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The Book Club :
book ideas for brainy 15 year old boy

Topic is Sleeping.
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 whiteflower99 (original poster member #13937) posted at 12:19 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Any ideas? He's read just about everything I can find. He loves sci-fi/fantasy and reads at a collegiate level, but isn't mature enough to handle George R R Martin.

Help!!! Thanks

What are you pretending not to know?

me FBS
him idiotic sex addicted, hormone addled, porn watching, post pubescent male with a walking hard on for anything without a penis
4 kids 15 13 12 8
Earned my *F* the hard way.

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traicionada ( member #10310) posted at 12:36 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Can you list some of the things he has read & enjoyed already in the last 6-9 months?

Real love is a CHOICE, NOT a feeling...

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 whiteflower99 (original poster member #13937) posted at 12:55 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Let's see:

Eragon series

Maze Runner series

Dark life series

Warrior series (these he reads in one day if let him)

Divergent series

Rick Riordan (again in one sitting)

Maximum Ride

I have TRIED to get him to read classics, but no go.

Thanks again

What are you pretending not to know?

me FBS
him idiotic sex addicted, hormone addled, porn watching, post pubescent male with a walking hard on for anything without a penis
4 kids 15 13 12 8
Earned my *F* the hard way.

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LosferWords ( member #30369) posted at 1:19 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

How about the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan? Same intellectual level as George R. R. Martin, but without all of the racy material, and not as gory. I just started book seven, myself.

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caregiver9000 ( member #28622) posted at 1:41 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Ender's Game.

Odd Thomas

My 13 year old boy shares a good deal of your son's favorites.

Me: fortysomething, independent, happy,
XH "Stretch" (and Skew!) ;)
two kids, teens. Old enough I am truly NO CONTACT w/ NPD zebraduck
S 5/2010
D 12/2012

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inconnu ( member #24518) posted at 2:52 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

David Eddings has a 10 book series. More fantasy than sci-fi, but one of those epic adventure series. My oldest read it in late jr. high. The 1st book is Pawn of Prophecy.

There's always Tolkien. Start with The Hobbit, though. Personally I found the whole LOTR series hard to get through. I enjoyed the movies so much more.

Robert Heinlein's juvenile sci-fi is good, but may be a bit too dated for a teen now.

Orson Scott Card's Ender books are good for brainy kids, but some of the subject matter could be considered objectionable. There is a lot of violence in some of them, and the characters being violent are young kids/early teens. Still, the kids are treated as intelligent by many of the adults in the books, and sometimes that's important for smart kids to see in the books they read.

Honestly, by the time my gifted boys reached high school ages, I gave up on pre-reading and censoring what they read. If I found it objectionable, I didn't have it in the house. But they both were and are allowed to read any book on the bookcases. And of course, now they're both legal adults so they get to read what they want, anyway.

There is no joy without gratitude. - Brené Brown

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 whiteflower99 (original poster member #13937) posted at 4:53 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Thank you all so so much. I'd forgotten about David Eddings!! And that reminded me of the entire Dragonlance series.

And Salvatore

and Dragon riders of Pern series.

I'm a nerd

He's just picky enough to be irritating lol.

ETA is the Ender book series you mentioned the same as Ender's Game?

And I will look into Wheel of Time. I've got a 13 year old in the same boat.

[This message edited by whiteflower99 at 10:56 PM, October 14th (Tuesday)]

What are you pretending not to know?

me FBS
him idiotic sex addicted, hormone addled, porn watching, post pubescent male with a walking hard on for anything without a penis
4 kids 15 13 12 8
Earned my *F* the hard way.

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GabyBaby ( member #26928) posted at 4:59 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

I second David Eddings as well as the Wheel of Time series.

However, the very first Sci-Fi book that I read was "Wizards First Rule" by Terry Goodkind (Book 1 of the Sword of Truth series) and it blew my mind. I never looked back from there!

Me - late 40s
DD(27), DS(24, PDD-NOS)

WH#2 (SorryinSac)- Killed himself (May 2015) in our home 6 days after being served divorce docs.
XWH #1 - legally married 18yrs. 12+ OW (that I know of).

I edit often for clarity/typos.

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 whiteflower99 (original poster member #13937) posted at 5:03 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

I've had Sword of Truth recommended to me, but haven't had a chance to read it yet!! Is it that good?

I can't believe I am saying this, but I almost wish books had ratings like video games and movies lol.

I don't have time to pre-read for my kids and we do mostly ebooks for now.

What are you pretending not to know?

me FBS
him idiotic sex addicted, hormone addled, porn watching, post pubescent male with a walking hard on for anything without a penis
4 kids 15 13 12 8
Earned my *F* the hard way.

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GabyBaby ( member #26928) posted at 5:20 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

It is fantastic!

I read it when I was a teen and that book started my love of the sci-fi/fantasy genre.

Me - late 40s
DD(27), DS(24, PDD-NOS)

WH#2 (SorryinSac)- Killed himself (May 2015) in our home 6 days after being served divorce docs.
XWH #1 - legally married 18yrs. 12+ OW (that I know of).

I edit often for clarity/typos.

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healingroad ( member #41920) posted at 7:45 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

[This message edited by healingroad at 5:22 PM, Tuesday, June 7th]

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 whiteflower99 (original poster member #13937) posted at 10:49 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Thanks! I've never heard of those. He lives Science!

