Book recommendations for daughter, 18 , who doesn’t love to read

[mum]

My dd, 18, doesn’t like to read, but she’s actually interested in cultivating that skill. I’d love to give her a book for Christmas. Any recommendations? No vampires or violence-she’s a soft hearted soul. She especially likes happy books or at least happy endings. She’s smart too, so it needs to be a great YA or adult book.

Thank you!!

[Negin]

I have found graphic novels/anything illustrated to be wonderful for those who dislike reading. The first one that popped in my mind is a book that my daughter and I have both loved. My daughter's friend who actually hates reading, loved this book also. I'll try to think of more. 

 

[Negin]

Books by Susan Branch are nice also. They're a trilogy. The first one is The Fairy Tale Girl. 

 

 

If she likes style and home-y sort of stuff. she might like books by Jennifer Scott. 

 

 

Has she read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" or "Gone With the Wind"? Both are books that my daughter and I loved. (Editing to add: Gone with the Wind does not have a happy ending, but is still one of our all-time favorites). 

 

Dogs as I See Them is lovely for anyone who likes dogs, but there's not much reading in it. 

 

If I were to pick just one among all of these, I would choose "The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt". 

Edited December 3, 2017 by Negin

[marbel]

Here is a link to a thread I started a while ago, with some recommendations:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/663672-book-recommendations-requested/

[Aura]

I'm getting my oldest a magazine subscription. He doesn't really like reading, but he's highly interested in the topic. I figured magazines generally are geared for shorter attention spans. So something with brief reading (compared to a book), lots of pics, and was geared to his interests would actually be something he'd enjoy. Maybe your dd would like something like that, too?

[Aura]

Or, something else I'd thought about for my eldest was a coffee-table type book on his interest, something with lots of illustrations and brief synopsis of varying subtopics.

 

Personally, I think the biggest key is finding the topic and/or style that is most engaging to the reader. All the reluctant readers I know of at that age, dislike pages of nothing but words, so the pp suggestion of graphic novels could work, or something that doesn't have tons of descriptive narrative. Maybe a youth fiction like Percy Jackson series? Except that's not really non-violent, even if it's geared for tweens. LOL Just an example of an engaging style that I thought of off the top of my head. 

 

Not sure if that's any help or not. Good luck!

[Okra]

Does she like audio books while driving?

 

Just because she doesn't like to read doesn't mean she can't fully enjoy an audible subscription.

 

In fact lots of people are so busy when they are older that audio books are pretty popular.

[mum]

Thank you all. Some interesting food for thought. The reason I'm looking at this now is that writing longer papers has become a challenge and I think that reading more will expand her ability to write. She used to love audiobooks when she was little. Her eyes tire easily, she does have glasses but doesn't use them regularly, and I think that plays into not liking to read.

[Night Elf]

Try a Chicken Soup for the Soul book too. There are so many to choose from. I used to give my non-reading dd one every Christmas because they are short chunks of inspirational reading. It's something she can do in about 5 -10 minutes and not feel tied to a longer book.