What does it take to achieve an A* in first language English?

I often have some teachers constantly ranting about reading a sufficient amount of books but what type of books exactly do I need to read that could be applied in paper 1 or 2? Or sometimes they would just ask to focus on the structure of the question and what does it require. Students that are deemed to get an A* by teachers or students that has achieved an A*. How do you revise for English?