Describe a Book That Influenced You
A Band 8 model answer for the IELTS Part 2 cue card 'Describe a book that influenced you', with analysis of the language and Part 3 questions about reading and learning.
Cue Card
Describe a book that influenced you.
You should say:
- what the book is
- when you read it
- what it is about
And explain how this book influenced you.
A lot of candidates panic on this cue card because they think they need to have read something intellectual or famous. You don't. An honest answer about a simple book you genuinely connected with will always beat a strained summary of a 'serious' book you barely remember. The examiner is testing your English, not your reading list.
This model answer is around Band 8. It deliberately avoids over-explaining the plot — summarising a book in detail is boring and eats your time — and instead focuses on the one idea that actually changed something for the speaker.
Model Answer
Band 8The book that influenced me most is probably 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear. I'm not usually a big reader of self-help — I tend to find a lot of it quite shallow — but a friend kept recommending it, so I finally picked it up about two years ago, and it genuinely changed how I do things.
I won't go through the whole thing, but the core idea is really simple: that big changes don't come from dramatic effort, they come from tiny habits repeated consistently over a long time. The author argues you should focus on getting one percent better at things rather than chasing some massive transformation, because those small improvements compound in the same way money does with interest.
I read it during a period when I was feeling pretty stuck, to be honest — I had all these goals and no real progress on any of them, and I kept blaming a lack of motivation. What the book made me realise is that I'd been thinking about it completely wrong. I didn't need more motivation; I needed better systems and smaller, more sustainable steps.
The way it actually influenced me was quite practical. I stopped setting these enormous, intimidating goals and started building tiny daily routines instead — fifteen minutes of something rather than an ambitious two hours I'd never actually do. And it worked, slowly. Learning English itself is a good example; I made far more progress doing a little every day than I ever did from occasional cramming. So even though it's a fairly modest little book, it genuinely rewired how I approach almost any long-term goal, and I find myself recommending it to people constantly now.
Why This Answer Works
- It refuses to summarise the whole book. 'I won't go through the whole thing' is a smart, fluent move — it signals confidence and saves time for the part that earns marks: the personal influence.
- It's honest about the context. Admitting to feeling 'stuck' and blaming motivation makes the influence concrete — we see exactly what changed and why.
- It includes a self-referential example (learning English) that ties the answer back to something the examiner can relate to, which feels natural and a little clever.
- It manages register well. The speaker even pre-empts a criticism of self-help ('I tend to find a lot of it quite shallow'), which shows a nuanced, evaluative way of speaking rather than blank enthusiasm.
Key Phrases to Steal
“I won't go through the whole thing”
A confident way to skip a plot summary and protect your timing.
“those small improvements compound”
Precise vocabulary used naturally — strong lexical resource.
“I'd been thinking about it completely wrong”
Past perfect that frames a moment of realisation.
“I needed better systems, not more motivation”
A crisp contrast that captures the book's idea memorably.
“it genuinely rewired how I approach...”
A vivid verb choice that conveys lasting influence.
Part 3 Follow-Up Questions
Do you think people read less than they used to?
It depends how you define reading, really. If you mean sitting down with a physical book, then yes, almost certainly — there's far more competition for our attention now. But if you include everything people read on screens, articles, long threads, and so on, then we're probably reading more words than any generation in history. What's changed is the depth: we read a great deal more, but in a shallower, more fragmented way, and I think the capacity for sustained, deep reading is what's genuinely under threat.
Are paper books better than e-books?
Each has its place, honestly. E-books are unbeatable for convenience — you can carry an entire library in your pocket and buy a book instantly at two in the morning. But there's reasonable evidence that we retain information better from physical books, possibly because the physicality helps the brain map where things are. Personally I use e-books for travel and convenience but still prefer paper for anything I really want to absorb. I don't think one will fully replace the other.
Should children be encouraged to read more?
Absolutely, though I'd be careful about how. Reading builds vocabulary, concentration and empathy in a way almost nothing else does, so the benefits are enormous. But the moment reading becomes a chore — something forced, with comprehension tests attached — you risk killing the very enjoyment that makes it valuable. So I'd encourage it by surrounding children with interesting books and letting them choose, rather than prescribing what they 'should' read. The goal is to build readers, not just to tick a box.
Now Try It Out Loud
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