ubervu
Apple iPhone
Nexus One
+ Add
EMAIL ALERTS: SUBSCRIBE
By: Steven Rushing
Updated 1 week ago
Source: http://artofmanliness.com/
An excellent list; I have read perhaps 40 of them, and loved 39 (To Kill a Mockingbird doesn’t get read on its own merits, only at the point of a teacher’s gun).
I would add one book in its place: The Swiss Family Robinson. It is a wonderful adventure/science book that engrossed me as a young boy.
- 220 comments on this story
Showing 101 relevant reactions out of 220.
50 best books for boys/young men: http://tr.im/REX3
@stevelackmeyer: You DMed me about this: The blog is based on a book. It's a neat one: http://tiny.cc/xwqeP gave it out for Xmas this year.
A good list of books for boys + interesting site on manliness: http://artofmanliness.com/2009/11/15/50-best-books-for-boys-and-young-men
Best books for boys: http://artofmanliness.com/2009/11/15/50-best-books-for-boys-and-young-men
http://tinyurl.com/ycbagz6
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness http://ff.im/-d7b4R
http://bit.ly/4FN6iM Reading: 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men
http://bit.ly/4FN6iM Leitura: Os 50 Melhores Livros para Garotos Chego a salivar (!?) de vontade de ler todos eles.
“And in the name of gender-neutrality, teachers are foisting books on boys that they simply do not like.”
I don’t think gender-neutrality plays too much of a role as to why boys don’t read – the majority of books ARE written for young boys. Trust me, it’s much, much harder to find a book for a young woman that treats her as intelligent, adventurous, and
...
See all content
Here's a list of the 50 best books for boys and young men. I loved WATERSHIP DOWN. http://shrinkify.com/1fo
I'm unclear why this list has to be gendered http://bit.ly/08wWQ3R/ I read many of these
Wow–someone else remembers The Great Brain series? Man, I hadn’t thought of those in AGES. LOVED ‘EM!
Without reading all the other comments, I have to add that I enjoyed the “Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators” series better than the Hardy Boys, and pretty much any of Heinlein’s “juveniles” are ones I still re-read over and over again
...
See all content
all quiet on the western front?
catcher in the rye?
the great gatsby?
it’s like this cat?
johnny tremain?
kidnapped?
Great list of books for boys! Funny site.. http://is.gd/51WPD
Every single book by Roald Dahl is pure gold. Danny the Champion of the World and Fantastic Mr. Fox are fabulous too:)
A recent discovery, which I would recommend for both boys and girls, is Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and Amazons” series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallows_and_Amazons). There are 12 books in the series, written mostly in the 1930’s.
Great list of books for the boys and young men in your life http://artofmanliness.com/2009/11/15/50-best-books-for-boys-and-young-men
100 comments already, but I can’t help but add “By the Great Horn Spoon!” I loved that book growing up. A young boy and his butler sneak off to California during the Gold Rush to find their treasure. I loved that book growing up.
50 Best Books For Boys and Young Men: http://twurl.nl/tmehkw
If you’re mentioning Heinlein, why not _Have Spacesuit, Will Travel_? A young man finds a way to get a spacesuit, and from there . . .
I’ve been trying to figure out which Knights of the Round Table I read as a boy forever and I finally did! Thanks for including this in the list– I was actually hoping that you put it on there for boys. Incidentally– the manly man with the manly mustache John Steinbeck had this to say of King Arthur and his knights which I absolutely agree with:
“My feeling of nobless
...
See all content
For young men I would strongly recommend “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad.
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness / http://bit.ly/3vurdF
[...] Parents trying to get their boys to love reading will appreciate this list of "50 Best Books For Boys and Young Men." (Art of Manliness) [...]
[...] The Art of Manliness has published the 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men. [...]
[...] Browse as The Art of Manliness lists the 50 best books for boys and young men. [...]
