Top Ten Tuesday: Not a Reader? Try this!


This week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is:  Top 10 Books That I'd Hand to Someone Who Says They Don't Like to Read

Since, like I've said, I'm kind of in the business of convincing people to read, I feel like I usually answer this question in an ideal way.  I usually list books that are really really good and that I think people will appreciate if they just give them a chance.  This time, I think I'm going to include some genuine page turners that non-readers seem to respond to.  In other words, I'm going to be honest.

10.  Stephanie Meyers, Twilight: There is a lot of love for Twilight out there.  I can't say that I didn't buzz right through them myself.

9.  The Best American Non-Required Reading Series:  I love this series.  Love it.  Not only is it edited by the inimitable Dave Eggers, but there's lots of stuff in here that is fun to read.  There are lists and news articles, and funny stuff from Craigslist.  And it can be read in short little sips.

8.  HitRecord, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: This is barely a book (I read it over the course of a few days during the time that I was waiting for my dogs to go outside before bed); however, it is very sweet and I love the pairings of words and art cards, some of which might even inspire a non- reader to give loving language a shot.

7. Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code: I know people who have only read this one book.  It is an unequivocal page turning machine.  You also might be able to substitute Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in this spot to be more with the times, but it is honestly much slower paced.

6. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice: Teenage girls who aren't really readers usually still like Jane Austen.  I liked George Orwell, even when I didn't like anything else my teachers assigned me, but I'm kind of weird.

5. David Sedaris, Naked:  Better than reading David Sedaris is listening to him (that still counts, right?).  This is the best of his books IMHO.

4. Jane Green, Jemima J: This is my favorite chick lit book. Although I don't read a lot of chick lit as a genre, I still do really like some of its finer specimens, and it would be a great gateway into Jane Austen.

3. Thomas Harris, Red Dragon:  What I said above, but substitute "thriller" for "chick lit" and "Dasheill Hammett" for "Jane Austen."

2. Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried:  This is a book that I do think is really so good that almost everyone who [I force to] read it appreciates it (even if they don't agree with it entirely).

1. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: Duh.

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