Which novels would you recommend for adults whose reading skills lag?

He is nasty, isn't he?

Calling me a fool and a hypocrite is not insulting me? How do you define insult?

Wow that's me and Ossobuco and who else "tailing you" these days?

We're all in cahoots! Persecution mania runs in your family?

*double take*

shirley you cant be sirius

EDIT: Is POM another goldman incarnation?

POM is a cartoon-drawing-30+ year old-black guy? Hey I never knew that

Pom - Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane is WONDERFUL!!

He, Mr. Mathabane, came and spoke at the last school I taught at in the US which was in Chapel Hill, NC - what an inspiration!

I don't think any of the books I listed were over 300 pages and if my memory serves me correctly - more in the region of 200.

But they're such a pleasure to read (for a reader) and so interesting (I think to anyone - even a non-reader) that, like I said, the pages just almost turn themselves.
And the protagonist doesn't always come out on top as one would describe 'top' or as one might expect.
That's what keeps them interesting. You just can't tell what will happen until you turn the last page.

Well, from what I can see of the schools I've taught in and visited - the education is there for anyone who wants to access it.
My daughter just isn't an academic sort of being. It's not that it's not offered to her, it's just that she isn't all that interested.
And I have to say that I think that's true of a lot of kids (who don't have learning disabilities).
If they wanted to learn - it's there for them to learn- but they have to be interested enough to want to learn it - simple as that.

Another thought I had was those Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Do they still have those?
I didn't read them instead of full-length novels or classics when I was growing up, but I read them along with. Like, if I hadn't been to the library and had nothing to read - they were a fast, easy read - and interesting a lot of times.
They did a lot of mysteries and stuff that I'd never have read otherwise.

Maybe that's an option for your class - at least as a starting point.

For summer reading and if you want people to read 10 books, you need to give larger categories. People tend to find a type of book they like and then read a lot of that type.

Mystery and Detective stories
Agatha Christie
Earle Stanley Gardner
Yeah, it's not great fiction but it is accessible.
Include modern mystery writers that have done series of works


Science Fiction
Canticle for Liebowitz
Flowers for Algernon
Asimov
Heinlein
Phillip Dick (The basis for several movies)
Vonnegut


Fantasy -
This is different from hard science fiction
The Hobbit
Dragonriders of Pern
The Harry Potter series
C.S. Lewis
A Wrinkle in Time


Westerns
Louis L'amour has a ton of books that are great reads (My brother only read westerns when growing)

Romance
Well it may seem tacky, the goal is to get people to read. If this is what they like, let them read it.

I think we were required to read Les Miserables in 7th grade, and the story stuck with me throughout my life. I really love that story, and thought it would be a good recommendation for adults with depreciated reading skills.

I just purchased the Les Miserables CD with Liam Neeson, so it seems to fit this category very well.

My kids each read it for English in high school. When I visited the high school website, I was reminded of the book.

My mother loved Agatha Christie and Earle Stanley Garner and looked forward to their new books.

I thought of Dame Agatha but forgot Gardner completely. That's the value of a thead like this: people bring up things you forgot.

My older son is one of the men in my life who reads science fiction. He thinks Philip K. Dick might be too challenging. He also recommended Vonnegut but was concerned that some of his themes might be upsetting.

I just mailed A Wrinkle in time to my granddaughter because my kids loved that book. They also loved C. S. Lewis. I read the Chronicles of Narnia to them and then they reread it several times. My older son read everything Lewis wrote.

Thanks for reminding me about Louis L'amour, another writer who completely slipped my mind.

I love brainstorming.

My youngest was never academic either. However, he loves to collect facts and recite them to anyone who will listen.

Our older son read Vonnegut when he was in high school. He's now a voracious reader, and one bedroom in his apartment is stacked full of books.

I read Les Miserables after PBS broadcast the 10th anniversary celebration of the musical. My daughter recommended the abridged version. "There are 200 fewer pages of sewer description." I loved how Hugo presented three men: one who never needed to be saved, the country Bishop; one who never could be saved and one who was saved.

Had another thought this week during author-fest at my school. Kathleen Benner Duble writes good historical fiction set at various stages in U.S. history. The target audience tends to be middle school, but the content is interesting and historically accurate.

http://www.kathleenduble.com/books_novel.php

Littlek, I remember a conversation over lunch with you and Quinn last year. You said you were looking into comics, aka "grapic novels", to assign to your reading-impaired teenage students. How did that work out for you? I'm thinking that if it worked out well, maybe you can recommend graphic novels for the age group of PlainOldMe's students.

You are in the Boston area I think. Maybe books that are based on Boston might hold their interest because it would mention areas they are familiar with.

Dennis Lehane is a possibility.

I never introduced Logicomix because it was too complex, even as a graphic novel. I'm not convinced that Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation would be much better, though I showed it to the science teacher who liked it. I suppose in this context - bright adult EL learners - the graphics would help them decipher the language.

That sounds terrific. Thanks.