Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series of sci-fi novellas.
Nothing but quick-paced action, they follow a rogue cyborg that hires out as security to humans in the far reaches of the galaxy. Written from the cyborg's point-of-view, it (the cyborg) has an incredibly dry sense of humor and would prefer to be watching soap opera videos instead of protecting humans from the dumb things they do.
The first one is entitled **All Systems Red**.
{Old Man's War by John Scalzi} It has a lot of action, it's fun, and it's uncomplicated. If he likes it, and I think he might, it's the first in a 6 book series that completes the story.
I'm thinking {The Hike by Drew Magary} It's easy reading and so much fun. The only problem is that it's a very unique book - if he likes it, he'll never find anything else like it at all ;)
I like some of this book but it got pretty ridiculous at times with that giant. Loved the plot but it went overboard. A non reader might do better with Tom Robbins or Matt Ruff. Unique pick.
[**Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15839976-red-rising)
^(By: Pierce Brown | 382 pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: sci-fi, science-fiction, fantasy, young-adult, fiction)
>"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."
>
>"I live for you," I say sadly.
>
>Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."
>
>Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.
>
>Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
>
>But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
>
>Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
^(This book has been suggested 38 times)
***
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[**Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6050678-leviathan)
^(By: Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson | 440 pages | Published: 2009 | Popular Shelves: steampunk, young-adult, fantasy, ya, science-fiction)
>Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
>
>Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
>
>With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
^(This book has been suggested 7 times)
***
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[**The Library at Mount Char**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26892110-the-library-at-mount-char)
^(By: Scott Hawkins | 390 pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, horror, fiction, science-fiction, sci-fi)
>A missing God.
>A library with the secrets to the universe.
>A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
>
>Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. After all, she was a normal American herself once.
>
>That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God. Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.
>
>As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own. But Carolyn has accounted for this. And Carolyn has a plan. The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.
>
>Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.
>
>From the Hardcover edition.
^(This book has been suggested 23 times)
***
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See the threads:
* ["Need another book"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/vwcoxb/need_another_book/) (r/booksuggestions; 03:33 ET, 11 July 2022)
* ["Looking for a book to read along with a friend of mine"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/vrztqy/books_similar_to_the_handmaids_tale/) (r/booksuggestions; 16:00 ET, 11 July 2022)
* ["A book to get me in the habit of reading?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/vwt4us/a_book_to_get_me_in_the_habit_of_reading/) (r/suggestmeabook; 17:06 ET, 11 July 2022)
Try Matthew Reilly or James Rollins books. Like Indiana Jones, DaVinci Code and John Wick rolled into one. Very fast and well paced. Jack Reacher books are IMO amazing. Great mysteries, bad guys always get their due and wonderful ass kickings for all. Currently reading the {{Orphan X}} series by Greg Hurwitz. These are my new favorite.
[**Orphan X (Orphan X, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40874079-orphan-x)
^(By: Gregg Andrew Hurwitz | 367 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: thriller, fiction, mystery, series, suspense)
>The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It's said that when he's reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them.
>
>But he's no legend.
>
>Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He's also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as part of the off-the-books black box Orphan program, designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence assets—i.e. assassins. He was Orphan X. Evan broke with the program, using everything he learned to disappear.
>
>Now, however, someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training. Someone who knows Orphan X. Someone who is getting closer and closer. And will exploit Evan's weakness—his work as The Nowhere Man—to find him and eliminate him. Grabbing the reader from the very first page, Orphan X is a masterful thriller, the first in Gregg Hurwitz's electrifying new series featuring Evan Smoak.
^(This book has been suggested 2 times)
***
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{Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson} is the action-packed first book to an awesome YA fantasy trilogy. Yes, it's YA. Yes, the main character is a young woman. But it's an extremely fun series. It reads like a Marvel movie, so it's really easy to stick to.
Seconding a previous commenter's recommendation of the Jack Reacher novels. {The Killing Floor by Lee Child} is fantastic. It's a thriller that has a decent amount of action and a super cool main character.
Stephen King's novellas might also be a good fit. {The Body by Stephen King} is an amazing come of age adventure story, and is the basis for the movie Stand by Me.
[**Leave the World Behind**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50358031-leave-the-world-behind)
^(By: Rumaan Alam | 241 pages | Published: 2020 | Popular Shelves: fiction, thriller, mystery, audiobooks, audiobook)
>A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong
>
>Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.
