Blue Net-surfing Socks

The 12th Grade Mothers Book Club recently met in the Library to discuss Don Tapscott’s book, Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World.   Questions addressed at this discussion are ones many parents, teachers and employers are asking themselves.  What do you think?

1.  Do you think our children’s generation is the smartest or the dumbest generation?
2.  What do you think about the 8 Net Generation Norms?  They are:
–They want freedom in everything they do, from freedom of choice to freedom of expression
–They love to customize, personalize
–They are the new scrutinizers
–They look for corporate integrity and openness when deciding what to buy and where to work
–The NetGen wants entertainment and play in their work, education, and social life
–They are the collaboration and relationship generation
–The NetGen has a need for speed–and not just in video games
–They are innovators
3.  How is interacting with the Internet different from watching TV?
4.  How is the Internet changing the way the NetGen learns?  Is MBA addressing this?  Are the “tried and true” methods still the best methods?
5.  Do you think your child/children have seen much that you would deem “inappropriate” on the Internet?
6.  Do your children practice Internet safety?  Do you practice Internet safety?  Are you and your children giving up your privacy on the Internet?
7.  Does the NetGen lack traditional social skills?  Are they narcissistic?  Do they just want to be rich and famous?
8.  Is the Net Gen coddled? Do they lack independence and initiative? Do they have a misguided sense of entitlement and a bad work ethic?
9.  Does the Internet encourage youth to steal?  Are they cheaters?
10.  Does the Internet encourage bullying?  Do video games incite violence?

This year the library is working to grow its collection of graphic novels (complete stories , which are conveyed using the comics form) and comic collections (anthologies of comic book or manga series). With these new forms of storytelling becoming especially popular among boys, we decided, with the generous help of the Mother’s Club (Thank You!), to create a substantial collection. We hope that these new acquisitions will make the library more welcoming to our students (making us look hip in the process, of course) and more supportive of unmotivated readers.

These are the books that were checked out most frequently by students at West from August-November. Have you read them?  Share your thoughts. 
1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

2. Velocity by Dean Koontz

3. Acceleration by Graham McNamee

4. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

5. Crackback by John Coy

6. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

7. The Boyfriend List by Lockhart

8. Crank by Ellen Hopkins

9. Daemon Hall by Andrew Nance and Coleman Polehemus

10. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

I’ve always wondered about what made the “Twilight” series of books so popular.

A couple of years ago, before “Twilight” became the “Twilight” of unforeseen (and undeserved, in my opinion) epic proportions, a fellow fiction-lover lent me her copy of the book.

I finished reading it in a weekend, and couldn’t wait to finish it. Not because it was such an enthralling, engaging read… but because by page 3, I was bored out of my wits. I just didn’t have the heart to not finish the book, I have this thing about not reading books that are lent to me.

Naturally, after returning “Twilight”, I declined the offer to borrow and read the other books in the series. I forgot about it and lost myself instead in other books that were more deserving of my time.

Much to surprise a few months later, I started seeing copies of the book on desks of officemates… officemates who don’t even take up reading as a hobby.

This was the first time I heard avid praises about the book. People would say that the premise and plot were ingenious — a human falling in love with a vampire — so unique, so they said. And the story so well-told — again, so they said.

Far too many times I’ve passionately explained why I don’t agree with both rave reviews.

The story is not unique. Hundreds of books have been written about humans falling in love with vampires; vampires falling in love with humans; and even vampires who fall in with werewolves.

You don’t even have to look far. I take personal offense for the genius that is Joss Whedon, the Director who created pop culture sensations like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the vampire with a soul.

The story and the premise are nothing new.

This is itself, if quite forgivable though. I’m a believer that no ideas are completely new. Somewhere, somehow — after generations of ideas that flourish into literature, art and film — there’s no such thing anymore as a completely novel and unique idea. Every story already has hints of elements and flavors from here and there.

Now on the second point, the story was not well-written at all. In the tradition of a great story with a great build-up, a breathtaking climax, and an ending worthy of applause — this book had none of any of this. It was flat and monotonous from beginning to end. How lethargic the tone of the book was at the start was still how lethargic the book ended.

Even her writing style left much to be desired. Short, clipped sentences that evoked no emotion, no excitement, no build-up. All she did was narrate the day in the life of a girl named Bella. And if my days went by the way the narrative of Bella’s story went, I would have lived a very flat, uninteresting life.

