Books are some of the most valuable tools you can use while learning Spanish—they don’t expire, you don’t need a monthly subscription, they’re in-depth and they’ve been trusted for decades.
This post is a compilation of my personal recommendations for the 17 best books to learn Spanish this year.
This edition of the “Practice Makes Perfect” series is a 350-page workbook covering the most important Spanish grammar rules.
There are clear explanations, many realistic examples and free online audio recordings to practice your listening skills.
The good thing about this book is that it offers various exercises for different learning styles, like multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank games and creative writing exercises.
Plus, the structure is easy to follow.
Highlights:
Covers the most essential grammar rules you need to know
This book teaches level-one Spanish vocabulary through pictures using two specific techniques.
First, it uses the word and picture method. Each new word or sentence is accompanied by a line drawing that instantly explains its meaning.
Second, the ready-made vocabulary presents you with everyday Spanish words and phrases that look and sound like their English equivalents to ease you into conversational Spanish faster.
These two methods pack a powerful punch, and the book gives you the vocabulary to express yourself quickly and meaningfully in Spanish.
Highlights:
Focuses on teaching you Spanish naturally, without word-for-word English translations
Teaches relevant Spanish words and phrases you can use daily
Also includes a traveler’s word list, pronunciation guide and a grammar section
The book consists of 12 units, each focusing on a specific situation (formal or informal).
They include themes such as school, home, social media and business. Each unit’s key phrases are compiled at the end, forming an accessible, quick-access glossary.
Of course, when learning conversation, you’ll need to do more than memorize sentences. The book also provides quick grammar and verb lessons to help you break down the phrases.
Plus, plenty of example sentences are provided to illustrate points.
This book can make a great resource that gets you comfortable with the essentials and expectations of Spanish conversation.
Highlights:
Lessons are theme-based with highly relevant vocabulary
This book’s main goal is to get you speaking Spanish confidently, without having to translate too much in your head or worry about making mistakes.
It’s grammar-based, so you’re learning the foundations of Spanish structure and verb conjugation from the get-go while also engaging with readings that reinforce what you’ve learned through context.
Plus, the vocabulary and verbs introduced are based on spoken frequency to ensure you start communicating and understanding as soon as possible.
Highlights:
Grammar-focused with the goal of increasing speaking confidence
Introduces more than 300 frequently used verbs and key terms
Includes various exercises to reinforce the material
5. “Spanish Language Learning: The Ultimate Guide”
This book is a bilingual picture dictionary where every term is illustrated with contextual drawings.
It’s organized into 12 themed units that cover various aspects of life like people, housing, food, recreation and more. The dictionary features stories, role plays, clear visual descriptions of words and dialogues to help you learn new vocabulary quickly.
It’s not a classic dictionary—you can easily read a page per day and get a lot out of it. Plus, it’ll take you three to five minutes!
Highlights:
Highly organized
Teaches you relevant content you’ll use in daily life
One page is enough learning material for an entire day’s lesson
Whether you want to learn about different varieties of wine and how to identify them, how to operate your new computer software or, in this case, about the Spanish language, the “For Dummies” series is here to help.
These books are ideal to be used as a supplement to the main textbooks you are studying.
The short chapters, helpful tips sections and easy-to-navigate index intermingle to provide a stress-free learning experience.
Highlights:
Covers grammar, verb conjugations and pronunciations
Includes a mini-dictionary with extra vocabulary and exercises
Includes a CD that features real-world Spanish dialogues
People rave in this book’s review section, stating that its format and presentation are unbeatable and that it helps clarify often-murky Spanish topics and teaches in a fun way.
It highlights how many Spanish words English speakers already know and demonstrates a few rules on how to “Spanishify” them.
As much as this seems like an obscure method, the author provides extensive examples throughout the guide and exercises to practice and master this approach.
Highlights:
Promises to help you read, write and speak Spanish in only a few weeks
Gives you the knowledge to start forming sentences after just the first lesson
The teaching method allows you to learn thousands of Spanish words in a few weeks
This book is similar to the 2,000 Most Common Spanish Words book in that it teaches you the most frequently used Spanish verbs—501, to be exact.