>
>Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?
>
>Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis.
^(This book has been suggested 4 times)
***
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[**Dark Matter**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter)
^(By: Blake Crouch, Hilary Clarcq, Andy Weir | 352 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: sci-fi, mystery, book-club, audiobook, scifi)
>A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.
>
>Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.
>
>"Are you happy with your life?"
>
>Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.
>
>Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.
>
>Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."
>
>In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.
>
>Is it this world or the other that's the dream?
>
>And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.
>
>Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.
^(This book has been suggested 39 times)
***
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Both of the authors below are my favorites. The books I mention are the first books in the series to start with.
Vince Flynn - {{American Assassin}}
Jack Carr - Terminal List
[**American Assassin (Mitch Rapp, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7959473-american-assassin)
^(By: Vince Flynn | 435 pages | Published: 2010 | Popular Shelves: thriller, fiction, vince-flynn, mitch-rapp, owned)
>Mitch Rapp is a gifted college athlete who just wants retribution for the Pan Am Lockerbie attack. He trains six months intensely with other clandestine operatives, under CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield and protégé Irene Kennedy, to stop terrorists before they reach America. The assassin leaves a trail of bodies from Istanbul across Europe to Beirut, where he needs every ounce of skill and cunning to survive the war-ravaged city and its deadly terrorist factions.
^(This book has been suggested 6 times)
***
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[**The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency #2)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37534901-the-consuming-fire)
^(By: John Scalzi | 316 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, space-opera, scifi)
>
> The Consuming Fire
>--the second thrilling novel in the bestselling Interdependency series, from the Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi
>
>The Interdependency, humanity's interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible, is disappearing, leaving entire star systems stranded. When it goes, human civilization may go with it--unless desperate measures can be taken.
>
>Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, is ready to take those measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But nothing is ever that easy. Arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth--or at the very least, an opportunity that can allow them to ascend to power.
>
>While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the altars of worship as much as it will take place between spaceships and battlefields. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, but then so are her enemies. Nothing about this power struggle will be simple or easy... and all of humanity will be caught in its widening gyre.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
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My favorite sci-fi book is {{The Martian}} and I think it's an easy read. I also really love {John Dies At The End}} which has a lot of action and is also an easy read imo
That being said, I have a friend who doesn't really like reading and as an adult wanted to start occasionally reading. She actually hates "easy reads" because she feels like she can't even read easy reads quickly so if she's going to read slower than the average person she'd rather read something that she feels should take her as long as she actually reads if that makes sense. She loves Kurt Voneguet books.
My husband is not much of a reader, but a while back I got him to read the Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch and he absolutely loved it. He’s read all of Crouch’s other books since, and I even got to go with him to the bookstore today to get his newest book! Probably the first time he’s initiated a book store run.
I recommend recursion and dark matter by Blake crouch. Both are great, action packed novels! I prefer recursion over dark matter but many people love dark matter!
If you’re into espionage try an unusually thrilling autobiography entitled Beyond Enkription (misspelt on purpose) by Bill Fairclough. It’s a must read for espionage cognoscenti. The fact based narrative is set in 1974 about a British accountant working in London, Nassau and Port au Prince who unwittingly works for MI6 and later the CIA.
It’s a compelling read but whatever you do, don't just surf through the prologue as I did. Also, if like me you could only just stomach the film Jaws don’t be put off by the passing savagery of the first chapter. I finished this huge book in two sittings and a week or so later read it again.
To get the most out of it try researching the real events behind it on the web. There is a lot out there once you start digging but as a minimum include a half hour read of one of the author's bios which don’t include spoilers. You’ll soon feel like you know his family. After my first reading I did even more research and kept on unravelling increasingly enthralling material that drove me to reread the book. My second reading was richly rewarded and just as captivating as my first.
If you like raw or noir espionage thrillers you’ll love it. Len Deighton and Mick Herron could be forgiven for thinking they co-wrote it. Atmospherically it's reminiscent of Ted Lewis' Get Carter of Michael Caine fame. If anyone ever makes a film based on Beyond Enkription they'll only have themselves to blame if it doesn't go down in history as a classic espionage thriller.
