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Post by roguelily on Jul 2, 2017 22:24:53 GMT -6
My husband doesn't read books. He is not a super strong reader, so I think he doesn't particularly enjoy it & never cultivated a love of reading as a kid. We've been together for 12+ years and he's literally read one book this entire time. I never cared, but now that my daughter is 7 and ALSO reluctant to pick up books as a means of entertainment, I'd really like to get him to role model this behaviour a bit better for her.
I was thinking this week while I was reading YA how those books are always such a pleasure to read because they're easy, tend to be a bit wider spaced with the print, and might be nice for him to read. However, I don't know if there is YA for men?? And googling leads me nowhere.
Any recommendations for something he might enjoy? He enjoys: paranormal things, (like ghost hunters & finding bigfoot), facts about the world, and crazy things happening in the wilderness ( I am thinking about "Into the Wild..").
My plan is essentially to bring him loads of library books until he finds something he is willing to pick up more than once... anyway, Would love thoughts on what your husbands read ..
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loony
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Post by loony on Jul 2, 2017 22:45:01 GMT -6
Would he be more willing to start with audio books?
My SO is not a reader, he says he reads too slow to enjoy it, but he loves NPR and podcasts. He also reads a lot of news articles and magazines. I think it's all important. Reading is reading.
There are also a lot of male centric YA series. I'll look into it when I get to work tomorrow.
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Post by yellowwallpaper on Jul 3, 2017 6:36:07 GMT -6
My husband doesn't read much but he enjoys Sarah Vowell's books. They are non-fiction, history.
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Post by sarahdove2 on Jul 3, 2017 7:26:20 GMT -6
The Dresden files by Jim Butcher might be something for him to look at. Modern day wizard detective living in Chicago. Lots of paranormal with a noir detective feel. Light reading.
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Post by angelashly on Jul 3, 2017 7:28:11 GMT -6
Mine does not read anything but the newspaper or magazines. I have had some luck with true crime books, but he still takes forever.
Unfortunately reading is not something you can force I've learned. I would spend more energy finding books your little one is interested in
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Post by sarahdove2 on Jul 3, 2017 7:32:41 GMT -6
Another good light series is Piers Anthony's Incarnationd of Immortality series. Personifications of Death/Time/War/Nature/Fate/Good/Evil working together to affect the fate of the world. Each book focuses on one character. It is mostly a modern setting with heavy magical elements.
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loony
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Post by loony on Jul 3, 2017 7:35:38 GMT -6
Mine does not read anything but the newspaper or magazines. I have had some luck with true crime books, but he still takes forever. Unfortunately reading is not something you can force I've learned. I would spend more energy finding books your little one is interested in I agree with this. My kids are still little and not reading independently, but my mom-book reading SO does read their picture books to them. I think that if he can show her interest by reading with her, maybe swapping chapters, it would be more beneficial than her seeing him read. |
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Post by sarahdove2 on Jul 3, 2017 7:35:54 GMT -6
Mine does not read anything but the newspaper or magazines. I have had some luck with true crime books, but he still takes forever. Unfortunately reading is not something you can force I've learned. I would spend more energy finding books your little one is interested in This is a good point. roguelily, my oldest is 8 (I think this is close to your DD's age) so I might be able to make some suggestions there if you have an idea what she has been interested in previously. |
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Nymeria
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Post by Nymeria on Jul 3, 2017 8:56:24 GMT -6
roguelily - How about The Martian? MH is not a reader either - in the almost 8 years we've been together I've seen him read 2 books: Deception Point by Dan Brown and The Martian. Granted he read The Martian while one vacation, but he pretty much didn't put it down and finished it faster than I thought he could finish a book. He was the one telling me "one more chapter"... I'd also recommend the Deception Point and Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. They're one-off books, not related to the Robert Langdon series, and they're not too long.
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Post by hardlyluck on Jul 3, 2017 9:01:12 GMT -6
I couldn't written the OP almost word for word. The only book DH has read in the last 10 years was one by Hunter S. Thompson (the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas guy) I tried reading a page or two and it was awful but if he'll read it I'll buy it. They are pretty short and easy to read.
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Post by honeylemon on Jul 3, 2017 9:48:56 GMT -6
Mine isn't a big reader either but has started reading more since being with me and seeing me constantly having a book going.