You’ll also learn how to conjugate them in every tense and mood.
The book includes many bonus features—like the following mentioned in the highlights—and detailed instructions that explain how to use each verb (and the book).
Highlights:
The 501 verbs are the most frequently used verbs in Spanish and were professionally curated
Each verb also comes with lists of synonyms, antonyms, idioms and example sentences
Comes with access to online content like audio programs for pronunciation, listening comprehension and four practice quizzes
These workbooks have clear explanations while still including important grammatical details that often get simplified in other resources.
After introducing each topic, there are plenty of practice exercises with solutions in the back.
In the grammar and verb-focused workbooks, the creators did a fantastic job of gradually teaching and integrating vocabulary while focusing on the grammatical topic.
Workbooks available in this series include: Basic Spanish, Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions, Spanish Verb Tenses, Complete Spanish Grammar and Spanish Vocabulary.
Highlights:
A glossary and verb tables are included in the back of the grammar workbooks
Complete with five Spanish workbooks focused on different skills
Includes more than 250 exercises for vocabulary building and material reinforcement
Living Language is a huge multimedia Spanish program that contains three books (beginner, intermediate and advanced) and nine CDs (three for each level).
It’s well organized with topic-based chapters (instead of lesson-based chapters like in most courses), and the goal is to teach you conversational Spanish more than anything else.
The CDs are high-quality, clear and well-modulated recordings with the speaking rate set at a learner-appropriate speed.
As you progress, you’ll learn new words, sentence structures and conjugations in each chapter.
Highlights:
Covers all three levels of Spanish (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
Heavy focus on conversational Spanish skills
Accompanying CDs let you practice listening comprehension and correct pronunciation
This book merges the concept of a traditional phrasebook with grammar, vocabulary lessons and corresponding activities to ensure readers grasp the concepts.
This book has been said to be so comprehensive that it could be the base of a Spanish study program.
Highlights:
Uses an interactive format that has been tested and rewritten to help you teach yourself at a pace optimal for progress
Teaches over 1,000 of the most common Spanish words
Sample dialogues include culture notes
15. “Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Conversation”
This book is organized into 12 units that present realistic conversational situations like making introductions, giving opinions, going on a date or telling a story.
Each chapter starts with a dialogue, followed by various exercises to put what you learned into practice.
An English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English glossary is also included to help you along.
It’s important to note that this book is intended for intermediate learners.
Highlights:
Focuses on realistic conversation topics you’ll use frequently
Each chapter contains a dialogue and exercises
Clear instructions for correct pronunciation, syntax and word usage
This book covers intermediate to advanced Spanish grammar in an easy, progressive manner.
Lessons cover important Spanish grammar topics like complex verb tenses, parts of speech, sentence structure and more. And along the way, you’ll learn plenty of vocabulary you’ll use in real conversation.
Before choosing this book, make sure you’ve reached an intermediate Spanish level. Otherwise, you may get a bit overwhelmed by the content and exercises, as they’re quite detailed and extensive.
Highlights:
Perfect for more advanced learners who don’t want to spend time relearning basic grammar concepts
Learn new vocabulary on top of grammar
The step-by-step approach makes the path from intermediate to advanced more clear and easy to follow
17. “Practice Makes Perfect: Advanced Spanish Grammar”
This book goes into the intricate details of Spanish and is aimed at intermediate to advanced students.
It features many practical exercises to help you communicate more naturally.
This breaks free from the ready-to-use sentences found in other books and encourages you to create more sophisticated phrases as you go along. If you already have a good grasp of Spanish and want to go beyond the fundamental principles, this book is a great option.
Highlights:
Provides various practice exercises
Focuses on natural communication
Encourages you to produce the language on your own
Best Spanish Novels
Intermediate and advanced learners might benefit more from reading native Spanish content—books meant to be read by native speakers. Here are some of the best novels.