But I can shrug off a bad book. I never regret reading any story, good or bad.

I only started reacting violently when I began hearing of interviews with the author, who, when confronted about how critics echoed my own sentiments about her ho-hum writing style, said that “I’m not a writer. I’m a storyteller.“

And again, the only thing I can say about that statement is – well, she also kinda sucks as a storyteller.

—

But I do salute her for getting many people to start reading again. Whether it’s a good book or not, I guess doesn’t matter as much when you consider that the literacy rate in the Philippines probably went up for a while because of Stephenie Meyer and “Twilight”.

A Baptist Church near Asheville, N.C., is hosting a “Halloween book burning” to purge the area of “Satan’s works,” which include all non-King James versions of the Bible, popular books by many religious authors and even country music.

Source:
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/n-c-church-to-burn-satans-books-including-works-of-mother-theresa/

We at the library are always mindful of our circulation and which books are more popular than others, and we’d like to keep you updated on the most popular non-required books being checked out of the library. This quarter, without a doubt, the most popular series of books has been, not Harry Potter, but the fantasy series by Rick Riordan called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. We’re constantly being asked about the availability of any of the 5 books in the series. Special thanks to 7th grader Jack Sonday for donating his used copies of the first 4 books in the series to the library.

Our Percy Jackson Section

New Moon second book in Stephenie Meyers blood sucking saga.

Jasper the Cullen Family’s newest member tries to take a bite during her birthday party making the Cullen family leave.

Bella starts bonding with Jacob Black an old friend will Bella fall for Jacob or stay with Edward.            Want other Meyer books? Click HERE!!!!!!!!!!Soon to be in theaters.

Acts 1:1-11

One of John Ortberg’s popular books is titled “If you Want to Walk on Water, you have to get out of the Boat”. Although the title alludes to when Peter tried to walk on water (and succeeded, albeit briefly; Matthew 14:22-33) this quote also applies to the apostles, just after Jesus ascended to heaven.

As Jesus “was taken up before their very eyes”, the apostles “were looking intently up into the sky” (Acts 1:9-10). Just before this, Jesus told them “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (verse 8 ) Yet after Jesus ascends apostles just stand there. How often do we do the same? God’s instructions are clear to us, but we just can’t seem to get going.

I can imagine the apostles were worried when Jesus left them. How would they survive without Him? They left their homes, jobs, and everything else behind to follow Him. And now He was leaving? But this is no excuse, and their lack of action prompts two angels to appear to them, who say “Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (verse 11)

The angels gave them the reason not to worry: Just as Jesus had been taken away, He will return. Luke’s gospel tells us how the apostles responded to the angels: “They worshiped [Jesus] and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” (Luke 24:52) Their confidence was restored by God’s promise, which is trustworthy and true. And this confidence prompted them into action!

The question for us today is: Am I standing around, staring up at the sky? Or am I actively living out Jesus’ command to be witnesses to the ends of the Earth?

What’s holding you back from being an active witness? If you want to witness, you have to start witnessing! If your spiritual life lately has felt more like stargazing than navigating, it may be time to re-read the book of Acts and be inspired by the lives of some of the earliest Christian servants. I assure you that you are more ready than you realize, “for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” (Luke 12:12)

What’s holding you back?

This is one of my favorite lists uncovered so far — Library Journal’s Best Books of 2008! It’s not separated into fiction or non-fiction categories, and there are several different titles chosen here than on any other academic-like lists I’ve seen lately! I don’t know who likes all of the obvious, pretentious selections. That being said, I’ve still not read any of these books . . . but I have a new starting point when figuring out what will be on my challenge list for 2009!

~*~*~*~

Library Journal’s Best Books of 2008

Say You’re One of Them. –Akpan, Uwem.

The Hakawati. –Alameddine, Rabih.

The Wasted Vigil. –Aslam, Nadeem.

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight To Save the World’s Most Beautiful Bird. –Barcott, Bruce.

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything. –Brown, Janelle.

The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own. –Carr, David.

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. –Faust, Drew Gilpin.

Split: A Memoir of Divorce. –Finnamore, Suzanne.

Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir. –Greenberg, Michael.

Shakespeare’s Wife. –Greer, Germaine.

What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect. –Hess, Stephen.

