Spanish reading practice
All Spanish reading books in my library are too difficult to read. I have purchased a couple on line and they are too easy. Can anyone help please.
6 Answers
You might try looking for some "graded" high school and/or college "readers" for Spanish students. They are graded as beginning level, intermediate and advanced. They also usually have vocabulary and grammar helps.
The stories and articles are taken from popular authors and are edited for the appropriate level of the student.
You can find them all over Amazon.com. Just type in "Graded Spanish readers" in the search bar.
I liked Side by Side Bilingual Books. They have a series of them with stories from Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, etc.
¡Not! The "hard" ones should fascinate you. If you understand the easy ones, then you must have some knowledge of the Spanish.
What is it that is hard? Can you be more specific? Is it the verbs, object pronouns, or just simple vocabulary? Inquiring minds want to know. This is the place to be!
I like Daniela's answer. I could have been more specific in mine. If something is "easy" then it's best to push on with something a bit more difficult....not to dive into something that is much more difficult. I don't express myself properly. I think a Spanish text with accompanying English or heavy footnotes would be the best here. The best thing that I had was the Readers' Digest (English) and then "Selecciones del Readers' Digest". The articles were the same in both, but the "Selecciones" came out about 2 o 3 months later. The advertisements were different. I owe a lot to that magazine and to my short wave receiver. 
You can also try this link. CVC Lecturas paso a paso they have stories for different reading levels. It's free.
You do not say what your level is. When learning a language you need to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking.
I read articles and blogs. Sometime ago, I started looking at Twitter accounts from some authors and journalists -. I am not a Twitter member, but put their name + Twitter in a search engine. My suggestions include Elvira Lindo, her husband Antonio Munoz Molina, Lorenzo Silva and Arturo Perez Reverte and the journalist Luz Sanchez Mellado.
They post links to articles they have written. Arturo Perez Reverte has started
which includes interviews, and links to books and articles.
I also like watching Página Dos on rtve which is a TV programme about books which has subtitles and a transcript available.
It can help your Spanish if you choose an article about something you like and read it in two or three papers eg el Mundo, el pais etc and find a related video At some change note and check new vocabulary and finally watch the video.
I don't know what level your Spanish has reached nor what your some are. You need to read things you enjoy. You can read a short article as focused learning but if you do not enjoy a book you will not finish it.
When I first started reading I went for people with a journalistic style as I found writers who used an overly flowery style too difficult.
I downloaded El Pais 35 historias
It spans 35 years of articles and is free.
I first read some books by Javier Cercas. I later read a detective tale by Petro Márkaris lent to me by a friend. He is Greek and it was translated into Spanish. It was difficult because the language was very colloquial. I have now read a lot of detective fiction and have learned a lot of colloquial language for prison etc so that it gets easier.
In class we have read some extracts from Manolo Gafotas by Elvira Lindo which is about a kid growing up in Madrid. It is a book for children.
I enjoyed Dulce Chacon La Voz Dormida though it was harrowing.
A Spanish teacher has written some books for new readers - I downloaded one when it was on offer, but they may be too simple for you. I have a friend who has found them useful as revision.
This is a link to his website which is a good resource
If you give a better idea of your level and interests I can come up with other suggestions.
NB you can download for free a chapter or two of most books so no need to buy if you hate it.
