Adult

A quick, uneventful book that I include for two reasons: Diamant’s writing is superb, and I always like to read books about friendship. Any woman who has ever had a best friend will appreciate this lovely story.

Good riddance to the economic catastrophe known as 2009. It’s a new year, so why not get your finances in order? This is a practical, easy-to-read guide that conveniently maps out a financial strategy week-by-week. Very helpful.

If you really want to know what is happening in our schools, please do not turn to the newspaper or TV news. Grab a copy of this hilarious and heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Batory served for years in the “teaching and administrative trenches” of education, and this gem provides great insights that a lot of politicians and so-called “reformers” should take heed to instead of the nonsense perpetuating the corridors of power.

I host a TV show called People Make a Difference, so I was thrilled to indulge in Prince’s enticing profiles of ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things. Great for all ages.

Looking for inspiration? You won’t be able to put down this tale of how Barnes overcame his doctors’ belief that he’d be dead or in a wheelchair within ten years. Incredibly moving story of how any of us can stare death and disability straight in the face and make the choice to fight and prevail. Read it on a two-hour flight!

Why do we need bookstores? Perusing aisles in search of one book, we often stumble across something even better. That was the case with this extraordinary look at the impact of plans, sketches and drawings from cave paintings to the iPod. This one will wrap you up like a mother hugging a long-lost child.

A good companion to The Talent Code, this book provides 42 practical ways to improve performance with “proper” practice. My copy is out of shape from all of the dog-eared pages.

Stein is one of the funniest women writers out there. With summer vacation quickly approaching, a lot of parents will get a kick out of this hilarious diatribe.

This book has it all if you are lazy and want to impress people. It’s a photographer’s collection of her photos (pictures are good – yes!), it’s accompanied by short stories and observations (short is good – yes!) and it was written by a French woman (French literature makes you look worldly and introspective – yes!). It’s a trifecta! Better yet, it has a sequel.

Wow! This wild and crazy guy has led an amazing life, and Steve Martin has managed to create a tight autobiography that makes you laugh, cry and think. One of the few autobiographies I have ever read that I actually thought was too short, as I could not put this book down once I opened it. Any fans of the comedian will find this highly intimate account to be fascinating.

Whenever I am busy at work and cannot find time to read books, I turn to screenplays. You can read most screenplays in 2-3 hours, and it is interesting to see how a director’s vision may differ from that of the writer. Charlie Kaufman should have won the Oscar for this script, as it is the most original screenplay of the last decade.

I think too many people take for granted The Simpsons. How that show has managed to stay funny and pertinent for the past 20 years is astounding to me. Here is a comic for grown-ups that includes all sorts of great insights from Groening and a WONDERFUL essay at the end entitled “Give a Hoot, Read a Book” about books that inspired Groening when he was a kid.

I decided to throw in a piece of literature to sound intelligent. Actually, More’s classic is just as applicable today as it was back in the 15th century. It reads a lot like Plato's "The Republic," only this one gets to the point. I’d recommend it to any politician in search of clarity.

Is that a typo? I thought I was supposed to only share books that are under 250 pages? Let me explain this pick: it is meant to be read as a page a day. Subtitled “365 Life-Changing Stories About Women Who Made a Difference (the extra pages are references, etc.),” this book is one of those books I turn to everyday for inspiration. The vignettes are wonderful and take less than a minute of your time. Can you spare a minute for daily inspiration? How about turning down the volume during a TV commercial and reading a page from this wonderful book. I highly encourage you to buy a copy.

There seems to be a proven rule that the shorter the business book, the better the information. That certainly proves true in the case of this gem that is great for anyone interested in developing winning strategies and attitudes (while the book is business-oriented, the principles can be applied to all sorts of areas).