Adult

This is a very warped, fun book with a great opening:  “Mother died today.  Or yesterday, maybe, I don’t know.”  Some funny characters, and mentioning this book at a cocktail party will make you sound “deep.”

Written in 1756, I laughed out loud more often while reading this book than while watching most TV sitcoms (excluding The Simpsons).  This guy has a truly demented style, the perfect anecdote to a long day of teaching.

This is one of my all-time favorites, as it hilariously follows the adventures of Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect as they hitchhike their way through the galaxy following the destruction of Earth to build an intergalactic overpass.

If you have not read any of Sedaris’s essays before, you are in for a treat.  He is hysterical, and this book is broken up into very entertaining short stories.  Great bathroom reading.

I try not to include too many titles over 200 pages, but this book is as easy to read as chocolate milk (or tequila) is to drink.  It amazes me how the book, movie and TV show are all fairly different from one another yet so uniquely hilarious and touching.

Probably the greatest, truest American novel ever written.  If this does not relax you, you’re in for a pretty miserable life.

Short anecdotes of inspiration, humor and philosophy

Before he wrote that religious book with the volcano on the cover, L. Ron Hubbard was a pretty good science fiction writer.  I read this book when the cover advertised the quote “the scariest book I’ve ever read” by a guy named Stephen King.

Okay, so it’s a little over 200 pages.  This book will make you laugh, make you cry and make you think.  One of the most banned books in America because he uses the “f” word once.

His only book written based on a screenplay, Asimov almost inspired me to become a surgeon with this fascinating tale that takes place inside the human body.

So what if I included another book that is over 200 pages?  This book about a twentysomething’s search for enlightenment made me appreciate the world around me, and I enjoyed the writing even more than Krakauer’s excellent Into Thin Air.

The ultimate in bathroom literature.  These fake headlines are hilarious.  The Onion’s website is my favorite news source, as its insights are far more interesting than CNN or Fox News Channel.

Made into an Oliver Stone movie with Tom Cruise in 1989, the book is pretty grim.  If you’re too lazy to read it now, check it out over Memorial Day next year.  If you’re still too lazy, rent the video at Blockbuster.

I read this in the bookstore while I waited for my wife to get her nails done.  Very easy to read, and a great reminder of the power of freedom.

This book, probably more than any other, defines modern politics.  Even though it was written in the 16^th century, it is amazing how much of it applies to the 21^st century.  Not the most interesting book to read, but people are impressed when you say you’ve read it.