Vad är det för bok du läser nu?

In this sentence, vad är det för + noun is a very common Swedish pattern used to ask what kind of / what sort of something is.

So:

• Vad är det för bok ... ? = What kind of book ... ?

Depending on context, it can also sound like What book ... ?, but the basic idea is classification or type.

This pattern is idiomatic. You should learn vad är det för as a chunk, rather than translating each word separately.

Yes, to an English speaker, det can feel extra.

In vad är det för, the det is part of the fixed Swedish expression. You usually do not need to interpret it literally as it in normal English.

Compare:

• Vad är det? = What is it?
• Vad är det för bok? = What kind of book is it? / What book is it?

So in this structure, det helps build the idiomatic question pattern. It is not something you would normally translate word-for-word.

It can be understood either way depending on context, but the most direct sense is:

• What kind of book are you reading now?

That said, in real conversation it may sometimes work almost like:

• What book are you reading now?

The difference is subtle. Vad är det för bok ... ? often focuses on the type or nature of the book, not only its title.

For example, it may invite answers like:

• En deckare. = A detective novel.
• En historisk roman. = A historical novel.

But in casual use, someone might also answer with the actual title.

Because the question is asking what kind of book or what book, not referring to a specific already-identified book as the book.

• bok = a book / book
• boken = the book

In Swedish, after vad är det för, the noun is normally indefinite:

• Vad är det för film?
• Vad är det för musik?
• Vad är det för bok?

Using boken here would sound wrong in this structure.

Because du läser nu is not the main question by itself. It functions like a clause describing bok:

• the book [that] you are reading now

So the sentence is built like this:

• Vad är det för bok
  • du läser nu?

Inside that descriptive clause, Swedish uses normal statement order:

• du läser
• not läser du

If you asked the simpler direct question, then you would get inversion:

• Vad läser du nu? = What are you reading now?

So:

• Vad läser du nu? = direct question clause
• ... bok du läser nu = clause attached to bok

Yes, you can think of it that way.

A fuller version would be:

• Vad är det för bok som du läser nu?

Here som means that/which and introduces the relative clause.

In everyday Swedish, especially in speech, som is often left out in this kind of sentence:

• boken (som) du läser nu

So both are possible, but the version without som is very natural.

Yes. That is also a common and natural Swedish sentence.

• Vad är det för bok du läser nu?
• Vad läser du för bok nu?

Both can mean roughly What kind of book are you reading now?

The second version may feel a little more direct because it starts with the verb läser pattern:

• Vad läser du för bok?

The first version uses the fixed expression vad är det för.

Both are good Swedish.

In this sentence, för does not have its usual concrete meaning like for in English.

Inside vad är det för + noun, it is part of an idiomatic structure meaning something like:

• what kind of
• what sort of

So you should not try to translate it separately word by word. Just learn:

• vad är det för bok = what kind of book
• vad är det för film = what kind of film
• vad är det för ljud = what kind of sound

Läser is the present tense of läsa (to read).

• läsa = to read
• läser = read / am reading / are reading / is reading

Swedish present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive idea that English expresses with be + -ing.

So:

• du läser nu = you read now or more naturally you are reading now

Because of nu (now), the progressive meaning is especially clear in English.

Nu means now.

It tells us the speaker is asking about the book the person is reading at the moment / currently.

Without nu, the sentence would still work:

• Vad är det för bok du läser?

That could mean What kind of book are you reading? in a more general sense.

Adding nu makes it more immediate:

• What kind of book are you reading now?

It is completely natural in everyday Swedish.

It is neither unusually formal nor unusually slangy. A native speaker could easily say it in normal conversation.

If anything, the version without som feels quite natural and conversational:

• Vad är det för bok du läser nu?

A slightly fuller version with som may feel a bit more explicit:

• Vad är det för bok som du läser nu?

But both are normal.

Yes, very often. This is a productive and useful pattern.

Examples:

• Vad är det för film? = What kind of film is it?
• Vad är det för musik du lyssnar på? = What kind of music are you listening to?
• Vad är det för bil? = What kind of car is it?
• Vad är det för problem? = What kind of problem is that?

So if you learn vad är det för + noun, you can use it in many situations.

You can, but only as a rough learning tool.

A very literal breakdown would be something like:

• Vad = what
• är = is
• det = it/that
• för bok = for book
• du läser nu = you are reading now

But this literal version is not good English. The natural meaning is:

• What kind of book are you reading now?

So it is better to understand the sentence by pattern rather than by strict word-for-word translation.

Usually the answer would either give the type of book or the specific title.

Type:

• Det är en roman. = It’s a novel.
• En deckare. = A detective novel.
• En fantasybok. = A fantasy book.

Specific book:

• Jag läser Mina drömmars stad.
• Det är Harry Potter.

Because the question often suggests what kind of book, answers about genre are especially common.