He loves TWD so he's been reading the books that go along with the show. Not just the comic. He's found a few other zombie books that he likes. Recently he's been reading The Devil in the White City.
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Post by billyhorrible on Jul 3, 2017 10:59:21 GMT -6
The Dresden files by Jim Butcher might be something for him to look at. Modern day wizard detective living in Chicago. Lots of paranormal with a noir detective feel. Light reading. This was what I was going to recommend. My husband liked this a lot. It's kind of a "grown up" Harry Potter. Which he also likes. He is a YA Lit guy though. He also read all the Twilight and Hunger Games books. Currently he's reading Dean Koontz at home and The Night Circus on the bus to and from work. Some other suggestions: His favorite book of all times is Shantaram, which is about an Australian convict who becomes a doctor in the slums of India. It's very non-Western, with a nonlinear narrative, and very descriptive. It paints a picture beautifully, of some very ugly situations. He also really liked Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange, about two competing magicians. |
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Post by Dramaphile on Jul 3, 2017 13:28:49 GMT -6
What about graphic novels or comics? My husband rarely reads a whole book (with the exception of some Star Wars novels and some YA lit like The Hunger Games), he tends to start books and gets distracted and doesn't finish them. He's a much more avid comic/graphic novel reader, and there is pretty much something for everything in the graphic novel/comic genre- mysteries, paranormal, horror, superheroes, fairy tales, adventure. A favorite of mine is Saga, a crazy space opera with war and star-crossed lovers and humor and really really good characters and compelling stories. And you can get a lot of comics in trade paperback version, so it's more like reading a book than a single comic. And there are some great graphic novels out for kids now, too. If there's a good comic book shop near you and he's interested, it's a good place to start and they can give him suggestions.
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loony
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Post by loony on Jul 3, 2017 13:32:07 GMT -6
The more I think about this, the harder I'm trying to imagine SO sitting down long enough to read a book.
It's just not going to happen.
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olenka
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Post by olenka on Jul 3, 2017 15:16:28 GMT -6
My SO was not much of a reader when we first met, but in the past couple years has been reading a ton. He mostly likes sci-fi/speculative fiction, and dystopian fiction. A few he read recently were the Postmortal by Drew Magary, ready player one by Ernest Cline, and Wool by Hugh Howey. He also enjoyed The Martian, the GoT books, and the Harry Potter books. Also got into the Sandman and the Walking Dead graphic novels. He's currently making his way through the Wheel of Time books.
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spooko
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Post by spooko on Jul 3, 2017 18:02:47 GMT -6
Harry Potter. DS just started a series by Chris Colfer that has 6 books in all. He's not that far into it but likes it so far and I know the books have been best sellers. Some kind of adventure theme.
And second the graphic novel deal. I know DS finds those in the YA section of our library, too.
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Bluebird
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Post by Bluebird on Jul 3, 2017 19:28:35 GMT -6
MH is not a reader either. However, he has managed to finish and enjoy The Martian, The Revenant, and Unbroken. He especially loved Unbroken.
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Post by roguelily on Jul 3, 2017 20:18:48 GMT -6
What about graphic novels or comics? My husband rarely reads a whole book (with the exception of some Star Wars novels and some YA lit like The Hunger Games), he tends to start books and gets distracted and doesn't finish them. He's a much more avid comic/graphic novel reader, and there is pretty much something for everything in the graphic novel/comic genre- mysteries, paranormal, horror, superheroes, fairy tales, adventure. A favorite of mine is Saga, a crazy space opera with war and star-crossed lovers and humor and really really good characters and compelling stories. And you can get a lot of comics in trade paperback version, so it's more like reading a book than a single comic. And there are some great graphic novels out for kids now, too. If there's a good comic book shop near you and he's interested, it's a good place to start and they can give him suggestions. I actually read graphic novels - and have a shelf full- but he doesn't pick them up. I have saga 1 & 2 on my shelf that I haven't read yet, maybe once I read them I'll pass over to him and see if he'll try! |
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Post by roguelily on Jul 3, 2017 20:21:13 GMT -6
Would he be more willing to start with audio books? My SO is not a reader, he says he reads too slow to enjoy it, but he loves NPR and podcasts. He also reads a lot of news articles and magazines. I think it's all important. Reading is reading. There are also a lot of male centric YA series. I'll look into it when I get to work tomorrow. He's actually doing audiobooks sometimes actually - but DD sees us on our phones and just assumes we're dicking around (which sometimes is true) |
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Post by roguelily on Jul 3, 2017 20:22:38 GMT -6
Mine does not read anything but the newspaper or magazines. I have had some luck with true crime books, but he still takes forever. Unfortunately reading is not something you can force I've learned. I would spend more energy finding books your little one is interested in This is a good point. roguelily, my oldest is 8 (I think this is close to your DD's age) so I might be able to make some suggestions there if you have an idea what she has been interested in previously. Right now she's doing Harry Potter - it's the only thing she wants to read - which is good! But everything pales in comparison for her... |
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Post by roguelily on Jul 3, 2017 20:26:44 GMT -6
I think I will check out Dresden files and the Martian! Thanks all!!
