<p>My son is reading The Da Vinci Code. My daughter couldn't get through it but son is enjoying it, especially the subplots about the Knights Templar. He also reads quite a bit of non-fiction. He just finished a book on the scientific possibilities of time travel that he hasn't stopped talking about - I'll try to get the title.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if anyone made this suggestion but what about The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and basically any book that Walter Dean Myers has written. My brother isn't very fond of reading. But, when he read these books, he was hooked. He still doesn't like to read, but atleast my parents know which books he would willingly read in his own time.</p>
<p>Chuck Palahnuik may be a bit vulgar for some people's tastes, but he is considered to be the Kurt Vonnegut of his time. His novels have that black humor, but are still loaded with symbolism. Great reads.</p>
<p>And thanks everyone for the other suggestions.</p>
<p>My son who hates to read enjoyed The Things they Carried by Tim O Brian. I think that was the author. Each chapter is basically a short story taking place during the Vietnam war.<br>
Recently I picked him up at school and he said he wanted to go buy a book. I was so happy and shocked that we went right away. I should have thought it out more knowing my son when we get there and he tells me he wants to buy a book on poker.</p>
<p>Mom60-
Hahahaha, This is priceless, and exactly what my s. would do! When he was in 2nd grade (maybe even younger, I don't recall), the school librarian came up to me and commented on how proud I must be of my s. as he has taken a certain book out three times- and how thrilled I must be that he is so interested in the arts. I looked at her and asked her not to let him check it out again. When she looked at me with this puzzled, disappointed look, I explained that he was taking out the art book to look at the naked ladies.</p>
<p>Enthusiastic second for The Da Vinci Code--my son picked it up on someone's recommendation and read it twice. </p>
<p>Baseball books: Moneyball, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, If I never get back (Time travel back into baseball history), The Head Game. </p>
<p>Dave Barry mysteries (funny)--Big Trouble, and a second one whose name I forget.</p>
<p>Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, Count of Monte Cristo, Don Quixote, To Kill a Mockingbird. </p>
<p>The Adams Hitchhiker series--son has a "leather"-bound book with all of the novels in the series and loves it.</p>
<p>mosby-Great call on Palahniuk! His books are all disturbingly wonderful. Fight Club is probably the easiest to get into.</p>
<p>The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those cliched, teeny books, but a ton of my non-reading friends loved it. If your kid listens to Dashboard Confessional, buy him/her this pronto.</p>
<p>Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy is a great thriller. It's long, but moves quickly.</p>
<p>Best book I've read lately is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Finalist for last year's Booker Prize, has a really unique organization. It's long, and sort of "hard" but might be a perfect challenge for the kid who gets bored by books.</p>
<p>Last but not least, Candide by Voltaire. Best if you know something about the Enlightenment, but the satire is ribald + funny regardless.</p>
<ul>
<li>I'm a 17 year old guy (who has always loved to read)</li>
</ul>
<p>I'll enthusiastically echo Harry Potter, Hitchhikers Guide, Catch 22. Has anyone mentioned Lord of the Rings yet?</p>
<p>There's also hundreds of books in the Dragonlance series that both my kids still reread.</p>
<p>For a history buff, my S loved "killer Angels" (book the movie Gettsyburg is based on.)</p>
<p>patient reminded me of Dave Barry - S loved Dave Barry Does Japan! and also anything "Dilbert"..........
He was disappointed in the DaVinci Code....
I will ask him to poll the guys on his hall to see their favorites. I'll also pass along your suggestions to him (he is not a poster on this board - too busy playing Warcraft, OA, whatever online) Thanks, everyone!</p>
<p>Does your S play World of Warcraft? :)</p>
<p>athlonmj, I don't know exactly! Sorry - I know very little about Warcraft. I will have to ask him.</p>
<p>Son (8th grade) is in the midst of the Hitchhiker series - and loving it. Has also enjoyed LOTR. Is Warcraft anything like Warhammer? Ai yi yi, the money we have invested in Warhammer armies!</p>
<p>S (16) loves fantasy and sci-fi. He was turned on to reading these books in 3rd grade with Brian Jaques' Redwall series, followed by Richard Adams' Watership Downs; then on to Anne McCaffrey, Tamora Pierce, and a whole raft of authors whose names escape me at present, Tolkien, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Piers Anthony, Richard Zelasny, Orson Scott Card's Ender series, Philip K. Dick, Neal Stephenson, Michael Crichton, David Eddings. He did not care for A. K. Rowling, Philip Pullman or the Lemony Snicket series.
