What better gift is there than the gift of books? Here are recommendations for the most discerning and reluctant readers in your life.
For fans of Grimdark
I typically enjoy a good antihero or a grim tale featuring morally grey characters. I haven't read any author who does that better than Mark Lawrence in his Broken Empire World. Not just the empire is broken. Oh, no. More accurately, the entire world is broken, and so are the antiheroes you follow in his two trilogies taking place on this post-apocalyptic Earth: The Broken Empire Trilogy and The Red Queen's War. Both trilogies center on the lives of two very different and very broken antiheroes, trying to navigate a world of broken yet still dangerous technology and magic. Fans of Joe Abercrombie and George RR Martin will find these series highly palatable. Both have earned places as two of my favorite fantasy series of all time.
For Stephen King fans
Fans of Stephen King won't go wrong by picking up Swan Song by Robert McCannon. I've written about this novel several times on the blog. It's the story of terror and hope, of a nuclear apocalypse and its aftermath, and most of all, good eventually triumphing over evil. It is reminiscent of The Stand but orders of magnitude better.
For thrillers fans looking for a wild read
One of the wildest thrillers I have read recently is The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes. The story features a compelling first-person narrative that spins a typical espionage thriller for about 2/3 of the book. But in the final third, the plot goes totally crazy with a wild, science-fiction-esque climax. Although I found the twist surprising, I thought it worked quite well. This thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat and flipping pages day and night.
For those with reluctant readers
For those with children reluctant to sit down and read chapter books, I highly recommend The Wild Robot Trilogy. This middle-grade series is a delight for readers of all ages. I especially found the first book in the series, The Wild Robot, very affecting and is hands-down one of my favorite books of all time. My sons have devoured the first book, and my younger son and I are almost finished with the third volume. In fact, by the time this post goes live, we will have polished off the whole series. Depending on your reluctant reader's maturity level and reading ability, this is an excellent trilogy for younglings between seven and fourteen. Younger readers will probably need to read with an adult. Young teens might find a story too simplistic.
Oh, and the recent movie is terrific too.
For Fans of Adventuresome YA
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my own series, The Allison Lee Chronicles. These books have it all for readers looking for a tale of whimsical adventure, gnarly monsters, and friendship. Tween and teen readers will find this series hard to put down. Best of all, three volumes are already written and out in the wild. The fourth and final volume has been written and awaits the editorial chopping block. It should be out in late 2025 or early 2026. To sample the writing, you can read an excerpt of the third volume here and download a short prologue here.
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