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loony
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Post by loony on Jul 3, 2017 20:32:51 GMT -6
I have read 47 books this year, not one of them has been a "book".
E-books on my phone or tablet are the only way I can actually read anymore.
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Post by cheshirecat on Jul 3, 2017 21:04:04 GMT -6
This is a good point. roguelily, my oldest is 8 (I think this is close to your DD's age) so I might be able to make some suggestions there if you have an idea what she has been interested in previously. Right now she's doing Harry Potter - it's the only thing she wants to read - which is good! But everything pales in comparison for her... Have you tried the Percy Jackson series? DD is 8 and is really into these. DH really enjoyed them too. |
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Cheshie6
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Post by Cheshie6 on Jul 3, 2017 21:26:35 GMT -6
DH wasn't a reader when we first got together. But it turned out MIL screened everything before she let her kids see and I didn't realize this included books. (I just thought movies... but she did music, books, tv shows, board games, you name it... she pre-screened it before letting her kids near it) It was the worst if the book wasn't in their age range. She was fine with HP because it's in the kid section of the bookstore. But if you picked up the His Dark Materials in Sci-fi (even though they are in the kids sections) she'd have to read it first. Which with her job and 4 kids, I think they all gave up! Luckily now, 3 out of 4 are readers!
Once I figured out his likes, I found books for him to read. It did help I used to work at Barnes & Noble. MH is a scuba diver so I started him with Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt books. (Matthew McConaughey starred in Sahara which was based on his books) He loves history so military historical (fiction and nonfiction) are always a win. I second Dan Brown and The Martian.
After a few years, he started reading books based on movies but not HP! He's read Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Twilight (which read in a week, all 4), and is currently into Jack Reacher books as well as the Bourne series. He's completely caught up on GoT (books and show). I even think he read a few of the vampire diaries. We both liked the show better than the books. He read the I Am Number Four Series to the end.
From working in the bookstore, I've found kids read similar to what their friends read and if their friends read. I love the Percy Jackson, HP, Septimus Heap, The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates, Seven Wonders by Peter Lerangis, Bliss Bakery series is kid mystery. The Last Apprentice though in her section maybe too old/ scary (crappy movie called seventh son came our several years ago, doesn't follow story at all) If you need recommendations, you can pm me!!
TL;DR: MH is now a reader, if you need recommendations for YH or DD, pm me as I used to work for BN.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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bbgirl
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Post by bbgirl on Jul 4, 2017 4:02:49 GMT -6
The more I think about this, the harder I'm trying to imagine SO sitting down long enough to read a book. It's just not going to happen. I think reading books, like discussed here, is.... slightly overrated? Like, if you love to read books, awesome. I used to, when I had time. But you can also learn quite a bit from things like newspapers/articles and even wikipedia (although I highly recommend going to the linked articles within the Wiki). I mean, my H is a very smart man. I'm not trying to brag, it is just an annoying fact. He's a multiple winning Jeopardy champion. But... I have also only seen him read two or three books since we've been together the past 10 years. One was The Martian. Another was Infinite Jest. And I convinced him to try the Hunger Game series (before the films were released) and he read them all. Like most of us, the majority of his strictly book reading was high school and college. |
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Post by sarahdove2 on Jul 4, 2017 5:10:29 GMT -6
You might try The Magic Thief. (DDs teacher recommended it as a good Harry Potter follow up.)
