Adult

Irritable? Pick this up. If you don’t laugh, the problem is you – not everyone else.

I only caught one episode of the TV version of Tony Danza’s experiment as a teacher at Philadelphia’s Northeast High, but what touched me about the show and book was Danza’s recognition and admiration at the hard work teachers struggle with every day. If only the Secretary of Education would read this book (I promise not to give him a standardized test on it afterwards).

I just read this book last month, and it is delightful. Madame Esme gives all sorts of humorous anecdotes, practical teaching tips and heartfelt observations, all based on her teaching experiences.

So what if this book just came out, and I tend to always read books that are sent to me from publishers for free? While Joel Best can often bore with statistics (he wrote the wonderful Damned Lies and Statistics), his point of this book is intriguing: Americans often fall for scams. He is not talking about the guys that buy Ab Rollers sold on late night infomercials (which I own, pitifully). Best is talking about how smart people in business, medicine and education cling to the next 7-step approach or easy-to-use carb diet. Education, in my opinion, suffers from this disease more than any other profession, as the pendulum has swung most recently to drilling letter sounds and endlessly assessing students as a part of the government’s No Child Left Untested program. If nothing else, this book will get you thinking. I’ve attached an anecdote from my own teaching experiences on this month’s blog (click here).

When I see an endorsement on a book from one of my favorite playwrights, David Mamet, that reads “too funny, too sad, too short,” I have to grab that book. This one did not disappoint. If you think your family is dysfunctional, check in on the Wentworths. The payoff at the end is superb, and the book is filled with laughs along the way.

While I am recommending inspirational teaching stories, there’s none better than this classic. Great movie adaptation, as well (sorry, Twiggy and Poitier do not appear in the book).

This book knocked my socks off! I had never heard of Annie Kopchovsky, a Jewish immigrant wife who in 1894 abandoned her family in Boston to partake in a wager straight out of a certain Jules Verne book. Turning herself into “Annie Londonberry,” she rode a bicycle around the world in 15 months, becoming perhaps the first international female sports superstar. I think I like her story so much because it reminds me so much of Nellie Bly, one of her contemporaries (and my idols).

While Oprah has made Steinbeck's East of Eden the second best-selling book of the summer (a young boy wizard occupies the top slot), it is over 600 pages. This is much more manageable for lazy readers. Besides, I always loved reading about the relationship between George and Lennie.

When several people tell me I have to check-out a certain book, I make it appoint to oblige them. Did I think I would be interested in a memoir about a mother who lost her husband in a car accident and became a minister? No. That’s why I know I am not that smart, as this is one of the best books I have read this year. I will guarantee you that you will like this book. It touched me in many ways (I lucked out, as I read this book the same weekend I had the pleasure of watching the superb German Academy Award-winner, The Lives of Others, which I strongly recommend). I hope Braestrup writes more, as I breezed through this beautiful book.

Now that I have reverted to classics, I cannot say enough about this RL Stevenson page-turner. It is part of a series of classics you can buy on Amazon for a buck a book.

Doerr manages to combine a couple of my passions: travel and the brain. If you have not yet read his travel memoir Four Seasons in Rome, you’re in for a treat. Memory Wall is a novella of short stories deals with faded memories in distant lands, and Doerr is one of the few authors who I wish would write books that are a little longer. He leaves you wanting more!

This book is a real kick for Cliff Clavins like me who love useless information, such as the origins of certain terms in our vocabulary. Witty, easy-to-read – perfect!

You can read this book in two hours. It is small, with big print. That captures the gist of this small person who had a big impact. I think this book has been on the bestseller list for around 200 weeks.

Subtitled “The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities,” this gem acts as an encyclopedia of dangerous garden items. I found the book fascinating.

I was so distressed by Nora Ephron’s recent passing, as she was truly one of the funniest American women of the past half century. These short essays will remind you of her sharp wit. We lost her too soon.