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Recent discourse has begged the question: Why aren’t men reading fiction? Are they reading anything at all? In this monthly series, we’re talking to men about the books they think other guys should check out right now. Whether it’s revisiting a classic, getting engrossed in a memoir or devouring something fast paced and action packed, there’s bound to be something here for any reader to enjoy.
With warm weather quickly approaching, now’s the time to start lining up the books you’ll be reading this summer. We’re here to help: This month’s recommendations come from quite a range of esteemed literary men, including my male colleagues here at InsideHook. Dive into trending science-fiction novels, a nuanced look at the state of AI warfare or a 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner that’s just as poignant 16 years later.
All that I have left to say is this: If you haven’t read Project Hail Mary yet, what are you waiting for?
Down Time by Andrew Martin
“Much of the press around Down Time has focused on the fact that it is a pandemic novel. While this is factually correct, this distracts from what I view as the actual nucleus (and more compelling subject matter) of Andrew Martin’s novels: as Adam Straus at the Los Angeles Review of Books so eloquently puts it, the ‘overeducated and underachieving.’
“Flitting across characters, perspectives and timelines with Faulknerian fervor, the triumph of Down Time lies in its robust cast of washed-up, wholly unsympathetic, impossibly relatable erudite millennial creative types (a lifestyle that, as a Brooklyn-based college professor and member of the MFA mafia, Martin is clearly all too familiar with) navigating a world that is at once indifferent to their incessant introspection and receptive to their semi-closeted privilege. Books about interpersonal relationships (read: nothing) tend to skew insufferable, but Martin’s razor-sharp prose navigates the benign and banal with enough awareness and self-deprecation to make it well worth a read.” — Paolo Sandoval, InsideHook Style Editor
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
“The scariest haunted-house book — and possibly the scariest book I’ve read in the 21st century (I could make an argument for Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s Hex, too) — is told from the perspective of eight-year-old Bela as she experiences both her parents’ dysfunctional relationship and an entity called Other Mommy. That’s also the name of the film adaptation coming out in October, which, sure, might be good. But the book by Malerman (who also wrote Bird Box, a far superior novel to the movie) offers unexpected scares and a perspective that may be difficult to replicate. That said, if I had to compare the book to anything, I’d say the ever-encroaching evil here is akin to what it’s like to watch It Follows, so there’s certainly a case to check out the story in both mediums.” — Kirk Miller, InsideHook Senior Lifestyle Editor
How to Read More Books Than Ever This Year
The first part of this six-step plan: giving up on “War and Peace”
God’s Junk Drawer by Peter Clines
“For the first 20 years of my career, I only represented nonfiction. The author who propelled me into representing fiction is Peter Clines, who has a gift for creating vividly imagined worlds that blur the lines between sci-fi, horror and the supernatural, and then filling them with memorable characters, crisp dialogue and mind-blowing set pieces. God’s Junk Drawer starts as a sort of grown-up Land of the Lost, and then through an ensemble cast that features dinosaurs, robots, cavemen, aliens, and characters pulled from both our history and our future, it morphs into a dynamic, satisfying mystery that explores just how far someone is willing to go for their family.” — David Fugate, President and Founder of LaunchBooks Literary Agency
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
“I’m totally engrossed in the latest trending series, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. It’s a total gateway drug for science fiction; both a strong entry point for new readers and a refreshing respite for seasoned sci-fi fans. I randomly picked up the first book just to see what all the hype was about, and I have not been able to put the series down since.
“On the surface, this is a hilarious book about a downtrodden man and his ex-girlfriend’s cat getting caught in an alien AI apocalypse, in which they must survive several levels of dungeons to earn their freedom. That alone should be enough to raise some eyebrows. As you dive deeper, it’s truly a story about humanity, hope, the unconquerable human spirit and the strength we have when we come together against oppression. I think this is a great book for people to read because a scenario like this could easily give way to hopelessness and isolation. Instead, this story is filled with compassion, connection and the kindness of strangers. There’s also some really insane events that take place almost constantly. No shortage of tears were shed while reading this series, both of laughter and sadness. Fair warning that it’s relatively crude at times, and Carl curses a lot. But otherwise, it’s a good hang.” — Lino The Reader, follow on Instagram and TikTok
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
“In 2019, Remedy released a video game called Control, which was set in a large house that could change its shape. In the game, your are tasked with finding what are known as ‘Objects of Power’ — everyday objects that could unleash terrible things. The game felt like an M.C. Escher painting come to life. I’ve been searching for that same high in other media, and I finally found one: There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. A surrealist horror novel following a terrifying notion: what if it wasn’t objects that could unleash power, but ideas? Ideas made corporeal simply because we believed in them hard enough? And what if we didn’t know they were there? The book is a tremendous piece of fiction that warps the mind and twists everything on its head. I will be reading it again just to pick up on all the little clues I missed the first time. This story shows something I have long believed in: that memory is one of the most important things we have.” — TJ Klune, author of We Burned So Bright
Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare by Katrina Manson
“I can’t think of an invention more morally indefensible than fully autonomous, AI-powered killing machines. That’s exactly why I’ve got Project Maven at the top of my to-be-read list, because Bloomberg reporter Katrina Manson reveals that there are even nuances to be explored and discussed when we’re talking about technology that, 20 years ago, seemed to be the stuff of our most cynical, dystopian nightmares. In this book, which is named after a Defense Department initiative focused on AI warfare launched in 2017, she details the journey of Project Maven, what the U.S. military has learned in its pursuit of AI, and why the growing threat posed by China has made the development of robots that can select and destroy targets on their own seem, impossibly, justifiable. Listen to her recent interview on Fresh Air and you’ll have no choice but to buy this book.” — Alex Lauer, InsideHook Features Editor
Hellions: Stories by Julia Elliott
“Over a decade ago, a writer friend of mine recommended that I keep an eye out for a novelist and short story writer named Julia Elliott. Not long after that, Tin House published two books of hers in rapid succession: a collection titled The Wilds that abounded with uncanny tales and The New and Improved Romie Futch, which plays out like Flowers for Algernon and the Southern Gothic nightmares of Harry Crews thrown into a supercollider. Now, Elliott is back with a new collection, Hellions, and I’m pleased to report that she hasn’t lost a step. Some of these stories abound with atmosphere, while others venture into the supernatural; ‘Erl King,’ about a young woman’s fraught relationship with an eccentric academic who may be able to shapeshift, is a prime example of the surreal ambiguity that populates these stories. It also gets weirder — and more compelling — as it goes.” — Tobias Carroll, InsideHook Weekend Editor
Tinkers by Paul Harding
“A multi-generational story told over the final eight days of our main character’s life while on his deathbed. George, our narrator, is a watchmaker by trade, and eight days just so happens to be the time it takes for a hand-wound clock to stop working. Tinkers is written with explicitly beautiful and almost cinematic prose, requiring you to read and re-read lines over again just to get the fullness of what Harding is sharing with us. A story of life, love, loss, family and the slowness of life, Tinkers is a must-read for anyone looking to understand the tragic beauty of the single chance at life we all get.” — Chris Dougherty of Chris Reads Books, follow on Instagram and TikTok
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
“The essential book on media ecology, which anticipated today’s preferred diet of constant pleasure and distraction. Pretty amazing that these words were printed in 1985: ‘Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other,’ Postman wrote. ‘They do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.’
“I recommend reading this alongside Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. The classic clearly weighed heavy on Postman’s mind as he wrote his own book. Bundled together, these books could beam you back to the present — however loud and messy it may be.” — Tanner Garrity, InsideHook Wellness Editor
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