book recommendations?

[mchookem 16318]

for a couple of teenage boys (15 and 13). homeschooled but not nutty religious, extremely smart, voracious readers, quite mature. 

they don't like scifi/fantasy but do like most everything else, including nonfiction. they are into camping/wilderness stuff i know for sure. no porn please 😋

i'd like to get them a couple of books as gifts...if i could go in a store i'd browse for a while  but since i'm stuck ordering online i don't really know how to search for what they might enjoy!

any suggestions appreciated!

[Damor 1236]

Here are some my boys have enjoyed, although if they've been voracious readers, they may have covered these:

Outdoors: (they are probably a little old for these, esp the 15yo)
Hatchet, Tracker, lots of stuff by Gary Paulsen
My Side of the Mountain

DIY/Get in trouble:
Unbored
Manual to Manhood
Backyard Ballistics

Calvin and Hobbes or Far Side collections (huge hit at our house)

Nonfiction:
What If?
Omnivore's Dilemma (there's a young reader's version, too).

I don't know what the language tolerance is, but mine liked the Martian and Ready Player One, though those might be outside their interests.

Otherwise a bunch of sci-fi/fantasy (sorry, I have nerds).  Good luck.

[youdunnf'dup 2147]

So I’m the dipshit 30 year old that didn’t start reading for pleasure until this pandemic. Any recommendations for good books on true crime, sports, or history? Vague question, I know. I could just google this, but I’m looking for personal recommendations if possible. I’d prefer non-fiction, but I’m open to any book that i can really get into. Thanks in advance.

[Post Oak 20204]

SC Gwynne. Empire of the Summer moon.

Ernest Junger Storm of Steel

Erik Larson Splendid and the Vile

Charles Mann 1491

David Hoffman Billion Dollar Spy

All Quiet On The Western Front  [historical fiction]

And even though it's not what you asked for A Gentleman In Moscow is one of my favorite books of the last couple of years

[JOSEYWALES66 1801]

13 hours ago, Post Oak said:

SC Gwynne. Empire of the Summer moon.

Ernest Junger Storm of Steel

Erik Larson Splendid and the Vile

Charles Mann 1491

David Hoffman Billion Dollar Spy

All Quiet On The Western Front  [historical fiction]

And even though it's not what you asked for A Gentleman In Moscow is one of my favorite books of the last couple of years

Billion Dollar Spy is quite good.

I'd recommend American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

[Post Oak 20204]

1 hour ago, JOSEYWALES66 said:

Billion Dollar Spy is quite good.

I'd recommend American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

I'll add that to my list

[bluto 4912]

So I’m the dipshit 30 year old that didn’t start reading for pleasure until this pandemic. Any recommendations for good books on true crime, sports, or history? Vague question, I know. I could just google this, but I’m looking for personal recommendations if possible. I’d prefer non-fiction, but I’m open to any book that i can really get into. Thanks in advance.

Devil and the white city
Boys in the boat
Heart of the sea

[youdunnf'dup 2147]

18 hours ago, Post Oak said:

SC Gwynne. Empire of the Summer moon.

Ernest Junger Storm of Steel

Erik Larson Splendid and the Vile

Charles Mann 1491

David Hoffman Billion Dollar Spy

All Quiet On The Western Front  [historical fiction]

And even though it's not what you asked for A Gentleman In Moscow is one of my favorite books of the last couple of years

 

4 hours ago, JOSEYWALES66 said:

Billion Dollar Spy is quite good.

I'd recommend American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

 

3 minutes ago, bluto said:

Devil and the white city
Boys in the boat
Heart of the sea

Good shit, y’all. Thank you.

[JOSEYWALES66 1801]

5 minutes ago, bluto said:

Devil and the white city
Boys in the boat
Heart of the sea

Devil in the White City is great.  I can’t believe the shit he got away with 

[Continental Op 3934]

On 1/12/2021 at 9:48 PM, youdunnf'dup said:

So I’m the dipshit 30 year old that didn’t start reading for pleasure until this pandemic. Any recommendations for good books on true crime, sports, or history? Vague question, I know. I could just google this, but I’m looking for personal recommendations if possible. I’d prefer non-fiction, but I’m open to any book that i can really get into. Thanks in advance.

True Crime - My Dark Places by James Ellroy

Sports - The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn 

History - The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis 

[Bama Llama 1450]

Enthusiastically recommend just about anything by any of these guys:

John LeCarre

Nelson DeMille

Alan Furst

James Lee Burke

Martin Cruz Smith

Carl Hiassen

Totally agree with above post about A Gentleman In Moscow - fine writing about an aristocrat under house arrest in the Metropole Hotel in Moscow for decades following the 1917 revolution.

 

[hookem2010 2623]

for a couple of teenage boys (15 and 13). homeschooled but not nutty religious, extremely smart, voracious readers, quite mature. 
they don't like scifi/fantasy but do like most everything else, including nonfiction. they are into camping/wilderness stuff i know for sure. no porn please 
i'd like to get them a couple of books as gifts...if i could go in a store i'd browse for a while  but since i'm stuck ordering online i don't really know how to search for what they might enjoy!
any suggestions appreciated!

It's Christmas book time again! I suck at fiction, but some adventure/wilderness non-fiction they might like...

Undaunted Courage (Ambrose)- about Lewis and Clark
Endurance (Lansing)- Shackleton getting stuck in the Antarctic ice and trying to survive
Over the Edge of the World (Bergreen)- Magellan's circumnavigation
Into Thin Air (Krakaeur)- probably familiar with this tragedy on Everest but I actually read this one in high school and loved it
No Beast So Fierce (Hucklebridge)- man-killing tiger in India and the hunt for it
Astoria (Stark)- about one of the first attempts at colonizing the Pacific coast
Life and Death in the Andes (MacQuarrie)- each chapter highlights a different story from SA, from Darwin and the galapagos, to Escobar, to Butch Cassidy's last stand

[hookem2010 2623]

Also, Desert Solitaite by Abbey. Given his overall attitude, might hit hard for a teenager especially

[Anwar Namtut 344]

Any recommendations of the history of the Catholic Church/Catholicism? Looking for something NOT from the Catholic Church or anti-Catholic. A true history book. Also open to Audible books...

Edited December 20, 2021 by Anwar Namtut
Audible

[MillerEP 30446]

The Great Courses has one:

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Catholic-Church-A-History-Audiobook/B00DI959CE

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-catholic-church-a-history

[0xdeadbeef 1645]

A couple years ago I read a synopsis of a book by a pro-wrestler that talked about life after the limelight when they retired.    I've been trying to find that book but I'm coming up blank.

I'm hoping someone knows the book or can recommend something similar about coping when you walk away from fans.