My Guantánamo Diary: The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me. –Khan, Mahvish Rukhsana.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. –Larsson, Stieg.

The Boat. –Le, Nam.

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. –Lee, Jennifer.

Lavinia. –Le Guin, Ursula K.

The Given Day. –Lehane, Dennis.

Books: A Memoir. –McMurtry, Larry.

A Mercy. –Morrison, Toni.

John Lennon: The Life. –Norman, Philip.

The Painter of Battles. –Pérez-Reverte, Arturo.

The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture.

Home. –Robinson, Marilynne.

Cost. –Robinson, Roxana.

Indignation. –Roth, Philip.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. –Shaffer, Mary Ann & Annie Barrows.

Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape. –Shehadeh, Raja.

How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone. –Saša Stanišic.

Edward Steichen: Lives in Photography. –Steichen, Edward (photogs.) & Todd Brandow & others (text).

Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural. –Steinmeyer, Jim.

Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators. –Stolzenburg, William.

Olive Kitteredge. –Strout, Elizabeth.

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). –Vanderbilt, Tom.

Without a Backward Glance. –Veitch, Kate.

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon-and the Journey of a Generation. –Weller, Sheila.

How Fiction Works. –Wood, James.

The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life. –Zimbardo, Philip & John Boyd.

This week’s question from Marie at The Boston Bibliophile: What’s the most popular book in your library? Have you read it? What did you think? How many users have it?

The most popular book in my library is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. 37,389 other users share it, and it has been reviewed 363 times. It is actually the only one of the Harry Potter books that I haven’t read. When the books came out, I was just finishing high school, and I was way too cool for some silly book about a wizard kid. But when the movie came out, I reluctantly agreed to go with some friends, and I loved it. I don’t know why I never actually read the book, but I immediately bought it and the second one, thoroughly enjoyed them, and proceeded to read the rest of the series as it was released.

Though I liked the books and looked forward to each one, I was never fanatical about it. I just kind of read them when I felt like it.

After several of the Harry Potter books, the next most popular book in my library is The Da Vinci Code. Yes, I’ve read it; and no, I didn’t think it was amazing. This is definitely a case in which high sales and bestseller status do not indicate quality. Brown is good for quick, light reading, but nothing more.

After that comes The Hobbit shared by 24,939 users. This is one of my all-time favorite books and one that I could read over and over.  Oh, how I wish it were at the very top of the list.

What’s the most popular book in your library?

This week’s Tuesday Thingers question from the Boston Bibliophile:

What’s the most popular book in your library? Have you read it? What did you think? How many users have it?

Like many folks, this honor goes to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone — the first book in the Harry Potter seven-part series. It’s in the library of 37,387 other Thingers, has been reviewed 363 times and has an average rating of 4.23/5. Personally, I gave it 4.5 stars! I have indeed read it — I read the entire series last spring/summer after steadfastly refusing to touch it for years — and loved it. As with many readers, Harry will always have a special place in my heart!

This week’s Musing Mondays question from its new home at Just One More Page:

How do you feel about wide-spread reading phenomenons – Harry Potter, for instance, or the more current Twilight Saga? Are these books so widely read for a reason, or merely fads or crazes? Do you feel compelled to read — or NOT to read — these books because everyone else is?

Well, how incredibly topical is this?! Especially since I’m still riding ridiculously high from my Twilight-filled weekend (much more to come on that later, either to your joy or dismay).

I’ll be the first one to tell you I don’t usually jump in with the hype. Even when practically everyone I knew was reading the Harry Potter series — including my dad and sister — I stubbornly refused to read them, even though I never stopped hearing good things about them. My only rationale was that I didn’t “like” that type of book, and I thought, stupidly, they were just for children. I actually read the entire series last summer — books one through seven, all in a row — beginning around April and ending last September, after Deathly Hallows came out. I initially started reading them as we were gearing up for the midnight release party of book seven last July at my bookstore job; I wanted to be excited like everyone else was. And once I started reading them, pushing straight through, I loved it. I felt silly that I’d put it off for so long.

