Adult

Several subscribers have asked me to review more romance novels. I cannot say that I am the best person to recommend romances, but I can say that I had no trouble selecting this book, as I already love Maine. Surprisingly good writing from first-time novelist Connie Falconeri of General Hospital fame.

This is a perfect book for light and entertaining reading. Actually, the book that is in bookstores now has a collection of Capote’s short stories, including this classic about Holly Golightly.

I love Truman Capote for a number of reasons: (a) he was best friends as a child with To Kill a Mockingbird scribe Harper Lee; (b) his stories are very different and all well-written; and (c) I read a story that a six-year-old boy sent Capote a story he wrote, and Capote mailed the boy this response: “good writing…poor spelling…send more.”

That boy turned out to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Moral: be nice to everybody because you never have any idea who they may or will be.

Sunee Foley recommended this “almost” memoir to me, and it appealed to me because it is written in verse. The book reads a lot like Larry McMurtry’s excellent (but longer) Terms of Endearment.

A new President gets sworn in this month, and many Americans catch themselves wondering, “Could I be President?” The authors of this fun book have put together a battery of 200 questions to see if you have what it takes. I learned that I certainly cannot be President based on my past (and present).

So what if it’s a tad bit longer than I’d like. Patricia and Jay Edie, as well as Jill Aguilar, recommended this book to me, and I am so glad I read this hilarious and touching mystery of sorts.

I do not know quite how to categorize this book: think Rain Man meets As Good As It Gets, with touches of Memento and What the Deaf Man Heard thrown in. Do I sound like a guy who can pitch a movie to Hollywood or what?

I am so proud to be an American, and one of my guilty pleasures is being involved with wonderful charities like BookEnds and The Wonder of Reading. This delightful book profiles some of the extraordinary differences ordinary American citizens make every day. A good read for those who want to affirm the positive things about our country.

Since I have started conducting motivational leadership seminars, I have read an endless array of books on leadership.

This is one I recommend because of its length, lessons and readability (many thanks to Beverly Franco for telling me about it). Written more as a parable (a la Ken Blanchard) than a business text.

Endorsements usually sell me, and when I see that both Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) and Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) love something, I have to buy it. Greer is a gifted novelist who understands how to be economical with words. This easy page-turner deals with sexual and racial restraints in the 1950s. The language of the story is wonderful.

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.

Even though this book was written for adults, I would encourage any teenage boy to read this wonderful memoir, as Franzen (a National Book Award winner for The Corrections) details his childhood and does a particularly great job of describing the awkwardness of his adolescence, often to comical effect. This book was very easy and enjoyable to read.

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.

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.

My friend Forest Hamilton gave me a great quote: “Every time I want to learn something new, I read something old.” Embarrassingly, I had never read Og Mandino’s books before. As a speaker I have always heard about him, and now I understand why Mandino is considered one of the grand masters. In my ideal school this would be required reading. Want to know the others that would make that list? E-mail me via my website, www.dannybrassell.com.

Being the father of a daughter who turns three this month and a year-and-a-half-old son, I totally related to this funny narrative about fatherhood. Cooper shares the same attitude I had about my children being born: it was not miraculous as much as it was totally freaky. This is the perfect gift for any dad.

This book cracked me up! When a high-powered, under 30 lawyer discovers she has to spend the last three months of her pregnancy confined to hear couch, she begins her greatest adventure. I highly recommend you check this one out.