Telling him a book is a classic is often the kiss of death but he has enjoyed The Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (but not so much Going After Cacciato), Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.</p>
<p>From my personal expirience, i have found that a child tends to develop a love for reading when he or she finds a good book, not when the parent suggests it to them. A parent forcing a child to read teaches the child that reading is a chore, not fun. Also, particularly stubborn children tend to refrain from admitting to liking books even when they do, just not to admit to their parents that they were right. My suggestion is to offer to pick up a book, not to throw it in front of him/her. My suggestions of course start out with the Harry Potter Series, as i am a fan of those myself. Another suggestion is to find your child's hobby and to suply a book about that, i.e. My son is a fan of the Halo video games, and read three suprisingly thick books about it. I also know about the teen poker craze, so i would suggest BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, a book about MIT students who became card counters and beat Vegas. I do not know much about what a daughter would be interested in, but here are my suggestions.</p>
<p>I agree that forcing a kid to read is counterproductive. But my kids are open to suggestions (not that they always follow them!). My S discovered the Redwall series b/c he wanted to be in a reading group with a certain school volunteer he particularly liked (he did not realize at the time the book was that long). Later, a classmate suggested Zelazny, and he got hooked.</p>
<p>Someone already mentioned Irving, but The World According to Garp is also very good. </p>
<p>I recommend Empire Falls, by Richard Russo.</p>
<p>The 'Ender' books are great! (I'm 19 and I still cry at the end of 'Ender's Game'...) </p>
<p>The His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman) trilogy is also fantastic, although some people who've read it have found the anti-establishment stance a little hard to handle at first. </p>
<p>Also, my little brother (and I :)) really enjoyed the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz - if your kid is into spy stuff, he should love these books. </p>
<p>For 'more serious' books, try 'Carrie's War' by Nina Bawden or 'The Silver Sword' by Ian Serraillier. They both deal with children living in Europe during the Second World War - appropriate reading for this time of year particularly, given that January 27 is the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. </p>
<p>(And if your kid gets a taste for WWII books, 'Goodnight Mr Tom' by Michelle Magorian and 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit' by Judith Kerr are also good to read.)</p>
<p>Heart of a Champion, by Carl Deuker. Story of a high school baseball player dealing with the issue of drinking. Excellent. He also wrote a couple of other very good books that my sons read.</p>
<p>World of Warcraft has taken over my Junior Son. It's an on-line strategy fantasy game. He got his own computer, and we got a dsl connection, a couple of years ago that made game playing on line very easy. Before warcraft (BW) he used to read lots of fantasy books. I just looked through his room and these are the authors BW.</p>
<p>Orson Scott Card (12 of them), Michael Crichton, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Irene Radfod, RA Salvatore and Robert Jordan were all favorites. He also liked the Harry Potter and Lord of the Ring books. I like to just go through authors, if I like 'em, I'll read all they've written and that's what my sons do too. So much easier - except if you find a fairly new author, they just don't write fast enough! </p>
<p>My 6th grade son is following in his brothers reading tastes, heavily favoring Sci-fi, and it makes it so much easier because we can just pick a book of big brothers book shelves.</p>
<p>Bringing Down the House is actually about blackjack. It's a quick + interesting read, not very challenging.</p>
<p>For a great poker book, check out Positively Fifth Street. The author went to cover the World Series of Poker (in 2001 or 2002) and ended up using the advance to enter the tournament himself. Crazyness ensues.</p>