Book recommendations for 17 year old ds please.

[BertrandRussell]

Ds has asked me to come up with 5 books he hasn’t read for the summer holidays. He’s a reader so all the obvious ones are gone. I’ve come up with Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog and The Kite Runner. Any ideas?

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Magician's Guild series by Trudi Canavan
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (and its sequel)
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Holes by Louis Sachar
Vicious by V. E. Shwab
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Gone series by Michael Grant
The Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater (don't be put off by the blurb, it's full of magic and fast cars and creepiness, and not just a female narrative but several male narratives too)

Ok I best stop haha

I've just sent my 16yr old grandson For Whom the Bell Tolls

Good call on Never Let Me go.

To people worrying that their children don't read a lot- don't. Two things, one; my brother stopped reading for years and now reads a lot again so it can just be a phase.

And two; there are now lots and lots of ways to entertain yourself. Reading is only one. I think we tend to be snobbish about reading and think it's the only worthwhile thing. But Dickens was writing soap operas with the technology of the day. Why is that better than modern ones, or playing a computer game? They are all ways to relax, at times you may go for the Blue Planet instead of EastEnders, just as I might go for a biography instead of a Jodi Taylor. Sometimes a book is not the best way to impart information and as people learn in different ways they may not take in a book well but a YouTube video can make it clear.There is a huge range available and something for everyone, both the written word and other media (or other hobby). Encourage a wide range of interest but don't worry too much about how it's learnt about.

Sophie's World might be a good one - I read that at 18 and loved it, such a good intro to philosophy.

I agree, Mip!

That's a relief Pit - I thought I came across as a bit tangy.

People are very snobby about mobile phones - people could be reading The Times, drafting an email to friends/family, planning a holiday. No-one would bat an eye if you were reading the paper, writing a letter or reading from a lonely planet. Even if people are sat on the bus looking at fb, that is the same as looking though a friends holiday photo's, wishing them happy birthday, or as with this thread, getting excellent book recommendations. I don't get why people are so down on it, when on a plane, reading a book or writing something down wouldn't draw the same sneers...

I do think people get very hung up on reading. I love books-so it was one of the things I wanted my children to share. I also love wild swimming and Masterchef-both of mine run screaming from the suggestion of duckweed and would rather eat wasps than watch anyone making a jus. I (heresy warning) don't think reading is as important as we are taught to think it is. Obviously being able to access written information is pretty vital. But in terms of vocabulary, language and knowledge of the world and other worlds don't knock good telly, good films and good audio stuff.

But if you do want to encourage reading, particularly in boys, it's important that they see men reading. It's often seen as something girls do. We made an actual noticeable difference in boy's interest in books at ds's school by getting the male PE teachers to be seen reading. Such a simple thing, but it worked!

Oh my god-my hobby horse arrived and I galloped round on it. Sorry

this gives a whole different perspective on you BertrandRussell

that or you've been hacked

are you going to go for jumping competitions or dressage?

Really long books; the likes of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pynchon, Moby Dick, or other long or particularly complex and experimental books he's interested in - there's less time at uni and when working to read these, and most will not be as easy to concentrate on in noisy houseshares or on a commute compared with lighter but still long novels. Even if planning to do Eng Lit it's great to have a head start.

My son enjoyed David Lodge and Nick Hornby at this age, also loved Jane Austen.
I think High Fidelity, How to be Good, About a Boy, Nice Work, Changing Places, etc- he read them all
He also read Down and Out in Paris and London, and the Road to Wigan Pier
Lots of others I have seen already mentioned, too, so won't repeat those. I will ask him what else he particularly liked around this time

Has anyone suggested

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Under the Skin by Michelle Faber
Call of the Wild by Guy Grieve

Lanark by Alastair Gray

Blackden by Duncan Mclean.

Metamorphosis by Ovid

Seeing by Saramago

Not fiction, but

Poverty Safari sorry can't remember the author name. Real life account and analysis of poverty in Glasgow. Extremely educational and fairly readable .

Another couple of ideas;
Puppet on a chain - Alistair MacLean
Red Dragon, Silence of the lambs, Hannibal rising etc by Thomas Harris.
The rats trilogy by James Herbert

"grin this gives a whole different perspective on you BertrandRussell"

Good lord, really? I'm scared to ask why! I thought I went on about education and books quite a lot!

You are very straight down the line, with feminism, education and books.

you occasionally give glimpse of your personality when talking about your DC.

But then we come to BertrandRussell Galloping round on a hobby horse like a little 7 year old child

I haven't read th full thread but at that age my boys were reading -

Malazan Book of the Fallen
Thomas Covenant
Anything written by Neil Gaiman
Doystoyevsky
Solzhenitzyn
The Secret History of the Mongols
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
SOng of Ice and Fire
Anythng by Brandyn Sanderson
WHeel of Time
Sword of truth

ANother author the older boys liked is Haruki Murakami. Norwegian Wood was one of DS1's favourite novels.

We made an actual noticeable difference in boy's interest in books at ds's school by getting the male PE teachers to be seen reading. Such a simple thing, but it worked!

Fascinating, I must remember this. We have a gorgeous photo of my then 18mo curled up with a very hungry caterpillar leaning against my then 21 yo brother reading something Brandon Sanderson. A lot of the comments were oohs and aahs around seeing a young tradie guy reading a book (he’s an apprentice builder)

DS has come home with Robert Harris, Munich, he just bought from Tesco.

I asked my son what he liked to read when he was 16-18, and this is what he said. Sorry he is so sneery sounding- he is actually a very nice person, but now that he is 22, thinks 17 year olds are absurd (and he wasn't intending for me to quote him to you, I don't think).

"I don’t know -
I liked all sorts of crap
Popular economics books and histories of the Great Recession, introductory political philosophy books and that sort of thing
I liked ts Eliot, I think he is good for whiny self satisfied teenagers
What else
Borges
Also good for that crowd
They like to think they are discovering the modern condition
Gatsby is actually good for this reason
Teenagers all like that book
Or you could go the other way if they and read the Greek tragedies/epics
They like that too
They can feel superior"

Possibly the best post ever Clara