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Recommendations for a non reader?

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  • 10-11-2007 2:48pm
    #1
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭


    Hello peeps...

    I'm going to be doing a good bit of travelling soon and i think i'm going to need something to keep me occupied other than my mp3 player.

    So, what would you good people recommend to someone who doesn't really read due to short attention span? I've only read a few books in my time so i need something that will keep me entertained and enthralled.

    Any genre is welcome, although i think i'd prefer non-fiction but it doesn't really matter.

    Cheers!!


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    #2
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    Hello peeps...

    I'm going to be doing a good bit of travelling soon and i think i'm going to need something to keep me occupied other than my mp3 player.

    So, what would you good people recommend to someone who doesn't really read due to short attention span? I've only read a few books in my time so i need something that will keep me entertained and enthralled.

    Any genre is welcome, although i think i'd prefer non-fiction but it doesn't really matter.

    Cheers!!


    Harry potter ,is easy to read and not too complicated , if you want non fiction then look in the bookshop for something that interests you, you will find subjects that your into are much easer to read


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    #3
    beaushalloe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 419 ✭✭beaushalloe


    check out the irish crime section, (my fav genre!) theres always some good ones there, usually current cases like, sissor sisters, john carthy, irish homicides, ect. most of these have been featured in the media are aways quite good as you would be familiar with the topic. they are generally written by the journos that covered the stories so the writing style is simple and attention grabbing!


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    #4
    Pherekydes
    Registered Users Posts: 16,164 ✭✭✭✭Pherekydes


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    So, what would you good people recommend to someone who doesn't really read due to short attention span?

    Colouring book and crayons?


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    #5
    Red Hand
    Registered Users Posts: 4,986 ✭✭✭Red Hand


    Books from the Discworld series, by Terry Pratchett. They are very funny, and make you think as well. Can't recommend them more.

    Read Interesting Times.:)


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    #6
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    Slow coach wrote: »
    Colouring book and crayons?
    You obviously didn't get my question... So, WHAT KIND of colouring book and crayons!!?? ;)

    Cheers Jeremiah and Co, will look in those options.

    Keep em coming.


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    #7
    Tree
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,703 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tree


    my buddies ratehr like the books of random facts and answers like the QI book of general ignorance, and the new scientist ones like does anything eat wasps or how to fossilise your pet hamster. there's always teh funnies like bunny suicides, should you be laughing at this, and so on.


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    #8
    AJG
    Registered Users Posts: 348 ✭✭AJG


    Anything by John Fante or Charles Bukowski. Its pretty accesible stuff.


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    #9
    biZrb
    Registered Users Posts: 617 ✭✭✭biZrb


    Im going to recommend a few 'safe' books that the majority of people like, hoping you'll like them too

    On The Road - Jack Kerouac
    Catch 22 - Joesph Heller
    1984 - George Orwell
    Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
    The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

    Im not too sure what most peoples opinions are about this book but I loved it, its not too heavy and its an interesting story to keep you interested:

    The Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden


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    #10
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    Which ever one you go for , Id suggest that you read a few pages in the bookshop before you buy after all if you cant get into it reading it in a book shop you wont be able to get into while travelling , by the way chapters on Parnell street have a few cheap audio books they wont last as long but at 5-10 euro they are great to have if your too tired to read


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    #11
    Valmont
    Registered Users Posts: 5,856 ✭✭✭Valmont


    biZrb wrote: »
    On The Road - Jack Kerouac


    I definitely recommend this one. You'll enjoy it even more when you're travelling. It's an easy and brilliant read.


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    #12
    Creature
    Registered Users Posts: 3,005 ✭✭✭Creature


    I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. It's very accessible and straightforward, it's pretty short too. Also its just a damn good book if you like vampire apocalypses. :D


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    #13
    Potential-Monke
    Registered Users Posts: 14,004 ✭✭✭✭Potential-Monke


    crotalus667 wrote: »
    Harry potter ,is easy to read and not too complicated ...

    Couldn't agree more. I'm a non-reader, tried a few different types throughout my youth and after, couldn't get into anything, but the Harry Potter books stuck with me, after the first book i couldn't put them down! Excellently written series.


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    #14
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    Fabulous and all, as are Catch 22 and On The Road, I'm not sure I'd recommend them to a non-reader with a short attention span!

    Try the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy books. Timeless, hilarious, easy reading with a travel theme!


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    #15
    Dudess
    Closed Accounts Posts: 37,214 ✭✭✭✭Dudess


    The more you read, the more you'll train yourself to focus and concentrate. And you HAVE to read this book:
    biZrb wrote: »
    1984 - George Orwell


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    #16
    smilingeyerish
    Closed Accounts Posts: 135 ✭✭smilingeyerish


    where you going travelling to? only askin cause it might be good to read books that are based on or in the countries your travelling around.

    if your doing south america there is a book called Marching Powder by Rusty Young and its a true story about a prison in La Paz in Bolivia, its an amazing book and every backpacker has read it (dont know why! just in my experience they have!)

    if your doing australia Down Under by Bill Bryson is brilliant! you read it and the think "hey thats where i was!" or whatever! i suppose any bill bryson travel book would be good like that. he just tells you about his experiences in different countries, its funny, easy to read and relavant to your travelling!

    if your staying in hostels on your travels alot of them have book shelves with an honour system so you can take a book and leave the one you have finished yourself,so you could pick up sme good stuff that way!

    hope that helps!


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    #17
    DublinWriter
    Registered Users Posts: 9,557 ✭✭✭DublinWriter


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    I'm going to be doing a good bit of travelling soon and i think i'm going to need something to keep me occupied other than my mp3 player.
    Why not kill two birds with the one stone and get some audiobooks on MP3 for your player?

    I've a dreadful attention span when it comes to reading and much prefer to listen than read. I've currently got the unabridged version of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment on the go in my car stereo.

    You can also get the complete, unabridged version of James Joyce's Ulysses in MP3 format from the RTE website (24 hours worth of audio!).

    There's plenty of resources on the web. Check out the BBC Radio 4 website, I think they have most of their daily plays available as Podcasts.


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    #18
    Earthhorse
    Registered Users Posts: 14,714 ✭✭✭✭Earthhorse


    Dades wrote: »
    Fabulous and all, as are Catch 22 and On The Road, I'm not sure I'd recommend them to a non-reader with a short attention span!

    Try the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy books. Timeless, hilarious, easy reading with a travel theme!

    Totally agree with this post.
    DublinWriter wrote: »
    Why not kill two birds with the one stone and get some audiobooks on MP3 for your player?

    This is also a great suggestion unless you are planning on reading only when recharging your MP3 player.

    If you suffer from a short attention span perhaps a book of short stories would be more suitable?

    Maybe Phillip K. Dick, Raymond Carver or (mentioned already) Charles Bukowski.

    Dick is sci-fi, though he really is more of a philosophical writer than anything, Carver is acclaimed by many to be the best short story writer of all time, though personally I find him a bit dull and Bukowski is a brilliant, if unflinching, chronicler of the down and out lifestyle.

    It might help if we knew what genre of writing you were intersted in; Wilde for wit, Stephen King for horror etc. Bill Bryson is another good suggestion from the thread.


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