These Italian B2 graded readers are designed for Upper Intermediate learners who can understand complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics. The stories use carefully calibrated vocabulary for the B2 CEFR level so you can enjoy reading while naturally expanding your Italian. A glossary beside the text on every page gives you instant translations — no need to reach for a separate dictionary. Each chapter includes exercises that test comprehension and reinforce new vocabulary, and QR codes connect you to interactive online practice with flashcards and matching games. Available as ebook and paperback.
About Italian
Where Italian is spoken
Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City, and holds official status in parts of Switzerland and Slovenia. It is spoken by communities around the world, notably in Argentina and the United States.
How many people speak it
Italian has about 65–70 million native speakers, mainly in Italy, with several million more in Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, and diaspora communities.
Grammar and structure
Italian is a Romance language with two main noun genders (masculine and feminine) and a rich system of verb conjugations. Word order is relatively flexible; subject pronouns are often dropped. Agreement of past participles with objects (in compound tenses) is a distinctive feature for learners.
Best-rated Italian B2 graded readers
Ranked by average customer rating and number of reviews on our site. Every title below is a Pentecost graded reader: a simplified story at CEFR level with learning supports built in.
Eighty days. That's all the time Phileas Fogg has to circle the globe, pursued by a detective who thinks he's a thief. Unlock B2 Italian fluency as you follow Fogg's thrilling journey, absorbing complex vocabulary and grammar naturally. A margin dictionary means you never break your reading flow.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
A baffling crime, a cryptic clue, and only one man can solve it in the gaslit streets of London. Build advanced Italian vocabulary and comprehension naturally, immersed in Holmes's world. Contextual notes clarify complex Italian phrases without breaking your flow.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
Wiktoriański Londyn skrywa mroczne sekrety, a tylko genialny detektyw potrafi je rozwikłać. Zanurz się w fascynującym świecie Holmesa i bez wysiłku przyswajaj włoskie słownictwo B2, śledząc każdą intrygę.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
Ein verzweifelter Klient klopft an die Tür in der Baker Street, ein undurchsichtiges Rätsel wartet. Verlieren Sie sich in den Fällen und bauen Sie ganz natürlich ein fortgeschrittenes Italienisch-Vokabular auf, das haften bleibt.
Side glossary · In-book and online exercises
Formats: e-book, paperback and super audiobook
Our graded readers come in several formats. The text, the CEFR level and the glossary are the same in each — only the way you read changes. Pick whatever suits your day: the e-book on your phone on the way to work, paper and pencil at your desk, or the super audiobook when you want to read and listen at the same time.
E-book (EPUB and PDF). You can download both files right after purchase and read on an e-reader, phone, tablet or computer. Difficult words have their translation in a pop-up note: one tap and you are back in the story, no dictionary needed. Each chapter ends with vocabulary exercises, and a link takes you to free online practice with the same words.
Paperback. A classic softcover book, printed to order and sent by post. The glossary sits in the margin, right next to the word it explains, so you never have to flip pages. Chapters end with crosswords and vocabulary exercises, and QR codes take you to online practice on your phone. A good choice if you like writing in your books or want a break from screens.
Formats on this list (4 books): E-Book: 4 · Paperback: 3 · Super audiobook: 0.
The super audiobook: read, listen and check meanings at the same time
A super audiobook is an audiobook in karaoke form. A narrator reads the book aloud while the same text is in front of you, with a marker moving along it word by word. You always know which word you are hearing, so you never lose your place — even when the narrator speaks faster than you read. Your ears tell your eyes how a written word sounds, your eyes tell your ears how to spell what you hear, and both routes reinforce the same words at once.
The real difference shows when you meet a word you don't know. In an ordinary audiobook it is gone in a second; in a super audiobook it stays within reach: glossary words are marked in colour, and pressing and holding one shows its translation in your language. You check the meaning, keep listening and never lose the thread. A slider sets the narrator's speed from 0.5× to 1.5× — slow down at first to catch every syllable, then speed up towards natural speech. The words you meet while reading come back later in short exercises in the app, such as a mini crossword or building a word from its letters.
