Adult

If you've never read anything by Patrick McManus, you're in for a treat.  I love his curmudgeonly style of telling stories about hunting and fishing.  He's a cross between David Sedaris and Jon Krakauer.  

Yes, it is a long title.  Sure, even God handed down only 10 commandments.  Still, this book provides many useful tips and inspirational anecdotes.  My good friend Pat Wainwright loaned me her copy, so I saved 13 bucks.

Jeff Miller loaned me this gem, which is yet another book that likes to give a title: subtitle.  There are some wonderful lessons in this book.  I guess I have been on a motivational kick because I am teaching a great group of new students this semester, and they push me to want to be a better teacher.

One of my favorite monologists, Gray masterfully reminisces about his experiences while shooting the film The Killing Fields.  I hope I can write this well when I reflect on my own travel catastrophes.

Some very funny monologues from one of the best.  Bogosian is superb when it comes to writing characters all of us know but wish we did not.

I include this book because Stephen Krashen tells me that this is one of the most purchased and least read books.  I know that I began reading it because I thought it would make me sound intelligent at cocktail parties.  Unfortunately, it bored me after 30 pages.  Tell me if you get through it. 

You’ve probably seen the movie any of the 357 times it is aired each December, but if you have never read anything by Jean Shepherd, you are in for a real treat.  Shepherd is a master at nostalgic storytelling, especially around holidays.  He also wrote a wonderful collection of stories about the Fourth of July.

Bombeck is a prolific humorist whom I have just discovered, thanks to my own baby that’s on the way.  This woman really makes me laugh. 

Johnson is the genius who wrote all of those wonderful children’s level biographies (see below), and Blanchard is one of the best motivational speakers I have ever seen.  This book is a sales phenomenon, as I believe every business in the galaxy is required to purchase it.  More importantly, their message is to the point and clear and does not ramble on and on with no point like the remainder of this sentence.

Not exactly the book I’d read to spread holiday cheer, but a delightful play, nonetheless.  Particularly good reading for the ignorant.

I know, I know.  It exceeds my 200-page maximum, but the print is big and the book is small.  Since basketball season just started, I thought this look into Bradley’s experiences with the Knicks would make good reading.  It is definitely good reading for New Yawkers who cannot stomach the current crop of players at the Garden.

I’ve been reading all sorts of nursery rhymes and fairy tales to my newborn, and I remembered this collection of hilarious retellings of well-known stories for adults.  

Speaking of retellings of well-known tales…I used to love watching the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show when I was little, and this book includes all of my favorites from the “Fractured Fairy Tale” sketches. 

Sedaris is one of my favorite humorists, and this collection of short stories should make you laugh following a hectic holiday season.

I am guessing this is more of a “guy book.”  While many find this book to be disturbing, I think Palahniuk does a great job of creating characters who struggle to deal with their mundane lives.  Maybe I fit the profile of a serial killer for saying this, but I found the book and movie to be hilarious.