He grew up in a hectic household, wanting to be a reader but he never had the peace or space for it….he’s also dyslexic.
We got together in our 30s, and really love to read aloud together. He says he likes how I add voices and intonation when I read – and I enjoy hearing stories unfold when he reads.
We like to stop and discuss books as we go (I feel like the luckiest gal in the world) and we’ve explored a lot of different genres.
Our first was the Madaddam series by Margaret Atwood. He also really enjoyed Animal Farm, The Giver, and Slaughterhouse Five.
We also enjoy nonfiction – we’ve read some Ray Dalio together, Jordan Peterson and his lobsters, and Malcolm Gladwell.
I’m not sure where to go next, but I’d like a few interesting and light reads for summer adventures.
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Stories with great messages that help men understand themselves better would be cool.
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Shorter novels like Animal Farm
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Stories about immigrants, particularly modern men working to create roots/chase the dream.
Thanks 🙏
by Not_Xena
5 Comments
The books/short stories by [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3670.Jhumpa_Lahiri) come to mind – especially The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies.
[Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58662236-small-things-like-these) is a lovely little story (128 pages) that seems to be very close to your first preference, as does [Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18505792-the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane).
This next one exceeds your preferred page count, but it is a very good novel about immigrants from Acapulco to the United States. [American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45046527-american-dirt?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=dyz9cX1Np3&rank=1).
Have fun!
It may be worth it to look into a font that is made to help dyslexics keep the letters in place. I don’t know if they have those installed on e readers but I do know that at one time there was the ability to have them loaded onto your computer.
No particular recommendations, but wanted to say this is so lovely!!!!
I’ve been wanting to re-read “This Is How You Lose the Time War” with my spouse, aloud. It’s written as an epistolary novel – love letters between two enemies turned “lovers” though they’ve never actually met in person. They’re on opposing sides of a war waged across millennia. The war and its factions aren’t really described, so it leaves a lot to the imagination. The real story is the evolving love between the two. It’s prose, but reads more like poetry.
Since each “chapter” is a fairly short letter and brief description of where the war is at, it offers lots of breaks and reflection time. Lends itself to slow reading IMO.
I read aloud to my husband as well! This is wonderful.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid would fit the bill neatly. It’s told in the second person and paints a vivid picture of the immigrant experience, among other things. It’s short and doesn’t have a single wasted word in it. It’s one of my favourite books. Lots of Hamid’s books examine being an immigrant so this might be a gateway.
How Not To Be A Boy by British comedian Robert Webb is a memoir but specifically reflecting on growing up with toxic masculinity and how that shaped him as a young man, including how it damaged his relationships with his wife and daughters. It’s very funny and fascinating.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson would be a great summer read – it’s light, funny and interesting.
The Parable of the Sower and its sequel, the Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler have some similarities to the MaddAddam trilogy and are well worth a read.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is an older book but we really enjoyed reading it together.