Learn Real-Life English with My Favorite Books of All Time 📚 | Comprehensible Input

Are you ready to learn some real life English with comprehensible input? Well good, because today we're going to continue improving our English while I tell you guys about the books that I think, that I think, are the best books ever written. Let's go. All right guys, your English speaking friend Kyle here. Today we're going to keep on improving our English by talking about some of the best stories ever told. Some of the best books ever written. So guys, me personally, for the last few years, I've mainly been reading non-fiction. I've been trying to read things about business, about money, about health, about spirituality. Things that I could learn from. But lately, in the last couple of months, I've gotten back into reading novels, into fiction. And I really want to share with you guys some of the books that have touched me. Some of the novels that I think are the best ones ever written. So guys, before we start talking about what I think are the best books ever, let's talk about some of the books that people say are great, but me personally, I don't get it. I don't think they're good at all. Now this might make some of you mad. And with this first one, I might especially upset some of our Russian literature fans. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Guys, if you read any list of the great novels of the world, there's a good chance this book and this author will be on it. But me personally, I just can't get interested in these kind of books. This book, for example, is about a crazy man, murder, bad things. And it's just too dark for my taste. And I like books about good versus evil, not just crazy and evil. So for me, I'm not a fan of Dostoevsky. And I did not enjoy this book at all. But I'm trying to give him another chance. I'm listening to an audiobook form right now of the brothers Kurestnikov or some Russian name that I can't remember right now. But I'm not a fan of Dostoevsky. Tell me, what do you guys think about him? Is he as great as they say? Or do you agree with me that he's overrated? Don't be mad at me, guys, if this is your favorite author. Just my opinion. We all have one. What a beautiful place. Almost as beautiful as my wife holding the camera over there. Almost, but not quite. All right, guys, just so you know that I am not being a hater and talking bad about a Russian author. Let's talk bad about an American author who everybody says is great. This guy has studied in schools. They teach these books. They make American children read these books. But I think he is so boring. Mark Twain, okay? And Mark Twain's most famous works are, of course, these two. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Now, guys, these are considered great American literature, but I do not know why. Honestly, guys, these are just so boring. And if I had to summarize these, I'd say they're about two really bad kids getting into trouble and going on adventures, okay? This one, Huck Finn, he goes up the river with a slave. And Tom Sawyer, if I remember correctly, his dad told him to paint a fence and he just runs away and gets in a bunch of trouble. So boring, guys. Awful. I am not a fan at all of these books. But a lot of people like him. The only thing that I like about Mark Twain is a quote that I read one time that he said. And he said, if voting mattered, they would not let you do it. Oh, Mark Twain might have been a conspiracy theorist and I like that about him. All right, guys. Those are two authors that are always mentioned in the greats, the great literature of our times. And I'm not a fan at all. So let's start talking about books that I do like. All right, guys. Let's start off this list strong with the book that, for 15 years, I've considered my favorite book ever written. The Count of Monte Cristo. I've read this book in English. I've read this book in Spanish. And I've read this book in French. Love this book. And they also made a wonderful movie version of it. So, guys, this is written by a French author, Alexander Dumas. And this is one that is mentioned all the time in great literature. And I do agree with this. This book is so deep, guys. Now, I'm going to tell you what these books are about, but there won't be real spoilers. It's just a summary. So this is about a man named Edmond Dantes. He's a sailor and he becomes a little bit successful, okay? He becomes the captain of the ship that he's on. Another man gets very jealous because Edmond is having success and he has a fine little mamacita named Mercedes. So another guy named Fernand gets jealous of Edmond. Mamacita? Mamacita is what's holding the camera right now. A beautiful woman. So somebody gets very jealous of Edmond's success and sets him up. A setup means that you frame somebody, you get them in trouble for something that they did not do. So basically, Edmond gets in trouble. He winds up in the worst prison in all of France, the Chateau d'If. And basically, his life is lost. But through hard work, learning, he changes himself into the coolest guy to ever exist in the literary universe, the Count of Monte Cristo. And what does he get? Wife. Venganza. But he does get a ton of money and he gets revenge. So why he's so cool, guys? He learns a bunch of languages. He becomes very rich and powerful. He learns how to fight. He basically becomes the coolest guy ever and he gets his revenge. This is a