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What are some excellent reads for my retired husband?

What are some excellent reads for my retired husband??

Val #recommend

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101 Answers

Sue

My husband loved the Jean Auel series of The Clan of the Cave Bear, and he’s not much of a reader.

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Cabalera

It depends on his interests

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Dominic

Johnstown Flood, The Wright Brothers or The Great Bridge – all by David McCulloch

Devil in the White City, Thunderstruck, Dead Wake or Isaacs Storm – all by Erik Larson

Destiny of the Republic, River of Doubt or Hero of the Empire – all by Candace Millard

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Kristi

Unbroken

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Dominic

Great book!

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Brenda

James Patterson’s Alex Cross series. My husband loves them

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Karen

Killers of the Flower Moon.

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Barbara

Anything by Nelson Demille

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Marti

I was going to say the same thing!

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Elaine

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

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Alison

Michael Tougias sea survival books (A Storm Too Soon, Overboard, Rescue of the Bounty, The Finest Hours)

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Darby

Endurance , Scott Kelly

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Jane

My husband’s favorite books are anything written by Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, James Patterson & Lawrence Sanders. He also very much enjoyed Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

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Dean

Anything by Erik Larson, Greg Illes, James Lee Burke, John Dunning, Carl Hiiason. If he likes Florida & Fishing and a mix of mystery and espionage Randy Wayne White is a great choice.

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Mary

My hubby devours the Daniel Silva spy novels. For something more meaty, I recently got him to read Steinbeck’s, East of Eden and he can’t put it down.

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Venitra

James Lee Burke-Dave Robiceaux series-thrilling detective series. Favorite book of the series-Tin Roof Blowdown.

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Mary

Stuart Woods, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Vince Flynn, Daniel Silva, Jack Higgins. All of those have many books, so if he finds an author he likes, it will keep him busy reading for quite a while!

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Karen

Issacs storm

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Diane

Novels by Daniel Silva, John Grisham, David Baldacci, and Scott Turow.

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Judy

The same books you like so you have something to share and discuss.

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Pat

The Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell.

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Tiffany

Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

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Cindy

Longmire series by Craig Johnson

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Teri

David Baldacci – any!
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, excellent!

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Lynne

Billy Boyle by James R Benn – beginning of a wonderful mystery series about WWII; Over Time: My Life As a Sportswriter by Frank Deford which is a great read; Life Itself by Roger Ebert; The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede; Beginning Operations by James White [Sector General Series]; Still Life by Louise Penny; The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

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Barbara

How about the Jeff Shaara books? They’ve been recommended to me, but I haven’t gotten to them yet.

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Karen

“The Calico Kid” by John Grisham

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Shelley

The Detective Sean Duffy series by Adrian McKinty. They are set in Northern Ireland.

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Andrea

The Bill Hodges trilogy by Stephen King. Starts with Mr Mercedes. More detective story than you would think of from the King, but still has that King twist and a bit of a coming of age story. Very good. Also his 11-22-63, a time traveller tries to stop the Kennedy assassination .

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Laurie

“A River Runs Through It” by Norm Maclean

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Mary

I really cannot understand why this book was so popular.

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Laurie

@Mary I loved the story of the family dynamics. Lots hit home for me with alcoholism that runs in the family, the connection with nature, and the time period it was set in.

But I understand not connecting with a book. I just tried to read Outlander, and felt that I really wasted a lot of my time trying to like that book. I read about 1/3 of it and couldn’t handle it anymore…

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Ellen

My Dad loves Daniel Silva, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly and John Grisham.

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Pamela

My husband loves Neal Stephenson.

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Dawn

Harlan Coben books. Characters are always addictive.

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ValQuestion author

Just checked out “Don’t Let Go”

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Angela

Anything by David McCullough, the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. Jeff Shaara’s historical novels (usually come in sets of 2 or 3 so it will matter about the order), Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitefield series

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Jeneane

Thank you for mentioning Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitfield series. I discovered them a few years ago by accident and was hooked. Have never talked to anyone else whose read them. His other books are super.

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Angela

@Jeneane I was so lucky that one of the library assistants at my local library knew my tastes and recommended the series to me. I’ll always be grateful!!

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Jeneane

Depends on what his likes are

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Susie

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

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Kira

My husband’s favorites are Tom Clancy and Tristan Jones.

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Angela

I just thought of another series I enjoyed very much. The Blackford Oakes (character name) series by William F. Buckley, Jr. Set in the Cold War era about espionage, etc.; very well written and enjoyable. Older and may be harder to find. Also, Len Deighton’s Bernard Samson series a 9-book series starting with Berlin Game.

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Marion

Ken Follet, John Grisham, Tom Clancy- my hubby’s choices.

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Angela

Ken Follett is awesome!! Also, loved the Jeffrey Archer series, The Clifton Chronicles.

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Marion

@Angela Ken Follet is in my top five favorite author’s!! Pillars of the Earth is the best!!

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Angela

Marion Morrisey my introduction to him was Eye of the Needle which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. I’ve been a fan ever since.

