How hard is each English book?
116 books, easiest first. "Unknown words" means words outside the 5,000 most frequent in English — the same yardstick whatever your first language. Computed from the public-domain text, updated as books are added.
Don't want to read the whole table?
Pick your level and we'll sort all 116 into what you can read now, what you can read with help, and what to leave for later.
Which can I read? →| Book | Level | Unknown / 100 | Top-5k coverage | Words | Verdict | In app? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The MetamorphosisFranz Kafka |
L11 | 4.3 | 95.7% | 22,012 | Comfortable | Read |
 The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank Baum |
L12 | 4.6 | 95.4% | 39,679 | Comfortable | Read |
 HeidiJohanna Spyri |
L12 | 5.2 | 94.8% | 91,721 | Steady | Read |
 The Adventures of PinocchioCarlo Collodi |
L13 | 5 | 95% | 39,843 | Comfortable | Not yet |
 The TrialFranz Kafka |
L13 | 5.2 | 94.8% | 83,938 | Steady | Not yet |
 Grimms' Fairy TalesJacob Grimm |
L13 | 5.2 | 94.8% | 101,112 | Steady | Not yet |
 Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll |
L13 | 5.5 | 94.5% | 26,630 | Steady | Read |
 The Happy Prince, and Other TalesOscar Wilde |
L13 | 6 | 94% | 16,333 | Steady | Not yet |
 The IdiotFyodor Dostoyevsky |
L13 | 6.4 | 93.6% | 243,832 | Steady | Not yet |
 EmmaJane Austen |
L13 | 6.9 | 93.1% | 160,554 | Steady | Read |
 Black BeautyAnna Sewell |
L14 | 5 | 95% | 59,862 | Comfortable | Not yet |
 Through the Looking-GlassLewis Carroll |
L14 | 5.8 | 94.2% | 29,915 | Steady | Not yet |
 SiddharthaHermann Hesse |
L14 | 6.5 | 93.5% | 39,208 | Steady | Not yet |
 The Railway ChildrenE. Nesbit |
L14 | 6.5 | 93.5% | 59,304 | Steady | Not yet |
 Robinson CrusoeDaniel Defoe |
L14 | 6.7 | 93.3% | 121,196 | Steady | Not yet |
 Peter PanJ. M. Barrie |
L14 | 7 | 93% | 47,321 | Steady | Read |
 DraculaBram Stoker |
L14 | 7 | 93% | 160,717 | Steady | Not yet |
 Howards EndE. M. Forster |
L14 | 7.5 | 92.5% | 109,600 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Hound of the BaskervillesArthur Conan Doyle |
L14 | 7.6 | 92.4% | 59,370 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Sense and SensibilityJane Austen |
L14 | 8 | 92% | 119,695 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen |
L14 | 8.1 | 91.9% | 127,278 | Some effort | Not yet |
 UtopiaThomas More |
L14 | 8.1 | 91.9% | 43,550 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Velveteen RabbitMargery Williams |
L15 | 6.7 | 93.3% | 3,966 | Steady | Read |
 Of Human BondageW. Somerset Maugham |
L15 | 7.1 | 92.9% | 259,603 | Some effort | Not yet |
 A Little PrincessFrances Hodgson Burnett |
L15 | 7.3 | 92.7% | 66,386 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan Doyle |
L15 | 7.4 | 92.6% | 104,562 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Anna KareninaLeo Tolstoy |
L15 | 7.4 | 92.6% | 350,390 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Phantom of the OperaGaston Leroux |
L15 | 7.6 | 92.4% | 84,690 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Little WomenLouisa May Alcott |
L15 | 7.7 | 92.3% | 186,262 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Sister Carrie: A NovelTheodore Dreiser |
L15 | 7.8 | 92.2% | 157,059 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog)Jerome K. Jerome |
L15 | 7.8 | 92.2% | 67,284 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Fairy Tales of Hans Christian AndersenH. C. Andersen |
L15 | 7.9 | 92.1% | 371,476 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The IliadHomer |
L15 | 7.9 | 92.1% | 153,347 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Sons and LoversD. H. Lawrence |
L15 | 8.1 | 91.9% | 161,023 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde |
L15 | 8.2 | 91.8% | 79,208 | Some effort | Not yet |
 David CopperfieldCharles Dickens |
L15 | 8.3 | 91.7% | 355,107 | Some effort | Not yet |
 DublinersJames Joyce |
L15 | 8.3 | 91.7% | 67,637 | Some effort | Not yet |
 A passage to IndiaE. M. Forster |
L15 | 8.4 | 91.6% | 102,062 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The RepublicPlato |
L15 | 8.5 | 91.5% | 124,481 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Ethan FromeEdith Wharton |
