Ok, its official, E's prison have changed the rules and now I am allowed to send him books. It's unusual. Before I couldn't send him books at all, even though most of the prisons allow you to send books through Amazon. But now his prison have gone from 'no books at all' to 'as many books as you like - and don't worry about Amazon, you can send them from home'. So, I have a garage full of books left over from the book fair, and one excited pen pal. I wrote and asked him what he likes to read. He replied by saying "I can't wait to see what you pick out for me to read". So my question is - what on earth does a 45 year old male, incarcerated for over 20 years on death row, like to read? I have no idea. I've been into the garage and read the back of a heap of novels. The thing is, I don't know any men who like reading, therefore I have no idea what men read. I know what I like to read. But I also learnt from working at the book fair that people read a lot of stuff that I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Does anyone have any idea? I've got a pile of books here and I'm going to look up their reviews on Amazon. But all the novels seem a bit girly to me.
Well, today we are off to my sister Jenny's house. Better get ready to leave.
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My husband likes to read Stephen King, and I like to read Dean Koontz. I hear John Grissom(sp?) is good too. Is he religious? Maybe a book of inspirational sayings, or maybe a joke book, to keep his spirits up? Wow, this is a hard one. Maybe just start out with a couple, and then find out if he liked those, and what he would want more of. Good Luck!
yes i thought Stephen King might be good. But hes been reading the prison library for 20 years and every time I mention a well known book he seems to have read it. So Im wondering if someone less known, maybe from the UK, would be better. I really have no idea. Im going to hoik a load of books out of the garage and see which one takes my fancy.
I would personally recommend the 'Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy', ostensibly because it touches all bases: humour, satire, drama, sci-fi and it's quasi-religious without being offensive. All things to all men.
Failing that, for a nice short read, how about 'The Wisdom and Acheivements of Tony Blair.'
DH suggests Isaac Asimov, Anne McCarthy, the Lord of the Rings, the Sharps series (Sharp's Eagle etc), James Clavell. I think the suggestion for Hitchhiker's Guide is a good one too. DH says he'll think some more and let you know if he comes up with anything else.
Why not write and say "I know you've read so much, I don't want to send something you've already got access to, so I've put together a list for you to choose from"? At least that way you'll know you're not sending something that's already in the prison library.
Also, if there's something he's mentioned that he enjoyed, there's a website that makes suggestions based on what you've already read and liked - http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/ - and lots of people on Amazon have put book-lists together, so if you look up something you think he'd like (whether he's read it or not), you might get ideas from the lists some other people have compiled which include that.
My husband also suggested any science fiction of L Ron Hubbard, not Dianetics, Battlefield Earth he says is a good one.
Also, can you send me the link for your husband's online bookstore. My hubby, Mike, is a big reader, and would love to check out what he has, and get different versions of books. Thanks!
thanks for all the suggestions. Its been a great help. Ive got one ready to post and Ive printed him a list of others to pick from. Then I can send one every now and then.
Tammy, we dont have an online shop at the moment. We do sell cds online through ebay and amazon, but the books are just in our garage now that the fair is over.
Who is Ed? :) I am just tuning in! Is Ed a Christian? "How Now Shall We Live" by Chuck Coleson is a good one, but is rather deep stuff. "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers is a spectacular romance-type biblical story (about the book of Hosea). "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti is a thriller (but also Christian). I'm interested to know what you will send. :)
My husband just read "The Hobbit" to the children. We all really enjoyed it.
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