The same is (mostly) true of Twilight — I’d heard customers buzzing about the series randomly over the past few years, but never paid much attention. I don’t typically read anything with a science fiction / fantasy / mystery slant, and all anyone had to do was say the word “vampire” and I was out. But as we got ready for the midnight release of Breaking Dawn in August — and I found myself as mistress of ceremonies once again — I wanted to be excited about the release and be able to discuss the books with customers. So I bought Twilight around June, hunkered down with all three books and read and read and read. Then, of course, I got to wait around for the fourth and final book with everyone else — although I waited considerably less time. And I loooooved them (OMG EDWARD CULLEN! lol lol), despite the fact that I wasn’t necessarily in the targeted “age bracket” anymore. (And for the record, I have several good friends in their forties and fifties who have read and adored the series, too!)

To some extent, I guess these books are “fads” — just in the way that popular things can only stay popular for so long. I don’t believe the Twilight Saga has the staying power that the Harry Potter franchise does, mostly because Twilighters are a certain demographic (women) and Harry Potter appeals more to both genders. Plus, they’re just much better written with much more dynamic, interesting plots (sorry, Stephenie Meyer). But Twilight had a dramatic pull for me — something absolutely compelled me to read like the wind, dying to figure out the fate of, basically, two star-crossed lovers. There’s an emotional element to them that surprised me. I know many people don’t agree, but that’s what’s great about art — we all draw from it what we want to draw. And though the books can only fly off the shelves for so long before something new breaks in and draws the attention away, readers will continue to discover these book series long after we’ve stopped hearing about them daily.

This week’s Tuesday Thingers question from the Boston Bibliophile:

“Popular this month on LT: Do you look at this list?
Do you get ideas on what to read from it?
Have you read any of the books on the list right now?
Feel free to link to any reviews you’ve done as well.”

I do check out the list! I’m not usually too up on the “current” hot books, just because I find it difficult to scrounge up the dough needed for the hardcovers, but I do pick up some of the popular books after reading lots of great reviews of them online. I love to know what other people are reading, so I do check out the list and take that into consideration when investing in books.

Here’s the list of the top 10 most popular books on LibraryThing at the moment:

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
3. Nation by Terry Pratchett
4. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
5. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
6. American Wife: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
7. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
8. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski
9. Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
10. Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3) by Stephenie Meyer

Of the ten, the only one I’ve read is Meyer’s Eclipse — one of my favorites in the series! I have Guernsey Literary . . . on my Christmas list. Everyone seems to be raving about it. I showed it to my sister at Borders the other day — hopefully she’ll take my recommendation to heart. Otherwise I’ll be dashing out myself to grab it after the holidays!

I absolutely love lists! S. Krishna posted about USA TODAY’S top 150 best-selling books of the last 15 years, so I had to go through them and figure out how many I’ve read — of course! I’ve bolded everything I’ve checked out. That would be 33. Thirty three out of 150? I guess that’s all right. Check out the original article here!

I’m surprised to see so many “recent” books on the list: The Shack, The Last Lecture, Breaking Dawn, Eldest . . . not that they’re not all worthy of making the best-selling list! Not too many surprises on there, especially with Harry Potter dominating most of the top positions. Many of the titles are weight/nutrition guides, too, which makes sense. Working at the bookstore, I would only go a few hours without someone asking me for a weight loss guide . . . and definitely had enough of them.

And now, without further ado:

USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books List Top 150 books
of the last 15 years
(Oct. 28, 1993 through Oct. 23, 2008)

Rank, Title, Author

1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

2 Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution — Robert C. Atkins

3 The Da Vinci Code — Dan Brown

4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

10 Who Moved My Cheese? — Spencer Johnson

11 The South Beach Diet — Arthur Agatston

12 Tuesdays With Morrie – Mitch Albom

13 Angels & Demons — Dan Brown

14 What to Expect When You’re Expecting — Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway

15 The Purpose-Driven Life — Rick Warren

16 The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

17 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey

18 The Kite Runner — Khaled Hosseini

19 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus –  John Gray

20 The Secret — Rhonda Byrne

21 Rich Dad, Poor Dad — Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter

22 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

23 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … And It’s All Small Stuff — Richard Carlson

