Tracy Brisson’s Book

Recommendations
These are my book recommendations across multiple
categories. Happy reading!

Help Yourself/Motivation/Productivity

• Stuck: Why We Can't (Or Won't) Move On by Anneli Rufus- great

companion blog at Psychology Today
• Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity by David
Allen
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
• Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stanier- great companion blog at
Box of Crayons
• Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin R. Doland- great companion
blog
• Never Eat Alone by Tahl Raz, Keith Ferrazzi
• Ambition Is Not a Dirty Word by Debra Condren
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin- great conmpanion blog

Explanations of How Groups of People Work

• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by
Malcolm Gladwell
• Influencer by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Al Switzler, Ron McMillan,
David Maxfield- great companion newsletter at Vital Smarts

Sports Stories

Until a few years ago, I was a rabid sports fan. I had partial season tickets at
Yankee Stadium for seven years and played fantasy baseball and football.
During that time, I read a lot of books about sports and here were the best.

• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

• Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the
Soul of a City by Jonathan Mahler

1
← At a reading I attended, Mahler said that baseball allegiance lies in your
family, not your geography. Growing up with a Yankee fan father in the middle of
Red Sox Nation, I could not agree more.
←
• Fall River Dreams: A Team's Quest for Glory, A Town's Search for
It's Soul by Bill Reynolds

← I grew up very close to Fall River and graduated from high school the same
year as the people profiled in the book. I know dozens of boys with similar stories of
struggling to leave home behind them. Their stories were not as dramatic as Chris
Herren’s who literally crashed into a Dunkin Donuts at age 28 while high on heroin.

• Fantasyland: A Sportswriter's Obsessive Bid to Win the World's

Most Ruthless Fantasy Baseball League by Sam Walker
←
← I had drinks with this author and his assistant five years ago after a reading.
They are great guys and this is a fun read. The confronting of Mike Scioscia made
me laugh out loud while reading it on an airplane.

Political/Urban Stories

I was in a New York City/urban studies focused book club sponsored by the
Citizen’s Union. My favorite class in graduate school was on the history of
New York City. Here are the books I loved the most from the club and class.

• Turnaround: How America's Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic

by William Bratton

← Bill Bratton is one of my heroes. This book is the best book I have ever read
on leadership and change management. It’s also an interesting personal story.

• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
by Robert Caro
• The Lost Children of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster
Care by Nina Bernstein
• Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the
Bronx by Adrian LeBlanc
• The Prince of Providence : The True Story of Buddy Cianci,
America's Most Notorious Mayor, Some Wiseguys, and the Feds by
Mike Stanton

2
← I love Providence and spent some time there during my summers in college.
As a southern New Englander, it’s in my blood to love Buddy Cianci. On the early
days of the Family Guy, Seth McFarlane (another Southern New Englander) named
the school Chris attended Buddy Cianci Junior High.
←
Random Memoirs/Biographies

• My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea

Handler
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Education

You would think that someone who worked in education for 13 years would
have a long list of books under this topic. Unfortunately, most of the writing
in this area is underwhelming. Many of the books I do like are too academic
and specific for anyone who is not a technocrat. Generally, historians and
journalists write the best education books because they tell the story that
test results fail to explain.

• The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane
Ravitch
• To Build a Better Teacher: The Emergence of a Competitive
Education Industry by Robert Holland, Michael Poliakoff
• The Trouble with Ed Schools by David Labaree
• The Strike That Changed New York: Blacks, Whites, and the
Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis by Jerald Podair
• Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America by Abby
Goodnough

General Fiction

I could recommend more books, but decided to apply the highest standard to
this list. To make my list, the book had to meet the following criteria:

• I read it slowly because I was enjoying to so much, I did not want

the story to finish
• I read it multiple times
• I will not lend it because I am afraid it won’t be returned

• Little Children by Tom Perrotta

3
• The LA Quartet by James Ellroy (they can be read out of order)
• The Black Dahlia (#1)
• The Big Nowhere (#2)
• L.A. Confidential (#3)
• White Jazz (#4)
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
• The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
• Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
←
← Some may wonder why this book make the General Fiction list instead of the
Beach Read list since it’s of the chic lit genre. While obviously a fantasy at points, I
think that this book’s take on race and Valdes-Rodriguez’s ability to establish such
unique voices for each character are brilliant.
←
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Caucasia by Danzy Senna
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Beach Reads

These are books that are page-turners, can be consumed in a weekend

beach trip and don’t totally rot your brain away.

• How to Be Single by Liz Tuccillo

• Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy,
India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
←
← This book came close to making my General Fiction list because I have re-
read parts of the India section many times after I decided to quit my job to start The
Opportunities Project. At times, it felt like a divorce. Still, like a lot of women, I have
mixed feelings about this book and the author. I am still not 100% sure what she
was running from in her old life.
←
• Lucas Davenport Series by John Sanford
←

4
← There are 20 books in this series and a new one comes out just about every
May. I have read most of them, but not all. I usually forget the plot of the book with
a day of finishing them. This does not make them any less enjoyable.
←
• Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
• This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
• One Day by David Nicholls
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

Young Adult

I am a grown-up, but I still read good young adult books, as well as some
not-so-good young adult books. Like the Twilight series. I could write a whole
book on my issues with Bella. That being said, I saw all the movies the week
they opened. Anyway, here are the good ones.

• Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

←
← I am a Harry Potter freak. I proudly have a Ravenclaw key chain. In order, my
favorite books are (1) Deathly Hallows, (2) Goblet of Fire, (3), Half-Blood Prince, (4)
Prisoner of Azkaban (I think this is the best movie of them all), (5) Chamber of
Secrets, (6) Order of the Phoenix (Harry’s anger in this book gets tiring)
←
• Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
• Girl: A Novel by Blake Nelson
←
← This reminds me in places of my senior year of high school. Dominique Swain
ruined this movie. She was no Andrea Marr.
←
• The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
• Little Women by Louisa Alcott
←
← There are times I still think Jo is my alter ego.