Verónica decide morir.This novel is by Paulo Coehlo. It’s one I’ve personally read and it taught me a lot of new vocabulary, even as an already fluent speaker. It’s a little depressing—a girl tries to take her own life and is admitted to a hospital, and it follows her journey while staying there. But if you don’t mind that, this book is a goldmine for vocabulary that’s more advanced but still used in normal life.
La sombra del viento.This is another one I read (but never finished) when I was a low-intermediate learner. It’s about a young boy named Daniel whose father takes him to “The Cemetery of Forgotten Books.” He finds a cursed book there that takes him to a labyrinth where he discovers lots of dark secrets.
La fragilidad de un corazón bajo la lluvia. I started reading this book after hearing about it on Spanish “BookTok”—basically a niche of creators who share their opinions and experiences after reading certain novels and talk about their current reads on TikTok. It’s about a young girl in Spain who was engaged, but her fiance calls it off after thinking she really doesn’t want to marry him anymore. And her grandfather is also dying. She suddenly finds herself retracing her life, healing wounds that have led to the incidents occurring in her life at the current moment. I would definitely say this one is for advanced learners.
Como agua para chocolate. This Mexican novel is a classic and many Spanish learners recommend it. It’s set in the revolutionary period of Mexico in the early 1900s. Tita is the youngest daughter of her family and her parents won’t allow her to get married—she must remain single to take care of her mother, per tradition. So when she falls in love with Pedro, not only can she not marry him, but he has to marry her older sister.
El principito.This is another classic novel. It’s also short and probably the easiest to read out of this list. A pilot crashes in the Sahara Desert and meets a young boy called “The Little Prince” (el principito). The prince tells him that he’s from another planet and tells the pilot how he got to Earth, as well as the other plants he’s visited. There are six planets, and they each represent a human flaw. Through his time on Earth, the prince learns that the most important things aren’t the things we can see.
If none of these catch your eye, I recommend exploring more books in these posts:
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More Book Resources for Learning Spanish
If reading is your jam, there are plenty more book resources you can use to enhance your Spanish skills. Check out these posts to explore more variations of Spanish book genres:
The best Spanish textbooks offer clear explanations, plenty of examples and enough practice exercises for you to really solidify what you’ve learned and assess your…
Reading free Spanish books is a great way to improve your language skills at any level. Click here to find out about some great websites you can use to access free Spanish…
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Need some intermediate Spanish books to level up your reading skills? These 5 Spanish novels are hand-picked for intermediate learners. They’ll broaden your Spanish…
These advanced Spanish books will help you reach fluency. Check out our list of 35 Spanish textbooks, reference books and literary works that diverse areas of Spanish…
Keep in mind that to ensure your Spanish studies are completely balanced and you become well-rounded in all skills, it’s best to supplement your book studies with more audio or video-based learning, whether it be through Netflix or online immersion programs like FluentU.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
The best book to learn Spanish is one that is suitable for your level (or just slightly above) and that teaches you vocabulary and/or grammar relevant to your goals.
If you’d like books to be your primary resource, I suggest starting one of the books I’ve listed in the post.
Can I learn Spanish from a book?
Yes! You can learn vocabulary, grammar, reading skills and in some cases, listening skills if the book comes with an audiobook version, online resources or CDs.
But as I mentioned earlier, be sure to balance your book studies with more authentic Spanish immersion to develop all your language skills.
What is the fastest method to learn Spanish?
Immersion is the fastest way to learn Spanish. Consuming content meant for native speakers but is still appropriate for your level is the best way to achieve immersion from home. This includes reading Spanish books, watching TV shows and movies, listening to music and more.
It’s also great to pair immersion with another resource, such as these textbooks.
How can I learn Spanish quickly by myself?
You can speed up your Spanish learning progress on your own by combining traditional learning (like textbooks and online courses) with at-home immersion methods, like we discussed above.
Try to spend 30 minutes to an hour each day learning Spanish and keep track of your study habits and learning progress to achieve the fastest results.
So, there you have them! Pick some Spanish learning books from this list or find your own picks, and use the advice in this article to get the most out of each title.
Don’t be afraid to branch out and read books written in Spanish that aren’t specifically for learners to broaden your horizons, either.
If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
