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Talking about books

Episode 260403 / 03 Apr 2026

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Neil and Becca have a real conversation in easy English about books – written words printed on pages and bound together with a cover. Learn to talk about biographies, novels and poems.

Vocabulary

fiction
type of writing where the story is imagined

non-fiction
type of writing where the story is true

novel
fictional story of substantial length

biography
type of non-fiction book about a person's life

autobiography
type of non-fiction book where someone writes about their own life

poem
type of writing where words are arranged carefully, often in lines and verses, and chosen for their rhythm, sound and imagery as well as their meaning

Transcript

Neil
Hello and welcome back to Real Easy English, the podcast where we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Neil.
 
Becca
And I'm Becca. You can find a video version with subtitles of this podcast on our website bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil
Hi Becca. How are you?
 
Becca
Yeah, I'm well, thank you Neil. How about yourself?
 
Neil
I'm very good. I'm excited because we're talking about books and reading today, and I really love reading. How about you?
 
Becca
Yeah, I like reading as well. I do like reading. How often do you read, though?
 
Neil
Well, I read every day, but different types of things. So, I do... I sit down and read for the longest period of time and the most serious kind of book when I'm travelling to and from work.
 
Becca
Oh! OK.
 
Neil
Yeah. And when I'm at home, I read stuff that's not so difficult, because usually at home I just fall asleep if I read.
 
Becca
Yeah. So, I see a lot of people reading on the tube and I wish I could be that kind of person, but for me, I only read when I'm in a relaxed environment. So, like, sometimes I'll go to the park in summer or take a book to the beach. So, I do like reading, but I don't read as often as I feel like I should.
 
Neil
So, Becca, what kind of books do you like to read?
 
Becca
I like short books. I sometimes feel a bit stressed when I see a long, thick book. A lot of the books that I have on my shelf at home are poems. Poetry is a form of literature that... It's usually quite emotional and a lot shorter than a short story or, like, a novel, for example. Yeah, poems – they also sometimes have a lovely kind of sound quality to them, if you read them loud. So, some of the words might rhyme, and they use a lot of metaphor. So, I really enjoy short stories or books that have lots of poems in them. How about yourself, Neil? What stories or what books do you enjoy?
 
Neil
I like fiction. So, fiction is when the story is not true. It's made up by the writer. And I like novels. And novels are fiction books. That's just one quite long story. So, you know, probably more than 100 or 150 pages. Otherwise, it's a short story. Short stories are...
 
Both
...shorter!
 
Becca
Yes. Have you ever read a non-fiction book? So, maybe, something that's based on, like, a real event or like a biography from someone's perspective that you really enjoyed?
 
Neil
Yeah, I like reading biographies as well. So, a biography is somebody's life story. I like biographies of musicians and people like that.
 
Becca
Yeah, I know you play guitar, so music seems to be quite a hobby that you enjoy.
 
Neil
Yeah.
 
Becca
Yeah.
 
Neil
Yeah, definitely. And I like reading about the lives of people who've worked in music.
 
Becca
Mmm.
 
Neil
Do you like non-fiction?
 
Becca
I prefer to watch non-fiction. I prefer to watch documentaries. I haven't read many non-fiction books.
 
Neil
Do you have a favourite author? Author – an author is a person who writes books.
 
Becca
Mmm yeah. So, actually a lot of my favourite authors – some of them have written novels. I prefer poets, so authors that have written poems. And I prefer them because they're quite moving and usually quite short as well. So, I find that the authors that I enjoy the most write short things, like poems or short stories.
 
Neil
OK. Let's recap some of the vocabulary we've heard in this podcast, starting with fiction. Fiction is a type of writing where the story is not true – it's made up. And the opposite is non-fiction. Non-fiction is a true story.
 
Becca
And our next word – novel. A novel is a fiction, and it's usually a longer story.
 
Neil
We also heard the word biography. A biography is a type of book about a person's life, and if that person wrote the story of their own life, it's called an autobiography.
 
Becca
We also mentioned poems. Now, poems are a shorter piece of writing, even shorter than a short story or a novel. And the sounds of the words and the ideas are very important in poetry.
 
Neil
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English, but don't forget to go to our website. That's bbclearningenglish.com, where you can find a free worksheet.
 
Becca
And we'll be back next week with another conversation in easy English. Goodbye for now!
 
Neil
Goodbye!

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