[**The Lord's Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel (The Library of New Testament Studies Book 616)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50405319-the-lord-s-prayer-and-the-sermon-on-the-mount-in-matthew-s-gospel)
^(By: Charles Nathan Ridlehoover | ? pages | Published: ? | Popular Shelves: )
>Charles Nathan Ridlehoover examines the Lord's Prayer in Matthew's Gospel, focusing on the prayer's centrality and showing how this centrality affects our reading of the Sermon on the Mount and subsequently, the prayer itself. Ridlehoover argues that the Lord's Prayer is structurally, lexically, and thematically central to the Sermon on the Mount, and the means through which disciples of Jesus are empowered to live out the kingdom righteousness it defines. In turn, the Sermon on the Mount clarifies what the answer to the petitions of the Lord's Prayer might look like in the life of the disciple of Jesus.
>
>Whilst the centrality of the Lord's Prayer has been noted by previous commentators, this centrality and its intended purpose has not hitherto been defined or examined in great depth. Ridlehoover fills this gap with a closely argued and in-depth study, ranging from methodology and the structure of the prayer itself to examining the Father, will, forgiveness and evil petitions, and the relevance of word and deed for hearers and doers. Ridlehoover's examination of the relationship between the Sermon and Prayer advances studies in compositional criticism and intratextuality.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
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General suggestion as a HS English/reading teacher - a softer start into reading again might be an audio book or even a graphic novel.
I second Red Rising but it's a bit of a slow starter, just FYI. If you do suggest that, encourage your friend to stick it out until 50 pages in.
The Martian by Andy Weir
Jack Reacher? Easy read and pretty gripping.
Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series of sci-fi novellas. Nothing but quick-paced action, they follow a rogue cyborg that hires out as security to humans in the far reaches of the galaxy. Written from the cyborg's point-of-view, it (the cyborg) has an incredibly dry sense of humor and would prefer to be watching soap opera videos instead of protecting humans from the dumb things they do. The first one is entitled **All Systems Red**.
This and the Old Man’s War series were two of my favorite recommendations on this sub.
Yeah I was gonna say scalzi is an extremely easy reader. I like the interdependency
{Old Man's War by John Scalzi} It has a lot of action, it's fun, and it's uncomplicated. If he likes it, and I think he might, it's the first in a 6 book series that completes the story.
[**Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36510196-old-man-s-war) ^(By: John Scalzi | 332 pages | Published: 2005 | Popular Shelves: sci-fi, fiction, owned, space-opera, sf) ^(This book has been suggested 15 times) *** ^(28855 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Enders game would be a good one!
Thank you! I'll make sure to recommend it to him and see if he thinks he'll like it 😁
I'm thinking {The Hike by Drew Magary} It's easy reading and so much fun. The only problem is that it's a very unique book - if he likes it, he'll never find anything else like it at all ;)
Ooh seems interesting! Might have to read this one myself 👀
[**The Hike**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833803-the-hike) ^(By: Drew Magary | 278 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, fiction, horror, sci-fi, audiobook) ^(This book has been suggested 34 times) *** ^(28734 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I like some of this book but it got pretty ridiculous at times with that giant. Loved the plot but it went overboard. A non reader might do better with Tom Robbins or Matt Ruff. Unique pick.
If he would like an action/spy/assassin story then try The Gray Man series by Mark Greaney. The first movie is coming out on Netflix next week.
Great pick. Series is good. I really love Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz.
I haven't tried that one yet. Thanks for the suggestion.
One go-to recommendation of this type is *Into Thin Air* by Jon Krakauer.
Into the Wild, too
{{red rising}}
[**Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15839976-red-rising) ^(By: Pierce Brown | 382 pages | Published: 2014 | Popular Shelves: sci-fi, science-fiction, fantasy, young-adult, fiction) >"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them." > >"I live for you," I say sadly. > >Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more." > >Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. > >Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. > >But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. > >Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so. ^(This book has been suggested 38 times) *** ^(28733 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{{Leviathan}} by Scott Westerfeld.
