Recommend a book for somebody who has never read one before

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you like the Daily Show, I highly recommend Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. It's an interesting and well-written memoir, but not too long or overly ambitious.

I suggest this because my grandmother (who had to leave school in 6th grade and so didn't read much until adulthood) loved biographies and autobiographies of celebrities. Non-fiction in general might be a better choice for someone who reads magazines but not books.

Really loved this book.

[Anonymous]

Friday night lights by buzz bissenger if you like sports. He also has a new book called the mosquito bowl about college football players in WWII, and several other sports books.

One day by Gene weingarten. It's all about different things that happened to everyday people on a single day. He also has a collection of his best feature writing called the fiddler in the subway.

Maybe James Patterson books...they are fast paced. Same with Dave Barry. I agree with the pps who suggested John grisham and bill Bryson. Similarly funny travel books like Bryson's are Round Ireland With a Fridge, and Pass the Butter works.

Or George pelecanos...noir books set mostly in DC. He wrote for the wire. He also edited a collection called DC noir. A book of short stories, essays, or something might be good because you wouldn't get bored. I like the Best American...series, especially best American nonrequired reading.

[Anonymous]

Carl Hiaasen.

[Anonymous]

Stuart Woods Stone Barrington books. They are easy to read, fast paced escapism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Carl Hiaasen.

Early Carl Hiassen.

[Anonymous]

You might want to try Young Adult fiction. It’s one of my favorite genres and I try to read a few a year. YA books don’t shy away from deep/gritty topics, but they do take themselves much less seriously. The writing usually feels less forced and they are often quicker reads. My favorites are outside your interests, but I second the Harry Potter recommendation (my husband doesn’t read fiction, but he couldn’t put them down).

[Anonymous]

Michael Crichton writes easy reading books, with some pseudo science thrown in.
When my kids were transitioning from kid books to adult books, I gave them "Congo" and it did the trick for them.

[Anonymous]

Ender’s Game

The Hot Zone

The Hobbit