My husband has never enjoyed reading. His parents never took him to the library, and didn't buy him books as a kid. Nor did they read themselves. The only books he really read were books he was assigned in school.
We recently were talking about getting rid of our smart phones and going back to dumb phones, and going back to a life where we didn't have a boredom fix at our fingertips 24 hours a day. I had told him reading would, but he still says he hates to read. I told him he only hates to read because he hasn't found the genre he enjoys yet, so he's open to me finding him a couple books. He told me that the only books he enjoyed reading in school were 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Animal Farm.
I am a Non-Fiction reader and have never really enjoyed reading a lot of Fiction, so I was hoping to get some good recommendations from the good people of r/booksuggestions. What would you suggest for him to help him enjoy reading based off the books he enjoyed 25 years ago?
by lilberg83
5 Comments
My husband had the same experience as yours and isn’t into much reading.
I know you are wanting to do less tech, so this suggestion might be moot.
My husband has found he loves audio books.
Another suggestion is books by stand up comedians. My husband always liked books that his favorite comedians wrote.
I don’t want to stereotype your husband by reverting to books men wouid love but does he watch Reacher or Jack Ryan? Those shows are based off books. As is the Lincoln Lawyer.
What are his interests?
Try Dungeon Crawler Carl. It has a lot of action, so should hold a new reader, plus it is super funny, and sometimes sad.
Sounds like he might enjoy a classic dystopian or sci-fi crowd pleaser like Brave New World, American Gods, Slaughterhouse-Five, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? or A Clockwork Orange.
Alternatively, some dystopian novels that are super popular right now I think he might like: I Who Have Never Known Men, Station Eleven, Tender Is the Flesh, Land of Milk and Honey.
Wildcard suggestion, but perhaps the Hunger Games series could be a fun and accessible way for him to venture into getting started with his reading practice?
Also, I know you mentioned you don’t enjoy fiction, but I think reading the same books at the same time (or right before or after he does) could make the process of reading much more enjoyable for someone who is not used to it — that way, he’d be able to discuss theories and ideas with you, making the overall experience less solitary.
kaiju preservation society – by john scalzi
jamie gray is a disgruntled meal delivery person who is offered a job to mainly lift and move things for an animal rights organization, turns out there is a little more to it.
the eddie flynn series by steve cavanagh. flynn is a con artist/grifter turned lawyer. turns out there are transferable skills
these are ‘pull an all-nighter’ kind of books: fast paced, with quirky characters and menacing bad guys, sometimes spraying bullets. i hesitate to use the word ‘fun’ when carnage is involved, so i’ll say they are … thrilling. the 1st book is ‘the defense’
cold storage by david koepp – this book was recommended by stephen king. it was creepy slimy fun despite being about a mutant, sentinent, and highly adaptive space fungus.
“Walt Longmire” series by Craig Johnson. If he’s seen the Netflix series that’s okay because the books are far better, including the characters.
Works by Charles Frazier such as “Nightwoods” or “The Trackers” or “Thirteen Moons”.
“When Crickets Cry” by Charles Martin.