Describing Books in English: Essential Idioms

- Well, I read a book and it was good.

Mm.

(yawns)

Mm.

I read a book and it was a real gem.

Ooh.

Let me give you some exciting idioms

so you can describe books in a more interesting way.

(upbeat music)

Hello, this is Keith from English Speaking Success

and the website, The Keith Speaking Academy.

Now, when talking about books,

you can use idioms to make your descriptions

more interesting and lively.

So in this video I'll give you 10 idioms

that you can use to describe books you have read.

I'll start with idioms about reading in general,

and then idioms to describe books as good,

and then to describe books as exciting,

and then to describe books as well, bad, right?

Finally, I'll show you how to recommend a book in English.

Great.

Now, remember in the description below,

you can click on a link to get the PDF of these

with more examples and a quiz as well as an MP3 audio file

so you can start practising

and really improve your fluency.

Just click on the link down there,

get practising with the PDF and MP3, and that's it,

excellent.

Let's get into the video with idiom number one.

So let's begin with idioms about reading generally.

Number one, to be a bookworm.

And this just means to read a lot.

I'm a bit of a bookworm,

but actually I don't read as much as I would like to.

You can also say I'm an avid reader, avid,

I'm an avid reader.

It's the same, right? You read a lot.

Bookworm is interesting,

I think historically it was quite negative

because the worm is like a bug,

and you know that the bugs used to live in the books

and eat up the books.

So it used to be quite negative.

But nowadays, I'd say it's neutral,

it's neither positive nor negative,

it's just a very neutral expression.

Number two, to have your nose in a book.

Now, literally, right, you've got a book,

put your nose in the book,

but of course idiomatically,

it just means you are always in the book,

you read a lot.

Same meaning as a bookworm.

I always have my nose in a book, it means I read a lot.

My friend Gareth, when I was growing up,

he was an avid reader,

he always had his nose in a book, all the time,

whenever you saw him, he was reading.

Number three, to leaf through a book.

So a leaf is a page in a book.

So to leaf through is just to flip through,

you can also say, to flip through, right?

You're turning the pages of the leaf.

Really, it means that you are reading it quickly

without paying attention to detail.

I'll just leaf through this book to find where I was,

ah, yes.

I guess typically, you would leaf through a recipe book,

a bit like this one, right?

If you're looking for a recipe,

you'll just leaf through and look for,

oh, yes, easy sausage carbonara, can't go wrong, lovely.

So to leaf through or to flip through,

both of those are good.

Okay, let's talk now about idioms to describe books as good.

So we've got to be a real gem, right?

This book was a real gem.

Tell you what, this book was a real gem.

This idiom means that the book was valuable,

it gave you something valuable or and highly enjoyable.

Now, this book, "The Echo Chamber,"

oh it was a real gem.

I mean, it's hilarious, it's a comedy, right?

It's a comedy about modern life, social media and fame.

It had me in stitches, hilarious book,

I highly recommend it, it was a real gem.

Next, to be a breath of fresh air,

to be a breath, fresh air.

Of course, we can use this expression actually

to describe people, events, but also books,

and basically it's something that is refreshing and new.

Now, because I spend a lot of time reading grammar books,

vocabulary books, learning English books,

teaching English books.

Recently, I read a novel

and it was like a breath of fresh air

or it was a breath of fresh air.

This, "Death and Croissants,"

it's another funny book, quite interesting,

just really an easy read.

So that, yeah, for me, 'cause it was so different

and refreshing, it was a breath of fresh air.

Next to be a real eyeopener.

Eye, open, eye opener.

To be a real eye opener, is again,

a book that gives you a new perspective on something

or gives you new valuable information.

Recently I read this book, "The YouTube Formula."

It was a real eye opener,

gave me a whole new perspective

on how to grow my YouTube channel.

Well worth reading if it stays in the cover.

It was a real eye-opener.

Moving on, by the way, none of these books are sponsored,

but I can highly recommend them.

Let's move on and talk about exciting books.

