Looking for a book for my brother. He has never been a reader but asked me for book recommendations.
He is 40yo and going through rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. He is currently in a place where he has very little to do, so picked up a book for the first time in a very long time (a recovery related book). I'd like to send him some books that are not recovery/sobriety related to hopefully spark an interest in reading to help him develop some healthy hobbies.
His only real interest is sports (football, baseball, hockey, basketball- he likes everything). He mentioned that he has a book about Kobe Bryant that he's planning on reading. He likes documentaries, so many some non-fiction sports books, memoirs, etc would be good. Preferably books that don't delve deep into addiction issues, unless they have a happy ending. He's also open to fiction. He doesn't really watch movies or TV so I don't know what type of stories he likes. Any fiction books that are generally liked by ~40 year old men out there?
by iwannabanana
23 Comments
a lot of my guy friends love the red rising series, sci fi hunger games vibes kinda
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is a classic of nonfiction. It’s about mountain climbing, so it might scratch the sporting itch.
Edit: It is about a tragedy on Everest where several people die, so maybe not super uplifting. But it’s documentary style so kinda depends on his tolerance for that.
If he likes history, Ten Caesars by Barry Strauss is a great gateway book into the Roman Empire.
I’ve heard good things about The Boys of Riverside by Thomas Fuller, but haven’t read it myself yet.
Maybe Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain? A great read for seriously anyone and everyone. Or maybe he’d feel good about Stephen King? Carrie is a classic and short book, not intimidating in the least. If he is open to fantasy, I’ve always loved The Book of Flying by Keith Miller. Ooooor a little more dystopian but super interesting and he could watch the show after — Station Eleven!
Edit: or the classic route — Catcher In The Rye … of course 🙂
I havent read many sports-documentaries, but Dave Grohl wrote a quite easy-read biography that I quite enjoyed. It’s called The storyteller
A great read for baseball fans, You Gotta Have Wa.
A good historical saga, Astoria. Also books by James Michner, like Hawaii.
Two about soccer –
*’How Football Explains the World’* – Franklin Foer. The freakonomics of the sport if you like. (If he’s in the US it’s published as *’How Soccer Explains the World’* … ).
*’Barca: The Rise and Fall of the Club that Built Modern Football’* – Simon Kuper.
Hi ,
I advise you to use the free Audible application https://amzn.to/418X9L5
Which allows you to have different choices of audiobook to listen to first and which are free and after a month you can commit.
Happy reading 🙂
*The Martian* by Andy Weir. About overcoming insurmountable obstacles with cunning and humor. And also getting stranded on mars.
ETA: This is a really lovely thought, BTW. Wishing him all the best of luck.
Illusions – Richard Bach
It was life changing
When I want so light, escapist reading, I go for Clive Cussler (and his army of ghost writers) for James Bond-style adventure stories. The newer books (by ghost writers) like the NUMA Files series have modern tech and fast pace stories that don’t require much thinking.
On the sports theme: Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is a really nice read. Uplifting and hopeful, and will resonate with any sports fan (even if soccer isn’t his thing). Moneyball or The Blind Side by Michael Lewis are also great (although the latter does touch on drug issues so might not be what you want). I’ve also heard good things about The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.
When Pride Still Mattered is an excellent Vince Lombardi biography.
If he has any interest in anything engineering, construction or manufacturing bases Henry Peroskski does great history of different topics
Failure Is Not an Option is good if he has any interest in spaceflight.
How to invent everything by Ryan North is a fun combination of history humor and general knowledge facts
Harry Potter. For real.
If he’s open to science fiction, I think Project Hail Mary is one of the greatest books of all time. The audiobook is better than the physical book because of the voice acting. Not sure if he’ll have access to audiobooks but the physical book is definitely still great!
I know there is mention of drinking alcohol before the mission. But the alcohol use I remember was not a major plot point by any means. You can also check doesthedogdie.com for a comprehensive list of triggers for pretty much every book you get recommended.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. A gripping and true adventure tale that will amaze you with what can be overcome and give you so much faith in humanity.
What I talk about when I talk about running by Murakami. I don’t know why this came to me as an option, I really enjoyed it. It’s a memoir, but murakami is weird, so it has those vibes. I don’t remember if there’s drinking in it though, so not sure about trigger warnings.
The Alchemist.
Love a good bit of travel wonder.
I loved The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca. Lots of great stories and the truth about revenge and who was likely to purposely hit a batter. And John Grisham has a couple of books about sports – Calicoe Joe is about baseball and Sooley is about basketball.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
My bf is in his 50’s and he LOVES hunger games.
Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. Actually, anything by Grisham.