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Original poster

Choose one novel for ds (18) to get back into reading

94 replies

Trumporange · 17/06/2023 13:21

My ds just turned 18. He used to be an avid reader when he was younger but got out of the habit after primary school.
I'm biased but based on what others say too, he's funny, clever, and he also likes observing people and society.

Quite mature for his age so wants something for adults not YA fiction.

Definitely not scifi or fantasy as that's not his thing.

I'm thinking something along the lines of Martin Amis, Ian McEwan. I definitely think the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt would appeal but it is quite long for a first foray back into reading.

So, if he were to read one novel this summer to see if he can get back into reading what could it be?

OP posts:
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Triptoqueen · 21/06/2023 08:29

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris is a great book based on a true story.
There is a film but a 2 hour film can't pack in hours of story imv.

Daisy62 · 20/06/2023 21:59

Persepolis

PinkLazyApple · 20/06/2023 21:31

What about some John Irving? The World According to Garp or the Cider House Rules? Both are very entertaining, intelligent and have humour throughout.

Or

The Godfather?

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 20/06/2023 21:26

Oblomov23 · 17/06/2023 15:02

Reading with interest because I'd like to buy ds1(19) something.

Mine hasn't read in ages and is reading Bear Grylls autobiography at the moment. A friend has lent it to him and I'm amazed that he's actually reading it!

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 20/06/2023 21:23

RobertsRadio · 17/06/2023 13:50

If he likes humorous novels then maybe the Wilt series, Tom Sharpe.

Oh god I loved those books at that age!

Triptoqueen · 20/06/2023 09:50

Piranesi by Susanna Clark. It was nominated for prizes in 2021. The story is quite surreal but explained in the end, quite a short book. I loved it but some don't.

sashh · 20/06/2023 08:42

Could you get him a Kindle or a Kobo? There are loads of free books available on them.

Daftasabroom · 20/06/2023 08:27

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Anything by Tom Sharp
Anything by Bernhard Cornwall

Triptoqueen · 20/06/2023 07:23

Endurance by Alfred Lansing about Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson though he may have seen the film.

Redshoeblueshoe · 20/06/2023 07:04

I gave my DD The Island by Adrian McKinty, she raced through it - and wanted to know why it isn't a film. It would make an excellent film

BlastedPimples · 20/06/2023 06:50

Last Exit to Brooklyn

In Cold blood

Catch 22

cuckyplunt · 20/06/2023 06:45

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, it is hilarious!

fruitpastille · 20/06/2023 06:43

What about Starter for 10 or Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls, which both have young men as the protagonist.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 20/06/2023 06:37

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 18/06/2023 21:19

The Martian.

A man is left behind on Mars when his expedition crew has to evacuate without him, and he has to science his way through it.

I think you’ll find he has to science the shit out of it 😂 (My favourite line in the film - can’t remember if it’s in the novel too!)

AnythingMuppetTM · 19/06/2023 08:58

@Screamingabdabz I would love to know the working class and violent book please!

Original poster
Trumporange · 19/06/2023 00:11

So many brilliant suggestions!

Janina, he has read Mockingbird a few years ago (the only non-school book he read recent-ishly).

Not at all into superhero stuff - not his thing.

OP posts:
Screamingabdabz · 18/06/2023 21:50

Wow this thread for an 18 year old boy who has fallen out of love with reading is certainly very highbrow! The Secret History? Omg what a steaming pile of boring pretentious nothingness. Just no.

The book I was going to recommend is clearly far too working class and violent so I will dumb it down and suggest any books by men who have an easy writing style and blokey sense of humour - so any Stephen King, Dean Koontz, yes to Hitchhiker's Guide series, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, The Ritual by Adam Neville, The Felix Castor series by Mike Carey, the Bear Grylls biography books, or Chris Ryan SAS stuff, Early John Grisham, even Dan Brown.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 18/06/2023 21:19

The Martian.

A man is left behind on Mars when his expedition crew has to evacuate without him, and he has to science his way through it.

Scout2016 · 18/06/2023 21:18

Death and The Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

Was also thinking maybe Trainspotting or Wasp Factory, or The Collector or something with a bit of melodrama, like Misery?

Or To Kill A Mockingbird, Beloved, Half A Yellow Sun.

Tessisme · 18/06/2023 18:48

'The Talented Mr Ripley' Patricia Highsmith
'The Bonfire of the Vanities' Tom Wolfe

Also another vote for 'The Beach'.

cheapskatemum · 18/06/2023 16:09

Steinbeck's Cannery Row might work: short stories which can be read individually, but have the same characters running through, so if you read them all you get to know them. I remember that feeling of missing them & wondering what they were up to once I'd finished the book (which is short).

Oneearringlost · 18/06/2023 16:00

Needmorelego · 17/06/2023 13:27

My crossover from children’s fiction to adult was the Tales of the City series by Armisted Maupin.

Yes, yes, yes!

mathanxiety · 18/06/2023 15:56

I highly recommend 'The Boys on the Boat', by Daniel James Brown, which is a sort of literary documentary, following the fortunes of one particular member of the University of Washington crew from childhood on.

It's not just about rowing, though rowing features strongly - it's set in the 1920s - 30s and spans the Great Depression, the rise of the Nazis, the New Deal. But it is also a story of a family, of family relationships, and the story of a boy from an impoverished background making his way in the world against serious odds.

Wonderful character studies all through. Extremely well written.

wizzler · 18/06/2023 15:54

A prayer for Owen Meany : John Irving

Piggywaspushed · 18/06/2023 15:46

I lived Beryl Bainbridge as a teen. Dark!!

Also liked Saki and Roald Dahl short stories. So much nastiness.