Many Italian students search for good Italian books to read at an advanced level. We know that most of the available materials for Italian learners/readers online are for beginners. That’s why we made sure to give you a guide on what to read in your advanced level of the Italian language.
![12 Advanced Italian Books To Read For [B2-C1] Level.](https://tuttoinitaliano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/12-Advanced-Italian-Books-To-Read-For-B2-C1-Level.-1024x1024.png "12 Advanced Italian Books To Read For [B2-C1] Level. 1")
All the details you’ll need for each story you’ll find under each story, all of the stories are in Italian, no English included, and all of them come with audio and exercises. These stories are a good foundation that will take you from B1 level to C2 level. They are a little longer than the stories you read in previous levels. The stories are full of details, so read them very well and try your best to understand them (especially the grammar). Take your time to understand each character in these stories, what role they are playing, and how they affect other characters. The more you try to understand the story and the moral behind it, the more you will be able to express your thoughts about it, which will eventually improve your Italian and help you speak the language fluently with good grammar.
Here is your list of 12 Italian books to read for the advanced level [B2,C1]
1. Un’altra vita
- Author: Ivana Fratter
- Level: B1-B2
- Words: 2500
- Chapters: 11
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The story is about Giacomo, a boy who thinks only of himself. He spends his time having fun with friends and playing in the casino. For him, family is just a place to go to eat, sleep, and ask for money. One evening, returning home, he is kidnapped. However, there are many incomprehensible things in his kidnapping: how come his kidnappers don’t ask for money from his family? Why do they know so much about him, as if they have known him forever? And where are his parents? Why don’t they warn the police? An exciting story full of mystery, but also an inner journey to discover oneself, a moving story about family and feelings. You can find the book with the CD here.
2. Dolce vita
- Author: Alessandro De Giuli, Ciro Massimo Naddeo.
- Level: B1-B2
- Words: 2500
- Chapters: 17
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The story happens in the 60’s. Rome was the capital of world cinema. This book tells the sweet and intriguing story of a girl and her young friend involved in a mysterious adventure in the world of movie stars. You can find the book with the CD here.
3. Ritorno alle Origini
- Author: Valentina Mapelli
- Level: B1- B2
- Chapters: 7
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The story is about a successful young man who decides to travel from Manhattan to Italy with the intention of satisfying his curiosity about who is the man who looks so much like him portrayed in a photograph that appeared in an American newspaper The attempt to find an explanation the mystery turns into a journey to rediscover the past in a return to origins that will help the protagonist to shed light on his own existence and build a more peaceful future You can find the book with the CD here.
4. L’eredità
- Author: Luisa Brisi
- Level: B1- B2
- Chapters: 8
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The story is about Laurence, who works as a reception manager in a luxury hotel in Switzerland. Upon the death of her father, she inherits a farmhouse in Piedmont. The girl decides to move and transform the inherited farmhouse into a Bed & Breakfast. The relatives and friends of her father do everything possible to help her with her project, but a terrible discovery from her convinces Laurence that it is better to drop everything and go back to Switzerland, when …You can find the book with the CD here.
5. Italo Calvino
- Author: Maria Angela Cernigliaro
- Level: B1- B2
- Chapters: 11
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The book contains 11 works by the author, Italo Calvino. You can find the book with the CD here.
6. Undici racconti
- Author: Marco Dominici
- Level: B1- B2
- Chapters: 11
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The book contains 11 tales. so to speak, “interactive”, that is, they leave room for the direct intervention of the student, who is invited to complete them or to guess the ending and to reconstruct or reinvent the plot. You can find the book with the CD here.
7. Mistero all’Abbazia
- Author: Maria Luisa Banfi, Simona Gavelli
- Level: B2
- Chapters: 10
- Exercises: After each Chapter.
- Answer Keys: On the publisher’s website.
The story is about Anna and Marco, a young couple, it was supposed to have a restful holiday, a break from studying for their university courses, in the peaceful Lombardy countryside. But too many strange things happen in the nearby Abbey of Morimondo. What mystery is hidden in those age-old walls? Who is sneaking around the Abbey? Will Ann and Marco manage to resolve the case and remove all doubts? You can find the book with the CD here.
8. Viaggio a Venezia
- Author: Laura Rubino
- Level: B2
- Chapters: 5
- Exercises: After each Chapter.
- Answer Keys: On the publisher’s website.
The story is about how history and legend intertwine, and the past seems to come to life in the present. Let yourself be guided through these suggestive places in one of the most fascinating Italian cities. Discover the magical atmosphere that is in the air, where time seems to stand still. You can find the book with the CD here.
9. La Fuga di Bach
- Author: Susanna Longo, Regina Assini
- Level: B2
- Chapters: 10
- Exercises: After each Chapter.
- Answer Keys: On the publisher’s website.
The story is about when the curtain rises, and the audience is shocked to discover that the prima ballerina has suddenly disappeared. Someone finds her lifeless body and makes an anonymous phone call to the police: she has been killed! Will police commissioner Bonardi, accompanied by the music of Bach, be able to solve the mystery? You can find the book with the CD here.
10. Rose rosse per il commissario
- Author: Susanna Longo, Regina Assini
- Level: B2
- Chapters: 9
- Exercises: After each Chapter.
- Answer Keys: On the publisher’s website.
The story is about a telephone number on a fifty-euro banknote, a bunch of red roses, and a suspicious florist. All apparently commonplace things, which could go unobserved by anybody… but not the eyes of the attentive and alert Grandini, a retired police commissioner. Is the telephone number a cry for help, or does the commissioner simply see mysteries everywhere? Let yourself get involved in this adventure and help the commissioner solve this enigma! You can find the book with the CD here.
11. Dino Buzzati
- Author: Maria Angela Cernihliaro
- Level: B2-C1
- Chapters: 10
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The book Dino Buzzati contains 10 works by Dino Buzzati, and a short biography of the author. You can find the book with the CD here.
12. Il Sosia
- Author: Marco Dominici
- Level: C1-C2
- Chapters: 8
- Exercises: At the end of the book
- Answer Keys: At the end of the book
The story of Onofrio Maneggioni, an important businessman who is kidnapped one morning in front of his villa. At least that’s what the television says, and that’s what everyone thinks. In truth, behind the kidnapping hides the past of the entrepreneur himself, a past that comes back to knock on Maneggioni’s door to settle some unfinished business. A compelling story in which there is no shortage of twists that keep the reader’s attention and curiosity high. You can find the book with the CD here.
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