My suggestions:
Don Quijote – Miguel Cervantes
A Gathering of Old Men – Ernest J. Gaines
Haroun and the Sea of Stories – Salman Rushdie
The Alex Rider Series – Anthony Horowitz
The Captain Alatriste Series – Arturo Perez-Reverte
The Inspector Montalbano Series – Andrea Camilleri
The Arsene Lupin Series
...
See all content
[...] Back to the wholesome: 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men [...]
I would add more old-fashioned adventure books, such as Gordon R. Dickson’s Dorsai! series, “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert A. Heinlein, “Kon Tiki” by Thor Heyerdahl, and almost anything by Issac Asimov. Does anyone else remember reading these books as a young boy?
Great choices for the girls ( http://bit.ly/4sAbNT) and boys ( http://bit.ly/B9lgv) on your holiday shopping list.
Nice list, but I missed the following essential titles:
Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
My Book of Bible stories (Watch Tower Society)
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Arabian Nights
Is there a .pdf of these?
I was forced to read A Separate Peace when I was kid and hated it. I read it again a couple of years ago and I still hate it. It’s the kind of book that well-meaning adults make children read but kids universally think the characters in the book are all wealthy, self-righteous pricks.
This list could use some diversity. Within the your parameters of “Western,” I would suggest authors such as Sherman Alexie (Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian), Walter Dean Myers (Monster), Gary Soto (Buried Onions), Markus Zusak (The Book Thief), and Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese).
[...] 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men [Art of Manliness] [...]
Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer. An 11 year old criminal mastermind, with a supporting cast of eccentrics and high tech fairies. Eoin Colfer and Louis Sacar are a tie for children authors with a sense of humor prize. All those years teaching elementary school sharpened Colfer’s ability to intertweave fart jokes into the plot. Also, Sideways School series by Sachar is good for the younger kids ... See all content
Ok, you did miss the BEST books for boys out there–the many works of GA Henty. My boys will not grow up without them!
Personally, I’d stay clear of the Hornblower novels until the kid hits his teens.
Anything written by Robert Heinlein between 1950 and 1958 is great – Citizen of the Galaxy is particularly good. Reserve Starship Troopers for the teenage years.
And I’m shocked that nobody has mentioned the Sherlock Holmes mysteries…and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom stories
...
See all content
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men http://ow.ly/Du21
http://bit.ly/4FN6iM Reading: 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men
I'm a rebel! This girl has (and will continue to) read most of the 50 best books for boys and young men. http://bit.ly/4E8NA6
[...] Art of Manliness, the blog that inspired Flavorpill's Top Ten by posting a pretty fantastic list of 50 great reads for boys and young men (The Phantom Tollbooth! A Wrinkle in Time!) of their own. It's enough to make me want to raid my [...]
I’m going to tuck this away in my favorites for about 15 years until I have a child (I think most of this list equally applies to girls), old enough to read. Here’s to hoping you guys are still around then!
Another vote for Patrick O’Brian’s The Golden Ocean, and for the Hornblower series.
For older boys, Kenneth Roberts’ Northwest Passage, a mostly factual but novelized account of a young man who joined Rogers’ Rangers during the French and Indian wars.
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness / http://bit.ly/383ACR
This list for boys is pretty good too (and naturally, both lists are actually great for both boys and girls) http://bit.ly/3AS2f3
Collected from “Boys Life”, I read and reread Donald Keith’s “Mutiny in the Time Machine” and “Time Machine to the Rescue”. Boys are boys, no matter the era, Spartans or space men.
What about Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days, 20,000 leagues under the sea? Jules Verne should be on this list.
From blog the Art of Manliness, 50 best books for boys/young men. http://tinyurl.com/ybwqqpj #lis412
I second the suggestion for “The Call of the Wild”, a great book to get a boy started understanding our relationship with man’s best friend. Of course, man’s best friend is a whole topic on its own….
ordering a couple of these recommended books for boys tonight: http://artofmanliness.com/2009/11/15/50-best-books-for-boys-and-young-men
A SEPARATE PEACE — no. Well, maybe for Ian McKellen and that pouty-boy who made an emo mess of the new THE PRISONER.
