Penultimate Hustle! It's not out yet, so read Radar Love, first, the first in the series. But PH has full on sex scenes that are inside of an amazingly well-written story. Thanks to ebooks, it can be released as is, fully x-rated, instead of being watered down for a print publisher. Message me on Facebook and I'll send you a review copy. Actually, Pageburner has some hot scenes in it, as well.

Pageburner

http://www.amazon.com/Pageburner-ebook/dp/B006IJUGVU

 

Radar Love

http://www.amazon.com/Radar-Love-Ultimate-Hustle-ebook/dp/B006LRKASI/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5

Some of the Tom Sharpe books are quite good. Try "The Throwback" on for size?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Throwback

http://www.amazon.com/Men-Who-Stare-Goats/dp/0743241924 but skip the movie. The book is 100% true, funny, sad. The movie is a pile of shit.

screw books - have him watch "Amadeus" for a good scare.

I didn't much care for the Doomsday Book (it was light on plague details, which was what I was really interested in), but everyone else I've talked to liked it.

I really enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife. I thought the plot thread of popping in and out of your life and your loved ones' lives, even out of the dates of your own lifespan, was cool. It also avoided two major time travel issues that tend to drive me crazy when done wrong:

1. No paradoxes. Any attempts to change the past simply don't work.

2. You don't time travel with possessions. Or clothes. Or even dental fillings. Very interesting plot implications here.

Also look into To Say Nothing of the Dog, and maybe some Arthur C. Clark. One of the Pern books (Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey) also has a time travel plotline.

"- He tested as a genius when he was in the 2nd grade; his mother never made him do his homework or pass a class again after that"

It's a lot easier to stand out when you're 8 than it is to maintain that "edge" past elementary school. Plenty of people of average to lower intelligence can show "genius IQ" by those arbitrary tests and slack off for the rest of their lives because they believe themselves inherently smarter than others.

"- His parents do not begrudge him anything -"

There is absolutely nothing you can do for him if he's just sitting around mooching off your parents, waiting for your parents to die so he can take over the house. As long as they want to spoil him, he'll continue to be lazy as hell.

"with his genius brain"

Stop assuming he's a genius, for one.

I don't know how you do this without seeming insufferably preachy. Other than showing him how much better your non-living-at-home life is, by taking him out to do fun stuff that you actually do (not by telling him it's better for god's sake), what are your options? Does he have friends? Really the only thing I think will work is a girlfriend/boyfriend. Maybe work on that with him, offer to write him an OK Cupid profile or something. When's the last time he got laid? Without paying for it? Probably the weak point in his game, I'd guess. If you want to bitch to someone, talk to the parents. They are doing him no goddamn favors. Of course it's not really your business. Unless he's mentally ill. In which case he needs treatment. And honestly? If my parents paid my way, weren't assholes about it, I didn't have to do jack shit, and I could still travel and have all sorts of stuff? I really might. But it wouldn't be nearly as much as a cock block for me since I'm female. If he's not obviously depressed or suicidal why worry about it at all? It's his choice, and it's not inspiration he needs, it's motivation. Hence girlfriend. Or perhaps awesome job opportunity, pref. in mechanical engineering. But that's his to find, not your job, not your problem.

Also, the tested as a genius thing? According to who? Mom? First off, the IQ test isn't really for that, it's for IDing low functioning kids, and secondly, the thing doesn't normally test above 140, which is smart, but not genius level. There isn't really a genius test, especially at that age...

Connie Willis definitely.

I always have had a soft spot for the Time Wars series by Stephen Hawke. Each is based loosely around a well known novel or historical incident. Short, but fun. But maybe hard to get these days.

Jack Womack's "Terraplane" has time travel in it. His universe(s) are pretty bleak, but it is one of the best I can think of right now.

