logo

Adult

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

By Tom Stoppard 128 pages Adult

Danny Says

If you have never read anything by Tom Stoppard, you are in for a treat.  I rate him as one of the most important playwrights of out time.  You may have seen his screenplay Shakespeare in Love.  This tale is also set in Elizabethan times and focuses on the mundane daily rituals of two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  Hilarious and original, like all of Stoppard’s works.
Buy on Amazon
Notes from Underground

Notes from Underground

By Fyodor Dostoevsky 136 pages Adult

Danny Says

Never had time to read Crime and Punishment, but you’d like to impress people at cocktail parties?  Here is a novella from Dostoevsky (say his name five times fast), and I must admit that I enjoyed it.  His characters remind me of a cross between Woody Allen and something J.D. Salinger or Albert Camus would create.  It is worth your time.
Buy on Amazon
The Hedonism Handbook

The Hedonism Handbook

By Michael Flocker 208 pages Adult

Danny Says

I know a lot of stressed people who need to get off to a good start in 2005.  This is the ultimate “anti” self-help book that celebrates butter and booze over diet and exercise.  Read this book, and you just may live the life of Jack Nicholson instead of the dude in the “American Gothic” painting.
Buy on Amazon
Cool Dead People

Cool Dead People

By Jane O'Boyle 160 pages Adult

Danny Says

I confess, when I don’t link to Amazon via the Lazy Readers’ website, I buy most of my books from a great discount book broker called Edward G. Hamilton (they send me a monthly catalog of books that all cost under $3).  I bought this book for a buck and read it in three hours.  I loved it!  It is filled with fascinating two-page obituaries of people I truly wish I had known.  Inspirational, quirky and fun.
Buy on Amazon
Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller

By Henry James 98 pages Adult

Danny Says

Great book for those who are having trouble getting to sleep.  I am not a huge fan of Henry James, so I figured I’d recommend one of his shorter books (I believe it was his first big commercial success).  Impress people at cocktail parties by discussing Daisy’s flaws abroad (she is like a 19th century sorority girl scampering around Europe).  This short book is a tad less painful than some of the film adaptations of James’s other works.
Buy on Amazon
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

By Dai Sijie 184 pages Adult

Danny Says

I guess I cannot take credit for discovering this book, as it is a bestseller. All I can say is that this is one of the more interesting books I have read in the past year. A great look into the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the book follows a couple of Chinese peasants who escape misery through literature. Do you think you have one of the world’s worst jobs? Try carrying excrement up hills everyday (I understand that a lot of us think our jobs entail that, but the protagonists in this book literally carry excrement up hills everyday).
Buy on Amazon
The Tao of Pooh

The Tao of Pooh

By Benjamin Hoff 158 pages Adult

Danny Says

This is an old favorite of mine, as the author offers spiritual awakening by combining the teachings of the great philosophers, Confucius and A.A. Milne. A treat for all ages. 
Buy on Amazon
The Private Life of the Cat Who...

The Private Life of the Cat Who...

By Lilian Jackson Braun 160 pages Adult

Danny Says

Braun’s “Cat Who” series consists of something like 25 books, and I will confess that this is not the best. It is the shortest, however, and I hope it gives you a taste of what to expect in her more interesting (but longer) mysteries, which usually run 240-320 pages.
Buy on Amazon
Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God

By Zora Neale Hurston 219 pages Adult

Danny Says

While the book exceeds my loosely-enforced 200-pages-or-less rule, it is one of those books that I was required to read that actually pleasantly surprised me. Hurston is masterful in her story-crafting and dialogue, and this book makes it evident why she is considered one of the most important African-American women authors of the Harlem Renaissance (which does not refer to the signing of Meadowlark Lemon by the Globetrotters).
Buy on Amazon
The Lilies of the Field

The Lilies of the Field

By William E Barrett 128 pages Adult

Danny Says

With the help of a black ex-GI, some determined German nuns build a chapel in the desert. Short in length but filled with substance, the movie earned Sidney Poitier a well-deserved Oscar in 1963.
Buy on Amazon
Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

By Joseph Conrad 78 pages Adult

Danny Says

I like to sound intelligent every now and then by including a classic. This book freaked me out in high school, as it tells the story of a man whose African expeditions lead him to the heart of the Belgian Congo and the darkness of man’s desire for power (classically adapted by Francis Ford Coppolla into his Vietnam epic Apocalypse Now). I am always more fascinated learning the story behind the story (the same as the story behind any great painting), and you may find it interesting to know that English was Conrad’s third language (he preferred to write in French).
Buy on Amazon
The Member of the Wedding

The Member of the Wedding

By Carson McCullers 176 pages Adult

Danny Says

This one could just as well be classified as “young adult,” as I have introduced it to teenage girls with very positive results. It is the coming of age story of a young girl who has made up her mind that she will go on her brother’s honeymoon whether she is invited or not. A very well-written novel.
Buy on Amazon
Creative Visualization

Creative Visualization

By Shakti Gawain 192 pages Adult

Danny Says

As the school year winds down for many, I thought I’d offer this simple yet powerful guide to meditation. This is an easy book to read with a variety of helpful exercises. Don’t take my word for it, though, as it has been a bestseller for over 25 years.
Buy on Amazon
The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership

The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership

By Steven B. Sample 224 pages Adult

Danny Says

So what if I am a disciple of Steven Sample? I’m a proud Trojan, and anyone can learn a thing or two from USC’s President, who has raised over $3 billion in his ten years there. For a book on leadership, this is a practical, easy-to-read book that I kept beside my bed and read a chapter each night before I went to bed. I especially enjoyed his thoughts in Chapter 10. Buy the book to find out what I am talking about.
Buy on Amazon
A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange

By Anthony Burgess 213 pages Adult

Danny Says

While this is not one of my favorite books, I can appreciate its incredible use of language (Burgess, after all, was a linguist). Most people find the book to be hilarious, but it just disturbed me. Perhaps that is a tribute to its powerful images.
Buy on Amazon

Explore

Act

About

Connect With Us

Join Now