A Reading List for Men and Boys

For reasons known only to themselves, many men and boys are reluctant to be seen reading. Perhaps they would rather be outdoors creating their own adventures. Maybe they view reading as too “girly”  for a manly man such as themselves. And just maybe they haven’t found the right book yet. School will be starting in just a few days for us, and I’m sure will be starting soon everywhere. If you are the parent or grandparent to a boy who is a reluctant reader, the thought of school starting and thus the ongoing battle of trying to get your child to read may not be a pleasant one. As a school librarian, I see far too many students who tell me they don’t like to read. I realize that each child is different and each child is interested in different things, but reading is so very fundamental to learning and to leading a productive life that it is essential that every child learn to read well. Nothing ruffles my feathers like having a teacher tell a reluctant reader that they have to read a certain book or a book at a certain reading level. For the child who dreads reading, being forced to read something they do not like or find difficult just confirms their vision of failure. My advise, such as it may be, is to let the reluctant reader read whatever they are interested in. If they want to read only graphic novels or comic books, at least they are reading. If they want to read a book that is a little below their supposed reading level, that is a start in getting them to read. As they become accustomed to the act of reading and finding it “not so bad”, then you may begin to encourage them to choose more difficult reading levels and books with fewer and fewer pictures, until at last they will be reading regular chapter books like their classmates. I think that many students, especially boys, have not learned to love reading simply because they haven’t found what they like to read yet. Many of my students read only fantasy titles or only war stories. That is what they like, and we try to keep them supplied with new titles regularly. It is even more beneficial for the reluctant reader to be allowed to read what he or she is interested in. I know I wouldn’t want someone telling me what book I had to read, and I don’t expect that the children will like it either. Ask your school librarian for help in choosing books in different genres to suit your child. If your child reads something that they enjoyed, ask your librarian to help him or her find other titles by the same author or other books similar to the one they enjoyed. Below you will find my compilation of a list of reading material geared toward men and boys. This list is really aimed at junior high and up, but many of the titles may be found in abridged versions for younger readers. Most of these titles have been selected, not only because they have remained popular with readers, but also because they contain plenty of action and adventure to keep the student’s interest. Here for your manly reading pleasure (and mental edification) is a list of 100 books often enjoyed by men and boys. Some are fairly difficult, some are not. Some are longer, some are shorter. Included are classics, adventures contemporary works and nonfiction, so choose your favorite, settle yourself in a comfy chair and prepare to be entertained.

  1.    A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

2.    A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

3.    A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

4.    A Time to Kill by John Grisham

5.    Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

6.    Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

7.    All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

8.    Andersonville by MacKinley Kantor

9.    Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell

10. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

11. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

12. Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace

13. Beowulf by Anonymous

14. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

15. Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling

16. Comstock Lode by Louis L’Amour

17. Dances With Wolves by Michael Blake

18. Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

19. Dracula by Bram Stoker

20. Dune by Frank Herbert

21. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

22. Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov

23. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

24. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

25. Giant by Edna Ferber

26. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

27. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

28. Hiroshima by John Hersey

29. Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

30. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

31. In Search of the Castaways by Jules Verne

32. Inca Gold by Clive Cussler

33. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

34. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

35. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

36. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

37. King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles

38. King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard

39. Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

40. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

41. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

42. Lost Horizon by James Hilton

43. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

44. Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff

45. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

46. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

47. Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith

48. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel DeFoe

49. Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickman, Jr.

50. Roughing It by Mark Twain

51. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

52. Shindler’s List by Thomas Keneally

53. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

54. Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

55. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

56. The Adventures of Robin Hood by various authors

57. The African Queen by C. S. Forester

58. The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

59. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

60. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder

61. The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle

62. The Bridges At Toko-Ri by James Michener

63. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

64. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

65. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

66. The Client by John Grisham

67. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Duman

68. The Day Kennedy Was Shot by Jim Bishop

69. The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

70. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

71. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

72. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

73. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer

74. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells

75. The Journals of Lewis and Clark by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

76. The Killer Angels by Michael  Shaara

77. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

78. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

79. The Lord of the Ring series by J. R. R. Tolkien

80. The Lost World by Michael Crichton

81. The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

82. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

83. The Once and Future King by T. H. White

84. The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

85. The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

86. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

87. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

88. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

89. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

90. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

91. The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo

92. The Virginian by Owen Wister

93. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

94. The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

95. Treasure Island by  Robert Louis Stevenson

96. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

97. Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose

98. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

99. When the Legends Die by Hal Borland

100. White Fang by Jack London

 

Please note that many of these authors have other works that you may enjoy.