recommend some good casual books

[ArkiStan]

A young friend of mine recently arrived in the US and has asked me to recommend some good books for him to read. He's in his early 20's, but English is not his first language so I'd say something similar to the level of Harry Potter or slightly more advanced would be suitable for him. I think he'd be interested in anything fun and creative: sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, etc. He's basically trying to do as much casual reading as possible along side his school work to improve his english, so the more entertaining the better! Thanks.

[wung]

I've been reading a lot of Michael Connelly books recently: http://www.michaelconnelly.com/

They are very entertaining, and the English is "common". The Harry Bosch series is fun to read (in order).

[brainsmile]

joy luck club is a good mix

[Jenny]

Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. :D

I also agree with the Michael Connelly books - specifically the Harry Bosch series. :)

[Jeffbx]

Love these, and the're about Harry Potter speed, so he can tear through them quickly:

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (Wendy Mass)
The City of Ember (Jeanne DuPrau)

[The Happy Squirrel]

Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card

[zenbooty]

Ulysses, by James Joyce. Its a light read.

Once he's finished that, let him try Finnegan's Wake.

[wung]

I also agree with the Michael Connelly books - specifically the Harry Bosch series. :)

have you read all of them?? i just finished Trunk Music ...

[ArkiStan]

Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card
Nice. I've been on a sci-fi binge myself recently. i just finished the first two Foundation books by Asimov and being kinda underwhelmed, I just moved on to The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Ender's Game has been on my reading list for a long time, so I wanted to recommend it to my friend, but having not read it yet, i wasn't so sure if it would be accessible for my friend. Thanks for the tip.

People seem to be agreeing about the Michael Connelly pieces, so i will surely recommend that to my friend.

Ahhh, and Joyce. interesting. I will look into that and all others suggested. Thanks! Keep them coming!

[Jcranmer]

Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. :D


Only if he likes sappy love stories disguised as a vampire story with nearly no action. (of any kind!) :P And yes I read (well actually listened to the audio books) them all.

[Jcranmer]

Actually I may be a tad hard on Twilight. I did enjoy it enough to listen to it all. It might actually be a good choose. Just keep in mind that I think it leans very heavily towards being a love story between a young girl and a vampire. It's a little weak on...um....Vampire stuff. :D

After thinking about it though, I have a suggestion that he might like. The Artemus Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. It's geared towards a younger audience, but this 30 something male thought they were great. Here is the wiki for more information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_Fowl_(series)

Ok I am officially stoned on my ambian and can no longer type....Time for bed.:sleep:

[BigJon]

I've always enjoyed Gary Paulsen's books. He writes them mainly for teens. One of the more famous is Hatchet that many were required to read in middle school...at least in Ohio.

[cruelpupet]

Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card

Great book, but not the best choice depending on his grasp of english. There was a lot of made up words and fictional slang if I remember correctly.

[Nija]

Great book, but not the best choice depending on his grasp of english. There was a lot of made up words and fictional slang if I remember correctly.
:stupid:

Although, to be honest, I started reading the series in High School.

Also around that time I was doing my first readings of The Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_novels#The_Chronicles_Trilogy) intermingled with The Dark Elf Trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Elf_Trilogy)

[nate el bueno]

A slightly different genre, but I LOVED "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". It's very similar to "Catcher in the Rye". It's not a hard read.