Adult

Not only is this a quick read filled with excellent tips – it is highly readable! I am astounded how much I enjoy reading this book. Some of the best business books I have read (most, in fact) clock-in at under 250 pages.

Subtitled “Notes on Startups, Or How to Build the Future,” this easy-to-read book offers Thiel’s blueprint for today’s entrepreneurs. The type of book that should be required in schools – but will probably never make the list.

I figured a book about an obsessive teacher is always a good way to start off the school year. Maggie Smith won an Oscar for her portrayal in the movie. I read this cover-to-cover while attending a meeting one day.

I have battled with my weight my entire life, and while my favorite diet program is Michael Thurmond’s Six-Week Body Makeover (which helped me lose 35 pounds in five weeks), the most inspirational program I watch on television is NBC’s The Biggest Loser. I have a lot of empathy for people who are trying to improve their lives – whether through weight loss or giving up smoking or creating some other positive lifestyle change – and this book is a handy reminder for anyone looking for motivation to improve themselves. Give the book (and the TV show) a chance.

I recently resigned my tenured position at a university where I had worked for 17 years, and this book was just what I needed to lift my spirits. Laugh-out loud funny. Perfect for academics caught in the bureaucracy of “higher” education.

I still do not know why Achebe never won the Nobel Prize for Literature, as he was one of Africa’s most gifted writers. This book is for all those interested in blood, violence and suffering (or you could pick up a copy of your local newspaper any day).

This collection of short, funny essays from a variety of authors brought a smile to my face. Sorry, ladies – I imagine guys will find this funnier, but I found myself agreeing with many of the lessons. Good to see that some of the authors appreciate the importance of past girlfriends in shaping the healthy relationships they have with their present wives.

I grabbed this book at Border’s the other day and read it from cover to cover before leaving the store. This is the way to get people interested in math. Stewart beautifully captivates the imagination with fictitious letters to his niece about why math matters. He gets you thinking about how math is in every basic item of our daily lives, even in the vegetables we eat. With a teacher like this, I may have pursued a degree in math, as Stewart does a superb job of showing math’s benefits (intellectually, professionally and financially).

Do not let the page length fool you, as there are lots of photos, graphs and blank pages. Perfect for lazy readers! I always like funny books, and I have my good friend Rob Schwartz to thank for loaning me this hilarious “compendium of complete world knowledge.” I found myself laughing throughout, and I especially enjoyed Hodgman’s sections on failed palindromes and hobo poetry. Demented and a riot.

The * stands for “Chemo Not Included.” If you ever want to read a memoir, stick to comedians. They are our most precious commodities, as they have a way of dealing with serious issues lightly. As someone who admires comedians greatly, I was extremely pleased when Lissa Warren at DaCapo Lifelong Books sent me not one but two copies of Schimmel’s compelling page-turner about how humor got him through his battle with cancer. Why does that please me? After I read the books that make my lists, I always donate them to teachers, libraries and literacy charities. This is one I wanted to keep for myself (I gave the other one to a student), as Schimmel does everything a great writer needs to do: he makes you laugh, he makes you cry and he makes you think. Better yet, he does it all in under 200 pages!

A play in two acts, this masterpiece fascinated me, since I did not know anything about Sir Thomas More beyond Monty Python skits. Paul Scofield is excellent in the movie version, by the way (for the laziest readers that become the most motivated Blockbuster patrons).

Amazon lists this book as 208 pages, but they must be including the 30 pages of photos, too. I devoured this memoir. I had the honor of meeting Marian Wright Edelman at a Town Hall meeting in Los Angeles a few years ago, and she was one of the most eloquent and amazing speakers I have ever seen. She is also a warm and genuinely “interested” person. Author Jim Collins said that some of the best advice he received from his mentor at Stanford, John Gardner, was to “be less interesting and more interested.” Edelman has had such a tremendous impact on America by being interested in the futures of every child in this country. You will be a better person just by reading this book.

I am increasingly drawn to books with great titles, short stories and funny observations about other people’s miseries. This book has all of those things, and I look forward to reading more works by Crosley in the future. An easy read, perfect for a mindless afternoon at the beach.

While I am not a huge fan of Hemingway’s penchant for paragraph-long sentences (like the one I am trying to write right now), this is a fairly pleasing story if you just read it and do not search for all of its allegorical references.

It should not take a holiday to get your loved one roses or write a card or make a nice compliment. I confess: I saw this book in the front of the bookstore, and I was intrigued. The book deals with spirituality as well as romance, and I am glad to have read it if, for no other reason, to remind me how much I love and adore my wife.