Welcome back to this article about talking about books in English! In Part 1, we covered vocabulary for people who are involved with books and types of books. In Part 2, we will cover vocabulary for parts of a book as well as talking about actually reading books and making progress. Let’s get into it!

Parts of a book

A book has a front cover and a back cover, and the narrow part that connects them is the spine. A book’s cover may also be protected by a book jacket (a detachable paper cover wrapped around the book).

At the beginning of a book, you may find an index (a list of topics, names, or important information found in the book), forward (a short introduction written by someone other than the author), or preface (an introduction written by the author).

Most books are then organized by chapters and, in the case of novels, may include a prologue (an introductory chapter that sets the scene or provides backstory) at the beginning and/or epilogue (a chapter at the end of the book which provides closure to a story).

At the back of a book, you can sometimes find an author’s bio(graphy)or ‘about the author’ section, which provides more information about the writer of the book, or a preview / extract (a sample of writing from another book in the same series or written by the same author).

Several books written about a topic/story form a series (just like TV shows), and each book is an installment in the series. A book that follows the first book in a series can be called a sequel (or follow-up), and a book that tells the story about what happened before the first book or before the main series is a prequel.

Reading books

A book with an interesting cover or title may catch your eye or grab your attention, and you may want to pick it up (in addition to its literal meaning, pick up can also mean buy or start reading).

If the story/content is not particularly interesting or you just want to take a quick look, you can flip through or thumb through it (read it quickly and casually). A book that is boring can be described as dry.

However, when you become interested in a book and start reading it eagerly, you really get into it or get sucked into it. You can also say that an interesting book/story pulls/draws/sucks you in. A very interesting book can be described as a page-turner - a book which you can’t put down (can’t stop reading) because you want to know what happens next!

Making progress

If you haven’t started reading a book yet, you can say “I haven’t picked it up yet” or “I haven’t gotten into it yet.” Many people have books (or a stack of books!) that are collecting dust (sitting on a shelf or table waiting to be read). 

If you have just started reading a book, you can say “I’m just getting into it” or “I’ve just gotten into it.”

To describe your progress reading the book, you can say things like “I’m two chapters into it,” “I’m halfway through it” (in the middle), or “I’m almost finished” / “I’m near the end.” If you don’t manage to finish it, perhaps because it’s too boring or difficult, you can say “I couldn’t get through it.” 

Well, that’s probably a good place to stop for now! I hope this vocabulary will help you to talk about the books that you’re reading (or interested in reading) in English!