Current Bestselling Books

This is a surprising book about a man who left us much too soon. Luckily Isaacson was able to speak in depth with Steve Jobs as well as those within his orbit at Apple (and outside of the Tech giant) and he put together an intriguing book about a very intriguing man. I've yet to be able to get my hands on a copy but this is one autobiography that is definitely on my "to read" list. I have become somewhat familiar with the Apple story as well as several other books about Jobs that I have had the good fortune to read over the years and this particular book has been getting a lot of good reviews. You might want to check this one out as well.

The sixth book in this highly popular series about youngster Greg Heffley. Apparently Greg is the chief suspect when school property gets damaged and he gets stuck indoors with his family when a big blizzard hits. The school authorities are closing in but can that be any worse than being in close quarters with his family?

Yet another tome from the FOX network's Bill O'Reilly who's name is splashed across the cover of this book with his co-author, Martin Dugard's name looking like a footnote. This book covers all of the ground covered before and tries to turn the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln into a page turner which will appeal to some. Prior to reading this book it might be a good idea to read some of the actual reviews posted on Amazon. Some knowledgeable concerning the death of Lincoln easily spotted some errors in the facts provided by O'Reilly and suggests that for the "casual reader" looking for more information it may be helpful while others seem to have found it of such interest that they "couldn't put it down. Personally I would suggest other recent books about Lincoln's death that deal with the event in more historical terms rather than as some sort of political thriller. That decision would of course be up to the reader.

The latest novel to spring from the mind of longtime bestselling author Stephen King concerns the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. The book King writes is not meant to be strictly factual and incorporates a interesting turn as the main character, 35-year-old Jake Epping, a current day English teacher, discovers a portal in time that allows him to traverse back to the late 1950s where he begins using an alias and attempts to prevent the death of JFK. As usual, King writes well and this book will easily fly off the shelves as diehard Stephen King fans immediately make his latest book yet another bestseller..

This is the latest in the series of books concerning dragons and the world of Eragon that first gained notice back in 2006. The book was made into a movie which starred Ed Speleers as Eragon along with Jeremy Irons as his mentor Brom. This is a continuation of the saga and very worthwhile for those who enjoy swords and sorcery.

Probably one of the perfect Christmas gifts for anyone obsessed with Lego. The book is divided into six different themes such as transportation, buildings, space, kingdoms, adventure. One great point in this book's favor is that it was just released (September 19, 2011) making it unlikely that the true Lego fan has had a chance to rifle through it. There are tons of hints from Lego Master Builders and ideas that will challenge most readers. Highly recommended.

This "Wimpy Kid" series is proving to be increasingly popular. Written by Jeff Kinney, this seven-book series (and soon-to-be movie) tells the story of Greg Heffley and the tortured existance of the adolesent teen and his struggle through life. But in a hugely funny and laugh out loud way. A highly recommended read.

Oprah's Book Club gives Jonathan Franzen's book Freedom: A Novel the thumbs up. Franzen is also the author of The Corrections which won at the National Book Award some nine years ago.

Hillenbrand's gripping tale about the life of Louie Zamperini will hold you on the edge of your seat as you read the true life account of his youth as a delinquent followed by his making the 1936 Olympic team and competing in the Berlin Olympics. Following that we find Zamperini at war in the Pacific where his war experiences will shed light on his treatment by the Japanese following his capture.

Written by the author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend.

Radio talk show host Dr. Michael Savage joins the clamour picking up the argument that Barack Obama is hellbent on destroying all we hold near and dear - mostly because he isn't listening to the Tea Party ("blatantly disregarding the voice of the people" is how Savage puts it) along with a myriad other so-called crimes and injustices. This book evokes a collossal yawn. Nothing new is stated or brought forward except with Savage's own take on the arguments. This is just more of the same "do anything we can to discredit Obama in the eyes of the American public" stuff being churned out seemingly on a daily business. Savage is another of the conservative media's darlings and icons (along the lines of Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck) with an estimated tens of millions radio audience and is the author of 25 books of political insight as Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder and The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Churches, Schools, and Military. He is preaching to the choir once again with this book which will be snapped up by his audience and likely remain unread on the bookshelf gathering dust.