story of love, of betrayal, and most importantly, of revenge. Namaste, friends. I decided to take a moment to hit a sick lotus posture and do some pranayama. All right. So while we're talking about great French authors like Alexandre Dumas, I have another honorable mention, let's say. And that means that maybe this person is not one of the greatest authors ever, but I think he deserves to be mentioned on my list because his stories have been great adventures for my mind. And he's another French author. And in English, when we talk about this French author, we say Jules Verne. But in France, I guess they would say Jules Verne. And two of the books that I've read of his, I've read a few more, but the two that I have with me today, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth. So guys, like I said, maybe these aren't the most deep and difficult fancy books ever written, but what they are, are vacations from your normal everyday life. They allow you to step into a new world. A world where you're under the ocean in a submarine with Captain Nemo, a crazy pirate battling the Kraken. Or where you're with Phileas Fogg. Or no, that's a different word. That's a different one. Phileas Fogg is actually in another book of his, Around the World in 80 Days. In Journey to the Center of the Earth, you travel deep into the Earth's center where we think there's just lava and hot rocks, but there's actually another world. So guys, these are honestly just wonderful adventures. They're pretty thin and quick reads, but you can lose yourself in them. And like I said, these are like a vacation for your brain, guys. When I was younger and getting into reading, maybe when I was 18 or 19, these were a wonderful way to start my reading journey. All right, my friends. And now for the oldest book on this list. A book written 750 years, more or less, before the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, The Odyssey. Now, The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic. And the interesting thing about this, guys, is that it wasn't written down 2,700 years ago. Back then, it was told orally. Poets had this story memorized. And every time they told it, there could have been a little change. So over thousands of years, this story has evolved. But for all of that time, the tale of a hero returning home after a war has been told to people all over the Earth. People like us, craving knowledge, craving adventure, craving the tale of good versus evil. And this book, guys, even though it was originally told thousands of years ago, is as good today as it was back then. And reading these very old stories, they make you think. You know, sometimes we think people back then weren't as smart as us because they didn't have technology or cars or things like that, computers. But tell me, could you write a book like this, guys? These people were thinkers. They were not distracted by their computers and cell phones. They were talking to each other, sharing ideas, meditating on deep thoughts. And from those deep meditations came timeless tales, like the tale of Odysseus, the tale of the Odyssey. Now, guys, this has everything. This has monsters, gods and goddesses, an ancient warrior who lost his wife and son. But he triumphs. He returns home. And read the book. All right, my friends. And now for what I think is the greatest trilogy ever written. The Lord of the Rings. Now, a trilogy means that it's three separate books that come together for one story. And guys, honestly, this is some of the deepest writing ever done. And what this author does so beautifully is what people call world building. World building is when an author creates a whole new world, a whole new universe for us to explore. And in my opinion, nobody does that better than J.R.R. Tolkien. Guys, this is the ultimate fantasy about good versus evil. And it's the story of a hobbit. What's a hobbit? A little person, okay? But in the grand scheme of things, you and I are hobbits too, okay? We feel small. We feel like the problems are too big and there's nothing we could do to make a change. Well, Frodo Baggins felt that way too. And he wound up, along with his friends, saving Middle-earth from evil. Guys, these three books are an adventure across a distant world called Middle-earth that J.R.R. Tolkien created for us. He went so far, guys, as to create actual languages for his characters. Incredible. And the best thing about these books, guys, there's no bad stuff. Well, there's violence. There's fighting with monsters and stuff. But there's not sex. There's not drugs. There's not all the bad stuff you see in the world today. And that's another interesting thing is that this trilogy, which I think are some of the best books ever, they made movies that I think are the best movies ever. No nudity. No bad words. Not a single bad word across three movies that are over two hours each. What kind of movie has that in it? None these days. But they were absolutely incredible. And so are these books, guys. It's about a little hobbit, a little miniature person who has a big task. He has to destroy a ring that basically is evil personified. So Frodo Baggins, along with his friends Sam, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, even poor Amir, that traitor. They travel across Middle Earth to destroy evil. Now, many, many, many things happen to stop them in these books, but they never quit. And through the power of friendship, they succeed where others have failed. So my friends, The Lord of the Rings. A lot of people say these are for nerds and things like that. But is your English-speaking friend Kyle a nerd? I don't think so. And my wife? Whatever, guys. If I'm a nerd because I like Lord of the Rings, call me a nerd. These books are awesome. