Anna, Berlin: Deutsch als Fremdsprache / Leseheft (Hueber Lese-Novelas)

This is a very easy graded reader with accompanying audio, about a young woman falling in love with a handsome, successful man. Although the story is bland, there are a couple of things that add to the entertainment value for me: first, the simplicity of the language really highlights the clichéd plot (“I don’t want a sophisticated, high society woman, I want a normal girl like you!”), to the point that it reads like a parody; second, the dated cultural references are rather charming - it’s like watching Clueless or 10 Things I Hate About You (though not quite as brilliant as those).

The chapters are incredibly short - usually only about 5 sentences - so “just one more chapter” easily turns into several chapters. As mentioned previously, the language is very simple, to the point that an English speaker with no prior knowledge of German could read and understand without needing to look anything up (which is lucky, because no vocabulary list is provided). The audio is great, too: the narrator speaks clearly and at a good pace.

The story may be lacking, but I’d definitely recommend it as some extensive reading for beginners.