Was asked for a reading list of books for a 13 year old boy, who doesn't like science fiction.

[Raylan]

I came up with this short list of easy to read books that I enjoyed in my youth and that I think still hold up as an adult. Any additional suggestions are welcome as reading lists for young men and women are always a good thing.

 

Animal Farm - well done, entertaining, and a short easy read
To Kill a Mockingbird - easy to read, paints a vivid picture of the south in the late forties early fifties through a child's eyes, still one of the best written books I've ever read.
Tarzan - the first book is actually well written and engrossing.
The Once and Future King - T.H. White - about Arthur, Camelot, and Lancelot - I would say Le Morte d'Arthur but it's not as readable for kids.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Monster Hunters International - first book
Iron Men and Saints and the Flame of Islam by Harrold Lamb - easy to read well told history of the Crusades - written in 1962 I believe before all the PC crap.
The Diary of Anne Frank
Men Ships and the Sea - Alan John Villiers for National Geographic - history of men ships and the sea - tons of fascinating information and illustrations.
The Three Musketeers

 

 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

A Princess of Mars.

[Tall Tale Todd]

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. About Gettysburg

[largo casey #19191]

Any Louis LaMour books

                                         Largo

[Choctaw Jack]

Ralph Moody's Little Britches series.

About growing up in frontier Colorado.

[Subdeacon Joe]

At that age I was already reading Michener  - I  loved, and still love - The Source.   

 

Maybe Shogun would catch his interest. 

 

Harry Turtledove is a master at alternative history.  Things like Ruled Britannia,  in which the Armada wasn't stopped and Spain conquered England and Wm. Shakespeare gets caught up in the conspiracy to set England free.  He has a two book series about Japan capturing Hawaii and then being driven out.

 

His World War series is Sifi, but doesn't really read like it. 

 

The Ring of Fire (aka 1623)series by Eric Flint, and others,  starts off as what could be considered sifi but quickly becomes straight alternative history. 

 

One stand alone that I really like is The Late Great State of California,  I can't recall the name of the author.   Pretty much a book about the history and economics of California before 1970.

 

Oh!  Power Boys and Hardy Boys mystery books.

[DeaconKC]

Anything by Jack London

[Dantankerous]

I 2nd the motion for Jack London. Novels or short stories it doesn't matter.

[DocWard]

At that age, I believe I was already a voracious reader. A lot of it was science fiction though. I'm trying to recall what else I was reading at that point.

Obviously, Tolkien.
 

I was also reading Louis L'Amour, as well as the old "pulp" stuff like the Doc Savage and Conan books. If you can find Doc Savage these days, they are probably pretty outdated by today's standards.

 

I first read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein about that time too.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

Have to agree with To Kill A Mockingbird. Not only a fantastically told story, but should be required reading. 

[DeaconKC]

The Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout

[Alpo]

Anything by Jim Kjelgaard.

[El CupAJoe]

Black arrow by RL Stevenson 

The Chronicles of Narnia 

My favorite books to recommend right now are the binding of the blade series by LB Graham.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

The entire Doc Savage series.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Gulliver’s Travels

Robinson Crusoe

mutiny on the bounty

call of the wild

Three years before the mast

red badge of courage

last of the Mohicans

 

 

when I was young I acquired an old set of

Hardy Boys  books from around 1910.  When people drove flivvers. It really expanded my vocabulary and gave me an appreciation for how the language changes.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

8 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Gulliver’s Travels

Robinson Crusoe

mutiny on the bounty

call of the wild

three years before the mast

 

 

when I was young I acquired an old set of

Hardy Boys  books from around 1910.  When people drove flivvers. It really expanded my vocabulary and gave me an appreciation for how the language changes.

 

[Warden Callaway]

I was into magazines. Hot cars, big guns and fast girls.  

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Three years before the mast

Two?

[DocWard]

10 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Two?

 

Two... Three... Whatever it takes...

[Rye Miles #13621]

Moby Dick, Kon Tiki,  and anything by Zane Grey or Louis L'Amour 

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E Howard (Conan, King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Cormac Mac Art, Solomon Kane,... there's a collection of his work that was put out by Baen back in the early '00's that's still seen in the used market.  Big, paper back books that are the size of hardcovers, black covers- and the Conan stories are the originals, not the dumbed down duCamp "edited" crap from the '70's and 80's), if he likes horror then throw in some Lovecraft.  Western writers like L'amour, too. 

 

The old school pulp guys understood how to write a story and keep the reader interested.  I still think that Howard can set a scene and the mood in 3 sentences better than most writers can if you give them a whole page.  Read the opening paragraph of the Hour of the Dragon and you'll see what I mean.

 

I was that age when I first read the Stewart Lake biography of Wyatt Earp, too.  James Fenimoore Cooper and Alexdandre Dumas are probably a bit slow moving at that age but it's worth a shot.

[Hendo]

Treasure Island. 

 

Just sayin....

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

Any of Tom Clancy’s early books. Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising are classics. 
 

Might even inspire him to think about military service. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

3 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

 

Three years before the mast

 

 

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

Two?

It certainly seemed like three!

[J-BAR #18287]

A collection of O. Henry’s short stories.

[G W Wade]

I vote with Subdeacon Joe       James A Michener   was a favorite          GW 

[Chantry]

The Hobbit

The Spenser mystery series by Robert Parker  (the ones written by other authors after Parker's death aren't as good)

W.E.B. Griffin

David Weber's War God series

Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series

 

I know you said no science fiction, but you might consider Heinlein's juveniles:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinlein_juveniles

especially Starman Jones, Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the Sky and to a lesser degree Starship Troopers.  The stories are more about people, that there is science fiction involved is really secondary in many of Heinlein's stories

 

 

[Seamus McGillicuddy]

For that age, Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith. Award winning young adult novel of the Civil War in Kansas. One of the few books I ever read multiple times. 
 

Seamus

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

The Travels of Jamie McPheeters.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

15 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

The Ring of Fire (aka 1623)series by Eric Flint, and others,  starts off as what could be considered sifi but quickly becomes straight alternative history.

The 1st book of the series is in Baen Publishing's free e-book library.  He can download it and give it a try ,if he wants, with nothing invested other than a little time.

 

If he ends up liking it, the Belsarius series by David Drake and Eric Flint is a fun read, too.

 

Don't forget Daniel Dafoe or Francis Parkman's The Oregon Trail.

[Sedalia Dave]

Before reading the Lord of the Rings. Read the Hobbit. It provides the necessary back story.

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

Clive Cussler books.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Before reading the Lord of the Rings. Read the Hobbit. It provides the necessary back story.

I have always hated jumping into the middle of a series.  By the time you go back and read what you've missed, you know too much about what's coming to enjoy the build up.

[El CupAJoe]

59 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Before reading the Lord of the Rings. Read the Hobbit. It provides the necessary back story.

 

5 minutes ago, Smuteye John SASS#24774 said:

I have always hated jumping into the middle of a series.  By the time you go back and readcwhat you've missed, you know too much aboutabout what's coming to enjoy the build up.

Sooo... Start with the Silmarillion???   Can be read at as a 13 year old, but you have to want to read it... 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Dickens