Second Connie Willis's "Doomsday Book" - terrific. The new Stephen King might well be of interest, and it seems to have been inspired somewhat by Jack Finney's classic "From Time to Time," (on audio) which is a totally charming time travel story drenched in period details and with a nice love story on the side. (The sequel, "Time and Again," is good - not quite as good as the first though). There is also a collection of Jack Finney's time-travel related short stories called "About Time," but if stories are an option I'd go for the anthology "The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century," which runs the gamut from adventure to mind-bending metaphysics. From, say, Michael Crichton's rip-roaring adventure "Timeline," (on audio) to Octavia Butler's realization of race's indelible place in America, "Kindred." (on audio)

One obscure mind-bending title that many readers will tell you is one of the best Time Travel books around is David Gerrold's "The Man Who Folded Himself."

Felix Palma's recent "The Map of Time" would work well, esp in tandem w/ H.G. Wells' book: Wells is a character.

Hard to miss w/ Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry series (The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road).

Be sure to check out a lesser known novella by a seemingly unlikely author, The Dechronization of Sam Magruder by George Gaylord Simpson.

If the name pops out at you it is because he was one of the most important paleontologists of the twentieth century. The manuscript was discovered and published after his death. A time researcher is accidentally transported back to the Cretaceous Period. He must learn to survive and he finds a way to record his observations on the dinosaur inhabitants of the Earth so they will be found in the future (the basis of the book). Although the story utilizes the thinking of the scientific community about dinosaurs at the time, now different in many ways, the story is nonetheless well written and a good escape.

An introduction written by Arthur C. Clarke discusses time travel works and an afterword by Stephen Jay Gould updates the descriptions of dinosaurs to more modern thinking.

This hardback work is easy to find for minimal cost through sellers of remainder books through Amazon or the best search engine for books ever bookfinder.com.

A whole year, huh? I think you might like: Home Land, by Sam Lipsyte. When the Nines Roll Over, by David Benioff. Sick City, by Tony O'Neill. Crooked Little Vein, by Warren Ellis. Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, by Nick Flynn. Chinese Takeout, by Arthur Nersesian. Waylaid, by Ed Lin. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. Mathilda Savitch, by Victor Lodato. Citrus County, by John Brandon. The Buddha of Suburbia, by Hanif Kureshi. A Common Pornography, by Kevin Sampsell. In Persuasion Nation, by George Saunders. Rumble, Young Man, Rumble by Benjamin Cavell. Your Body is Changing, by Jack Pendarvis. Punkzilla, by Adam Rapp. What We Are, by Peter Malae. The Mulching of America, by Harry Crews. Girlfriend in a Coma, by Douglas Coupland. Less than Zero, by Bret Easton Ellis. Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson. ...though I suspect you'll probably want some more variety than that, but...

Connie Willis is a scifi author who has written several books with time travel plots. I've only read her _Doomsday Book_ but I really liked it, so her others are on my list. I'm pretty sure a smart teen (especially one who likes plucky young heroines) would enjoy that one.

Be More Chill by Ned Vazzini
Paper Towns by John Green
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis
Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno

Here are some to try:

As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway
It's got some excellent mix tape lists, a strange little mystery you need to work out on your own and a great first line:"Anna Cayne had moved here in August, just before our sophmore year in high school, but by February she had, one by one, killed everyone in town."

The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni
Reminiscent of the humor of John Green, this story about a truly sheltered (he grew up homeschooled by his grandmother in a geodesic dome) and the punk rock teen with cancer who becomes his friend is a very funny, poignant coming-of-age novel.

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
I know it's old and the cover is lame, but I think Perks may have taken some cues from this one. A cult classic teen novel.

Scream Queens from the Dead Sea by Gilad Elbom
A truly strange fiction debut that instantly made me think of Palahniuk.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
For a book that goes off the deep end into comic violence, try this adrenaline-rush of a story about a doctor/hitman.

Your brother is me, though I was lucky enough to have parents that never let me slide.

Here are three books that inspired me to be, if not usefull and industrious, to at least be less useless and more adventerous.

