Listening is a great way to experience a story.
Go to Guys Listen to check out more.
You can find books in any of the following groups:
Here are some recommendations from some guys we trust.
Patrick Jones
is a Senior Librarian at the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, MN. This is what he says:
The Great Eight: great books (kind of) for guys. Also: Magazines. Anytime I’m asked for booklist, I ask, “What about magazines, don’t they count?” Well, it’s my list so they count. Read a magazine every month or week.
- Coyote Steals the Blanket, A Ute Tale
A trickster tale about a coyote, a blanket, and a rock. Hot times in the desert.
- Dangerous Girls
Or anything by Stine. The man's a genius. Don't believe me: this is about twin teen girls vampires one hot summer. Do the math.
- Hidden Talents
This has it all: humor, adventure, smart mouth teen boys, stupid rules to rebel against, and fire.
- Scholastic Book Of Lists
When you don’t have time for chapters or even paragraphs, choose bullets. Bullet points that is.
- Scary Stories 3
Nothing wrong with the first two volumes, but this is "just delicious!" Don't read this during lunch or before or after.
- Strong to the Hoop
A 10-year-old gets a chance to play with the big boys. Read this and you'll feel the sweat fly off the pages.
- The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music
By the Rolling Stone editors. An earlier edition of this book was my Bible at age 17. Everything you need to know.
Adam McCauley
There are too many incredible books to list, but these come to mind first for me as important in my own upbringing. I was basically steeped in Tintin as a child, basted by Oz and Tolkien, troubled by Jansson, tickled by Asterix and taught by Lear. It wasn’t until High School that I saw Codex Seriphinianus, and I was thrown irrevocably into the world of illustration for good.
- Tintin: The Castafiore Emerald
- Tiktok of Oz
- The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My
- Asterix the Gaul
- The Hobbit
- A Book of Nonsense
- Codex Seriphinianus
Michael Northrop
Michael Northrop is a writer living in New York City, author of three YA novels: Gentlemen, one of the American Library Association/YALSA's Best Books for Young Adults; Trapped, an ALA/YALSA Readers' Choice List selection, an Indie Next List pick, and a Barnes & Noble Must-Read for Teens; and Rotten. His first middle grade novel, Plunked, was named one of the best children's books of the year by the New York Public Library. His writing has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, McSweeney's, Weird Tales, and many other places. His latest YA novel is Surrounded by Sharks. You can find him on the internet here.
- Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
"Fantastic World War II nonfiction: a high-stakes British spy thriller that just happens to be true."
- Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
"Hilarious, endearing, and includes a polar bear - what more do you want? This book made me wish I could draw (or at least doodle really well)."
- Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
"Lovecraft's stories are profoundly weird, insanely good, and they changed horror writing forever, and for the better (which is to say, weirder)."
- Rumble Fish
"A short, tough book that hits hard and leaves a mark. Not as famous as The Outsiders, but it had just as big of an impact on me. It was the first novel I reread when I decided to write YA."
- A Separate Peace
"Darn near perfect: a little masterpiece that quietly tackles the big questions."
Erik P. Kraft
- Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
- Lovecraft's grocery lists are enough to make modern day vampires wet their pants.
- The Cut-ups Cut Loose
- Features Lamar J. Spurgle and his repulsive dog Bessie!
- Dooley and the Snortsnoot
- Picture book about a giant who isn't giant yet. Also, a Snortsnoot.
- Welcome to the Monkey House
I loved no writer more than Kurt Vonnegut as a teen. His short stories might be an easy entry for the uninitiated.
- The Complete Saki
- Maybe not for everyone (subversive Victorian short stories, as if being subversive around Victorians is hard), but worth the price of admission for "The Lumber-Room" and "Reginald's Choir Treat."
Daniel Handler
is, most famously, the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events. He also plays a mean accordian.
- The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily
This book contains fierce battles, a magic wand, illegal gambling, a sea serpent, many ghosts and a werewolf, although the werewolf in the book doesn't really appear in the book. This has been my favorite book since I was a tiny brat, and now that I am larger I try to make everyone read it.
- The Headless Cupid
This is another lifelong favorite of mine, about a poltergeist, which is either an invisible ghost throwing things around or somebody pretending to be an invisible ghost throwing things around.
- Danny, the Champion of the World
Everybody knows Roald Dahl, but you might not know this book, which is not only a great suspense story but teaches you several methods of hunting pheasant illegally, which your parents have probably not taught you. Another thing you might not know about Roald Dahl is that if you go online you can take a virtual tour of the disgusting hut in which he wrote his books.
- How I Live Now
This starts out as a pleasant summer story about spending time with one’s cousins and then suddenly gets pretty scary.
- Running Wild
This book is even scarier. It might be too scary for you. It is about some nasty, nasty children. I don't really like to think about this book, which is probably why I've read it three times.
- Halloween Party
OK, this book isn't nearly as scary. It's just about a young girl who gets murdered while bobbing for apples. Agatha Christie is fun to read because there's always a mystery, and often there's a list of characters in the front in case you start getting confused.