So exciting books.

We can say it was a real page-turner, a real page-turner,

which means it was so engaging and so interesting

that you couldn't stop turning the pages, right?

You're turning the pages, it's so exciting.

It was a real page-turner.

I think all of the Jack Reacher novels are page-turners.

I've just noticed, I always go for the bargain.

I buy so many books at the airport or the train station,

but this one was a real page-turner.

Next, to be a rollercoaster ride.

The rollercoaster ride is full of ups and downs,

may be exciting, it may be a twist in the plot,

it may be unexpected things happening in the book.

This one, "Firewatching,"

wow, this was a real rollercoaster ride.

You never know what's gonna happen next.

It's actually also a real page-turner,

but, oh, the ups and downs,

the twists and turns in the plot, really exciting.

Yeah, it was a rollercoaster ride.

Another expression, to have you on the edge of your seat.

Now you may know to be on the edge of your seat

means to be excited, in suspense,

when you're watching a suspense or a crime thriller,

also for books.

But you can also say the book had me on the edge of my seat.

It made me be excited and on tenterhooks if you like,

in suspense.

I read this book, "Mayflies," right?

Very nice book.

They've just made an adaptation for television.

I think it's on Netflix.

To be honest, I didn't like the adaptation very much

but I loved the book, right?

And this book, yeah, it had me on the edge of my seat.

It's a story, it's not a crime or a thriller,

but it's a story about everyday life.

Friends, when they were young,

meeting up again when there are 50

and some strange twists in the plot.

Yeah, it had me on the edge of my seat this one.

Finally, we can say to be a fast-paced novel,

fast-paced, to move quickly.

So any kind of crime novel or spy novel

is typically a fast-paced novel, fast-paced novel.

You get the nice stress, fast-paced novel.

Jo Nesbo, all of his books are fast-paced novels.

This is a translation,

but obviously this the Harry Hole series.

What an interesting name for a detective.

But most of his books, a bit like Jack Reacher,

they are fast-paced novels, really interesting.

Moving on.

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(laughs)

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There are lots of resources there for you.

On that note, let's get back to those idioms.

Talking about idioms to describe a book as bad, right?

I've just got one for you here, and that is,

to be a heavy read.

To be a heavy read means a book is not interesting.

Maybe it's either,

it's emotionally heavy or it's intellectually challenging

or it's just boring, basically, too much information, right?

You may find, for example, this one,

"Understanding Business Finance."

This was a heavy read.

I didn't finish it.

I found it hard to read.

It's great bedtime reading, you'll be asleep in no time.

The opposite would be an easy read, right?

If something's an easy read, well, it's really simple.

I mean, take most of these crime books,

your Lee Child Books.

They're an easy read, short sentences, simple language.

"I'm not going to lie, I didn't speak to the other guy,

there was no point, there are too many holes in the plan.

It's DOA.

We need to find an alternative."

Band Five IELTS

It's not, in case Mr. Lee, you're watching, no, it's not

Mr. Lee, Mr. Child.

It's just simple, short sentences,

the same vocabulary repeated, it's such an easy read.

Okay, good.

So coming next to recommending books.

Well, you can say for example, this one,

I highly recommend this book.

Notice the stress, I highly recommend.

Intonation, it's going up and down.

I highly recommend this book.

Another nice expression is I can't recommend it enough.

I can't recommend it enough, meaning it's fantastic, right?

I strongly recommend it.

What, for example, what's my favourite book here?

Yes, this will be my favourite, this one.

I can't recommend it enough, it's brilliant.

Go out and get it.

That's it for books and idioms about books.

Listen, I hope that this was useful for you.

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I've taken all of these idioms

and also the titles of the books, they're everywhere,

I've put them in a PDF.

Just look in the description in the link below

for get practising with the PDF and there's an MP3

so you can practise your pronunciation.

Remember, the secret is in the practise,

that's how you'll improve your English.

Okay, lovely, thank you for watching

and I will see you in the next video.

Take care, my friend, bye-bye.

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