24 The Secret Life of Bees — Sue Monk Kidd

25 Eat, Pray, Love — Elizabeth Gilbert

26 Twilight – Stephenie Meyer

27 The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks

28 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter — Kim Edwards

29 The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

30 Memoirs of a Geisha — Arthur Golden

31 A New Earth — Eckhart Tolle

32 Oh, the Places You’ll Go! – Dr. Seuss

33 The Four Agreements Don — Miguel Ruiz

34 Angela’s Ashes — Frank McCourt

35 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

36 Body-for-Life — Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso

37 New Moon – Stephenie Meyer

38 Night – Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway

39 Chicken Soup for the Soul — Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen

40 The Greatest Generation — Tom Brokaw

41 Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer

42 The Celestine Prophecy — James Redfield

43 Wicked – Gregory Maguire

44 Good to Great –  Jim Collins

45 Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer

46 Eragon — Christopher Paolini

47 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood — Rebecca Wells

48 Your Best Life Now — Joel Osteen

49 In the Kitchen With Rosie — Rosie Daley

50 Simple Abundance — Sarah Ban Breathnach

51 A Child Called It — Dave Pelzer

52 A Million Little Pieces — James Frey

53 The Testament — John Grisham

54 Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul – Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger

55 Deception Point — Dan Brown

56 The Alchemist — Paulo Coelho

57 Marley & Me – John Grogan

58 Dr. Atkins’ New Carbohydrate Gram Counter — Robert C. Atkins

59 Life of Pi — Yann Martel

60 The Brethren — John Grisham

61 The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide — Arthur Agatston

62 The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town — John Grisham

63 For One More Day — Mitch Albom

64 The Polar Express –  Chris Van Allsburg

65 The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

66 The Last Lecture — Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow

67 What to Expect the First Year — Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway

68 Love You Forever – Robert Munsch, art by Sheila McGraw

69 Green Eggs and Ham – Dr. Seuss

70 A Painted House — John Grisham

71 The Rainmaker — John Grisham

72 Skipping Christmas — John Grisham

73 Cold Mountain — Charles Frazier

74 The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time — Mark Haddon

75 Life Strategies — Phillip C. McGraw

76 Seabiscuit: An American Legend — Laura Hillenbrand

77 The Summons –  John Grisham

78 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil — John Berendt

79 The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

80 The Runaway Jury — John Grisham

81 Goodnight Moon Board Book — Margaret Wise Brown, art by Clement Hurd

82 The Perfect Storm — Sebastian Junger

83 Snow Falling on Cedars — David Guterson

84 The Giver — Lois Lowry

85 Embraced by the Light — Betty J. Eadie

86 The Chamber — John Grisham

87 You: On A Diet — Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz

88 The Prayer of Jabez — Bruce Wilkinson

89 Holes – Louis Sachar

90 Digital Fortress — Dan Brown

91 The Shack — William P. Young

92 The Devil Wears Prada — Lauren Weisberger

93 Water for Elephants — Sara Gruen

94 A Thousand Splendid Suns — Khaled Hosseini

95 The Seat of the Soul — Gary Zukav

96 Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul — Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff

97 The Partner — John Grisham

98 Lord of the Flies – William Golding

99 Eldest: Inheritance, Book II — Christopher Paolini

100 The Broker — John Grisham

101 The Street Lawyer — John Grisham

102 A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 1: The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket

103 The Poisonwood Bible — Barbara Kingsolver

104 Into the Wild — Jon Krakauer

105 The King of Torts — John Grisham

106 The Tipping Point — Malcolm Gladwell

107 The Horse Whisperer — Nicholas Evans

108 Hannibal — Thomas Harris

109 The Audacity of Hope — Barack Obama

110 Running With Scissors — Augusten Burroughs

111 The Glass Castle: A Memoir — Jeannette Walls

112 My Sister’s Keeper –  Jodi Picoult

113 The Last Juror — John Grisham

114 The Devil in the White City — Erik Larson

115 Left Behind — Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

116 America (The Book) — Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show

117 The Red Tent — Anita Diamant

118 John Adams — David McCullough

119 The Christmas Box — Richard Paul Evans

120 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – Ann Brashares

121 Sugar Busters! — H. Leighton Steward, Sam S. Andrews, Morrison C. Bethea, Luis A. Balart

122 Blink — Malcolm Gladwell

123 The Power of Now — Eckhart Tolle

124 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life — Don Piper, Cecil Murphey

125 The Fellowship of the Ring — J.R.R. Tolkien

126 1776 — David McCullough

127 The Bridges of Madison County — Robert James Waller

128 Where the Heart Is — Billie Letts

129 The Ultimate Weight Solution — Phillip C. McGraw

130 Protein Power — Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades

131 Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul –  Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff

132 Into Thin Air — Jon Krakauer

133 Middlesex — Jeffrey Eugenides

134 Three Cups of Tea — Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

135 You: The Owner’s Manual — Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz

136 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List — Patricia Schultz

137 Self Matters — Phillip C. McGraw

138 She’s Come Undone — Wally Lamb

139 1984 — George Orwell

140 The Chronicles of Narnia — C.S. Lewis

141 The Millionaire Next Door — Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko

142 The Other Boleyn Girl — Philippa Gregory

143 The Zone — Barry Sears, Bill Lawren

144 The Pilot’s Wife — Anita Shreve

145 The Lost World — Michael Crichton

146 Atonement – Ian McEwan

147 He’s Just Not That Into You – Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo

148 Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

149 The World Is Flat — Thomas L. Friedman

150 Cross — James Patterson

One of the titles in the Library’s new popular reading section that caught my eye is You’ve Got To Read This Book!  By Jack Canfield and Gay Hendricks.  The book is a compilation of 55 vignettes describing how books have changed the lives of 55 notable people.  Picking any chapter at random results in reading an account of an individual being uplifted and inspired due to the influence of reading a work of fiction or non-fiction.  Each of the contributors is generous in describing their own introspection.  Wally Amos, of Famous Amos cookies, and who also holds an honorary doctorate in education from Johnson and Wales University, tells how the book Love is Letting Go of Fear, by Gerald Jampolsky, taught him that he is the only person responsible for how he feels and how he processes experiences, and that letting go of fear is just a decision.  Lou Holtz, former head coach at Notre Dame, was inspired to list and become motivated to achieve all the things he wanted to accomplish in life after reading The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz.  This happened at a time when he was unemployed and feeling depressed about life’s prospects.  Rafe Esquith, a fifth grade teacher in central Los Angeles, explains how reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee inspired him to begin teaching ethics and moral development in his classes.  Craig Newmark, the founder of www.craigslist.org, found meaning for his own activities after reading The Cluetrain Manifesto, which was written by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger.  The ideas presented mirrored his own thoughts about the function of the Internet and inspired him to keep craigslist as a big network of people helping each other out.

How about you?  Have you experienced a book that influenced your thinking or caused you to change directions in life?  The JWU Library blog is open for comments and we would really like to know what books have been important enough to you that you would say: “You’ve got to read this book!”

Since some of us in America may be busy or traveling this holiday week, I thought I would keep things simple for Tuesday Thingers. Think of this as “Popularity of Books on LT, Part Three”.

Here is the Top 100 Most Popular Books on LibraryThing. Bold what you own, italicize what you’ve read. Star what you liked. Star multiple times what you loved!

1. Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone by J.K. Rowling (32,484)
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) by J.K. Rowling (29,939)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) by J.K. Rowling (28,728)
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J.K. Rowling (27,926)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) by J.K. Rowling (27,643)
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) by J.K. Rowling (27,641)
7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (23,266)
8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (21,325) *****
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J.K. Rowling (20,485)
10. 1984 by George Orwell (19,735) *****
11. Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen (19,583) *****
12. The catcher in the rye by J.D. Salinger (19,082)
13. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (17,586) *****
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (16,210) ***
15. The lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (15,483) (partial read) ****
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (14,566) *****
17. Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) by Charlotte Bronte (14,449) ***
18. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (13,946)
19. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (13,272)
20. Animal Farm by George Orwell (13,091) *****
21. Angels & demons by Dan Brown (13,089)
22. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (13,005)
23. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (12,777) (I think I read this one in Honors reading, but that’s been 15 years ago.  I need to reread it, to be sure!)
24. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah’s Book Club) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (12,634)
25. The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) by J.R.R. Tolkien (12,276)
26. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (12,147)
27. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (11,976)
28. The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2) by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,512)
29. The Odyssey by Homer (11,483)
30. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (11,392)
31. Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut (11,360)
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (11,257) (vaguely remember from Honors Reading.  Another to be reread.)
33. The return of the king : being the third part of The lord of the rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,082)
34. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (10,979)
35. American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (10,823)
36. The chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (10,603) (Is this the entire 7 book series? or just Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe?  I’ve read about 3 or 4 of them.) *****
37. The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams (10,537) *****
38. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (10,435) ******
39. The lovely bones : a novel by Alice Sebold (10,125)
40. Ender’s Game (Ender, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card (10,092)
41. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman (9,827)
42. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman (9,745)
43. Dune by Frank Herbert (9,671)
44. Emma by Jane Austen (9,610) (getting there… It’s next on the Jane-a-thon.)
45. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (9,598)
46. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics) by Mark Twain (9,593)
47. Anna Karenina (Oprah’s Book Club) by Leo Tolstoy (9,433) (Honors Reading, again… need to reread)
48. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (9,413)
49. Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (9,343) ************* top 5 list!
50. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (9,336)
51. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (9,274)
52. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (9,246)
53. The Iliad by Homer (9,153)  *****
54. The Stranger by Albert Camus (9,084)
55. Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (9,080) **
56. Great Expectations (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (9,027) ******
57. The Handmaid’s Tale: A Novel by Margaret Atwood (8,960)
58. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (8,904)
59. Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt (8,813)
60. The Little Prince by saintexupryantoinede – 75k - (8,764)
61. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (8,421) ( I guess this answers the previous question…)******
62. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (8,417) (partial read)
63. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (8,368)
64. The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck (8,255)
65. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (8,214) ******************  Top 10 favorites of all time.  It’s one I’ve enjoyed sharing with my daughters, too)
66. The Name of the Rose: including Postscript to the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (8,191)
67. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (8,169)
68. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (8,129)
69. The complete works by William Shakespeare (8,096) (seriously, now… Has ANYONE read the COMPLETE WORKS of William Shakespeare?  Of the many I’ve read, I love him… I have yet to encounter one I don’t like… maybe Julius Ceasar… he was a “salad dressing dude”.)
70. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (7,843)
71. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (7,834)
72. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (Perennial Classics) by Barbara Kingsolver (7,829) (I think I have it… I’d have to look… I seem to remember buying it recently… maybe not… I buy so many.)
73. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare (7,808) (Liked it, but not as much as the Scottish Play, witch is my favorite Wills Tragedy)
74. Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by John Steinbeck (7,807) *********
75. A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (7,793)
76. The Alchemist (Plus) by Paulo Coelho (7,710)
77. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (7,648)
78. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics) by Oscar Wilde (7,598)
79. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk (7,569)
80. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (7,557)
81. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) by Philip Pullman (7,534)
82. Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan (7,530)
83. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (7,512)
84. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (7,436)
85. Dracula by Bram Stoker (7,238)
86. Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad (7,153)
87. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (7,055)
88. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (7,052) (In both English and the original Spanish)
89. The amber spyglass by Philip Pullman (7,043)
90. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin Classics) by James Joyce (6,933)
91. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Perennial Classics) by Milan Kundera (6,901)
92. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (6,899)
93. Neuromancer by William Gibson (6,890)
94. The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer (6,868) ***** How can you not like it unless you’re brain dead?
95. Persuasion (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (6,862) (Two books down the Jane-a-thon)
96. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (6,841)
97. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (6,794)
98. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (6,715)
99. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (6,708)
100. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (6,697) Patial read… for a laugh riot on my failing flailing of The Prince, and to see how much Machiavelli looks like Barry Manilow click here: thekoolaidmom’s 50 book challenge.

A tiny book arrived for inspection in the Rare Books section today. It’s the 1673 edition, not recorded in ESTC, of a book that, according to title page statements, ran to over 42 editions between 1623 and 1698.  If there really were that many editions, most don’t survive at all.  The recorded editions survive in only a few copies: some are unique examples.  This is the typical, paradoxical fate of the cheapest and most popular books — that they were read almost out of existence.

“Crumms of comfort”, by Michael Sparke, offered readers moral guidance reinforced with fold-out plates depicting examples of God’s salvation of Englishmen, from the Spanish Armada in 1588 and from plague in 1625. These historical centrefolds could have been crumbs of comfort for people living through a turbulent century.

