Tuesday 7 February 2012

Ten on Tuesday: Top Ten Books to Hand to Someone Who Says They Don't Like To Read

I am diving right in with this week's Ten on Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish. This week, the list is:

Top Ten Books to Hand to Someone Who Says They Don't Like To Read




I figure if someone doesn't like to read, the worst thing to do is bombard them with "classics" and things they "should" be reading. So these are books that either I have given to people who don't really read, or books that are funny enough/short enough/accessible enough to break down that initial barrier and (hopefully) get people turning the pages!

1. Naive. Super. by Erlend Loe: A short and thoughtful book, translated from the original Norwegian. Loe writes in a deceptively simple way about a twenty-something man who quits his studies and absorbs himself in science, lists and childish games as he tries to figure out his life. [I lent this book to someone who never reads at all, and they loved it.]

2. Harry Potter (series) by J. K. Rowling: Because the world and the characters pull you in completely. And there are wizards.

3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon: For similar reasons to the Loe book, because it's both simple (to read) and complex at the same time.

4. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer: This is one of my favourite books. As such, I recommend to everyone I know at every opportunity.

5. Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl: Creepy and well-written short stories.

6. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: Maybe my favourite book of last year.

7. Tales of the City (series) by Armistead Maupin: My favourite book series of all time, and formerly published in serial form, which means the action is continuous and there are plenty of surprises!

8. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

9. Poirot Short Stories by Agatha Christie

10. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett: This is a tentative one to end on, as this is the only Discworld book I have read so far (I finished it last week), but I'd definitely like to read more.

2 comments:

  1. Aw...Harriet the Spy was one of my all-time favorites as a kid (though my own kids thought Harriet was cruel).

    I agree on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - wholly original.

    I loved the movie of Into the Wild but haven't gotten to the book yet.

    I will have to look into some of your others that I haven't heard of before!

    Sue

    Great Books for Kids and Teens

    Book By Book

    ReplyDelete
  2. ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS is such a great book! The sequel was just as amazing. And I love seeing Agatha Christie on these lists :)

    New follower! :)

    ReplyDelete

Comments and cookies always welcome!