Need suggestions please

My 70 year old father has never read a book of fiction in his life. We think he might be dyslexic and he certainly fell through the cracks in the school system of his youth so he finds it tedious to read something as long as a novel. The other day he asked me to pick him up an audio book from the library. He wanted to try and listen to a book. I was a little shocked and tremendously pleased by this request and I really want to get him some good books so he stays interested. He is very interested in old trains, vintage cars, warships and planes and would probably enjoy something about war or spies or at the very least something with suspense and action (you know - guy stuff). He will read short articles in magazines like Smithsonian or Science digest so that is another area of interest. I don't think he would appreciate too many sex scenes, especially being read out loud to him. I listen to the odd book myself and I know the narration can make or break the book, so I was hoping to get suggestions for good audio material in his area of interest. If anyone has a suggestion I would love to hear it.

How about the James Bond series?

I have not read or listened to it myself, but several people whose opinions I respect have raved about the audio of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a true story of the life of a bomber pilot who ends up stranded in the Pacific and is eventually captured by the Japanese. It is supposed to be absolutely riveting.

I think your dad might like The Wild Blue :The Men and Boys who Flew the B24s over Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose. I listened to that book on audio back in 2002 and found it fascinating! I was particularly interested in the part which described what it was like to fly through flak. I had an uncle who was a tail gunner on a US bomber so listened to that book just to learn what his experience might have been like.

if you can find The Great Train Robbery in audio, I think it would work. Not Crichton's best-known work, but good nonetheless.

Bomber is the only book my father has read. I think he enjoyed it.

Good for your Dad!

I can recommend one that will keep him laughing -

Norman Tuttle on the Last Frontier, by Tom Bodett. The main character is an adolescent male growing up in Alaska. Great characters and the reading is spot on, as Mr. Bodett reads it himself. You'll remember him from National Public Radio or the Motel 6 commercials "We'll leave the light on for you."

And check in with the Audiobooks group, too.

How about the Flashman series? It's lots of fun.

You might want to check what kind of movies/TV shows he likes and base your books choice on that...

You could try a James Patterson book! My english teacher enjoys them very much! Also like AnnieMod said You need to see what shows he likes!

Excellent suggestions - thankyou. I'm going to follow up and see how many I can find in audio. Wish me luck.

Lee Child's Jack Reacher series?

Tom Clancy?

My husband listens to both and loves them.

Westerns: My grandfather never read anything but Louis L'Amour - except Little Big Man

Are any of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey stories available as audio books? If your dad likes old ships, battles, and adventure, I can't think of anything better!

C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower books fit that, too - ships, battles, adventure. Addictive.

Something by Alistair MacLean would probably be good. Guns of Navarone or Breakheart Pass maybe.

Iudita ~ I'm greatly intrigued by what you're trying to do! Though five years older than your father, I at least have a feel for the greater part of the history that he's lived through. It's a good idea, I think, to stay as close as you can to what he says he wants (audio books) -- remembering that he experienced years of radio programs, and thus already knows how to take things in through the ear (without even thinking about it), instead of through the eye (as later generations brought up on TV and computer screens automatically do). I think SqueakyChu's suggestion on the those B-24 pilots (many of them not yet 24 themselves, who, on being shot down, spent years in German stalags), and Hillenbrand's Unbroken are great suggestions (and by the way, did he like the movie Seabiscuit -- after all, he was alive when all that happened! -- or was it a turn off). With audio-books, as you know, it all depends on the actor reading the material, (If it's a dud, let it go pronto!). The suggestions about the West seem to be another rich source of possibilities. And, what about sports? If he's truly dyslexic, and has been from the start (back before they knew there was such a thing) you're dealing with some entrenched and rigidly reinforced difficulties -- but his interest is the driving force to be ridden for all it's worth. I'd also be on looking for short doses, like Everett Dick's Tales of the Frontier, which he could easily thumb through until he finds a few pieces that grab (and hold) his attention. And beyond that, I'd be scoping out whatever movies (and stars or stories) made a great impression on him -- and the books or writers these came from -- for clues to parlay into something more. If I lived up there, I'd ask him if we could meet for coffee at some good coffee shop -- and listen with "the third ear" to everything he says. select a few things accordingly . . . read the results (or lack thereof), and, by all means, keep things moving. Good luck and my respect for what you're doing! ;-)

A Quick P.S. ~ If your father sometimes looks at the Smithsonian, as you say, did he happen to catch the November 2010 article on "Little Bighorn: The Indian Perspective"? That's a fascinating piece on just how short and fiercely fought that whole battle was (over in two hours and fifteen minutes). If he's at all interested in such things (or any other articles in subsequent issues), it of course opens the door to numerous other fields in which to look for things to follow further. Just a thought. Have a great spring!

Louis L'amour maybe. My brother-in-law's Dad wasn't much of a reader, but he read L'amour.

Perhaps The Maltese Falcon? It's without a doubt my favourite suspense novel, and I used to enjoy teaching it when I was a lit professor.

On another note (I don't know if this genre would interest your father), I've been rereading Walden, as I put the finishing touches on my own book.... I was reading Walden when I first started writing my book over a year ago, and rereading it now made me reflect on how much my state of mind and mental outlook has changed - for the better - since then. For some reason, reading Walden always inspires me.... More reflections at my blog, www.the-reading-list.com

My dad is about the same age and into similar interests. He's more geared towards non-fiction, and I recently bought him the book Flyboys by James Bradley. I think you'll find Unbroken is considered non-fiction as well.

In terms of spies there's John le Carré, a short classic by him being The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It's the inverse of James Bond, much more real world.

Your dad might also enjoy Flags of Our Fathers, about Iwo Jima during WWII. That book is also by James Bradley. My husband (in his late 50's) really enjoyed reading that book.

Two suspense/action books that my husband also thoroughly enjoyed were Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (about climbing Mt. Everest) and The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger (about a disaster at sea).

Did any of the suggestions work out? Just leave a comment here or you can post on my wall :)

Clive Cussler has a series featuring spy Isaac Bell that sounds like it might fit.