Sometimes I feel like I am buying too many pet books but they are popular. I receive many rincs on books for pets and other domestic animals (think horses). Here is an article on bestselling pet books:

From: Library Journal

Best-Selling Dogs
April 30, 2008

Pets & Pet Care best sellers appear in the May 1 issue, a subject we haven’t done a list for since 2003. When I came up with only dog books, I checked the old list to make sure there wasn’t an error. Nope; people just love dogs and have for a much longer time than the past five years. However, the list from 2003 shows the popular breeds for guidebooks were rottweilers, Chihuahuas, pit bulls, and bichons frises. The dachshund and Labrador retriever stood the test of time, showing up on both lists, and the Siberian husky seems to be this year’s choice breed, as far as the books are representative of the best-selling pups.

Surprisingly, there are no books on designer dog breeds on the list this year. I distinctly remember being taken by Dogs by Design and passing it around in the office last year. There are dog cookbooks (PupSnacks and Better Food for Dogs), however, to represent the times and, of course, Cesar Millan’s books.

Posted by Anna Katterjohn on April 30, 2008

If you are interested in the most popular dogs, here is link to:

American Kennel Club Registration

This lists also shows trends in registration of AKC dogs. Although sporting dogs like Labrador Retrievers are still the tops, small dogs are becoming more popular. Mine is a chihuahua. As we walk the neighborhood, we are meeting more and more dogs his size.

I’ve recently realized that I haven’t read for pleasure for some time, which is uncommon for me. All the reading that the English Major entails consumes my time, leaving no motivation for further reading.

I think that this needs to change. The transformation of reading from a hobby into a task may end up affecting it’s excitement. Requirements are not fun, and if the only time I ever read is to make a requirement, I’m afraid of the negative attitude this will give me to reading in the future. I can feel it happening already.

This may sound like I am contradicting myself, but I think that one way to resolve this issue is to set goals for myself. Along with my assignments, I would like to read one additional book per month. This could either turn into a possitive(restore my pleasure for reading), or a negative(becoming overwhelmed).

Not only could this be beneficial for my habits and perceptions, but I’ve been meaning to read a few book for a long time, books that most people in my major have probably already read.

These include:

• The Catcher and the Rye
• Moby Dick
• Grapes of Wrath
• Slaughterhouse-Five
• Ulysses
• The Lord of the Lords

Doesn’t it seem like I would have already read these books? I think all english students should have read most of these book. Hopefully within the next year I will have read most of these books. In order to do that I am making the first step, I am going to puchase The Catcher and the Rye, and will begin reading it within the next week.

I recieves helpful advice from Matt a few months back. Set smaller goals and you will get greater results. This seems like an absurd concept, but if it works for him I have faith that it will work for me.

Adult Fiction:

The Lost Fleet: Courageous

By Jack Campbell

Wash and Die

By Barbara Colley

Sword Song

By Bernard Cornwell

Tappin’ on Thirty

By Candice Dow

The Appeal

By John Grisham

Forevermore

By Cathy Marie Hake

Gone to Ground

By John Harvey

The Expeditions

By Karl Iagnemma

Duma Key

By Stephen King

Sizzle and Burn

By Jayne Ann Krentz

The Blood King

By Gail Z. Martin

Debatable Space

By Philip Palmer

Inside Straight

Edited by George R.R. Martin

Light of the Moon

By Luanne Rice

Sin No More

By Kimberly Lawson Roby

Not Quite a Mom

By Kirsten Sawyer

The Fault Tree

By Louise Ure

Bond of Fire

By Diane Whiteside

Adult Non-Fiction:

Memo to the President Elect

By Madeline Albright

The Middle Place

By Kelly Corrigan

A Child’s Garden

By Molly Dannermaier

Why Mars and Venus Collide

By John Gray

The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child

By Alan E. Kazdin

The Food You Crave

By Ellie Krieger

Iceman

By Chuck Liddell

The How of Happiness

By Sonja Lyubomirsky

The Homeschooling Option

By Lisa Rivero

Happy For No Reason

By Marci Shimoff

Your Internet Cash Machine

By Joe Vitale

Living Well

By Montel Williams

Eat This Not That

By David Zinczenko

I recently heard an episode of “Culture Shock” on the BBC in which they were interviewing a Professor Gerd Gigerenzer (I’m not making that up) about his ideas on so called, intuition. His latest book Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious is on that very subject and the man is considered something of a leader in the field. What he claims to have verified through various studies is that decisions made through first reaction responses or gut reactions are often more accurate than those made through careful deliberations. This is something of a new idea though a trendy one, in 2005 another popular book, Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, was published. It had a very similar premise.