Imagine 6 young men with very different interests choosing to read a book together. Half of us are by no means prolific readers, the other half read daily across many genres. For context, we’re all active and social young professionals.
These guidelines are vague, get creative! Excited to see what you all come up with.
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by MakeMeSmarder
7 Comments
Ok, a few ideas:
* [The Name of the Rose](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/119073.The_Name_of_the_Rose) by Umberto Eco
* [Chickenhawk](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/63699) by Robert Mason
* [Regeneration](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5872.Regeneration?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_7) by Pat Barker
* [The Master and Margarita](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Margarita) by Mikhail Bulgakov
* [Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/37438) by Will Ferguson
* [True Grit](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/257845.True_Grit?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=0TqrV0DpS9&rank=1) by Charles Portis
* [Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7745.Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_12) by Hunter S. Thompson
* [Another Day of Life](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/102738#CommunityReviews) by Ryszard Kapuściński
* [The Right Stuff](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8146619-the-right-stuff?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=LkwbkCP38p&rank=1) by Tom Wolffe
* [Homage to Catalonia](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9646.Homage_to_Catalonia?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_11) by George Orwell
* [The Armies of the Night](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12474.The_Armies_of_the_Night) by Norman Mailer
* [The Star Maker](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17167415-the-star-maker?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_14) by Olaf Stapledon
* [The Blue Age](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56643998-the-blue-age?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_12) by Gregg Easterbrook
* [If Not Now, When](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136096.If_Not_Now_When_?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_10) by Primo Levi
* [With The Old Breed](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42394073-with-the-old-breed?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_13) by Eugene B. Sledge
* [This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49247043-this-is-how-they-tell-me-the-world-ends?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_16) by Nicole Perlroth
* [A Farewell To Arms](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/130473573-a-fairwell-to-arms?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=VUX0NefMX8&rank=1) by Ernest Hemingway
Mick Herron’s Slow Horses? It’s got a lot of dark humor, spies, and an abduction to be solved, along with great characterization.
I’m a fairly old lady, so this is actually fun for me. These are all 4 or 5-star reads of mine that I think could appeal to your group. I read across genres so the common thread is quality of writing. I also tried not to go *too* “bro” stereotyped, but not sure I accomplished that 😉
Fight Club
by Chuck Palahniuk – book and movie are both fantastic, crazy unreliable narrator
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper – reads like an action movie in a good way, crime/family/humor/violence – you name it, it has it
The Hike by Drew Magary – this is impossible to describe – I’d probably put this as my #1 recommendation
American Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis – I loved the book and movie on this one too – super violent, weird-ass humor, interesting side-discourses – kind of like Moby Dick talking about whales 😉
Hell by Robert Olen Butler – an absurd, fascinating take on hell (spoiler – pretty much everyone goes to hell)
Up Jumps the Devil by Michael Poore – modern-day devil doing his thing – I adore Poore – his writing is very natural – it reads like a conversation you would have with your friends, only funnier
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt – hey, this was also a good movie (what a weird trend I have going) – a modernly written western and a fun read
The Devil All the Time
by Donald Ray Pollock – I’m getting tired of my movie comparisons, but here’s another one. I liked the movie and the book. Hick-lit to the Nth degree!
I would say some Vonnegut perhaps: Cat’s Cradle, Sirens of Titan, or Slaughterhouse Five.
Less Than by A.D. Long
My recs:
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel – engrossing, not long, easy to read, non fiction but true crime which makes it gripping. It should provoke a LOT of good discussion.
World War Z by Max Brooks. The book is night and day different from the movie, every single man I’ve loaned it to started reading it and found they couldn’t put it down. Easy to read and again, should generate a lot of fun talk.
Ender’s Game. Again, shorter, easy to read, but it should lead to a good bookclub meet with lots to think about. Themes of war, aliens, birth order…. one of my husband’s favorite books.
Also 2nd The Sisters Brothers (hilarious and I loved it, but it is a longer read and a little ‘tougher’ reading).
Regardless, hope your bookclub has a lot of fun!
The Dog Stars, Peter Heller
Country Dark, Chris Offutt
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones
All My Rage, Sabaa Tahir
The Wager, David Grann