Don’t close the book on reading

Wow, it’s Friday already? I’d better write something. That makes me sound lazy, doesn’t it? Well, just because I haven’t been writing, doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about it. That, my friends is called ‘planning’ – an important part of the writing process.

This week’s theme is books for young men who don’t read. That’s not to say women can’t read them too. I simply thought of a few of my male friends whose bookshelves are a tad on the empty side. That’s understandable, reading takes up a lot of time – time that could be spent playing video games or watching football down the pub with all of the other clichés.

To you (and you probably know who you are) I say this - Don’t close the book on reading, turn a new page, let this be the start of a new chapter in your lives, the one in which you switch the TV off and decide to give a book a go instead.
But on saying that, it’s not easy to go from watching mindless action movies to plodding through Anna Karenina or Don Quixote. One needs a transitional period. And that period starts with...

Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk

Why start there? Well I’ll tell you. You’ve probably seen the movie already so you know what happens. The last thing you want when you start your journey into Bookland is a shocking twist that leaves you with palpitations and cold sweats. Stick with the familiar for now.

As book-to-movie transitions go, this one is as good as they get. It’s impossible to read this book without hearing Edward Norton’s narration in your head. With that in mind, if you liked the film, you’re pretty much guaranteed to like the book also.
Another plus point is the brevity of each chapter. At the very least, you’ll manage to squeeze in four or five pages while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil but the chances are, you’ll find yourself starting the next chapter because, hell, it’s only a few pages.

So, you’ve done Fight Club and you feel an overwhelming sense of achievement but you’re still not ready to drift too far from your comfort zone. Why don’t you try...

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson

That’s right, it’s not just a movie, there is, in fact, a book. I don’t know why I’m being so patronising, I’m sure you know about the book by now. The question remains, why haven’t you read it yet?

The story follows the adventures of Raoul Duke who, with his attorney in tow, attempts to cover a motorcycle race in Las Vegas. The assignment is an excuse for a colossal bender on every drug imaginable from the modest buzz of a joint to the reality-shattering trauma of adrenochrome.

The result is a disjointed narrative leaping from one farce to another where mundane situations like checking into a hotel become hideous conflicts and the most severe transgressions become lost in a drug-induced blackout.

By the time you get to the end of the books, you’ll be wondering if it’s possible to have the same level of drug-related fun elsewhere. Well, before you dial that number that you’ve been resisting for so long, go to your local bookshop and pick up a copy of...

Mr. Nice – Howard Marks

It’s not just the story of one of the most notorious drug smugglers of recent times; it’s much, much more than that. Howard Marks should, by all accounts, be languishing away in a dark cell for the protection of civilisation. Instead he is the best-selling author of one of the most fantastic adventure stories you are likely to read.

And the best thing is, it’s all true!

Howard’s import/export business found him rubbing shoulders with the IRA which, in turn led him into the service of her majesty’s secret service. Don’t ask me which one. For some reason, I have trouble remembering all of the details.

But it’s good, I remember this much, and I urge you to read it as soon as possible.

Or you can just stick to your old habits and wait for the movie to come out, which it will on the 8th of October. Make a night of it, invite all of your clichés along on a lads’ night out to the cinema after which you can toddle on down to the pub, drink lots of beer, eat lots of peanuts, fart a lot and talk about football, before starting a fight and throwing up in the back of a taxi.

(You can watch the trailer for Mr. Nice here - enjoy!)