Um, yes please! Over 200 recipes make up this great cooking book from the former Executive Editor of Cook's Illustrated Pam Anderson and she shows how to put together some tasty looking meals - Stews for All Seasons, Worldly Casseroles, Roasting Pan Complete and Big Summer Salads and Grilled Platters. After looking at this and the other best-selling books by Anderson.

With a foreword provided by President Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela allows us to go through his personal journals and papers kept since the early 1960s when he first felt the stirrings of political activism all the way through to his arrival on the international stage following his release after 27 years from incarceration for resisting apartheid, hi winning the Nobel Peace Prize and subsequent election as South Africa's first democratically elected president. Mandela also wrote the internationally acclaimed bestseller Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela : With Connections (HRW Library) <-READ THIS BOOK!

Bob Woodward's latest book provides a behind-in-scenes look at Barack Obama in power during discussions and actions taken about the Afghanistan conflict and global terrorism. Woodword is of course a multi-bestselling author with a slew of credits to his name and this should prove to be an insightful look into Obama's presidency during this troubled time. The book will be released on September 27th, but is available for pre-order.

Bill Bryson's new book takes us through the home where he lives in rural England and room by room discusses what he finds there. The thing is that Bryson's home is an old parsonage filled with the stuff from hundreds of years of English history. He goes over some fascinating topics, like Queen Elizabeth I's pocketing silverware from her subjects' dinner tables to the seemingly more mundane like how salt and pepper transformed peoples' lives. This book is much more interesting than I am making it sound as Bryson has a nice turn of phrase which he has used in other books he has written notably Shakespeare (The Illustrated and Updated Edition) which came out in 2009.

According to the author, Barack Obama is full of rage inherited from his African-born father and is bent on making the United States a poorer nation and and strengthening those powers not aligned to western democracy. In my humble opinion, this look at Obama smacks of the typical neo-con claptrap that has been published lately to appeal to those on the right-wing political spectrum looking for any reason to dislike and discredit Obama.

In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape." - Amazon Reviewer

Michael Connelly is the prolific author of the bestselling Harry Bosch novels and several #1 New York Times bestsellers. Connelly himself is a former newspaper reporter who is an award winner for both his journalism and his novels. Influenced by Raymond Chandler, so if you're in the mood for a gritty detective yarn, here ya go. Other recommended books along the same lines (by other authors) you might want to also check out are: Worth Dying For by Lee Child and Bad Blood: a Virgil Flowers novel by John Sandford.

This is the 2nd of three novels being published posthumously based on the work of author Robert Jordan.

Bestselling author Vince Flynn is back with more of the Mitch Rapp saga, this time with a "prequel". Before he became the number one and most dangerous agent for the CIA, Rapp was a college student. After losing loved ones in the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack that killed 270, he wants revenge and is recruited by the CIA to track down and kill those responsible. He heads to Beirut, but what lies in wait for the young man there?

Sardonic Sedaris returns to the bestseller list. David Sedaris has his third bestseller following Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Interesting sidenote: that Sedaris has also been nominated for three grammys.

The 3rd book of Suzanne Collins' terrific series is sure to be a good read. I've read the first two of the series and have been following the story of Katniss survival. "When are they going to make a movie out of this?" is my question. Get on it Hollywood.

You may know of Stephen Hawking's last book that hit the bestsellers' lists and didn't leave. That was A Brief History of Time. Now Hawking follows with The Grand Design. I gues you can say Hawking's book is "deep science." Can make black holes and the nature of time seem interesting.

Another of Verghese's books is also recommended: My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, which outlines the author's experiences as a doctor in eastern Tennessee in the 1980s.

Personally, I enjoy a huge biography detailing the lives of those in the long past that continues to have effects on the present, and Ron Cherow tackles the subject of George Washington, the first President of the United States in this massive 900-page tome. Chernow previously hit the bestsellers list with a number of his books (such as Alexander Hamilton, his excellent book about the man who created public finance in the US). He debunks some of the legends that have sprung up about Washington, but highlights the Virginian farmer-General-President's stoic silence, a trait brought about by Washington's need to control his own fiery tempers. Chernow calls it Washington's "inspired simplicity" and goes on to say those qualities served him well in the leadership roles he played during the founding of the Republic.

Justin Bieber tells it like it is - his journey from a small-town boy to a global star in only a few short years. Perhaps rather than trying to capitalize on his fame now, he could have waited until his career was a little longer in the tooth before writing a book about his young career as a teen heartthrob. I guess that will have to wait a few more years when both Bieber and his fans get past the teen years - but that's another story, or book in his case.

