I am now reading Призрак оперы and I am enjoying it, because of the simple sentences (not too long sentences is easier reading) and because of the fact that the vocabulary is limited to the most frequent words of the language. And what is extremely helpful is the fact that there is a parallel translation which is almost a word-to-word translation! There are parallel text translations that are too free and differ too much from the Russian text. In the Призрак оперы this is not the case and that’s why this parallel translation is very helpful for Russian language learners. Very recommendable!