Adult

A wonderfully humorous and enlightening guide for all parents of teens. Who says a book cannot sell itself with a great title? Lots of practical tips.

If you have an afternoon free to dive into a wonderful mystery, be sure to dive into one of Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano books. This is the sixth in a terrific series that are pure chocolate: easy to devour in a single sitting.

A touching and informative book written by a doctor who wants terminally ill people (and their families) to understand their options. Good book for everyone to read, as the empathetic Dr. Martensen points out the tough questions that people need to ask.

The brain fascinates me, especially since it remains such a mystery. Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained brain scientist, recounts how her own massive stroke provided insight into one of the greatest conflicts taking place on the planet: the conflict between the right and left brain. Fascinating!

Amidst the torment of her relocated Vietnamese family’s home in Michigan, Nguyen finds humor in this coming-of-age story that is filled with enough 80s references to fill a VH-1 special. 

I teach a class entitled “Language Learning,” so it makes sense that I am interested in linguistics. Sadly, most linguistic books are so dry that they cause most to lose any interest in the subject. McWhorter’s history of English is readable and filled with cool insights and anecdotes. Give it a shot.

Here’s one for the ladies: female bonding at its finest. Hinton crafts a tale of women brought together through a cookbook collaboration, and she manages to tackle a lot of issues with love and tenderness.

I am traveling throughout Ireland in July, so I have been enjoying as many stories taking place in Ireland that I can. Bowen is a crafty writer, and this is her first entry in a historical series about a 19^th century heroine known as Molly Murphy. Bowen’s writing makes turning pages easy.

Let me just come out and confess: I love everything Nick Hornby has ever written and will probably ever write. I like books that make me smile, and while this book is a collection of his articles for Believer magazine, the entire book left me feeling like I had accomplished something by the end of only a couple of hours. In my mind Hornby is simply one of the most readable, funny and gifted authors around.

This one totally caught me off-guard with its wit and charm. When Alex dies with her dog in a car accident, she is thrilled to find out how great Seventh Heaven is but becomes distressed to discover she has to pass an entrance exam or risk being demoted to Fourth Heaven. Perfect beach reading.

With an extensive glossary and loads of pages for notes, this book reads more like a 180-page book, as I breezed through it on a flight from L.A. to New Orleans. The title sounds a bit negative, but Cardone is nothing but positive energy as he calls readers to action in selling themselves, no matter what their field.

While the earthquake hit Haiti in January, many Americans have forgotten of this tiny country’s struggles. Trost’s remarkable journey to feed Haiti’s needy takes place before the earthquake, but I urge people to read this tale to learn more about the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation. To learn how you can help, visit childhope.org, one of my favorite charities.

Have you ever read the real Grimm’s Fairy Tales? They’re pretty creepy, and Knipfel does a fine job of providing his own mischievous tales. I grabbed the book for its title and came away a big fan of Knipfel. I cannot wait to read more of his work.

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts has always seemed to be one of the most refreshing personalities on television, so it was disheartening to find out she had cancer. In her typical fashion, though, Roberts has taken on cancer with a positive outlook, and I always like to read inspirational books by nice people.