My teenage son loves science fiction, but I don’t have any idea what he’s read. - no idea
I’m looking for something light. - david sedaris, janet evanovich’s series of jersey girl detective books
I want a good historical novel. I don’t care about when or where. - can’t think of one
My daughter needs a book by a British author for her 11th grade English class (she goes to _______ Christian Academy, so no naughty bits) - wuthering heights. seriously, i loooooved it when i was in high school
My son (age 12) has to read a biography. - drawing a blank again
You know of any good mysteries? - the secret history by donna tartt
I want to send some books to my brother. In jail. - oy.
(…and the depressingly popular) recommend a book for my kid who never reads. - how old is the kid? how about captain underpants for the junior high and down aged boy?
Here’s my $0.02.
[ul]
[li]I’m looking for something light.[/li]I really enjoy anything by Marian Keyes, so I’d second her. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married is my favorite. They’re stories about young, modern, Irish women. Fun beachy kind of reads.
[li]I want a good historical novel. I don’t care about when or where. [/li]Franklin and Winston is very interesting.
[li](…and the depressingly popular) recommend a book for my kid who never reads.[/li]Depending on how old the kid is (probably 13 and up), I’d reccomend
A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. I couldn’t put this one down.
[/ul]
I really only have a recommendation for Sci-Fi and that’s John Varley. He’s Heinlein reborn and nobody seems to have heard of him. It’s not exactly the lightest sci-fi but it’s humorous and strange. His latest novel (Red something, I don’t remember the exact title) was a fun story about some kids and a washed up astronaut building a ship capable of going to Mars. Before that, The Golden Globe held my interest with the story of an interstellar con man and actor making his way across our solar system so he can play in Hamlet. There was never a dull moment in that book. Steel Beach is another one I would highly recommend.
I’ll also second A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, although I’m not sure which category it would fall under.
Neuromancer by William Gibson. The first real cyberpunk novel. A little edgier than the picks so far, but right for a certain teenage boy.
Anything by Robert Girardi. (He’s a friend so I gotta plug him, but he’s actually a fun writer. Try Madeline’s Ghost. )
Try Mary Renault. A very good writer who writes about ancient Greece, from the Minoans to the Macedonians. My favorite is The Last of the Wine, Which deals with Socrates and the Peleponiesian (sp?) war. I studied Plato in college and this book made the characters in the dialouges come alive, to coin a cliche.
Not much help here. Like other posters I’d go with 19th Century authors. Maybe Graham Greene if it’s a catholic school, but I’d be careful about that. Even with Catholics Greene can be controversial, and he frequently deals with adultery.
Sorry, I can’t recommend individual authors. Just see what the kid is interested in.
George Pellecanos is writing the best hard boiled mysteries today. As a D.C. native I appreciate that he brings out aspects of D.C. people are unfamiliar with.
Tunnelling for Dummies
Being and Time by Martin Heidigger. Hey, if he never reads, at least he’ll have an impressive looking book on his shelf.
The one I haven’t seen yet:
SF - Jumper by Steven Gould. Or Helm. Wildside wasn’t half bad either.
1.- My teenage son loves science fiction, but I don’t have any idea what he’s read. -
I second John Varley. The Gaea Trilogy is one of the best sf I’ve read, I also enjoyed steel beach and Millenium.
2.- I’m looking for something light. -
I don’t really know. What is a “light” book in your opinion? The Little Prince is a very simple, and at the same time, a very profound book. I can’t really help you with this one.
3.- I want a good historical novel. I don’t care about when or where. -
Robert Graves has a copule of great ones: “I Claudius” and It’s sequel “Claudius the god”, “Count Belisarius”, and “King Jesus”. I enjoyed “Memoirs of Hadrian” by Margartia Yourcennar.
Many years ago I read a magnificent novel set in assyria “The assyrian” by Nicholas Guild I can’t recommend it enough.-
4.- My daughter needs a book by a British author for her 11th grade English class (she goes to _______ Christian Academy, so no naughty bits) -
Anthony Trollope is my favourite British (and anglo saxon) writer. “Barchester Towers” is a masterpiece. Jane Austen is also great: “Emma”, “Pride and Prejudice” and “Persuasion” are among the best books I’ve ever read. Thackeray’s “Vanity fair” is one of my favourites too.
5.- My son (age 12) has to read a biography. -
I don’t like biographies. Can’t help you with this one.-
6.- You know of any good mysteries? -
Nope.-
7.- I want to send some books to my brother. In jail. -
The complete works of: Shakespeare, Dickens. “The Oxford Book of Verse” (or any other poetry anthology). The Bible. “The History of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire”.
8.- recommend a book for my kid who never reads. - how old is the kid? how about captain underpants for the junior high and down aged boy?
The answer is always the classics. He’ll enjoy Verne’s most populars works. Also “Treasure Island”, “King Salomon’s Mines”, “The prisioner of Zenda”, “Tom Sawyer”. Heimlem is a modern classic “Tunnel in the sky” is a great introduction.
DWMarch writes:
> I really only have a recommendation for Sci-Fi and that’s John Varley. He’s
> Heinlein reborn and nobody seems to have heard of him.
Then I can only guess that you don’t know very many science fiction fans. He’s quite well known. For a while in the 1970’s he was the hottest writer around. He’s not quite so hot anymore, but I’d be surprised to hear that any longtime science fiction fan doesn’t know who he is.
My teenage son loves science fiction, but I don’t have any idea what he’s read:
Well, they’re more fantasy, but **The Earthsea Cycle ** by Ursula K. Le Guin and (I’m seconding) The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.
I want a good historical novel. I don’t care about when or where:
Found in the Romance section actually, but (I’m seconding) the **Outlander Series ** by Diana Gabaldon. They are huge historical fiction novels with elements of time-travel and romance. Also, Sara Donati’s Into the Wilderness Series, which is a “continuation” of Last of the Mochians.
My daughter needs a book by a British author for her 11th grade English class (she goes to _______ Christian Academy, so no naughty bits):
Mary Shelley’s **Frankenstein ** is nice and short. Are there naughty bits? I can’t remember.
(…and the depressingly popular) recommend a book for my kid who never reads:
Various Age Ranges: **The Ralph S. Mouse Collection ** by Beverly Cleary; Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White; **Max and Me and the Time Machine ** by Gery Greer (too funny!); **The Castle in the Attic ** by Elizabeth Winthrop; **Summer of the Monkeys ** by Wilson Rawls; the **Warriors Series ** by Erin Hunter (loved these!)