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men http://is.gd/4Xy43
Great list. One I’d like to add is:
Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Best #Books for Boys and Young Men http://bit.ly/4FN6iM Reading #literature
If you have school age kids - 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men to read - http://bit.ly/27cP3A
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men. http://bit.ly/4FN6iM Probably of interest to more than @78mg
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men: http://tinyurl.com/ybwqqpj (Via^ @artofmanliness)
Best book of my childhood was “The Call of the Wild”
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan.
[...] talking about books like the ones on this list: The Phantom Tollbooth, The Red Badge of Courage, John Bellairs’ fantastic, Gorey-illustrated [...]
Great book list. I also enjoyed The Old Man and the Boy.
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Boy-Robert-Ruark/dp/080502669X
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men http://ff.im/-bBud6
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men by the @artofmanliness chaps: http://ow.ly/D5V5 ~ DW
Great list. I would add Heart, by Edmundo de Amicis. I have read it twice and I am thinking of reading it again.
I’m really especially happy to see both “Hatchet” and “The Mummy, the Will and the Crypt” on this list. John Bellairs was one of my very favorite authors when I was young, and I’ve been meaning to pick those books up again for a re-read. I have fond memories of riding to the library to exchange one for the next as a way to enjoy my summers…
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men http://bit.ly/3AS2f3
This is a great list. I loved several of those books while growing up, and I think I may go back and reread some of them.
Really enjoyed the list, but I take issue with the gender comparisons. I realize that wasn’t the point of the article, but shouldn’t we focus on what proportion of boys read, not whether it’s boys or girls?
Great list, thanks!!!
Great list. I’ve always been a big reader and some of my favorites were on this list or in the comments. I haven’t thought about some of these books in years (such as The Yearling and Toothpaste Millionaire and Paddle to the Sea).
One I’d add to the list would be “Banner in the Sky” by James Ramsey Ullman. I spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia in the
...
See all content
A good list. Many of those are still some of my favorite books.
a few things I can think of to add:
His Dark Materials Trilogy- Philip Pullman
Redwall series- Brian Jacques
Last of the Mohicans- James Fenimore Coope
What a great list. I’ve posted a link to it. Hate to tinker with it but if you are adding:
The House With a Clock In Its Walls – Bellairs
My Side of the Mountain – George
Henry Huggins – Cleary
Henry Reed, Inc – McCloskey
How To Eat Fried Worms – Rockwell
My favoirte childhood novels:
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Paul Revere by Esther Forbes
And I loved The Shadow mystery novels by Maxwell Grant.
I don’t know if boys actually learn that much slower than girls when it comes to language arts, or it’s that schools in recent years have become more oriented towards helping girls achieve greater academic success, especially at the elementary school level, at the expense of boys. I think it all points to an increasing degree of misandry in American society, which is an entirely subject ... See all content
[...] want to be, or maybe you have a little boy or man in your life…phew, anyway, here’s 50 Best books for Boys and Young Men mylistofcoolness @ 11:05 pm [filed under Book finds Leave a Comment [...]
Hey, how about some poetry? Scholastic’s “Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle” introduced me to a lot of very witty rhymers. A Second vote for the Horatio Hornblower series, and anything by Farley Mowatt, especially “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float” or “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be”, and where’s “The Wind in the Willows”? If Mole ... See all content
Hello, I belive that Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank should also be added to your already fine list of litiature, as it shows the comming of age for young and old in a post atomic age.
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men http://bit.ly/B9lgv @mwilson518 approved!
I also pored over the scholastic book order and spent not a little of my hard earned (no allowance at my house) pennies on books. In addition to reading skills, it helped my early math skills – how many books I could afford with so much money. I recall that the books were in the 25-60 cent range. (I’m in my early 50’s).