This is an interesting novel about a five-year-old boy named Jack who has been a virtual prisoner in one room for the first 5 years of life, but as the book progresses, he and his mother's lives expand beyong the walls of the single room that had been their home for so long. Bestselling author Emma Donoghue has had about 10 books on the bestsellers lists in the past ten years.

The author, Francis Chan, speak to the fragility of life and the need for people to accept the love of God. Chan is a pastor and after going through some difficult times in his own life and presiding over funerals of people younger than himself, he came to a realization about the boundless love available to those willing to just accept it.

This is the beginning of the Product Description: "Never before have we read such jarring headlines, distressing news analyses, or dire predictions concerning the world's financial future. The American housing market -- or, more sentimentally, the American dream -- began to collapse in 2006" (more at Amazon).

This is what the Product Discription is for this book:

"From the author of the New York Times bestsellers.

How Full Is Your Bucket? (Gallup Press, 2004, Strengths Based Leadership (Gallup Press, 2009), and Wellbeing (Gallup Press, 2010) a book that features the new Wellbeing Finder assessment.

STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0"

(me: Golly!) I haven't heard of Tom Rath's "Strengthfinders 1.0" and here's number 2. This is their 4th straight bestseller in the last 6 years. They must be doing something right. This book needs to be on my "To-Read" pile because it actually does sound interesting.

Mario Vargas Llosa's latest book chronicles the final day of Dominican Republican dictator General Rafael Trujillo. That's right - his final day in May of 1961. Trujillo was a man given to personal vanity and large appetites but at the advanced age of 70, his body and power has eroded. His evil reign is toppled with Trujillo's murder and the subsequent events orchestrated skillfully by Joaquin Belaguer, president of the Dominican Republic. Llosa himself was a candidate for the presidency of Peru in 1990 and has received almost every international literary award available.

Networking is important - thanks for the tip. Actually, this might be a good read on a oft-covered topic. This book is by Joe Sweeney - who the heck is Joe Sweeney and why is he telling me about networking? - well Sweeney has about three decades worth of business experience, was the president of SMG who manage coaches and athletes (he reps Brett Favre) and has served on a couple of dozen boards. Founding and making a success of any kind of sports management firm alone makes him someone to lend your ear (or eyes in this case because it's a book).

This is the 5th book from Zhi Gang Sha just in 2010 and 17th since 1996. The author is a self-described "soul-healer" who "combines the wisdom of the East" with more modern medical practice. For his humanitarian efforts, he is also a past winner of the Martin Luther King Jr Hall of Fame Award.

The author Daniel Hannan is a respected member of the European Parliament. He gained some reknown for an arguement with former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the floor of the parliament.

Actress Jenny McCarthy has had several bestselling books, most recently Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth and Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism.

It might be easy to dismiss all of the Scott Pilgrim books as comic books for teens, but they are highly popular and just about every one of the of the six book series is somewhere on each of the various bestsellers lists. Adults are snapping up Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels (I don't know if that's for themselves or for the kids). Along with the Wimpy Kid Diaries, the Pilgrim books are proving to be some of the most sought-after books series out there - and are outselling more traditional authors. I think it's obviously because of the successful Scott Pilgrim vs. the World movie that just came out starring Michael Cena.

Have you heard this author's tale of captivity? She had returned to her native Columbia and ran a candidate in the presidential election and was abducted while campaigning for six years in the jungle. A compelling story.

Former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter has had numerous bestsellers and in this new book, Carter provides insights into his presidency (1977-81) from approximately 5,000 pages of his personal diaries he kept at the time. Interesting information about Carter's interaction with the heavyweight politicos of the time including Henry Kissinger, Ted Kennedy, and Joe Biden as well as his thoughts on the mid-east peace accords that he was working on with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin which subsequently resulted in Carter's Nobel Prize.

(Smart Stock Guy starts a website called wallstreetwindow.com does very well providing needed investment advice and analysis. (I went to his website).

First time author Robb Wolf shows the research from genetics, biochemistry and anthropology and shows how with simple nutritional, lifestyle changes and some exercise thrown in your health and appearance can be improved for the better. Before embarking as an author, Wolf was a research biochemist but morphed into one of the most popular strength and conditioning coaches around.