Recommend 2-3 books for someone that wants to get into reading

tangey

tangey

tangey

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I want to give reading a good go.

In my teenager years (LONG TIME AGO), I would have read the likes of hardy boys. Had to do some novels for O' levels of course. My first grown-up book was JAWS. I did read Lord of the rings in my 20s.

I'm approaching 60 now. I have read maybe a dozen books since. I read several of the James herbert books (the fog, the rats come to mind). I read several in the odd-thomas series which were not bad.
The last books I read were probably 5-6 years ago, a friend gave me some of the Jack Reacher books. They were good enough, but ultimately a bit formulaic and not real page turners.

I have found that I went towards PC games and then latterly bingewatching and streaming services in general to fill my time, I guess I like the quicker hit that they give you.

But given that this reading thing seems pretty popular (!), I think that it's likely I just have not hit a decent stream of books to engage me.

So for all you well read folks, if you have 2-3 titles that are just damn sure fire engaging for just about anyone, I would love to hear your recommendations.
In terms of style, I guess the lead there would be movies that I like, so I'm into crime drama, mystery, PI stuff (Oh I tried one of the striker books by rowling but just thought it was ok), and sci-fi.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, if there is a thread like this already, apologies.
 
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I'm not a reader, but when I had the opportunity I picked up The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I was easily taken in by it. Just a lovely use of language, sci-fi and British humour that just makes you feel at home reading it somehow.
 
Dup said:
I'm not a reader, but when I had the opportunity I picked up The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I was easily taken in by it. Just a lovely use of language, sci-fi and British humour that just makes you feel at home reading it somehow.
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This is great on audio podcast OP. Read by the author too.
I'll raise a glass of Gargle blaster to that!
 
I really appreciate the recommendations guys.

The dresden files and the witcher are grabbing me, and I like that they are a series of books so that if I get into the first one, there's some mileage.

I'll update when I've read my first book in a while :)
 
I always found Dan Browns books an enjoyable read. Even the ones that don't involve the Robert Langdon character.

I know they aren't considered classical literature, but I read to be entertained.

Same with the Jack Reacher books. I've read them all and have always enjoyed them, despite their formulaic nature.

I also enjoy Stephen King and Dean Koontz. I particularly liked the Dean Koontz book, Watchers. Read that twice.

All the Hannibal Lecter books by Thomas Harris are good reads too. Even if you've seen the films they're still enjoyable.
 
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Something else to consider is what format of book you'll prefer.

- paperbacks / hardbacks (i.e. the books themselves)
- e-Readers (e.g. Kindle, iBooks)
- audio books (tape, CD, MP3, Audible)

+1 for Hitch Hiker's Guide :-) Sticking with British humour, JK Rowling is pretty good with it in her Harry Potter books. They're primarily children's books but the reading age does go up as you go through the series.

For more fantasy stuff, I recently enjoyed His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. There is also a TV series of this on iPlayer but definitely try the books first.
 
If you want easy reading sci fi, then you can't do better than basically anything by John Scalzi. The Old Man's War series is probably the best, but if you'd like a stand-alone book before diving into a larger series I'd recommend Fuzzy Nation.

On the crime front: maybe something by Dick Francis? They're all (I think?) themed around horse racing, and easy reading page turners with satisfying plots. I've only read a few, but Driving Force and Straight are not bad places to start.
 
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I’d give the ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ AKA the ‘Millennium’ trilogy a go. They’re enjoyable thrillers :) (Once you get past the first 70-100 pages of the first one it gets going)
 
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