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Books for Someone Who Doesn't Read

People who say they don't read often just haven't met the right book yet. These eight are funny, fast or full of pictures, so they are easy to start and easy to finish.

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  • The Martian

    Andy Weir

    An astronaut stranded on Mars tells his survival story in quick, funny log entries. Science that rarely feels like homework.

    Books like The Martian

  • And Then There Were None

    Agatha Christie

    Ten strangers invited to an island are killed one by one, and the question is who is behind it. A classic mystery that moves fast.

  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Douglas Adams

    Earth is demolished to make room for a space bypass, and Arthur Dent escapes with a friend who turns out to be an alien. Absurd and very funny.

  • Born a Crime

    Trevor Noah

    Stories from a comedian about his boyhood in South Africa, most of which stand on their own. Funny, and easy to dip into.

  • Holes

    Louis Sachar

    A boy digs holes at a strange desert camp while old stories from the same place slowly connect. Short chapters, and often assigned in school, so it is easy to find.

  • The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

    Charlie Mackesy

    Four friends talk about kindness in ink drawings, with only a few lines of text on most pages. Quiet and easy to finish.

  • The Rosie Project

    Graeme Simsion

    A socially awkward genetics professor designs a questionnaire to find a wife, and then Rosie turns up. Light, funny and warm.

  • A Man Called Ove

    Fredrik Backman

    A grumpy widower in Sweden keeps getting pulled into other lives by his new neighbors. Funny at first, then deeply touching.

    Books like A Man Called Ove

How to choose

Do not make it a test, and skip the speech about how good reading is. Hand it over as something you thought they would enjoy, and start with books that are short, funny or fast. Pick by what they already like: if they love comedy, try The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or The Rosie Project; for puzzles and survival, The Martian or And Then There Were None. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is mostly drawings.

Check the content too. And Then There Were None is about a string of murders, The Martian has strong language, Born a Crime describes apartheid and an abusive stepfather, and A Man Called Ove includes suicide attempts.

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