I traditionally give books to my children as Christmas gifts. Since my son left home in 2003, I've sent him humorous books , since they're light and can usually be read in installments (he's finishing his senior year in college and doesn't have a lot of leisure reading time), and I know he won't have bought them for himself. I don't want to become too predictable, and I'm having trouble coming up with something for this year.
Anyone have any suggestions for a good, light, humorous book? He likes sci/fi and fantasy also, or maybe something about movie history or something like that.
Thanks!
Edit: I also need to get a book for an 8 year old boy and a 6 month old boy. The girls are soooo much easier to buy for.
Posted by Mig (Member # 9284) on :
Wow. Hard to do without knowing the personality of your son.
My 19 year old's favorite books are still his COMPLETE collection of every "Calvin and Hobbes" book ever put out. They are well worn.
But that wouldn't work for my other son, so can you give us some ideas of what types of books he has liked before?
FG
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
Thanks, I was just thinking I should have asked for children's recommendations too, for my boyfriend's 8 year old son, but my son is 22. Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the college boy. Science Fiction, humorous and smart.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
quote:Originally posted by Farmgirl: Wow. Hard to do without knowing the personality of your son.
My 19 year old's favorite books are still his COMPLETE collection of every "Calvin and Hobbes" book ever put out. They are well worn.
But that wouldn't work for my other son, so can you give us some ideas of what types of books he has liked before?
FG
Like I said, he likes sci/fi and fantasy for sure. In the past I've given him Dave Barry, Terry Pratchett, Roger Zelasny, OSC (well, duh!), comic collections (Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side and Bloom County from waaaaay back). He's into computers and movies and he's going to school on a wrestling scholarship.
Posted by Friday (Member # 8998) on :
Like your son, I am a busy college student and I have found that it is difficult to find the time to read whole novels, I have enjoyed several collections of short stories. I personaly liked a lot of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, as well as Neil Gaimlan's "Smoke and Mirrors".
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
TinyURL is your friend!
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For boys (and girls) rather than the college crowd. (For college crowd, anything we'd read!)
The Day No Pigs Would Die (not f/sf, but good) Lloyd Alexander's Pyrdain trilogy Tripods (dark) Definitely Robert Westall, especially Futuretrack 5 (dark) The Wind in the Willows The Hobbit Narnia
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
I'd suggest Non Campus Mentis. Great fun for anyone with any sort of history knowledge.
"Judyism had one great god named Yahoo." "Civilisation woozed out of the Nile. Flooding was erotic." "Caesar was assassinated on the Yikes of March. He is reported to have said 'Me too, Brutus!" "Spinny Jenny was a young girl forced to work 26 hours a day."
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I'm kind of fond of Patrick McManus' books, which generally contain self-contained, easy-to-digest humorous stories.
Dorling-Kindersley (DK) makes good word-picture books, including board and bath books which are difficult for a small child to destroy. My daughter remains fond of hers.
Eight might be a pretty good age to start on Charolette's Web or Stuart Little, if the former wouldn't be found too feminine. I also liked the Peanuts cartoons at that age.
P.S. If your son is really into computers, he might enjoy User Friendly (http://www.userfriendly.org/)
[ December 02, 2006, 05:24 AM: Message edited by: Sterling ]
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
College Age--Bored of the Rings, National Lampoon Press. Definitely unpredictable coming from you, assuming he's read/seen Lord of the Rings. Small and easy to read.
8 Year Old, Any of the Asimov Robot books that are short story compilations. Its classic Sci Fi that is clean and mostly age appropriate. Each is a small short story mystery that gets kids thinking.
2 Year Old, Borders is having a 3 for 2 sale on Dr. Zuess.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
College kids: Terry Pratchett's Discworld books Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker books Gideon Defoe's PIRATES! books Any good short story collection
Posted by MandyM (Member # 8375) on :
Six month old: Brown Bear Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Catapillar board books. Anything with lots of repetition and bright colors is great.
8-year-old: Narnia, Harry Potter, The Time Warp Trio series by Jon Sczieska, Hank the Cowdog books (I hate these but I know kids who love them!), the Series of Unfortunate Events books, The High Seas trilogy by Iain Lawrence (excellent pirate books!), A Wrinkle in Time
For the college student, I like the idea of the Calvin and Hobbes book. What about something for the pending job hunt after college. Maybe something like this or maybe something inspirational like this. Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
"Mortified" by Dave Nadelberg. This is without a doubt the funniest book I have ever read.
It is made up of things real people wrote when they were young (age 9 - 19) in their diaries, for school assignments, etc. So, as you can imagine, there are some sort of racey things in it, but nothing terribly graphic or bad because it was all written by kids. Things like a teenage girl fantasizing about making love to the guy from Duran Duran (awkwardly and ridiculously...with music on!), a 12-year-old's attempt at writing a pornographic story, etc. If those types of things would offend him, don't get it. If he'd laugh at these types of things, definitely get it. It's unbelievably funny.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
My son also likes real people stories of people who started small and made it big. Like "I Woz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way," by Steve Wozniak, or something like that
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
I'm getting the goldenbooks fairy tales for my nephew this year. He's 18 months, but I figure he'll grow into it Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :
Well, I'm always embarassed when I make this recommendation, but I really love these books.
The Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer 1.) Artemis Fowl 2.) The Arctic Incident 3.) The Etermity Code 4.) The Opal Deception 5.) (New) The Lost Colony (Hard Cover Only)
These books are a light easy read with humorous but very likable characters, and yet have a very serious plot and tell a real intriguing captivating story, and for the record, I am WAY past college age.
I put these books off for a long time because I thought they were too childish, but once I read the first book, I had to have them all.
It is based on the most absurd plot and equally absurd characters, but once you start reading you are completely captivated and believe every suspense filled minute of it.
The books are short and are an easy but very very satisfying read. The first four books are out in both paperback and hardcover. The fifth book is just recently released in Hardcover.
Like the Harry Potter books, and Eragon Series, these are books that I can and will read over and over again. The stories are just TOO FUN to not be pulled back into them.
There is a boxed set available on Amazon for $17 though it is not clear which books are included in the set. None the less you can buy paperbacks at WalMart for about $5, or on Amazon for about $8. I guarantee you will not find a more cost effective form of entertainment for your money than these books.
The Hardcover version of the earlier books are available on Amazon for about $12 each, though the lastest Hardcover is $25.
The first four books are really the key to the series though. Any books that follow represent more of a continuation of a popular story and popular character.
As childish as the concept may seem, just plunge in and start reading, and I'm sure you or your son will quickly become wrapped up in Artemis Fowl's adventures and the unlikely world he lives in.
Reluctant as I was to get started with this series, I will never regret having read these books.
Just a thought.
Steve/BlueWizard
[ December 03, 2006, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: BlueWizard ]
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dan_raven: College Age--Bored of the Rings, National Lampoon Press. Definitely unpredictable coming from you, assuming he's read/seen Lord of the Rings. Small and easy to read.
And contains some stuff that a mother might not want to give even her adult son (lewd content and such.)
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
For the 8yo you have lots of sci fi fantasy suggestions, but many boys like more realistic fiction.
If he likes sports, there is a series by Matt Christopher about child athletes.
Also, Eyewitness books are huge.
Guinness Book of World Records.
Here is a site which lists books and reading levels and all sorts of things:
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