2 Book questions
 

I am interested in sports fiction preferably a series. I read "The Southpaw" series and "Never Come Back " series. I would love to get into another sports fiction series.

Second question: My wife has read the "Twilight" series and all the Harry Potter series.

Can anybody give us suggestions on new series to read?

I can't think of a sports fiction series off my head, but if your wife doesn't mind extremely racy story or a much more lush and dense prose, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series rocks.

The traditional path for readers of Harry Potter/Twilight fiction moves next to P.C. Cast's "House of Night" series, which is up to seven books right now. It's aimed squarely at that same demographic - paranormal romance without the sensuality factor associated with adult romantic fiction. It's a series appropriate for most older teens (if they're not going to be shocked by fellatio, anyway) but with lots of older fans. Ms. Cast also writes adult romances/urban fantasies with a subtheme of immortality/pantheons of gods.

Other popular genre authors of interest currently include the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries (the book series on which True Blood was based), Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, and the early work of Laurell K. Hamilton (the Anita Blake series). The later novels in this series get increasingly sexually graphic, which may or may not be something your wife finds enjoyable in her fantasy reading. If she does, the work of Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and J.R. Ward are essentially erotic novels with lots of action.

Keep in mind, from a literary standpoint, none of this stuff is "good". However, for someone whose frame of reference for enjoyable fiction is J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer, this is the type of thing they enjoy reading next. And much of it is reasonably serviceable - even the Anita Blake series took a couple of books to fly off the rails.

As far as sports fiction goes, there aren't a whole lot of series books out there. There's even less current fiction out there on sport in general. One series that I found enjoyable that is likely still on current shelves is Harlan Coben's book series featuring Myron Bolitar (Drop Shot, Fade Away, Back Spin). Twenty years ago, Bolitar was the Great White Hope in the NBA Draft, a Duke All-American who was supposed to be the next Larry Bird. In his first NBA scrimmage, his knee gets wrecked in a collision with his college rival (the next Magic Johnson), and Bolitar's career is over. He goes into the military, joins the CIA, meets a Wall Street trust fund baby named Win (imagine Niles Crane as an amoral psychopath), and gets his law degree. As the series opens he is working as a sports agent but finds his other skills necessary to help his clients stay out of trouble.

Then there are the usual suspects among sports fans: Shoeless Joe, The Natural, Dan Jenkins' novels, Robert Coover's Universal Baseball Association...but you're probably going to be looking in the used stacks for those. When it comes to good sports stories, I find a season review much more engrossing than a fiction story. Anything by John Feinstein is a good read, except the baseball crap. Halberstam's A Season on the Brink or Jim Bouton's Ball Four should be on your list.

No clue on books for you, but your wife might try Holly Black's "Modern Faerie Tale" trilogy, starting with Tithe. She *may* also enjoy the Hunger Games trilogy, but it's got a more sci-fi bent.

I don't know if your wife liked Harry Potter and Twilight because of the genre or the age group. The above books are also aimed at that age group and have fantasy and sci-fi elements. The Jim Butcher books (Dresden Files) are more modern fantasy, and I like them a lot but they're not much like Harry Potter or Twilight. However, if she likes the Dresden Files books, she might also check out the Connor Grey books, starting with Unshapely Things.

/tk

Dola,
Holly Black also co-authored the Spiderwick Chronicles books, which I believe starts with The Field Giude. I haven't read the books or seen the movie, but they might be interesting to her. Truth to tell I haven't read Tithe, yet, either, and Hunger Games is actually what I'm starting today, but I have enough friends who like both to recommend those.

/tk

My wife is on the same kick as far as those two series goes, its where she started her current reading spree. As far as she goes, she reads them because they are fun, enjoyable, and clean.

She's read the Septimus Heap series, which are similar to the Harry Potter series, except not set in modern times. Then there are the Percy Jackson series, which are also similar to Harry Potter, but with gods instead of magic. Also in the same vein are the City of Ember books. I got into these, they are quite good. Very different from the others I listed, but good.

She's also read the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Hunger Games series mentioned by others here.

All of the above books are considered Young Adult, but the writing is not bad at all and can stimulate the mind. The best thing is that they are quick reads, so the entire series of say City of Ember won't take you long to get through and might feel like just reading one "adult" classified book.

Oh and I get all this YA literature in the house because my sister is a YA librarian. She has to read this stuff to stay current, and recommends the good stuff to us. I normally read adult Sci-Fi, military fiction and historical non-fiction, but I'll read these books when they are interesting. Of the ones listed in this thread, I've read the Harry Potter and City of Ember series and enjoyed both (except for the 3rd CoE book). My wife enjoyed all the ones I've listed. Outside of the Twilight series, I trust her judgement ;- )

You might try "The Drover" series by Bill Granger, although it may not be exactly what you are looking for.

And, if you are picking up his Drover books you might as well try The New York Yanquis" also by Bill Granger. A funny story about Steinbrenner replacing his entire Yankee team with Cubans.


And, if anyone here is still playing FOF for hours on end with your homemade charts and spreadsheets, you should definitely read
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.
Amazon.com: The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. (9780452260306): Robert Coover: Books
Took me back to my Strat-O-Matic days in High school and college.

:eek: You married a 12-year-old?

Naw, I'm just kidding. Couldn't resist.

But seriously - though I'm 35, I really enjoyed the Artemis Fowl series by Eion Colfer. It's YA fantasy stuff, but quite a bit lighter in tone. Cotton candy literature, to be sure, but hey ... there's a place for that too, right?

I'd second the Artemis Fowl and Hunger Games series - they're like many modern 'kids' fantasy/fiction novels and are pretty well written and appeal to both adults and children imho.

Jeffery Deaver -- Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs Novels
Preston and Child -- The Pendegrast series (really a VERY underrated series)
Vince Flynn -- Mitch Rapp series....has fallen off a bit the last couple.