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Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon

Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon

By Kathy Magliato M.D. 272 pages Adult

Danny Says

This is exactly the book you need to read to make for a happy new year. Kathy Magliato's touching memoir about her experiences as one of the few female heart surgeons in a heavily alpha-male field accomplishes the trifecta: it makes you laugh, cry and think. Magliato is a role model for little girls everywhere. She inspires me.
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Him Her Him Again The End of Him

Him Her Him Again The End of Him

By Patricia Marx 256 pages Adult

Danny Says

Very few books get me to laugh out loud, yet this one did it repeatedly. I picked up this book because of its unique title (it made me do a double-take), and I was treated to Tina Fey-like story about a woman obsessed with the wrong man. Perfect for a cross-country flight.
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The Anthologist

The Anthologist

By Nicholson Baker 256 pages Adult

Danny Says

Heck – why not begin the new year with a grin on your face? I know no better way than to read Baker’s clever, poignant and funny prose. He is a poet that has delighted me since his book Mezzanine.
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Happy: Simple Steps to Get the Most Out of Life

Happy: Simple Steps to Get the Most Out of Life

By Ian K. Smith 240 pages Adult

Danny Says

I am all about New Year’s Resolutions (evident from my annual holiday guilt diet that I am currently following), and one of the things I hope to see and attract more of in 2011 is happiness. There are a lot of people hurting out there, and one of my goals is to get more people smiling. Dr. Smith’s book is a good guide for those interested in making small changes that can lead to big results.
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Come to Me: Stories

Come to Me: Stories

By Amy Bloom 192 pages Adult

Danny Says

I am not the world’s most veracious reader, but I like to think I have a firm grasp of what is on the market. So how is it I missed this poignant collection of short stories? Bloom is such a gifted writer that it makes me sick with envy. This book is a MUST.
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The Book of Strange and Curious Legal Oddities

The Book of Strange and Curious Legal Oddities

By Nathan Belofsky 242 pages Adult

Danny Says

I love quirky facts that nobody knows about, so this book fulfilled my inner-Cliff Clavin. Loaded with all sorts of gems, like it is illegal to sell stuffed articles depicting female breasts within a thousand feet of any county highway in California. Now you know.
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Natural Born Hustler

Natural Born Hustler

By Nikki Turner 114 pages Adult

Danny Says

Nikki Turner’s books are easy reads for doctors’ appointments and plane rides. I like them because they are short and read like intense soap operas (and make me seem hip to my African-American teenage girls; by the way, just by using the word “hip” makes me “un-hip”).
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Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War

Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War

By Deb Olin Unferth 224 pages Adult

Danny Says

Say that title five times fast. I am a sucker for travel memoirs, especially ones with “quixotic” journeys (“quixotic” is such a wonderful word, and I find I get to use it so infrequently). I had read some of Unferth’s fiction, and she brings her solid writing to this wonderful story of her idealistic travels throughout Central America in the late 80s with her boyfriend. Both were looking for a worthy cause to fight for, and, like any good travelogue, this one features plenty of bumps in the road that should garner tension and laughs.
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Transformations

Transformations

By Anne Sexton 128 pages Adult

Danny Says

Sexton presents a brilliant retelling of Grimm’s fairy tales from her own demented and talented pen. I think this might be one of my favorite new books to teach older students on how to see things from different perspectives and how to use poetry as a journal.
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Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist

Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist

By Tyler Cowen 245 pages Adult

Danny Says

My inner economist told me to buy this book because it was on the cheap rack at Barnes & Noble (you’d be amazed how many random, brilliant books you can find for under $5). Cowen writes like Malcolm Gladwell about principles popularized by Freakonomics, and I found myself thoroughly entertained and intrigued throughout this delightful read. Cowen also convinced me that I shouldn’t feel badly about watching only parts of movies or putting books down after a few chapters.
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Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game

Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game

By Dan Barry 272 pages Adult

Danny Says

Time for baseball, so why not start with the best baseball book I have read since Jane Leavy’s excellent Sandy Koufax? Barry chronicles the longest game in baseball history, a 1981 minor league affair between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings (featuring a couple of young lads named Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken, Jr.). As long as the game may have been, I wish the book never ended. Great writing and fascinating story.
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Housekeeping: A Novel

Housekeeping: A Novel

By Marilynne Robinson 219 pages Adult

Danny Says

This book proved to me that just because a book is short does not mean it is a quick or easy read. It took me awhile to get through, but Housekeeping rewarded me with a mini-course in how to write the English language. I do not know what I think about this book yet, which usually means it is a really good book.
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Little Patient Big Doctor: One Mother's Journey

Little Patient Big Doctor: One Mother's Journey

By Haleh Rabizadeh Resnick 170 pages Adult

Danny Says

All parents need to read this book. Ever have a doctor tell you something, and your gut instinct told you that was not the right thing for your child? This book will illuminate all sorts of questions parents should ask their medical providers – as parents need to remember that they know more about their children than just about anyone else. It is also so easy to read that it will not intimidate anyone.
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Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout

Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout

By Philip Connors 272 pages Adult

Danny Says

Maybe it is because I am getting older and constantly seem to be busy with family or work-related issues or maybe it is my fond memories growing up in the mountains of the Four Corners area, but I immediately connected with this beautiful book by former journalist Connors talking about his experiences as a seasonal “fire watcher” in the Gila National Forest of New Mexico. His prose moved me like no book since Norman MacLean’s A River Runs Through It, and ever since reading it I have felt the need to go on a wilderness hike and soak in the air. Connors also provides excellent insights into forest preservation. Just a really enjoyable reading experience.
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Twelve Angry Men (Penguin Classics)

Twelve Angry Men (Penguin Classics)

By Reginald Rose 96 pages Adult

Danny Says

Director Sidney Lumet passed away in April, and he left behind a stunning legacy of celluloid achievements. My favorite, though, is the one that began his career: a movie version of Rose’s powerful play Twelve Angry Men. I encourage you to re-read this play (or enjoy it for the first time), and then watch the movie with one of the most amazing casts ever assembled on screen (I cannot think of one less than stellar performance in the ensemble, headed by the mighty Henry Fonda). This play is timeless.
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