Please recommend a book to read.
I am looking for an ebook (or hard copy) to read as a beginner in spanish. I took spanish in high school and college (which was almost 30 years ago) but now am an leanring on my own with your program along with some text books that have work sheets. I have a basic understanding but am looking for something to read to help me get a better grasp of sentence structure and vocabulary (not a text book but a "reader") thanks
18 Answers
Project Gutenberg has a lot of free e-books online. You can search for books in various languages, including Spanish.
This library has a lot of Spanish fiction, mostly short stories and poetry.
I liked the Harry Potter books in Spanish. Right now I'm reading a spy thriller called El País de Espías (Spook Country) by William Gibson, the guy who invented the concept of Cyberspace.
I would strongly recommend reading books written by Spanish authors. Books originally written in English and then translated into Spanish are not really good for the Spanish learner. If there is more than one way to say a sentence and the are always several correct ways to say something, a Spanish writer will always pick the best phrase because he already knows what sounds best in a given situation. I have found that most books written in English and then translated tend to have an English feel to them, the phrases used are correct and acceptable but they are not the best translation. I love reading Spanish novels, because I frequently have the experience of "O that's how you say that".
I just read two Isabel Allende books for young adults and enjoyed them immensely: La Ciudad de las Bestias and El Reino del Dragón de Oro. It was easy to get them in both Spanish and English. I also downloaded a free "fusion reader" that has side-by-side bilingual text. The system is excellent but The Bicycle Thief isn't exactly a riveting story. A friend of mine is loving the Twilight series, which she got in English and Spanish at the public library.
Sign up for a year of ThinkSpanish magazine. At least check it out, there is some free samples on their site. It will definately be a help and a challange.link text
Gioconda Belli's El taller de las mariposas from digitalpublishing.de is a very easy audio book that comes on a CD. It is, however, delivered with a second CD-ROM that has a program to show the book so that you can read it as the reader reads it.. And there is a little book with it, too. The publisher is in Munich and so you won't have an English translation or the words looked up for you in English - but I do not think that is important.
They also offer Don Quixote in a simplified format - not only for children
I always recommend reading the newspapers in Spanish, like www.elpais.com.
If you can get to your local library, ask for the children's Spanish book section.
Take out a book at a teenager's level that looks interesting to read.
This way you are beyond the "so easy it does not increase your vocabulary or grammar skills" but not so difficult as to have the sophisticated sentence structure and vocabulary of the adult novels.
If the book is too difficult, you will get frustrated and feel overwhelmed, if it is too easy, you will feel embarrassed for yourself. (I have had both feelings).
Keep a good Spanish/English dictionary nearby and wade in! It's hard, but definitely not impossible.
Best of luck in your quest!
Charlotte's Web and James and the Giant Peach are great books to start with when learning to read. They are both available in Spanish on Amazon and don't cost much at all.
En este link podrás leer prensa en español y en más idiomas también.Tiene varias áreas temáticas.
Any book written for children that you can get in both Spanish and English. I also recommend audio books once you get to that level. That way, you can read it in Spanish, reference the English version, and then listen to it in Spanish. Some of the ones I have read like this are The Little Prince (El Principito) and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (El León, La Bruja, y El Ropero).
Webdunce addressed a post from StormcrowofR's with a comment that I think merits a post:.
You might like the Lola Lago series on audible.com. You can also buy them on itunes and then just download the matching pdf from audible.com.
The series is not the literature StormcrowofR's may be wanting to ultimately read (me too) but it is fun - from difusión in Barcelona:
Lecturas graduadas para jóvenes y adultos
But I would like to add that the series (and others) is also available from difusión in Barcelona.
Most offered are level A1 or A2: Lola Lago, Vacaciones al Sol, for example:
Libro+CD 9788484431282 Nivel A1
De vacaciones en la Costa Brava, la detective Lola Lago conoce a Nilsson, un sueco de mediana edad que ha sido víctima de una estafa inmobiliaria.
These are all easy ...Well... considered "easy" ....They were not at all easy for me just starting hearing all those new sounds. Not riveting, but not boring. A person (me) could listen to them over and over to be sure to catch everything. Lola Lago ¿Eres tú, María?+CD is the only B1 level
Libro+CD 9788484431343 Nivel B1
Lola Lago presencia una extraña despedida de una pareja en el portal de la casa de enfrente. Al día siguiente, encuentran herida a la anciana que vive en el tercer piso.
Again, there are other offerings in other series, too. Have a look!
(nigromancia)
Does anyone have any more book suggestions for a beginner in Spanish? I need some that would possibly have audio books in Spanish to go with them.
I wanted to read Don Quixote, but after reading a post by Heidita I see that it wouldn't be a good choice at my current level of knowledge. 
I refuse to read it in English!
¡Gracias a todos! I've taken note of them all and plan to check them out. My main goal is Spanish literature.
Though, I do plan to read translations, I've heard a great many times that translations water down or omit the style of the writer. I've also heard that some translations are word for word, which would lessen its usefulness.
I downloaded a book last night called Casa Infernal and I think it is at an appropriate level, however it is a translation of Hell House by Richard Matheson. 
Juan Felipe Herrera writes books intelligent books for children. He is bilingual, his books are written in a dual language (Spanish and English) format. The books are around $8 dollars and you can get them from Amazon books.
Oh! I know the perfect books! I am a beginner too, being only in Spanish 1, and my class reads lots of books by Ray Blair. Some of the titles by him are Casi se Muere and Pobre Anna. They are really simple and meant for beginners. Another cool thing about these books is that they get progressively harder as you go and say on the back what level of Spanish the book is in (aka Spanish 1). Hope this helps! 