A Fools Progress and Desert Solitaire- Ed Abbey
Creation-Gore Vidal

There are others. Where one finds inspiration from can be a slippery thing, though.

Is your bro a toker? If so that will be a problem. If laziness is an issue (and it sounds like it is THE issue- along with the usual self esteem crap) then Gamer=bad and Toker=bad and gamer+toker=horrible.

Ultimately the thing that really got my ass in gear ( or my version of it, anyway) was doing time in jail. 25 years later and that is still something that motivates me.

Your bother's main problem at this point is his parent's enabling and that will be tough to get around if they aren't willing to parent-up and force your bro to put on his big-boy pants.

John Green's _An Abundance of Katherines_ is about a child prodigy on a road trip who does some growing up... It's YA, so pretty light reading.

Ooh the first thing I thought of was A Confederation of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. At least your brother will relate to Ignatius J. Reilly. Ignatius does eventually leave his mother's house and finds a job, but not necessarily in that order. Seriously, at the end of the book, Mr. Reilly does accept that he needs (to) change. And it's funny without being preachy.

Good question!

There are many great poems on these topics and you might want to browse through some collections of them. Here are some poetry anthologies that include poems on personal struggle having to do with loss, depression, and healing:

The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing

http://seattle.bibliocommons.com/item/show/2644377030_the_art_of_losing

Living in Storms: Contemporary Poetry and the Moods of Manic-depression

http://seattle.bibliocommons.com/item/show/2481357030_living_in_storms

A Mind Apart: Poems of Melancholy, Madness, and Addiction

http://seattle.bibliocommons.com/item/show/2540448030_a_mind_apart

Each of these books includes excellent poems by well-established poets.

The Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database is an excellent resource for finding poems or books of poems about these topics. It doesn't contain the poems, but each book listed in the database is described and annotated, with a short commentary. After you find something that interests you, you could see if the library has it, of course!

Here's the link to the list of topics the database covers: http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Keyword?action=list  You can search for poems here: http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Search?action=startann [Click on the "Art Form/Genre/Medium" drop-down menu to choose "Poem" or "Poems (sequence)" for books.]

--A Seattle Public Library staff member

"If you've ever stood at the edge of a curb or a cliff wishing for the shove of a stranger..."

This is the start of "Slow Up" by Tara Hardy. The rest of the text is here:
http://www.seattle.gov/council/licata/poetry2003-2005/p_0008b_th.htm

I'm not sure if this is in her book "Bring Down the Chandeliers", the Amazon blurb for which says "In these poems you will find sex and survival turned inside out, offering fresh perspective on what it means to be counted among the wounded."

You can also find her chap books at local Seattle stores.

Try some poetry works from Janet Frame, an honoured New Zealand writer (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Order of New Zealand) who struggled with madness, anxiety and depression. Janet Frame spent years hospitalized, and "was scheduled for a lobotomy that was canceled when, just days before the procedure, her debut publication of short stories was unexpectedly awarded a national literary prize." (Wikipedia)

Not exclusively a poet, Janet Frame has published two books of verse, one posthumously:
1967. The Pocket Mirror. New York: Braziller.
2006. The Goose Bath. Auckland: Random House/Vintage

Jane Campion directed a film biography of Frame, called An Angel at My Table. As recounted in the first volume of her autobiographies, Frame's childhood was marred by the deaths of two of her adolescent sisters, Myrtle and Isabel, who drowned in separate incidents, and the epileptic seizures suffered by her brother George (referred to as "Geordie" and "Bruddie"). Print biographies and Angel at My Table describe other ordeals and torments.

Amy gerstler! Amazing poems loosely based on child hood sickness and some madness. One book is Called crown of weeds and nerve storm. Open books in Wallingford should Cary them

Gerald Posner's "Case Closed" is the best anti-conspiracy book there is, and should be read by everyone who subscribes to any of the popular (or unpopular) conspiracy theories, because he blows holes in many of the common assertions about the case -- Oswald wasn't a good enough marksman, the rifle couldn't be fired that rapidly, an unusual number of people associated with the case died early deaths, etc. -- none of which assertions are true.

