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Books to grip a 16yr old boy?

37 replies

gerbo · 03/05/2026 11:43

My son has always quite enjoyed reading. He sometimes finds a series he likes, and follows it, then seems to not read for a while. (Revision/xbox are other pulls on his time!)

He recently really enjoyed Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir....

Can anyone recommend other page-turners for teen boys? (Not thinking too hard about then being literary classics; I just want him to keep enjoying reading.)

Thanks!

OP posts:
EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 03/05/2026 13:55

Good age for Stephen King. Accessible but more adult as opposed to YA.

gerbo · 03/05/2026 15:52

Thanks. Any specific novels by King you'd start with? Any which are more accessible?

OP posts:
ninetofiveeveryday · 03/05/2026 15:56

My 15.5 year old son was gripped by the Christopher Paolini series. Now back to reading nothing as need another series to grip him, so following this thread too 🙂

EmbarrassmentLovesCompany · 03/05/2026 16:13

You've offered him the other 2 Andy Weir books, yes?

DS has also read some of the Sharpe books, along with other stuff by Bernard Cornwall, and has requested Douglas Adam's for his birthday.

Other than that, im after inspiration!

DisplayPurposesOnly · 03/05/2026 16:17

John Wyndham - Day Of The Triffids, Midwich Cuckoos

DisplayPurposesOnly · 03/05/2026 16:20

Patrick Ness - The Rest Of Us Just Live Here, the Chaos Walking trilogy

mrbojangle · 03/05/2026 16:20

Malorie Blackman Noughts and crosses series. My son at this age loved this series

AprilFlowersMay · 03/05/2026 16:23

Gone. (The whole series).

Albertroad · 03/05/2026 16:24

The Bunker diary by kevin brooks is good

gerbo · 03/05/2026 16:26

Great ideas, thanks all.

No, didn't know there were 2 more Andy Weir books! I'll research.

OP posts:
PygmyOwl · 03/05/2026 16:27

Life of Pi and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

CallItLoneliness · 03/05/2026 16:37

I HATED Life of Pi, so wouldn't recommend that. Curious Incident is great though. Stephen King--some of his shorter books are excellent. Depends on how much gore/horror is ok for your son.

I also like Matt Haig's adult books for that age group, The Humans is excellent, as is The Midnight Library. He might like Babel by RF Kuang too, or the Kim Stanley Robinson Mars series.

Would he read anything with a feminist flavour? There are some GREAT dystopias around at the moment in post-Handmaid world: Vox, The Power, The Grace Year, The End of Men. Also, I loved Orwell and the 1930s classic dystopias at his age--1984, Brave New World, even (gasp) Anthem and We the Living by Ayn Rand (they were before her work became overtly and explicitly political). There is a brilliant 1984 retelling out at the moment, Julia, told from the girlfriend's perspective that might be a fun pair with 1984. And then,

And on that note--retellings! Soooooo many good ones around at the moment, Song of Achilles being one I would especially recommend for a young man, since it is about the men. Joanne Harris has written a series of retellings of the Norse myths from Loki's perspective that is quite fun, too.

DisplayPurposesOnly · 03/05/2026 16:49

Diana Wynne Jones - Dogsbody, Eight Days Of Luke

gerbo · 03/05/2026 16:57

Brilliant ideas, thanks.
He really enjoyed 1984 so Julia could work.

I'm going to list everyone's ideas, and sit and read about them!

OP posts:
EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 03/05/2026 17:19

I was thinking of Under The Dome, The Stand and The Green Mile by Stephen King, they are less horrory for want of a better word

Blushingm · 03/05/2026 17:38

DPs 16 year old likes the Simon Scarrow books

ThisTimeWillBeDifferent · 03/05/2026 19:20

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Great for teens and adults. It often has the effect of opening a whole universe to people that enjoy it (he has a lot of books, both in series and stand alone!).

mamaduckbone · 03/05/2026 20:04

Ds1 was completely drawn into the Miss peregrines school for peculiar children series at about that age (lockdown…it was a strange time!) Also the Mortal Engines series if he likes a bit of steam punk.
Assumehe’s already done Hunger Games / Maze Runner?
Ready Player One both of mine enjoyed.

UniversityofWarwick · 03/05/2026 23:11

I’ve recently enjoyed the Crookhaven series and have a friend who is also reading them.

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 03/05/2026 23:13

My son loves the Artemis Fowl books.

I think the Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell who's mentioned upthread is fab.

Ophir · 03/05/2026 23:14

Mine loved The Road and No Country for Old men

shellyleppard · 03/05/2026 23:17

May I recommend Stephen king the dark tower series?? The first one is a bit dry but the second....wow it really moves fast. Also Percy Jackson series by rick Riordan had my teenage son enthralled at that age

CypressGrove · 03/05/2026 23:18

My teens use booktok to find books in the genres they like.

damemaggiescurledupperlip · 03/05/2026 23:24

The Reacher books by Lees Child

SuperLoudPoppingAction · 04/05/2026 16:16

Skulduggery pleasant is another one my son enjoys. Today he was also enthusing about the hitchhikers guide and the hobbit.