Man of the house and books...

My very own alpha guy will be out of town this week on a business trip. In preparing for the long flight - 5 hours - I asked if he had any books to take with. He's just finishing Dan Simmons' The Terror (which I gave him). While he has non-fiction tech books and investment books I thought he should take some fiction. So I generously offered to give him some paperbacks to take along. While the majority of my books are ones that he wouldn't read, I was able to gather what I thought was a respectable number for him to choose from.

Neverwhere and American Gods ~ Neil Gaiman
Dragon Bones ~ Patricia Briggs
The Name of the Wind ~ Patrick Rothfuss
Kitty and the Midnight Hour ~ Carrie Vaughn
The Keeper ~ Sarah Langan
Nightlife ~ Rob Thurman
The Sharing Knife: Beguilement ~ Lois McMaster Bujold
Storm Front ~ Jim Butcher

Maybe I should have offered a Lora Leigh or a Maya Banks. Or my Jet Mykles' Dark Elves. hehehe. I was good and didn't try to embarrass him. I suppose I could have still slipped a Lora Leigh into his carry-on...

Anyway, I had a pretty good idea which ones he would choose. (He picked two.) I thought for sure he would go for one of the Gaimans and I was right. He chose American Gods.

Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path.

He did surprise me a little with his second choice. He picked The Keeper. Why?

DH, picks up book. "Oh, it takes place in Maine." He's from Maine. *grins*


Some believe Bedford, Maine, is cursed. Its bloody past, endless rain, and the decay of its downtown portend a hopeless future. With the death of its paper mill, Bedford's unemployed residents soon find themselves with far too much time to dwell on thoughts of Susan Marley. Once the local beauty, she's now the local whore. Silently prowling the muddy streets, she watches eerily from the shadows, waiting for . . . something. And haunting the sleep of everyone in town with monstrous visions of violence and horror.

Those who are able will leave Bedford before the darkness fully ascends. But those who are trapped here—from Susan Marley's long-suffering mother and younger sister to her guilt-ridden, alcoholic ex-lover to the destitute and faithless with nowhere else to go—will soon know the fullest and most terrible meaning of nightmare.

He initially picked up Storm Front, then I opened my mouth and pointed out that it was the first book in a series. Nope, no series. And no vampires. This of course reduced his choices dramatically.

A little background on his reading habits. Back in our early years, pre-kids, he used to read a lot of SciFi. Authors like: Orson Scott Card, Alan Dean Foster, Frank Herbert, C. J. Cherryh, Piers Anthony or Gordon R. Dickson. Lately he reads mostly non-fiction but I'm trying to change that. :0)

Anyone else try to get your spouse, SO, family or friends to read more? Any new SciFi author recommends with similar writing styles to the above would be appreciated.