Doesn't mean he's right, but it DOES mean that a lot of conspiracy "evidence" is rubbish. But not all of it.

The assassination is such a complex, swirling swamp of craziness and conflicting testimony, almost all of it misremembered or hiding secret agendas that it makes"Rashomon" look like an arithmetic problem. It's easy to get lost in it yourself. Posner can help you keep your bearings even if you decide you disagree with him.

To my mind, it's pretty definite that Oswald did it and did it alone. I think he was perfect for the crime, and I also think that no one in their right mind would have conspired with him for more than five seconds. One also has to consider that the usual suspects are about as competent as the Watergate burglars a decade later (some will tell you they're the same guys), and there is no way in hell those guys could have covered up a prank phone call, let alone the murder of a president for sixty years.

An incredibly thorough, well-documented, and painstakingly researched account--and easily one of the strangest preadolescent birthday presents from my parents--was David Lifton's "Best Evidence."

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Evidence-Signet-David-Lifton/dp/0451175735

For whatever reason I'm assuming you mean non-fiction accounts, but there is a truly terrific novel that deals with it - Don DeLillo's Libra  - which I would certainly suggest to anyone interested in the subject.

Pushing it a bit further out onto the fictional limb, Charles McCarry's Tears of Autumn is a truly great political thriller about the assassination, regarded by many readers and the definitive conspiracy account.

The most exhaustive (-ing?) work of nonfiction is Vincent Bugliosi's 2007 title Reclaiming History, which sifts through pretty much every account and theory that has been advanced so far. It is huge - over 1,600 pages - but for someone wanting to really dig in, this would be the book. 

Four Days in November is a collection of original source material from the time - the New York Times coverage of the events - and provides an interesting you-are-there view of events as they unfolded.

For a completely different approach, try Mrs. Paine's Garage, by Thomas Mallon, which looks at the whole thing from the angle of a woman who was friends with Lee and Marina Oswald.

"Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye" is one, don't recall the author.

"Seven Seconds in Dallas" is another.

Part of the answer depends upon what flavor you want in your reading. Are you interested in alternative conspiracy theories? Do you want to know what the country did? Do you want the Warren Report version of the lone gunman? Or do you favor the JFK/Oliver Stone sensationalism?

Also, a new fiction book just out, is Stephen King's "11-22-63" which takes a very interesting twist on the historical facts.

well, Ron Paul does have a book, End the Fed. You could check that out to see what informs his philosophies and it would give you key words to google to find critiques.

Hmmm - this could be tricky. I'd resist the temptation to pour on Zola and Chomsky - it'll just fan the flames. Perhaps something like Mose Adler's Economics for the Rest of Us might not be too infammatory, though it is quite strong it it's views. Maybe a better lead in would the the basically non-partisan and quite amusing This Time It's Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff - the humor might be a good pull for the sort of person who is convinced they're right: true believers are always happy to read about the folly of others.

If he is a Christian or churchgoer, you might try Peter Gomes' The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, which is a great challenge to those who regularly ask "What Would Jesus Do?" to actually walk just a fraction of the talk, in re: caring for those in need and making the world a better place. If he's a Classics head, Rousseau's The Social Contract should wear away at the foundations a bit. One does wish Alan Greenspan would revise his memoir with that last chapter, in which he says "Oh, by the way, I just learned I've been totally wrong all these years." No such luck.

Books are so easly for people not to read, however - what if you had him over for pizza and a movie - such as The Smartest Guys in the Room, or Inside Job? Then while you're all tsking about the obscene venality of it all, someone can say "There oughta be a law!" and you're off and running.

Rather late, I know, but for kids I would recommend The Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder- it is not explicitly set around Halloween, but the kids spend most of the book in costume and it definitely has a creepy/spooky vibe. It's one of my very favorite books for young readers.