Books for a 15 yr old brother

[milliondollaz]

Looking for book recomendations for my 15 year old little brother for his birthday. I'm thinking more non-fiction than fiction, but whatever goes. I also need to point out he's already read the Harry Potter series, and I think I want more of an educational flavor anyway.

I've done my thread searching (which sucks cause there are so many flippin book posts) and come up with a couple starters. I'll probably get him a bunch, so post away. Here's what I'm thinking about so far, but this is in no way an actual list.

rich dad poor dad
ishmael
how to win friends and influence people
friendly persuasion
Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
How to Swim with the Sharks by Harvey Mackey
The Once and Future King by TH White.
zen and the art of motorcycle maintence

comments? recomendations?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Cryptonomicon, Snowcrash, Catch-22, Neuromancer.

Man that's a lot of cyberpunk, and I have no particular taste for cyberpunk.

[el capitan]

Guiness Book of World Records

[cjmewett]

Demon-Haunted World is a good one. I'd get Billions and Billions, too, also by Sagan.

[JaBlue]

unless your bro is some kind of genius, zen is going to fly way way over his head

I might suggest carlos castaneda... should be extremely interesting read for him

[Blarg]

Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller

Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

The Secret History of the Sword -- unbelievably fun and cool, descriptions of all sorts of ancient weapons including good sections on the staff; descriptions of real swordfights from people who were there, throughout the ages -- incredibly readable

Chickenhawk -- vietnam helicopter pilots white-knuckle adventures, but serious and thoughtful too

In the Heart of the Sea -- giant whale destroys whaling ship, cannibalism, great history with really interesting setting -- true story of the incident that inspired "Moby Dick"; this thing really moves and was impossible to put down, and was so good I read it twice in a row to get more of it, then shortly thereafter read it again


Jungle Lore, by Jim Corbett. He grew up in India when it was still a British colony, and lots of the flavor of old India and colonialism is in here. Among the ways he spent his life was as a hunter of man-eating big cats, and his encounters with them in his books are hair-raising and peppered with his great knowledge of tracking jungle wildlife and developing his senses and powers of observation regarding how they and the nature around them works. Even if you're not a fan of hunting(I'm not), this is great adventure with a tremendous sense of place, and a very exotic place and time, at that.

The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins. It's about evolution, so if you're a creationist type, this one is probably no good. Not a "fun" read like all the above, but it can be pretty mind blowing.

[cjmewett]

I don't think ZMM is overly complex if he's a smart kid. He might not understand all the nuance, but it will at least get him looking at things in a new way.

[Slider]

Ender's Game Series for Fiction. Best... Books.. Ever..

Art of Seduction by Robert Greene - Help him develop his personality and pull mad ladies.

[shant]

There's some fiction book that's pretty funny and a good read. I think it's called something like Adventures of a 15 Year Old Virgin or Confessions of a Teenage Something-Or-Other. If someone can help me out with what I'm talking about that'd be great because I searched Amazon and couldn't find it.

[JaBlue]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think ZMM is overly complex if he's a smart kid. He might not understand all the nuance, but it will at least get him looking at things in a new way.

[/ QUOTE ]

for a book like ZMM to have value, the reader has to spend a lot of time on it. Its really hard to imagine anyone but an extremely exceptional 15 year old doing that.