn’t want to stop reading it!

Put (something) down = stop holding something in your hands and put it on a surface, like the floor or a table

Opposite: pick (something) up

Also: I loved it!

Learn more: Improve your English by reading children’s book series

 

“I stayed up all night reading it!”

You were reading the book before bed, but the book was so interesting that you kept reading it instead of sleeping.

stay up = not go to bed, go to bed at a later time than usual

stay up all night = don’t sleep at all during the night, remain awake for the entire night

Also: stay up late

 

“I tore through it in a day!”

You really, really liked the book. It was an exciting story and you wanted to finish reading it as fast as possible. You read the entire book in 24 hours.

tear (verb) = move very fast or go somewhere very quickly, especially when you are excited

Listen: “My Summer Reading List!” | Episode 25

 

“I’ve read it twice!”

Sometimes a book is so good that you want to read it more than once.

After once or twice, you need to use three times, four times, five times, etc.

You can also use the simple past here: I read it twice!

 

“I can’t wait until the next book comes out!”

You love a book series and you want to read the next book in the series, or you really like an author and you want to read her next book.

come out = become available to buy, see or read

 

“I highly recommend it!”

You like the book so much that you think everyone should read the book!

Also: You have to read this book!

Learn more: English idioms with the word “book”
 

 

– What if you didn’t like the book? –

 

“It was okay.”

It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. You finished the book, but you wouldn’t recommend it to your friends.

Also: I thought it was okay.

 

“Meh.”

You were not impressed with the book. It wasn’t very good. It was average.

Meh is an interjection. It is a short sound or word used to express an emotion. Meh is pronounced like the ME in met.

 

“I couldn’t get into it.”

You didn’t like the book. The plot wasn’t very interesting.

get into (informal) = start enjoying something or become interested in it

 

“I struggled to finish it.”

You didn’t like the book. The plot was boring or confusing. It was difficult to finish the book.

 

“It’s the worst book I’ve ever read.”

The book was awful. The plot was bad. The writing was bad. There is no book that is as bad as this book.

A superlative is an adjective that is used to mean the greatest amount or degree possible for that adjective. The book was bad. It’s worse than any other book. It’s the worst book ever.

Opposite: It’s the most interesting book I’ve ever read.

Listen: “My Library Books are Always Late!” | Episode 10

 

What’s the most interesting book you’ve ever read?

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?