My DD also liked Secret Coders, which she said was like Harry Potter, but with computer coding.
Edit: My DD also suggested the Geronimo Stilto Kingdom of Fantasy series and A Series of Unfortunate Events. She also likes every graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier.
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Post by roguelily on Jul 4, 2017 8:27:51 GMT -6
The more I think about this, the harder I'm trying to imagine SO sitting down long enough to read a book. It's just not going to happen. I think reading books, like discussed here, is.... slightly overrated? Like, if you love to read books, awesome. I used to, when I had time. But you can also learn quite a bit from things like newspapers/articles and even wikipedia (although I highly recommend going to the linked articles within the Wiki). I mean, my H is a very smart man. I'm not trying to brag, it is just an annoying fact. He's a multiple winning Jeopardy champion. But... I have also only seen him read two or three books since we've been together the past 10 years. One was The Martian. Another was Infinite Jest. And I convinced him to try the Hunger Game series (before the films were released) and he read them all. Like most of us, the majority of his strictly book reading was high school and college. I'm not trying to make him smarter.. It is well documented that children who love to read gain this from parents who they see reading and have a love of books in their home. And I don't agree that "most of us" only read in high school in college. Pretty much everyone I know reads at least a few books a year. |
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Post by roguelily on Jul 4, 2017 8:29:50 GMT -6
You might try The Magic Thief. (DDs teacher recommended it as a good Harry Potter follow up.) My DD also liked Secret Coders, which she said was like Harry Potter, but with computer coding. Edit: My DD also suggested the Geronimo Stilto Kingdom of Fantasy series and A Series of Unfortunate Events. She also likes every graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier. I want to get her the Raina T books - but big no to Geronimo Stilton - they are THE THING over here in Asia- and she HAAAAAAATES them. Like they make her ill. Which is hilarious because everyone in her class is obsessed with them. |
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Post by roguelily on Jul 4, 2017 8:30:59 GMT -6
DH wasn't a reader when we first got together. But it turned out MIL screened everything before she let her kids see and I didn't realize this included books. (I just thought movies... but she did music, books, tv shows, board games, you name it... she pre-screened it before letting her kids near it) It was the worst if the book wasn't in their age range. She was fine with HP because it's in the kid section of the bookstore. But if you picked up the His Dark Materials in Sci-fi (even though they are in the kids sections) she'd have to read it first. Which with her job and 4 kids, I think they all gave up! Luckily now, 3 out of 4 are readers! Once I figured out his likes, I found books for him to read. It did help I used to work at Barnes & Noble. MH is a scuba diver so I started him with Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt books. (Matthew McConaughey starred in Sahara which was based on his books) He loves history so military historical (fiction and nonfiction) are always a win. I second Dan Brown and The Martian. After a few years, he started reading books based on movies but not HP! He's read Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Twilight (which read in a week, all 4), and is currently into Jack Reacher books as well as the Bourne series. He's completely caught up on GoT (books and show). I even think he read a few of the vampire diaries. We both liked the show better than the books. He read the I Am Number Four Series to the end. From working in the bookstore, I've found kids read similar to what their friends read and if their friends read. I love the Percy Jackson, HP, Septimus Heap, The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates, Seven Wonders by Peter Lerangis, Bliss Bakery series is kid mystery. The Last Apprentice though in her section maybe too old/ scary (crappy movie called seventh son came our several years ago, doesn't follow story at all) If you need recommendations, you can pm me!! TL;DR: MH is now a reader, if you need recommendations for YH or DD, pm me as I used to work for BN. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Thank you for these recommendations!! I will look them up  |
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Post by sarahdove2 on Jul 4, 2017 9:23:40 GMT -6
You might try The Magic Thief. (DDs teacher recommended it as a good Harry Potter follow up.) My DD also liked Secret Coders, which she said was like Harry Potter, but with computer coding. Edit: My DD also suggested the Geronimo Stilto Kingdom of Fantasy series and A Series of Unfortunate Events. She also likes every graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier. I want to get her the Raina T books - but big no to Geronimo Stilton - they are THE THING over here in Asia- and she HAAAAAAATES them. Like they make her ill. Which is hilarious because everyone in her class is obsessed with them. Personally, I agree with your daughter on Geronimo Stilton. I was thrilled when my youngest could read them to herself. |
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