L15 | 9 | 91% | 34,803 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American SlaveFrederick Douglass |
L15 | 9.4 | 90.6% | 40,917 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Mysterious IslandJules Verne |
L15 | 11.4 | 88.6% | 193,212 | Hard | Not yet |
 The OdysseyHomer |
L16 | 6.6 | 93.4% | 129,302 | Steady | Not yet |
| L16 | 7 | 93% | 41,426 | Steady | Not yet | |
 KidnappedRobert Louis Stevenson |
L16 | 7.1 | 92.9% | 81,894 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Just so storiesRudyard Kipling |
L16 | 7.4 | 92.6% | 28,795 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Moon and SixpenceW. Somerset Maugham |
L16 | 7.6 | 92.4% | 75,023 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Jungle BookRudyard Kipling |
L16 | 7.7 | 92.3% | 50,885 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald |
L16 | 8.1 | 91.9% | 48,443 | Some effort | Read |
 Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery |
L16 | 8.2 | 91.8% | 102,544 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson |
L16 | 8.5 | 91.5% | 68,272 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Father GoriotHonoré de Balzac |
L16 | 8.7 | 91.3% | 103,681 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Mrs. DallowayVirginia Woolf |
L16 | 8.9 | 91.1% | 63,595 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The PrinceNiccolò Machiavelli |
L16 | 8.9 | 91.1% | 49,763 | Some effort | Not yet |
 PollyannaEleanor H. Porter |
L16 | 9 | 91% | 55,751 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The three musketeersAlexandre Dumas |
L16 | 9.1 | 90.9% | 230,737 | Hard | Not yet |
 The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeRobert Louis Stevenson |
L16 | 9.1 | 90.9% | 25,744 | Hard | Not yet |
 A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens |
L16 | 9.6 | 90.4% | 135,996 | Hard | Not yet |
 Oliver TwistCharles Dickens |
L16 | 9.8 | 90.2% | 158,589 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Awakening, and Selected Short StoriesKate Chopin |
L16 | 9.9 | 90.1% | 64,515 | Hard | Not yet |
 Around the World in Eighty DaysJules Verne |
L16 | 10.2 | 89.8% | 63,424 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Scarlet PimpernelBaroness Orczy |
L16 | 10.4 | 89.6% | 84,943 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Time MachineH. G. Wells |
L16 | 11 | 89% | 32,622 | Hard | Read |
 Twenty Thousand Leagues under the SeaJules Verne |
L16 | 11.4 | 88.6% | 104,564 | Hard | Not yet |
 FrankensteinMary Shelley |
L16 | 12.1 | 87.9% | 75,109 | Very hard | Not yet |
| L16 | 12.8 | 87.2% | 378,512 | Very hard | Not yet | |
 The Secret GardenFrances Hodgson Burnett |
L17 | 6.7 | 93.3% | 81,103 | Steady | Not yet |
 The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoyevsky |
L17 | 7 | 93% | 351,444 | Steady | Not yet |
 Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevsky |
L17 | 7.5 | 92.5% | 203,912 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Little Lord FauntleroyFrances Hodgson Burnett |
L17 | 7.6 | 92.4% | 58,427 | Some effort | Not yet |
 My ÁntoniaWilla Cather |
L17 | 7.8 | 92.2% | 81,566 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Lady Chatterley's loverD. H. Lawrence |
L17 | 8.8 | 91.2% | 117,657 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Adventures of Tom SawyerMark Twain |
L17 | 9.1 | 90.9% | 71,652 | Hard | Not yet |
 A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of ChristmasCharles Dickens |
L17 | 9.4 | 90.6% | 28,552 | Hard | Not yet |
 Martin EdenJack London |
L17 | 9.6 | 90.4% | 139,359 | Hard | Not yet |
 Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher Stowe |
L17 | 10 | 90% | 182,678 | Hard | Not yet |
 Gulliver's TravelsJonathan Swift |
L17 | 10.1 | 89.9% | 105,038 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Age of InnocenceEdith Wharton |
L17 | 10.3 | 89.7% | 101,404 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Wind in the WillowsKenneth Grahame |
L17 | 10.5 | 89.5% | 58,853 | Hard | Not yet |
 War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy |
L17 | 10.5 | 89.5% | 575,072 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Sea-WolfJack London |