As a pre-teen, there was even a more exciting treasure
...
See all content
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness / http://bit.ly/3vurdF
I haven’t read everyone’s comments, hopefully I am not the only one my two favorites.
1. King Solomon’s Mines – H. Rider Haggard
2. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe.
Great list. It is amazing how many of those I have read, and had almost forgotten about.
As a Canadian, I would definitely add something from Farley Mowat to the list. He has written some fantastic yarns about adventures the arctic (”Lost in the Barrens”), but I think that his classic prairie tale “Owls in the Family” is the one that most of us remember.
Another
...
See all content
A fantastic list. I would also recommend (particularly if a boy liked Watership Down) the Redwall series, which are lots of fun. For somewhat older boys, the James Herriot books, beginning with “All Creatures Great and Small,” are wonderful; by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, every chapter can stand on its own as a short story (while they do all fit into a cohesive plot arc). There’s ... See all content
[...] more here: 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness By admin | category: american boy, boy | tags: allegiance, boy, dangerous, dangerous-book, [...]
"50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness" ( http://bit.ly/1lBva9 )
When I was in eight and ninth grade, I switched schools several times. In the span of a year and a half, I read "The Outsiders" more than five times, and watched the movie four times. I could happily live my life never hearing the words Pony and boy together again.. o_O
After reading *Beauty's Punishment*, I never want to hear about ponyboys again, either.
Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein – where else will you find the Boy Scouts of Ganymede?
Anything by Peter Capstick – hunting in the “Dark Continent”
Anything about Ernest Shackleton – “If you’re lost pray. If you’re lost in the Antarctic, pray for Shackleton”
The Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester – one
...
See all content
i loved the hardy boys when i was growing up- used to have a whole shelf devoted to them. also fantastic call on my side of the mountain- i had completely forgotten about it. there is actually sequels that are pretty good if any one is interested.
Additions that I would suggest: Harry Potter, a great good versus evil story
also, Rocket boys by Homer H Hickam Jr, the story that inspired
...
See all content
Good list, except for The Giver. The end of that book (or lack thereof) has annoyed me for years.
Brett, I rushed through the list to make sure you listed King Arthur and His Knights. Good job!
1) Don’t forget to read ‘The Hobbit’ before ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.
2) Also, for all kids 10-14 years old and up, the 11-book series ‘Uncle Eric Books’ by Richard Maybury, the title list can be found here:
http://www.bluestockingpress.com/uncle-eric-books.htm
If I was to make the list ‘100 books’, I would include
...
See all content
I would recommend adding “Rascal” by Sterling North to the list. It’s a great story about a boy and his adventures with his pet raccoon. Excellent writing and beautiful pencil illustrations… and frankly, it just makes a kid want to get out and explore the world without any modern technology to tie him down.
I have two boys (6 and 3) and my husband and I have been lamenting the fact that they “just don’t make men like they used to”. I am thrilled to have found your site and have been reading for a while.
Love your book list. Some of the books I love but thought nobody else knew about were on here! (Phantom Tollbooth, Where the Red Fern Grows) There were many I didn’t know
...
See all content
I agree with Titus that this is a great list, but some of the books are…iffy. I’d say that nearly a third of the books on this list are already required for 9-15 year old boys to begin with (and for the record, I know LOTS of people who do not like The Hatchet, mostly because as suburban and urban boys they simply cannot relate). I am pleased to see Gaiman and some fantasy titles on the ... See all content
oh! and “the three musketeers”!
Excellent list. How about: The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness: The Tintin stories were great, too, with all the t.. http://bit.ly/4iteKV
Pretty good list – very easy reading most of it.
What’s missing? The Fountainhead
50 books 4 boys http://artofmanliness.com/zURX
Follow us
FEEDBACKTwitterFacebook-
DASHBOARD
PRO
- MY KEYWORDS
PRO
-
TOOLS & WIDGETS