I get this question asked numerous times within my immediate circle, “I am a new reader, which books should I begin with?” Well, I keep telling people you need to first understand what your preferences are, and then decide on the authors to go for. While that helps in some cases, certain people know they want to read fiction, but want help deciding on the authors. They want something simple to embark on their reading journey with, and “no classics” is what is often appended with the question above. Hence as per my own early reading experiences, I decided to put together a list of authors that beginners might find interesting as well as educative, and which could potentially and hopefully enable them to delve into more illustrious authors.

Rene Goscinny

The popular French author is best known for his witty comic Series “Asterix”. Translated in English by Anthea Bell and Dere Hockridge, these books are much more than mere comics. Although the author’s work can be categorized as “light reading”, one begins to appreciate the true brilliance of the books when digging into the characters’ appearances, dialogues, wit and sarcasm, and most importantly, the moral behind the stories. Pick up your Asterix collection at your nearby book store, and watch time simply fly.

Dan Brown

You might be one of those people who have without fail watched all the movies in the Robert Langdon series, but never actually set your hands on their written counterparts. You might also be someone who has never even watched the movies. Either way, Dan Brown is a great way to get into contemporary literature. While some bits of his work might seem a bit gory, it is always within the limits of a moderately feeble mind. The most interesting parts of his novels, though, are not the adventures, but the trivia. Brown does his research well, and as a new reader you end up learning a lot.

Agatha Christie

Best known as the queen of crime, Christie is much more than a bunch of who-dun-it detective stories. You can get the mystery-solving adventure from the Nancy Drew series as well, but what sets Christie apart is her psychological representations of the characters. Created at a time when there was a need to bridge the classic and the contemporary, her work takes the leap into a new level of realism mixed with high-pitch drama. Easy-to-read, as well as makes you think, that is the combination you get with any of her books.

J.K. Rowling

Although she has earned her fame through the Harry Potter series, and there is an entire fan world out there who live and breathe the world in which Harry and his friends go to school at Hogwarts, Rowling cannot be underestimated as an apt read for a beginner. Whether a fan of the movies or not, the books are hard to give a miss if you are a new reader. Her descriptions are realistic and her imagination surreal, not to mention her ability to tie loose ends with perfect solidarity with the storyline. Get hold of the book series and get lost in the world of dragons and unicorns.

Satyajit Ray

Not many people who do not read and speak the Indian regional language “Bengali” would know that the world-famous Oscar-winning filmmaker was also a stupendous writer. Known within the literary world mostly for gripping short stories and detective thrillers, Ray wrote in lucid, everyday language, which made his books a favorite among teenagers who would simply want to relax between two exam days. Quality translations of his work into English are available at most online bookstores.

There are several other authors that you might think of for a beginner, and probably better ones, however, these five are just for the sake of lending a helping hand to someone who is clueless as to where they should start.