L17 | 10.5 | 89.5% | 105,927 | Hard | Not yet |
 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce |
L17 | 10.9 | 89.1% | 84,846 | Hard | Not yet |
 Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert |
L17 | 11 | 89% | 115,865 | Hard | Not yet |
 Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad |
L17 | 11.1 | 88.9% | 38,515 | Hard | Not yet |
 The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells |
L17 | 11.3 | 88.7% | 60,306 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Call of the WildJack London |
L17 | 11.4 | 88.6% | 31,930 | Hard | Not yet |
 Swiss Family RobinsonJohann David Wyss |
L17 | 11.4 | 88.6% | 126,252 | Hard | Not yet |
 White FangJack London |
L17 | 11.8 | 88.2% | 72,245 | Hard | Not yet |
 On LibertyJohn Stuart Mill |
L17 | 11.9 | 88.1% | 52,006 | Hard | Not yet |
 Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens |
L18 | 7.8 | 92.2% | 185,493 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Hard TimesCharles Dickens |
L18 | 9 | 91% | 103,736 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Don QuixoteMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra |
L18 | 9.4 | 90.6% | 429,052 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Count of Monte CristoAlexandre Dumas |
L18 | 10 | 90% | 464,889 | Hard | Not yet |
 Lord JimJoseph Conrad |
L18 | 11.4 | 88.6% | 128,778 | Hard | Not yet |
 Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil DisobedienceHenry David Thoreau |
L18 | 11.7 | 88.3% | 116,108 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757James Fenimore Cooper |
L18 | 12 | 88% | 148,599 | Hard | Not yet |
 A Journey to the Centre of the EarthJules Verne |
L18 | 12.1 | 87.9% | 85,753 | Very hard | Not yet |
 The Souls of Black FolkW. E. B. Du Bois |
L18 | 12.4 | 87.6% | 69,049 | Very hard | Not yet |
 Common SenseThomas Paine |
L18 | 12.5 | 87.5% | 21,933 | Very hard | Not yet |
 The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne |
L18 | 14.3 | 85.7% | 83,815 | Very hard | Not yet |
 Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain |
L19 | 7.1 | 92.9% | 112,141 | Some effort | Not yet |
 The Thirty-Nine StepsJohn Buchan |
L19 | 8.4 | 91.6% | 41,072 | Some effort | Not yet |
 Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë |
L19 | 10.7 | 89.3% | 116,513 | Hard | Not yet |
 The Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin |
L19 | 10.8 | 89.2% | 66,699 | Hard | Not yet |
 Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë |
L19 | 11 | 89% | 187,376 | Hard | Not yet |
 Les MisérablesVictor Hugo |
L19 | 12.8 | 87.2% | 567,924 | Very hard | Not yet |
 The Prince and the PauperMark Twain |
L19 | 12.8 | 87.2% | 70,062 | Very hard | Not yet |
 MeditationsMarcus Aurelius |
L19 | 12.8 | 87.2% | 71,755 | Very hard | Not yet |
 The Interpretation of DreamsSigmund Freud |
L19 | 13.3 | 86.7% | 205,057 | Very hard | Not yet |
| L19 | 13.7 | 86.3% | 46,266 | Very hard | Not yet | |
 Notre-Dame de ParisVictor Hugo |
L19 | 14 | 86% | 185,602 | Very hard | Not yet |
 Moby-DickHerman Melville |
L19 | 14.6 | 85.4% | 214,051 | Very hard | Not yet |
 On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural SelectionCharles Darwin |
L19 | 15.2 | 84.8% | 154,905 | Very hard | Not yet |
 Ivanhoe: A RomanceWalter Scott |
L20 | 14 | 86% | 193,603 | Very hard | Not yet |
 Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and NoneFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche |
L20 | 14.3 | 85.7% | 111,927 | Very hard | Not yet |
 Beyond Good and EvilFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche |
L20 | 15.7 | 84.3% | 62,723 | Very hard | Not yet |
Any book in this table works, or upload the one already sitting on your shelf.
Readii cuts it into three-minute passages; tap a word you don't know and the meaning appears in place, without leaving the page.
The Readii reading level is our own 1–20 scale, anchored on unknown-word density: 2 unknown words per 100 ≈ 98% coverage, the independent-reading line in the research; 5 ≈ 95%, the instructional level that needs support (Hu & Nation, 2000). It is not the same system as Lexile or AR and does not convert directly.