First of all, it is good to improve English by reading the original text, but don't expect to make rapid progress in the short term. The improvement of grades must be after the establishment of a sense of language. If you specialize in grades, you can find some newspapers and magazines, and the language of newspapers and magazines is also used for exams.
Therefore, the recommended books are for the sense of language, not directly leading to high scores.
Jane Austen's works, such as Pride and Prejudice, should be very suitable for lz. Her writing is simple, her writing is not gorgeous, but it is also very pleasant. Her works are also famous in China. Lz probably met them. With the impression of the plot, it is much easier to read the original.
Prose and essays are very representative in English. We are familiar with bacon and the like, although the thinking is a bit old-fashioned, and the writing and wording are very skillful. His works are difficult to understand, but fortunately, most of his translations are very good, so you can refer to them. If you only want to read English, I recommend Liam's Essays.
Another kind of reading is letters. Letters in pure English (not letters from celebrities from all over the world) are hard to see in bookstores. Ten years ago, a club produced a series of "100". I don't know if it still exists. Although there are also letters from non-English speaking countries, most of them are in English. Letters can be read by anyone and are very easy to understand.
I have to mention drama. Most ancient English writers dabbled in drama. But Shakespeare is still the biggest. It's just that most of the plays are mixed with dialects and spoken languages, and most of these languages have been eliminated, so it's difficult to understand. Lz can read the Chinese translation first, and then some English comments. I don't pay much attention to modern drama and drama, but there should also be books specially printed, which must be of great benefit.
As for novels, the ones we are familiar with, such as Dickinson, are really archaic, and many idioms are not used much now. Lz can be seen from the current novels, or from some shallow writings in the 20th century. But I only know Jane Austen, and it's not easy to talk nonsense.
Because it is for the sense of language, the coverage can be wider. The poems of Wordsworth, Tennyson and Byron are easy to understand. Modern poets, such as Tagore and Eliot, and a group of poets after World War II, whose language is modern English, are no longer restricted by metrical parts, and should read smoothly. As for the theoretical monographs of various disciplines, the language is generally shallow. Lz can choose some familiar fields and vocabulary, and many times the translated version is really not perfect.
One thing, English, like Chinese, has ancient and modern sayings, but English has not undergone such a big artificial change, but the difference caused by a long stream of water, so it looks less obvious. But lz can think about the evolution of Chinese from Qin Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, and we can know the great changes. Therefore, the more forward-looking writers, even if their writing was shallow at that time, are not necessarily obscure now.
According to my reading, lz can only stop here if he wants a shallow masterpiece. Lz can try to find an anthology of English literature, dabble in it first, find interested authors, and then delve into it. I really hope to read obscure classics. There may be an abbreviated version on the market, but it will be boring to read it. Or you can find a bilingual one.
Finally, recommend a website. There are many famous books on it, all of which are free and open, but unfortunately they can't be downloaded. Lz can see for himself. Although there are some mistakes from time to time, they are not undetectable. The only drawback is that there are few notes on it, and ancient writers like to quote classics.
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There is also a full version of the bible on it, which is very shallow. If it does not conflict with lz's beliefs and persistence, it can be seen.