What are you pretending not to know?

me FBS
him idiotic sex addicted, hormone addled, porn watching, post pubescent male with a walking hard on for anything without a penis
4 kids 15 13 12 8
Earned my *F* the hard way.

posts: 2187   ·   registered: Mar. 13th, 2007   ·   location: Not Lothlorien
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Kristalyn ( new member #45226) posted at 11:27 AM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Is he into Star Wars? A lot of the Star Wars novels are really good. Stay away from the one that focus on Sith stories if you don't want him to read anything too dark though :)

I second the Ender series by Orson Scott Card (science fiction) and I also recommend the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer (fantasy and science fiction in one!).

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 whiteflower99 (original poster member #13937) posted at 4:54 PM on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

I will definitely book into star wars. He loves the Artemis Fowl books!!

What are you pretending not to know?

me FBS
him idiotic sex addicted, hormone addled, porn watching, post pubescent male with a walking hard on for anything without a penis
4 kids 15 13 12 8
Earned my *F* the hard way.

posts: 2187   ·   registered: Mar. 13th, 2007   ·   location: Not Lothlorien
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steamingpile ( member #44723) posted at 9:23 AM on Thursday, October 16th, 2014

Terry Pratchett has a massive series called discworld. It's fantasy, and it's a lot of fun. I've probably read 30 of them.

Me: BS 45
Her: XWS 45
No Kids (thankfully)
M: Mid 2003
D-Day: 6/15/14 10 month EA/PA mOM#1
D-Day: 10/13/14 EA/(likely light PA) mOM#2
Divorced.

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Lionne ( member #25560) posted at 2:54 PM on Thursday, October 16th, 2014

My boys LOVED the entire Enders series, prequels and sequels as well as the whole dichotomy of issues about Card. He has another interesting series about an alternative US history, the Alvin Singer series.

If he is near as geeky and nerdy as we are he may love the four part series by Tad Williams called Otherland. We loved this and waited eagerly for each installment.

Book 1—City of Golden Shadow (Hardcover 1996, Paperback 1998)

Book 2—River of Blue Fire (Hardcover 1998, Paperback 1999)

Book 3—Mountain of Black Glass (Hardcover 1999, Paperback 2000)

Book 4—Sea of Silver Light (Hardcover 2001, Paperback 2002)

The description on Wikipedia is pretty accurate. The books are LONG. Keep you busy. No gratuitous sex, lots of diversity in the characters, really compelling plot line.

I don't know if it is in print but I'll bet it's available used.

Me-BS-65 in May<BR />HIM-SAFWH-68<BR />I just wanted a normal life.<BR />Normal trauma would have been appreciated.

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rachelc ( member #30314) posted at 9:16 PM on Thursday, October 16th, 2014

IF he's 15 I would suggest the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child duo of fantasy/sci fi/fairly violent books. My son loved them.

Also, guys that age REALLY like the Jack Reacher series..

If he wants a "thinker" any book by Pete Hauptmann.

And I recommend author Matt de la Pena to any kid that age, regardless of the genres they like to read.

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Lark ( member #43773) posted at 11:24 PM on Thursday, October 16th, 2014

My mom never regulated what I read... so I read some things that I really shouldn't have by 12/13. I read Bless the Child in 7th grade and although nothing in it was shocking to me, it was definitely graphic and my mom probably would not have let me read it if she'd known. Same for James Patterson books I read.

Some of my favorites as a teenager that I don't think were quite so graphic:

Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender's Shadow, etc. Plus his other books like Seventh Son. A LOT of great conversations came out of these books between me and my friends.

Dean Koontz

Stephen King (depending on book)

John Grisham (thinking on this, I started these in 7th grade and I don't remember how graphic their content is.. it might be unsuitable)

Neil Gaiman

Harry Potter

If he likes Divergent, he might like the Mortal Instruments

There's also Wheel of Time, which has been recommended to me but I haven't read it yet. I've heard the book Eragon is good

I also read a lot of classics Heinlein, Mark Twain, Tolkien. And then the Greek classics Homer, Shakespeare, Euripides, Sophocles, Plato. I went to a boarding school that treated 15/16 year olds like college students, so we had no end to really wonderful reading and I spent a year with my head in the Greeks :)

[This message edited by Lark at 5:28 PM, October 16th (Thursday)]

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” - Dumbledore

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Lark ( member #43773) posted at 11:25 PM on Thursday, October 16th, 2014

I've also heard good things about Discworld series :)

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” - Dumbledore

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luv2swim ( member #13154) posted at 8:29 AM on Friday, October 17th, 2014

I have brainy boys who are AVID readers. I went and looked at their bookshelves to see what was there .. in addition to the ones you have mentioned your son already reading:

- Ursula LeGuin Novels, including Wizard of EarthSea, Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossed and The Telling

- Neil Stephensons' Snow Crash and Cryptonomican, Diamond Age

- Margaret Atwoods Oryx & Crake (and the following books in that trilogy).

- Watership Down

- The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy

- Douglas Adams HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy (and following books)

- A Wrinkle in Time (and following books) by Madeleine L'Engle

- Michael Chrictons books

Hope this helps.

Me: BS
Him: WS
Married 24 years -
2 fantastic kids!

divorced 2009


D day: 2006 ... he left to live with OW.
Divorced: 2009
WS + OW: Married and still together (as far as I know).

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Topic is Sleeping.
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