My bf’s been wanting to pick up reading but he doesn’t know what books to look into. Idk what to recommend him exactly cause I don’t think he will enjoy the kind of books i like. He struggles to focus so something not too long and good paced would be preferable. He enjoys mystery, suspense and philosophy. Can anyone give me some suggestions??
by hyperjunkfolder
15 Comments
SA Cosby
Joe Lansdale
Jason Starr
Peter Swanson
Albert Camus – The Stranger
Albert Camus – The Fall
Ted Chiang – Exhalation
Exhalation is probably the best since it’s a bunch of short stories.
All three are known for philosophy told through stories.
There are more but some are plenty long and require a fair degree of patience and concentration.
Is your boyfriend a gamer?
Murderbot series reads a bit like a first person shooter, face paced action, very little description.
*The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements* by Eric Hoffer (philosophy).
Recursion by Blake Crouch, if he likes time travel stories. That one starts out with a serious wtf?! moment and then continues to be a cinematic page turner.
The Will of the Many by James Islington, is long but I literally stopped watching TV and playing video games for the two weeks it took me to finish it was that good.
The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey starting with Leviathan Wakes. All of the books are serious page turners, and if he’s seen the show the books are even better.
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett one of the funniest books I’ve ever read and very easy to enjoy in small doses.
Can’t go wrong with an Agatha Christie for a mystery novel, they’re short, engaging, and easy to consume. If I was to recommend one specifically I would choose *The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.* For suspense I would choose Stephen King’s *Misery*, he has most likely seen the movie, but the book is way better, gripping throughout. For philosophy, I would recommend either *Siddhartha* by Herman Hesse or *The Stranger* by Albert Camus- both are very different in their approaches to life and the tone they employ, yet they both are short and powerful pieces of philosophical fiction.
Maybe Logicomix? It’s a shortish graphic novel about the history of logic as a mathematical field, and an exploration of why so many important logicians go insane. Not dry at all
Ready player one.
It is fast paced and an easy read.
Needful Things by Stephen King.
into thin air
Ansel Adam’s photography
I always recommend graphic novels as a gateway to reading. Especially if he can find one that was adapted into a tv show he liked, like Sandman or the Umbrella Academy so everything is familiar and comfortable.
Seconding the other suggestion for Murderbot! The first books were novellas and a nice, action-packed read.
My boyfriend got me really into the He Who Fights With Monsters series. His whole family is obsessed with it, and I’d say for good reason. Adventure, humor, magic, all the emotions. I recommend it to everyone who even remotely considers reading fantasy.
Pulp science fiction and crime fiction in general. Fast paced, plots aren’t too complicated, and language is pretty simple. Raymond Chandler, Daschel Hammett, and Rex Stout are good examples and fun reads in the crime fiction genre. Donald Westlake and Micheal Connelly are both excellent, and while not pulp, they grab, you grab you quickly. Under his Penn name, Richard Stark, the Parker series is excellent . For Connelly, I prefer the Bosch series to the Lincoln Lawyer series. Mickey Splaine’s Hammer series
SF: Authors like Stanislaw Lem, Ben Bova Arthur C Clark, Robert Heinlen,( anything) he wrote). Ray Bradbury (October Country, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The stories in these books became plots for Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, etc. His stiry The Velt ismone of my favorites). Newer Orsin Scott Card, Lois McMasters Bujold, E. E. Doc Smith Skylark series, John Ringo March Up Country Series and his LookingbGlass Series. He writes military SF
I suppose if you want something on the funny side Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore, Robert Asprin Nelson Cheereta the Waldo Rabbit series and finally Terry Pratchett
Dick and Jane – the adult version. More pictures, less text.
If he doesn’t read by now you’re wasting your time.
Seeing That Frees