Can anyone recommend some books for non-reading DH?

[MrsBradleyCooper]

I've bought DH a Kindle Fire for Christmas. Partly because I couldn't flipping think of anything to get him and partly because he is quite stressy and needs to chill out IMO. He spends a lot of time looking at the web/iphone so I thought the Kindle Fire would be a good compromise.

Anyhoo, he probably hasn't read a book for about 15 years, possibly longer, so I am looking for some recommendations for not too long, gripping stories that might get him into reading.

Thanks in advance

Try some biogs maybe? Bear Grylls or Bradley Wiggings for example? Or maybe the origional James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. If he wants something modern ish maybe James Patterson Don't need much of an attention span for those!

Excellent thank you!

There is also some good non-fiction out there.

Try Mark Bowden-he writes gripping stuff better than most thrillers. He wrote Black Hawk down, for example, and Killing Pablo (about hunting down the drug lord Pablo Escobar).

Also Sebastian Junger, who wrote A Perfect Storm.

And Mark Lewis-his latest is Boomerang, a really readable account of the world financial crisis and the stupidity that led up to it, full of entertaining tales from different countries.

If you buy him fiction, consider short stories as they take less 'getting in to' than a long novel.

Do you have a holiday booked and could maybe get him a travel guide / Bill Bryson type thing?

As it's a kindle fire, does it have to be a book? couldn't you upload a couple of DVDs for him onto it or buy some games?

Thanks, some great ideas there - I will definitely look at the biogs and non fiction. I bought my dad the Bear Grylls book and he thought it was fab so I might try going along those lines.

Unfortunately we don't have a holiday booked and unlikely to be booking one so that's perhaps something for the future.

No it doesn't need to be a book, but thought it would be nice for him to get into reading. I will look at some films too. Thanks again everyone.

Iain Banks is an author just about all the men I know agree on. Try The Wasp Factory as a starting point or Espedair Street for a lighter read. He also writes fantastic SciFi under the name Iain M Banks.

My non-reading DP likes the David Baldacci books.

Excellent - some great suggestions thank you

My non-reading husband turned into a bit of a reading fiend when he discovered Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe books), and Simon Scarrow (the adult Gladiator ones). Other than those, he's mad about bikes, so has been reading a book about that guy who rode a push bike (albeit an extremely expensive, state of the art one!!) around the world. I think it's might be a case of giving him a couple of different types of books, and he can decide himself what he'd like to read further: that's what I did. I couldn't understand WHY on earth he didn't read (being an avid reader with a rather serious book buying problem)

My DP likes books aimed at a younger audience that contain a bit of humour:
The Life of Pi
Holes
The dog in the night time one
Good Omens
American Gods
Even the Artemis Fowl books, though they really are aimed at school age
Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels
Stuff by Carl Hiaasen or David Baldacci

He also loves a good rock auto/biography

Ian Rankin's Rebus books. gritty police stuff set in Edinburgh, enjoyed by a really big range of readers.

Depends on his personality but if he likes Monty Python type emphatic absurdity, with escapism, he might like Terry Pratchett. I've met blokes who read nothing else.

Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd is good; a thriller set in London.

Or, if he has intellectual pretensions - doesn't seem to go with not reading but plenty of non-readers consider themselves clever - then Will Self or Paul Auster might appeal. Some short, showy-off books he can have an opinion upon.

I don't know how P.C your hubby is but Jeremy Clarkson always gets an enthusiastic nod in my lot.

Wanted to add my non reading dp loves zombies so loved the max brooks zombie books. I second terry pratchett and unfortunately, jerramy clarkson. Also you could put the james patterson alex cross books on there, and the films that go with them (along came a spider etc.) same with lord of the rings. Lotr is NOT aneasy read though in my opinion.

Tony Hawks has written some very funny books, Playing the Moldovans at tennis, Around Ireland with a fridge. Mark Wallington's books are very amusing about his travels with his scruffy dog, 500 mile walkies.