My husband has never really been much of a reader but really wants to get into it. What are some great books/genres for men? For context he’s 38 and in the past I know he’s enjoyed some Stephen king/horror novels and some memoirs but he’d be open to anything except maybe fantasy. And probably nothing too boring or complicated (ADHD and not an experienced reader lol). Thanks!
by srh828
7 Comments
Crime thriller? Maybe Don Winslow’s The Power of the Dog. That was the book that got me into reading
Totally recommend the Harry Bosch books by Michael Connelly. I’d start with Trunk Music (#5), then circle back to the start of the series.
Old Man and the Sea/Of Mice and Men
Anything Steinbeck, The Hobbit, Tom Sawyer, James, Animal Farm, The Martian, Project Hail Mary, Red Rising, Bill Bryson, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury
Michael Crichton generally feels like a good fit. Exciting, easy reads that are page turners. Don’t have to dive into philosophy or symbology like you will with a lot of classics.
Jurassic Park
Andromeda Strain
Sphere
All great books, not too taxing while still creative and fun and often dark/ominous. There’s good reason all three were made into movies.
S. A. Cosby. His books are all stand alones, do can be read in any order. Southern Gothic Noir is his basic “genre”. So good. My favorite, I think, is Blacktop Wasteland.
If he’s liked Stephen King, try Joe Hill. My favorite is Heart Shaped Box about a washed up rocker who gets drunk and buys a “ghost” online, and gets… more than he bargained for. Joe Hill is also Stephen King’s son, and I he apple did not fall far from the tree.
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff. Based on true fact “green book” guides for safe travels for African Americans, but with a supernatural twist. Or Bad Monkeys, where Jane is arrested but says she works for a super secret, quasi government agency, the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons, i.e. bad monkeys.
Maybe start with one of the shorter Stephen King books he hasn’t read, since he’s enjoyed King in the past. *Carrie* and *Misery* both come to mind. Typical King plot and pacing, but shorter novels than a lot of his most famous ones.