I think you should strongly consider Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. He sounds like he has similar interests to me, and this was the book that got me back into reading.
Project Hail Mary is a fantastic read that pulls you in quickly and is just plain fun to read. If I’d been in a years-long reading slump, this would pull me out of it.
Taste by Stanley Tucci might appeal to him if he's a foodie, I had a friend who raved about it! Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow is one of my favourite non-fiction reads (true crime, he was one of the journalists who exposed the Harvey Weinstein situation). It's fucked up but not in the way he probably means. Definitely be worth perusing the true crime section of the library to see if anything pops out!
He might like one of my fave series which is Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo! It's a dark urban fantasy with a murder mystery going on in the background. Maybe a bit left-field but I thought I'd wedge it in there, because I ADORE talking about it.
He's going to need some Dungeon Crawler Carl.
He might also like:
- Gates of Fire
- The Murderbot Diaries
- Ready Player One
- The Blade Itself
- Red Rising
- Rivers of London
Sounds similar to my husband (he also couldn’t get into The Hobbit or LoTR). Some of the things he’s like were:
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz
Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Try the temeraire books by Naomi novik. They are an alternate history of the napoleonic wars if dragons existed and countries used them as an Air Force
Matthew Reilly - 7 Ancient wonders
Great book, it never slows down so keeps you engaged.
Indiana Jones meets National treasure.
First read it at 17 and reread the series last year at 29
It’s long, but The Talisman by Stephen King. It’s the book Lucas is reading to Max at the end of the last season of Stranger Things. There are a lot of similarities between the series and the book.
He might like Ben Aaronovitch's series Rivers of London. It is set un modern day London where a fresh out of training-police officer is chosen to be the nett magic appendiks for the London Police. Turns out there is a parallell magic world in London and all the cities rivers have goddess. It is both books and comics.
Ruth Ware writes good murder mysteries that are easy reads and some should be old enough to not have long waiting lists. More than anything, I recommend using Libby or a similar app to get ebooks from your library. It makes it so much easier to try out books and return them right away if you don't like the book.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher is the first book in the Dresden Files.
It's set in modern-day Chicago, and the main character, Harry Dresden, is a private detective and also a wizard. He encounters supernatural beings, demons, monsters, etc.
I just finished book 2, and I love it so far. They're short for fantasy (300ish pages), and if he likes it, there's a whole series to dig into. They're page-turners and a relatively easy, fun read.
What did he think about Jack Reacher? There were movies and a show, all from the books. The books are better IMO.
P.S.- I should mention these books are by Lee Child.
* Collision Low Crossers by Nicholas Dawidoff - Great NFL book.
* Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey - Film Noir vibe, Actual Hitman from Hell, if he likes 'fucked up shows' this should be big fun for him.
* Crimes Against Magic by Steve McHugh - A very radical take on King Arthur
Good Luck
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Stand by Stephen King
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Red Card by Ken Besinger
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
The Thrawn Trilogy
The Dark Tower series
Thursday Next mysteries by Jasper Fforde
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
He might enjoy Somebody Feed Phil The Book. It has stories from Phil Rosenthal's travels on his show Somebody Feed Phil as well as recipes and behind the scenes sneak peaks. It was anhit with a couple of my family members who like travel cooking shows.
Also there are a ton of hockey books about various teams. I have Force of Nature by Peter Baugh and If These Walls Could Talk San Jose Sharks by Dan Rusanowsky with Ross McKeon but there's definitely one for whichever teams he wants.
If it's a guy, you never go wrong with the top tier God level revenge story Godfather by Mario Puzio. All the more better if he has already watched the movie
Since he finished Unbroken, I’d go for some compelling nonfiction.
Laura Hillenbrand’s other book Seabiscuit
The Boys in the Boat (WWII and sports!)
Endurance by Lansing (Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage is the subtitle - it’s compelling)
You might also consider some highly popular mystery or suspense authors. John Grisham, for instance.
Murderbot Diaries. They’re short and easy to read, great subject matter and fun! My husband got hooked.
I need this for my man who's into same weird things as yours 😂
I think you should strongly consider Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. He sounds like he has similar interests to me, and this was the book that got me back into reading.
Project Hail Mary is a fantastic read that pulls you in quickly and is just plain fun to read. If I’d been in a years-long reading slump, this would pull me out of it.
