I read 100 BOOKS to improve my ENGLISH

Key wellness / self-care / productivity strategies mentioned

• Reduce overwhelm by starting with what you already like

  • Don’t force yourself to read “most popular” books.
  • Go “back to childhood” and pick genres/authors you naturally enjoyed (movies/TV/stories), then build the habit.

• Use reading to support motivation during low periods

  • Revisit a book that keeps you going when progress feels slow (e.g., The Old Man and the Sea is described as a “keeps me going” read).

• Don’t think like a “finisher”—opt for enjoyment first

  • Avoid obsessing over pages or the number of books.
  • Focus on patience and enjoying the story (especially for beginners/teenagers).

• Leverage “small wins” with shorter/easier reads

  • Use short books (often 70–200 pages) or “pocket-sized” editions to make starting easier.
  • Short stories are recommended as a beginner-friendly on-ramp.

• Build expertise through “going deeper” (rabbit-hole effect)

  • If you like an author/director, follow the thread:
    • read more from that author
    • watch more from that director

• Match the book to your current level

  • Beginner-friendly: simple language, shorter form, children/YA adaptations.
  • Intermediate/advanced: longer, archaic, poetic, or dense literature (e.g., Shakespeare, Russian classics).

• Use audio/visual support when difficulty is high

  • For challenging texts (like Shakespeare), use help from YouTube lectures or translated versions to stay engaged.

• Integrate learning with routine environment cues

  • Keep meaningful books near your bed/table as “visual reminders” to read.
  • Even bookmarks are treated as a practical technique (saving progress during travel).

• Attention/entertainment strategy for long-term consistency

  • Avoid starting with self-help/non-fiction if it makes you constantly look up dictionaries and lose interest.
  • Choose story-driven fiction (e.g., Harry Potter / Hunger Games / Percy Jackson style) to maintain momentum.

Reading approach / productivity methodology (explicit advice)

• Start with what you like (habit-building)
• Choose level-appropriate difficulty
• Prefer engaging fiction over difficult non-fiction at first
• Avoid page-count pressure
• Use “deep dive” after you find something you love
• Use supplementary learning (lectures, translations) for hard books
• Keep books physically visible as prompts
• Re-read or return to favorite books during tough times

Book recommendations mentioned (with general level fit)

(Listed briefly; levels included only where the speaker clearly stated them.)

• David Copperfield (Charles Dickens) — intermediate; character development; long (~920 pages)
• Animal Farm (George Orwell) — any level; short; political
• The Prophet (Khalil Gibran) — advanced; poetic essays
• Siddhartha, an Indian Tale (Hermann Hesse) — beginner; simple; philosophical
• The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) — beginner-friendly “plain text” experience (referenced)
• Harry Potter (7-book series) — top recommendation; “can’t read” starters; grows in difficulty with you
• The Guide (R. K. Narayan) — includes note about reading before watching film
• Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare) — not for beginners; archaic English; use YouTube/translation support
• The Spy (Paulo Coelho) — character-based; described as for everyone, incl. beginners
• The Stranger (Albert Camus) — intermediate; thought-provoking
• The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway) — very short; relatable
• The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) — easy; very emotional
• Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) — easy; emotional; <200 pages
• Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro) — dystopian/serious; referenced with “book vs movie” experience
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — recommended to beginners via “story first” strategy
• A book for intermediate: Same (Siddhant? “same by any earn” — unclear in subtitles) (~102 pages)
• The Pearl (John Steinbeck) — <100 pages; for those who can’t read long books
• Train to Pakistan (Khushwant Singh) — intermediate; India history via fiction
• Ikigai (self-help) — easy language; for purpose/passion searching
• 1984 (George Orwell) — intermediate; highly relevant dystopia about control/surveillance
• Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) — advanced/serious readers; very long/dense
• A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) — emotional; re-read urge
• Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami) — described as easy to read but “open-minded required”; magical surrealism
• Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky) — intermediate/advanced; life/perspective changing
• Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) — intermediate/advanced; dystopia (but “loved too much”)
• Wings of Fire (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam) — for everyone; autobiography
• The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) — beginners can try; easy language; war; emotional (Death is personified)
• Normal People (Sally Rooney) — modern/relatable; beginners can enjoy
• Stoner (John Williams) — “for everyone” but can feel slow/mundane
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) — intermediate; beginners can try with “push”
• Meditations (Meditation) (Marcus Aurelius) — self-help style; difficult language; not single-day
• Small Things Like This (Claire Keegan) — ~100 pages; beginners can try
• A Passage to India (E. M. Forster) — for everyone; movie exists
• Kapur (Raja Rao) — adults; Gandhi-philosophy angle; potential skepticism/propaganda concerns (speaker note)
• 11 Minutes (Paulo Coelho) — adults; mixed feelings but easy language start
• The Three-Body Problem (Liu Cixin, “16 Leo” in subtitles) — for everyone; beginner-friendly entry for sci-fi
• The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway) — for everyone
• Men Without Women (Haruki Murakami) — short stories; mixed quality, but try
• Drive My Car (story by Haruki Murakami; film referenced) — ~40 pages story, film longer
• Stormlight Archive (Brandon Sanderson) — huge commitment (series); “not matter current level”
• Mistborn (Mistborn trilogy) (Brandon Sanderson) — for everyone, including beginners

• The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings — beginner-friendly entry with The Hobbit, then intermediate/longer fantasy

• Additional titles mentioned as “currently on table/bed,” including: East of Eden, Red Rising (book 5 mentioned), The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Swan’s Way (Proust), Dune (goal), The White Tiger, A Fine Balance, Iron Gold, The Book of Disquiet, Untouchable, The Great Gatsby, Real (manga), etc. (Some subtitles are unclear, but they were presented as additional recommendations.)

Presenters / sources

• Presenter/Channel host: Rosson (teaches spoken English; recommended books and shared personal reading habit methods)

• Book authors referenced (sources of content): Charles Dickens; George Orwell; Khalil Gibran; Hermann Hesse; Paulo Coelho; J.K. Rowling; R. K. Narayan (subtitles vary: “Arin/Arkin Orion”); William Shakespeare; Albert Camus; Ernest Hemingway; Khaled Hosseini; Mitch Albom; Kazuo Ishiguro; Suzanne Collins; John Steinbeck; Khushwant Singh; Héctor? (self-help: Ikigai); Leo Tolstoy; Haruki Murakami; Fyodor Dostoevsky; Aldous Huxley; A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; Markus Zusak; Sally Rooney; John Williams; Harper Lee; Marcus Aurelius; Claire Keegan; E. M. Forster; Raja Rao; Liu Cixin (Three-Body Problem); Brandon Sanderson; and others mentioned in subtitles (plus implied translators/YouTube lecture sources).