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. All right, guys. I think it's time for some good American authors. We've talked about the French guys, talked about J.R.R. Tolkien, who is a Brit. Time for two more books, both written by great American authors. And the second one is now the one that I hold in my opinion as the best book I've ever read. It has replaced The Count of Monte Cristo. But first, this is a weird one for me, guys. And I listened to it in audiobook, so I don't have it. I'll put up a picture of it. It's called Lonesome Dove. And this is a strange genre for me. And a genre means the category, the type of book that it is. And it's a strange genre for me because it's something that I was never really interested in. It's an American Western, which means cowboys and things like that. So the book is called Lonesome Dove. It takes place in Texas. But the cowboys go all the way up from Texas, all the way up to Montana. And they're fighting what they call Indians, but really they were the Native Americans. They're fighting Mexican bandits. They're fighting other American cowboys, bad guys. And this book, guys, it's very long and it's strange. For the first 200 pages or so, nothing really happens. But you feel yourself being pulled into this world. You're in these relationships and it feels like people you actually know. It's so deep, such a beautiful experience. And then later as it starts to build up and the cowboys hit the trail, then crazy things start happening. They start fighting vicious enemies and crazy stuff happens for like 900 pages. It's a very thick book, guys. So I was listening to this book for a couple weeks. And every time I listened to it, I was like, wow, this is incredible. And the coolest part was it took you to a time in the past, guys. The Old West, the Wild West, as we call it. And you feel like you're living there. You get attached to these characters and then things happen to them. And you feel sad. You feel like you just lost a friend. So this is one of the books that really makes you forget where you are in the real world and feel like you are in this Wild West riding around with a bunch of cowboys, scared that a big bad Native American might come get you. And like I said, I've never been into Westerns. There's tons of old movies about it. But this book was absolutely incredible. Lonesome Dove is a wonderful book. Super long. But if you ever get the chance to explore that world, I say you should do it. Are you ready to learn some real life English? All right, guys. Time for what I think is my number one book. The best book that I have ever read. I forgot to mention the last book is written by a guy named John McCarthy or MacArthur. Maybe his name is not even John. But it's for sure called Lonesome Dove. Anyway, the last book, my favorite book that I've read so far. Well, I listened to it as an audio book as well. But the book is called East of Eden, written by an American author, John Steinbeck. It takes place in California 150 years ago. And this is another one of those books where you just feel pulled into it. And this is John Steinbeck's version of the ancient tale of Cain and Abel from the Bible. Two brothers fighting for their father's love. Okay, and that's exactly what happens in this book. There's two brothers. They both want their father to love them so bad. But the father has a favorite. He loves one of them and makes the other one jealous and violent to where he wants to kill his brother. Now, that's not a spoiler because that's the story of Cain and Abel. But guys, the way that this ancient biblical story is retold in John Steinbeck's East of Eden is absolutely wonderful, guys. These characters, there's ones that are super good, ones that are super bad. Sometimes there's ones that start off bad and then you start to love them. So much character development, guys. But there's one character in this book who is probably my favorite character I've ever read. A little Chinese guy named Li. And Li is the most wonderful character I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in a book. And if any of you guys have read John Steinbeck's East of Eden, please tell me, was Li your favorite character too? Because I think he's just incredible. So anyway, guys, I think that East of Eden is even better than The Count of Monte Cristo. And that's crazy because The Count of Monte Cristo is so epic. There's adventure and sword fights and crazy stuff like that that I love. But the depth of East of Eden, the storytelling, the characters is just so well done that it's won my number one spot for now. But I'm going to keep going and maybe even that will be replaced in the future. So guys, those are my favorite books. Those are some books that everybody else likes that I think stink. Hope you guys enjoyed this video. Tell me in the comments, what do you think is the best book ever written? All right, guys, I appreciate every single one of you spending your valuable time learning English with your friend Kyle. Appreciate my lovely camera wife for filming me. Thank you, baby. And I will see you guys in the next video. Bye.