IELTS Speaking: Describe a book you have recently read.
There are many IELTS cue cards about books. You could be asked about your favorite book or a book you really love, but in this case we will just look at a book you have read recently:
Describe a book you have read recently
You should say:
- what kind of book it is
- who wrote the book
- what the story of the book is
and explain if it is a good book or not.
Outline of “Describe a book you have recently read” topic
How I know about the book
- Through 2 of Ali Wong’s Netflix comedy special hits, “Baby Cobra” and “Hard Knock Wife
- While waiting for Ali’s comeback, I decided to give her book a shot.
What kind of book it is
- Title of the book: Dear girls by Ali Wong, my favorite stand-up comedian
- Genre: letters to Ali’s daughters in the future
What it is about
- Ali’s life experience + everything a girl needs to know in life.
- Ali’s unfiltered thoughts on marriage, Asian culture, working women, etc
What sort of people would enjoy it
- people who would enjoy something out of the ordinary or simply have a big laugh.
Why do you like it
- The book was absurdly funny, surprisingly moving, enlightening, and also disgusting as expected from Ali.
- It has made reading more pleasant than ever before.
- I not only gain more life lessons but also way too much laughter.
A sample for “Describe a book you have recently read” topic
To tell the truth, as opposed to my nerdy appearance, I have never been a book enthusiast. I don’t really experience joy in the process of sitting still and staring at thick pages for hours, thus, I hardly ever read. Nonetheless, there is one book that I actually take pleasure in reading. It is called “Dear girls”, written by the one and only, my favorite stand-up comedian, Ali Wong.
I learned about this book last month through 2 of Ali Wong’s Netflix comedy special hits, “Baby Cobra” and “Hard Knock Wife”. Unfortunately, since Ali did the show when she was pregnant with her second daughter, after the show, she was absent from the stage for a few months. While waiting for her comeback, I decided to give her book a shot. Much as I hate reading, for the love of Ali, I managed to place an order, sit down and spend my time on a 200-page book.
And thankfully, the book lives up to my expectations. “Dear girls” is in fact a well-prepared letter to Ali’s daughters when they get older. It is filled with Ali’s life experience, covering everything a girl needs to know in life. Ali interpreted the world in such a unique way, she gave out her unfiltered thoughts on marriage, Asian culture, working women, and so on. The book was absurdly funny, surprisingly moving, enlightening, and also disgusting as expected from Ali. I believe that this book will be most suitable for people who would enjoy something out of the ordinary or simply have a big laugh.
Even though I haven’t got the time to finish the whole book, I believe it has made reading more pleasant than ever before. Through reading it, I not only gain more life lessons but also way too much laughter.
Other sample for “Describe a book you have recently read”
Recently, I read a novel called Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, who is the writer of some popular TV shows. It’s hard to give the genre because it’s a quite unusual book; however, it is both a drama and a mystery to some degree.
The story is about a plane crash. This happens at the beginning of the book, and after that we get the back story of the people who were on the plane. We don’t know why the plane crashed although it seems like an accident. However, the mystery element comes into the book as the story develops because we are shown too many coincidences. The book also details the relationship between a man and a boy who survive the crash, and this gives the story its heart.
I really enjoyed this book. Normally I prefer to read non-fiction books but in this case I was attracted to Before the Fall because I really liked the writer’s TV work and I was curious about how he would handle a novel. Ultimately, I was not disappointed. His ability to tell a good story made him an excellent novelist.