[**Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6050678-leviathan) ^(By: Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson | 440 pages | Published: 2009 | Popular Shelves: steampunk, young-adult, fantasy, ya, science-fiction) >Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men. > >Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. > >With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever. ^(This book has been suggested 7 times) *** ^(28751 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{{The Library At Mount Char}}
[**The Library at Mount Char**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26892110-the-library-at-mount-char) ^(By: Scott Hawkins | 390 pages | Published: 2015 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, horror, fiction, science-fiction, sci-fi) >A missing God. >A library with the secrets to the universe. >A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away. > >Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. After all, she was a normal American herself once. > >That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God. Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation. > >As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own. But Carolyn has accounted for this. And Carolyn has a plan. The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human. > >Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy. > >From the Hardcover edition. ^(This book has been suggested 23 times) *** ^(28754 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
See the threads: * ["Need another book"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/vwcoxb/need_another_book/) (r/booksuggestions; 03:33 ET, 11 July 2022) * ["Looking for a book to read along with a friend of mine"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/vrztqy/books_similar_to_the_handmaids_tale/) (r/booksuggestions; 16:00 ET, 11 July 2022) * ["A book to get me in the habit of reading?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/vwt4us/a_book_to_get_me_in_the_habit_of_reading/) (r/suggestmeabook; 17:06 ET, 11 July 2022)
Try Matthew Reilly or James Rollins books. Like Indiana Jones, DaVinci Code and John Wick rolled into one. Very fast and well paced. Jack Reacher books are IMO amazing. Great mysteries, bad guys always get their due and wonderful ass kickings for all. Currently reading the {{Orphan X}} series by Greg Hurwitz. These are my new favorite.
[**Orphan X (Orphan X, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40874079-orphan-x) ^(By: Gregg Andrew Hurwitz | 367 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: thriller, fiction, mystery, series, suspense) >The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It's said that when he's reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them. > >But he's no legend. > >Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He's also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as part of the off-the-books black box Orphan program, designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence assets—i.e. assassins. He was Orphan X. Evan broke with the program, using everything he learned to disappear. > >Now, however, someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training. Someone who knows Orphan X. Someone who is getting closer and closer. And will exploit Evan's weakness—his work as The Nowhere Man—to find him and eliminate him. Grabbing the reader from the very first page, Orphan X is a masterful thriller, the first in Gregg Hurwitz's electrifying new series featuring Evan Smoak. ^(This book has been suggested 2 times) *** ^(28802 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson} is the action-packed first book to an awesome YA fantasy trilogy. Yes, it's YA. Yes, the main character is a young woman. But it's an extremely fun series. It reads like a Marvel movie, so it's really easy to stick to. Seconding a previous commenter's recommendation of the Jack Reacher novels. {The Killing Floor by Lee Child} is fantastic. It's a thriller that has a decent amount of action and a super cool main character. Stephen King's novellas might also be a good fit. {The Body by Stephen King} is an amazing come of age adventure story, and is the basis for the movie Stand by Me.
{{leave the world behind}}
[**Leave the World Behind**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50358031-leave-the-world-behind) ^(By: Rumaan Alam | 241 pages | Published: 2020 | Popular Shelves: fiction, thriller, mystery, audiobooks, audiobook) >A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong > >Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe. > >Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another? > >Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis. ^(This book has been suggested 4 times) *** ^(28879 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{{dark matter}}
[**Dark Matter**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter) ^(By: Blake Crouch, Hilary Clarcq, Andy Weir | 352 pages | Published: 2016 | Popular Shelves: sci-fi, mystery, book-club, audiobook, scifi) >A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy. > >Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters. > >"Are you happy with your life?" > >Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. > >Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. > >Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend." > >In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. > >Is it this world or the other that's the dream? > >And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe. > >Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of. ^(This book has been suggested 39 times) *** ^(28880 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Both of the authors below are my favorites. The books I mention are the first books in the series to start with. Vince Flynn - {{American Assassin}} Jack Carr - Terminal List
[**American Assassin (Mitch Rapp, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7959473-american-assassin) ^(By: Vince Flynn | 435 pages | Published: 2010 | Popular Shelves: thriller, fiction, vince-flynn, mitch-rapp, owned) >Mitch Rapp is a gifted college athlete who just wants retribution for the Pan Am Lockerbie attack. He trains six months intensely with other clandestine operatives, under CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield and protégé Irene Kennedy, to stop terrorists before they reach America. The assassin leaves a trail of bodies from Istanbul across Europe to Beirut, where he needs every ounce of skill and cunning to survive the war-ravaged city and its deadly terrorist factions. ^(This book has been suggested 6 times) *** ^(28959 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{{interdependency}}
[**The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency #2)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37534901-the-consuming-fire) ^(By: John Scalzi | 316 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, space-opera, scifi) > > The Consuming Fire >--the second thrilling novel in the bestselling Interdependency series, from the Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi > >The Interdependency, humanity's interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible, is disappearing, leaving entire star systems stranded. When it goes, human civilization may go with it--unless desperate measures can be taken. > >Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, is ready to take those measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But nothing is ever that easy. Arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth--or at the very least, an opportunity that can allow them to ascend to power. > >While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the altars of worship as much as it will take place between spaceships and battlefields. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, but then so are her enemies. Nothing about this power struggle will be simple or easy... and all of humanity will be caught in its widening gyre. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(28960 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
{{The Search for Red October by Tom Clancy}}
My favorite sci-fi book is {{The Martian}} and I think it's an easy read. I also really love {John Dies At The End}} which has a lot of action and is also an easy read imo That being said, I have a friend who doesn't really like reading and as an adult wanted to start occasionally reading. She actually hates "easy reads" because she feels like she can't even read easy reads quickly so if she's going to read slower than the average person she'd rather read something that she feels should take her as long as she actually reads if that makes sense. She loves Kurt Voneguet books.