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Marion

Angela Williams Kuykendoll my first was Key to Rebecca. Couldn’t put it down!

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Ryan

Jonathan Fowles wrote a lot of great books. I read a few last year that my husband bought for me.

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Harry

Going by my most read authors: William Kent Krueger, James Rollins, Matthew Reilly, Tom Clancy & Tony/Anne Hillerman.

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Lynne

The Pot Thief Mysteries by J. Michael Orenduff; The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe; The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley

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Jeneane

Jack Higgins, spy type, action. A bit if English, Irish, American. Sooooo good. He writes stand alone as well as the Sean Dillon series

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Dean

I do like Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I like Harlan Coben but sometimes he is kind of predictable because of the constant twists.

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Penny

Discipline by Paco Ahlgren. It’s quantum physics fiction and is much better than I thought it would be. There used to be a sample chapter on the author’s website.

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Ashleigh

What does he like? History? Adventure? How about the Harry Bosch books..crime noir in LA, unbroken for wwii nonfiction.

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Ashleigh

Also The Martian

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Sheree

John Sandford Prey series, Robert Parker Spenser series, Robert Crais Elvis Cole , CJ Box Joe Pickett series

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Cabalera

Love the Joe Pickett series

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Kathi

Books by Ivan Doig. Just finished Last Bus to Wisdom

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Ryan

I think the actual “last bus to wisdom” departed sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving in 2016. ???

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Anne

I loved that book!!

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Lynn

I just discovered this author and was coming to suggest his trilogy about the MacCaskill family. I loved those books!

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Pamela

In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides; In Cold Blood by Truman Capote; All the Gallant Men; any of Agatha Christie’s mysteries; Dunkirk; Clive Cusser books; James Patterson books; John Grisham books; Walter Mosley’ s books.

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Jerri

The Alan Furst series, ‘The Last Soldier’.

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Brenda

John Grisham and Tom Clancey books are a great start.

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Jeri

My husband recommends John Le Carre (the George Smiley books).

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Matthew

David Morrell
Fraternity of the Stone
Creepers
Scavenger

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Ann

If he likes westerns…Craig Johnson, CJ Box, Keith McCaffery

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Gretchen

My husband has really enjoyed Steve Berry books…the Cotton Malone series.

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Patti

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure.

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Stephanie

The Naked and the Dead, Lonesome Dove, Shogun 🙂

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Leslie

William Kent Krueger mysteries (featuring Cork O’Connor)

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Ann

If he’s into music from the 50s & 60s, how about The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto? It’s something of a love story, but it focuses on the music.

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Becky

He might like the author CJ Box if he likes mysteries. Box also writes shorter nonfition pieces such as the Pronghorns for Hitler and about the bronco on the WY license plate.

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Jennifer

Unbroken

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Shirley

YES! And Boys in the Boat.

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Mary

Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series has interesting plots and characters, if you like suspense.

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Laurie

The a Power Of One, Born a Crime, Jo Nesbo books, Citizens of London, biographies are interesting…

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Laurie

My sons like non-fiction biographies of political leaders and sports figures.

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Katrina

Patrick McManus

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Carol

Wm. Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series. The first book is Iron Lake.

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Erin

Larry McMurtry, John Grisham, Erik Larsen

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Valerie

Detective Sean Duffy Series by Adrian McKinty, about a detective in Northern Ireland during the 1980’s when the Protestants and Catholics were at odds.

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Anne

If he’s interested in travel (especially on trains) then he should check out Paul Theroux.

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Sheryl

Koko by Peter Straub. Totally engulfing.

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Regina

Just finished Pachinko and loved it about a Korean family and their life in Japan- great piece of historical fiction

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Karen

H. Coben or James Patterson

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ValQuestion author

Just checking out “Don’t Let Go” by Coben

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Tommie

A Man Called Ove and any other book by that author 😀

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ValQuestion author

Yes, he read that and loved it!

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Doranne

Being Mortal, by @Atul, to help us with our end-of-life wishes. My husband has read it several times and is now better able to assist others with these issues/questions.

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Juliet

The ones I wish my husband would read– Lonesome Dove, The Martian, Unbroken. Cutting for Stone was excellent.

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Laurie

Wow! I’d forgotten about Cutting for Stone! We read it long ago, but what a powerful story!

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Juliet

I actually read it a second time last year. It really is a fantastic read.

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Laurie

@Juliet I think I’ll do that, too!

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Judy

My retired husband is glued to The New Yorker.

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Amy

My husband likes Clive Cussler, James Patterson very much!!!

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Kasey

Fiction– C.J. Box, Lee Child, Ken Follett, Dennis Lehane, Carl Hiaasen. Nonfiction–Tony Horowitz; Jeff Shaara; Rick Atkinson; Stephen Ambrose

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Louise

For fun, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson – memoir of growing up in Iowa in the 50s and 60s.

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Kay

Stingray Afternoons by Steve Rushin is “A wild and bittersweet memoir of a classic ’70s childhood” Goes well with Bryson’s Thunderbolt Kid.

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Georgie

True amazing story from WWII

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