Next Read Club20 Must-Read Fiction Books for Beginners
A good beginner book should make you want to keep reading rather than make reading feel like homework. Twenty places to start.
Some links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more.
If you don't read much fiction, walking into a bookstore can be overwhelming.
There are thousands of novels. Hundreds of classics. And at least one person who seems to have read all of them.
You don't need to start there.
A good beginner book should make you want to keep reading rather than make reading feel like homework.
Here are twenty places to start.
Easy and accessible
1.
Paulo Coelho
A short fable about following your dreams: simple language, quick chapters, easy to finish.
2.
Matt Haig
Accessible and hopeful, with a premise (a library of alternate lives) that keeps pulling you forward.
3.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Tiny and gentle. It reads in an afternoon and stays with you far longer.
Convenience Store Woman
Sayaka Murata
4.
Convenience Store Woman
Sayaka Murata
Very short, very strange and surprisingly funny. A good way to see how different fiction can feel.
5.
TJ Klune
A cozy fantasy with no homework: warm, funny and low-stakes.
Page-turners
6.
Andy Weir
Funny, fast and full of problem-solving. The science is there, but it never slows the story.
7.
Andy Weir
Another Andy Weir page-turner: a mystery, a survival story and a friendship in one.
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
8.
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
Short chapters and constant tension make it one of the easiest books to get lost in.
9.
Dan Brown
Built around cliffhangers, so "one more chapter" is almost automatic.
10.
Richard Osman
A gentle, funny mystery with characters you'll want to spend time with.
Classics that are approachable
11.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The shortest route into the classics: brief, glamorous and very readable.
Animal Farm
George Orwell
12.
Animal Farm
George Orwell
Short enough for an afternoon, and it makes an idea-heavy book feel easy.
13.
J.R.R. Tolkien
An adventure with a friendly narrator, and the gentlest on-ramp to fantasy.
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
14.
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
A very short, very moving story about friendship, in plain language with big impact.
15.
Ray Bradbury
Short, fast and easy to follow, with big ideas hidden inside a plot.
Emotional and character-driven
16.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid
A glamorous, bingeable story told in a warm, confiding voice.
17.
Fredrik Backman
You'll laugh, then cry, often on the same page. Easy to read, hard to forget.
18.
Markus Zusak
Longer than most on this list, but short chapters and a distinctive narrator keep it moving.
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
19.
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
A comforting family story you can dip in and out of.
20.
Harper Lee
A classic that reads like a novel, not homework, told through a child's eyes.
How to pick your first one
Choose by how you like to read, not by reputation. If you want speed, take a page-turner like The Martian or The Da Vinci Code. If you want warmth, The House in the Cerulean Sea or A Man Called Ove. If you want to try a classic without the homework feeling, The Great Gatsby and Fahrenheit 451 are both short and fast. Finish one you enjoyed and the next one gets easier.
Looking for more starting points? See our beginner-friendly books and books to get back into reading collections, or browse the fiction shelf.
Start with what sounds fun
There is no correct first novel.
If you love mystery, start with mystery. If you love fantasy, start with fantasy. If you want something short, choose something short.
The fastest way to become a reader is to actually enjoy reading.
Not sure where to begin? Let Next Read Club find your match.
Find My Next Book →Related articles
15 Short Books You Can Finish in a Weekend
You don't always need a 700-page masterpiece. Fifteen short, powerful books worth putting on your weekend reading list.
Read article →
10 Books to Help You Fall in Love With Reading Again
You probably don't need a complicated reading system. You just need one really good book to get you back into the habit.
Read article →
The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Next Book
There are more books available today than anyone could read in a lifetime. Here's a better way to think about finding the right one.
Read article →