Adult

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.

Written to his adolescent son, Coates’s book is probably the most honest and thought-provoking look at race in America that I have read in years. Truly a mature examination that the media tends to lack.

How had I never heard of this book? I stumbled across this hundred-year-old book while scanning the Classics at Barnes & Noble, and I could not put it down. When you think about Japanese literature, you do not often think “hilarious.” I devoured this book in a couple of hours. Soseki reads like a Japanese version of Voltaire or Camus. I am pleading with high school English teachers to recommend this book to their students, as it is just a wonderfully entertaining treasure.

Why do schools require dry scientific texts, when instead they could intrigue the next generation of scientists with compelling stories like this one? Fonteneau, a successful businessman and colleague of Jacques Cousteau, takes a trip to the Caribbean. Along the way he measures the tectonics of a submerged island, translates fish talk and a bunch of other fascinating things that made me want to take an oceanography class and watch the Discovery Channel.

Page-turner that will keep you laughing. Ansari never ceases to stop cracking me up. Nice diversion on a hot summer day.

Maybe I should move to Japan. I cannot stand “stuff,” and Americans seem to be obsessed with accumulating as much stuff as possible. Really enjoyed this book chronicling the values of decluttering.

I receive a ton of feedback about the Lazy Readers’ Club, and most of the comments come from women. Many have asked for more romance-related stories, so I thought I would include this Pulitzer Prize winner that deals with a young Navajo couple’s budding romance.

I was most intrigued by the look at Native American life, especially since I attended junior high and high school near the Four Corners area.