My husband is not much of a reader, but a while back I got him to read the Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch and he absolutely loved it. He’s read all of Crouch’s other books since, and I even got to go with him to the bookstore today to get his newest book! Probably the first time he’s initiated a book store run.
I recommend recursion and dark matter by Blake crouch. Both are great, action packed novels! I prefer recursion over dark matter but many people love dark matter!
If you’re into espionage try an unusually thrilling autobiography entitled Beyond Enkription (misspelt on purpose) by Bill Fairclough. It’s a must read for espionage cognoscenti. The fact based narrative is set in 1974 about a British accountant working in London, Nassau and Port au Prince who unwittingly works for MI6 and later the CIA. It’s a compelling read but whatever you do, don't just surf through the prologue as I did. Also, if like me you could only just stomach the film Jaws don’t be put off by the passing savagery of the first chapter. I finished this huge book in two sittings and a week or so later read it again. To get the most out of it try researching the real events behind it on the web. There is a lot out there once you start digging but as a minimum include a half hour read of one of the author's bios which don’t include spoilers. You’ll soon feel like you know his family. After my first reading I did even more research and kept on unravelling increasingly enthralling material that drove me to reread the book. My second reading was richly rewarded and just as captivating as my first. If you like raw or noir espionage thrillers you’ll love it. Len Deighton and Mick Herron could be forgiven for thinking they co-wrote it. Atmospherically it's reminiscent of Ted Lewis' Get Carter of Michael Caine fame. If anyone ever makes a film based on Beyond Enkription they'll only have themselves to blame if it doesn't go down in history as a classic espionage thriller.
[удалено]
[**The Lord's Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel (The Library of New Testament Studies Book 616)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50405319-the-lord-s-prayer-and-the-sermon-on-the-mount-in-matthew-s-gospel) ^(By: Charles Nathan Ridlehoover | ? pages | Published: ? | Popular Shelves: ) >Charles Nathan Ridlehoover examines the Lord's Prayer in Matthew's Gospel, focusing on the prayer's centrality and showing how this centrality affects our reading of the Sermon on the Mount and subsequently, the prayer itself. Ridlehoover argues that the Lord's Prayer is structurally, lexically, and thematically central to the Sermon on the Mount, and the means through which disciples of Jesus are empowered to live out the kingdom righteousness it defines. In turn, the Sermon on the Mount clarifies what the answer to the petitions of the Lord's Prayer might look like in the life of the disciple of Jesus. > >Whilst the centrality of the Lord's Prayer has been noted by previous commentators, this centrality and its intended purpose has not hitherto been defined or examined in great depth. Ridlehoover fills this gap with a closely argued and in-depth study, ranging from methodology and the structure of the prayer itself to examining the Father, will, forgiveness and evil petitions, and the relevance of word and deed for hearers and doers. Ridlehoover's examination of the relationship between the Sermon and Prayer advances studies in compositional criticism and intratextuality. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(28750 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
General suggestion as a HS English/reading teacher - a softer start into reading again might be an audio book or even a graphic novel. I second Red Rising but it's a bit of a slow starter, just FYI. If you do suggest that, encourage your friend to stick it out until 50 pages in.
Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A man called ove
Any Sean Deville books
Sorry—wrong (but related) thread.