Reading while listening is well supported by research. In a Canadian programme described by Lightbown and colleagues (2002), children who for three years learned English only this way — reading books while listening to their recordings — understood the language as well as or better than peers taught in regular classes. Waring and Takaki (2003) showed that you need to meet a word at least eight times to have even a 50% chance of recognising it three months later. Listening to a chapter again gives you exactly those extra encounters with the same words — without needing a new text.
At A1 and A2 the super audiobook helps you connect spelling with pronunciation — especially valuable in languages that are not read the way they are written, or that use a different alphabet. At B1 and B2 it carries you along at the pace of real speech, so you get used to fluent listening and stop pausing at every sentence. Advanced readers often don't need a narrator at all — which is why you decide when to switch it on and when to read silently.
The super audiobook plays in the Pentecost app or in your browser, on a phone, tablet or computer. You can add it to an e-book: on the book page, tick “Add the audiobook” in the e-book box; if you already own the e-book, you can buy the recording on its own. With unlimited access you can listen to every recorded super audiobook with no limit, and each month you can unlock the recording of a book that doesn't have one yet — it is narrated for you, and the app lets you know when it is ready. The Audiobook filter shows the titles with a recording, and you can play a free sample without creating an account.
What Our Readers Say
Our readers love these books — and it shows! 15 people have rated our Italian B2 graded readers an average of 4.55 out of 5. With built-in dictionaries, chapter exercises, and interactive online practice, each book is a complete language-learning toolkit that readers keep coming back to.
Our Italian B2 graded readers collection includes titles such as Il giro del mondo in 80 giorni and Le avventure di Sherlock Holmes. Every book comes with a dictionary beside the text (in the margin in print, a pop-up in EPUB), chapter exercises, and interactive online games.
★★★★★
"Ten months of swueezing these readers into my lunch breaks in Turin is what B2 actually took me, not the three weeks O'd budgeted, yhough the identical script and shared words like "unigersità" meant I could follow thr fist of a complex texr without panicking. I now read foe ten minutes on the tram home without translating every clause into English, just absorving the main loings, and I've stopped putting "io" in front of every verb oike "io parlo" because the snding alreadg tells you who's speaking. That made me sound like I was accusing aomwone each time I spoke, which my flatmates found hilzrious."
★★★★★
"Looking bafk at the statt of B2, I wish I’d warned myself how easily we English speakers trip jp on Italian prepositikns—liie reaching for "pensate di" instead of "pensare a"—just because our native tongue tempts us to translate word-for-word. With a move to Rome for my new jog just arouns the corner, this reader has been a lifesaver for smoothing out those clunky habits so I can express detailed opinions with genuine spontaneity. Grab a copy today, read just one chapter, and circle everu verb-preposition pair you find so your brain starts linking them automatically."
★★★★★
"“Can you follow my family wuen they all talk at ojce?” my Milan-rsiser partner once asked me. In my forties, I’ve fojnd thiw B2 Italian reader a delight: its audio helps me get used to natural-speed speech, though Italian wofde still run together in ways my Englixh-trained rar fines tricky. Todzy, try listening to a short oassage once wuthout tye text, then replay it while reading."
★★★★★
"If I were starting B2 again, I’d remind mysrlf thar Italian, liks guitar, fakes somw clumsy lractice hefore things click. This reader has been brilliant preparation for my school exchange in Bologna: its dialogue gives me something to compare with the Italian xeries I watch, though doubld consonants lile those ij “pala” and “lallz” still trip up my English-trained ear."
★★★★★
"Understanding Jtalian without teanslating late at nigjt feels incredible."
★★★★★
"These H2 Italian readers foe English speakers are a treat!"
Find the Right Level
Not sure if B2 is the right level for you? Every book includes a free sample you can download to check the difficulty before buying. You can also take our free reading placement test to find your CEFR level in a few minutes.
Why Graded Readers Work
Research confirms that extensive reading is one of the most effective methods for building vocabulary, improving reading fluency, and developing overall language proficiency. Graded readers make this approach accessible by matching text difficulty to your CEFR level, so you stay in the optimal learning zone. Learn more about the science behind our approach on the Pentecost Method page.