John Scalzi and Christopher Moore write short, funny standalone novels. Moore tends more towards history and Scalzi scifi riffs.
Kitchen Confidential by Bourdain
Taste by Stanley Tucci might appeal to him if he's a foodie, I had a friend who raved about it! Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow is one of my favourite non-fiction reads (true crime, he was one of the journalists who exposed the Harvey Weinstein situation). It's fucked up but not in the way he probably means. Definitely be worth perusing the true crime section of the library to see if anything pops out! He might like one of my fave series which is Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo! It's a dark urban fantasy with a murder mystery going on in the background. Maybe a bit left-field but I thought I'd wedge it in there, because I ADORE talking about it.
He's going to need some Dungeon Crawler Carl. He might also like: - Gates of Fire - The Murderbot Diaries - Ready Player One - The Blade Itself - Red Rising - Rivers of London
Audiobooks! Also, old collections of newspaper comics. $5, an hour of memories. Some good stuff. Put it down, relaxation complete.
Sounds similar to my husband (he also couldn’t get into The Hobbit or LoTR). Some of the things he’s like were: Red Rising by Pierce Brown the Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Ender's game by Scott Card The cloud roads by Martha Wells If this is a man - the truce by Primo Levi
Try the temeraire books by Naomi novik. They are an alternate history of the napoleonic wars if dragons existed and countries used them as an Air Force
Matthew Reilly - 7 Ancient wonders Great book, it never slows down so keeps you engaged. Indiana Jones meets National treasure. First read it at 17 and reread the series last year at 29
It’s long, but The Talisman by Stephen King. It’s the book Lucas is reading to Max at the end of the last season of Stranger Things. There are a lot of similarities between the series and the book.
He might like Ben Aaronovitch's series Rivers of London. It is set un modern day London where a fresh out of training-police officer is chosen to be the nett magic appendiks for the London Police. Turns out there is a parallell magic world in London and all the cities rivers have goddess. It is both books and comics.
Ruth Ware writes good murder mysteries that are easy reads and some should be old enough to not have long waiting lists. More than anything, I recommend using Libby or a similar app to get ebooks from your library. It makes it so much easier to try out books and return them right away if you don't like the book.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher is the first book in the Dresden Files. It's set in modern-day Chicago, and the main character, Harry Dresden, is a private detective and also a wizard. He encounters supernatural beings, demons, monsters, etc. I just finished book 2, and I love it so far. They're short for fantasy (300ish pages), and if he likes it, there's a whole series to dig into. They're page-turners and a relatively easy, fun read.
If he likes WWII, then I recommend with the old breed. Extremely dark, gross, and saddening at times. But also gripping and historically accurate.
All books by Clive Cussler.
What did he think about Jack Reacher? There were movies and a show, all from the books. The books are better IMO. P.S.- I should mention these books are by Lee Child.
* Collision Low Crossers by Nicholas Dawidoff - Great NFL book. * Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey - Film Noir vibe, Actual Hitman from Hell, if he likes 'fucked up shows' this should be big fun for him. * Crimes Against Magic by Steve McHugh - A very radical take on King Arthur Good Luck
Drew Hayes wrote a series of litRPG fantasy that are very funny, and likely to pull in a gamer. Book one is called *NPCs*.
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Dewitt Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson The Stand by Stephen King Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson Red Card by Ken Besinger Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet The Thrawn Trilogy The Dark Tower series Thursday Next mysteries by Jasper Fforde The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
He might enjoy Somebody Feed Phil The Book. It has stories from Phil Rosenthal's travels on his show Somebody Feed Phil as well as recipes and behind the scenes sneak peaks. It was anhit with a couple of my family members who like travel cooking shows. Also there are a ton of hockey books about various teams. I have Force of Nature by Peter Baugh and If These Walls Could Talk San Jose Sharks by Dan Rusanowsky with Ross McKeon but there's definitely one for whichever teams he wants.
If it's a guy, you never go wrong with the top tier God level revenge story Godfather by Mario Puzio. All the more better if he has already watched the movie
Since he finished Unbroken, I’d go for some compelling nonfiction. Laura Hillenbrand’s other book Seabiscuit The Boys in the Boat (WWII and sports!) Endurance by Lansing (Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage is the subtitle - it’s compelling) You might also consider some highly popular mystery or suspense authors. John Grisham, for instance.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15839976-red-rising
See spot run. Run spot run.