Successful Reads

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, is the perfect book to read if you are feeling sorry for yourself. You’ll quickly be grateful for what you do have.

The story, set in Afghanistan, chronicles the lives of Miriam and Laila, two women whose intertwined lives are forced upon them.

Miriam’s childhood isn’t an easy one.  Because she is an illegitimate daughter she is forced to live on the outskirts of Herat, in a small hut.  Her mother, and provider, has a terrible view of life due to the circumstances she finds herself in. Her father lives in town with his wives, and many children who partake in a lavish lifestyle that is such a contrast to Miriams.

As sad as Miriam’s childhood is her life doesn’t get any better. Upon her mothers death she is married off to an man who is both physically and mentally abusive. Things escalate when Mariam is not able to have children. Her husband takes a second wife in an effort to get a son.

Over time Mariam and Laila develop a friendship while war tears the country apart as the countries leadership is transferred from one political group to another.

The story is filled with tragedy after tragedy, but beautifully outlines the resiliency of the human spirit and the strength of friendship.

Image Courtesy of simonkoležnik

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

~Mark Twain, attributed

I was at a local book fair where I watched a young child eagerly run up to our booth to look at the vast array of children’s books.  He spent fifteen wide-eyed minutes in the booth devouring every picture in the book he could find.

All the while, his mom grew more and more impatient.  She tried pulling him away several times.  Finally she grabbed his arm and successfully pulled him away.

As they were walking away the child was pleading for a book.  “Please mom, just one book,” he said.

What she said next astounded me, “But you already have “a” book.  You don’t need more than one.”

My heart broke for that child.

• Doesn’t that mom want to provide a good education for a child?
• Doesn’t she want to feed his imagination?
• Doesn’t she want to provide the advantages that the knowledge contained within books could bring?

What advantage to you want for yourself?

Have you read from a good book today?

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

~Mark Twain, attributed

I was at a local book fair where I watched a young child eagerly run up to our booth to look at the vast array of children’s books.  He spent fifteen wide-eyed minutes in the booth devouring every picture in the book he could find.

All the while, his mom grew more and more impatient.  She tried pulling him away several times.  Finally she grabbed his arm and successfully pulled him away.

As they were walking away the child was pleading for a book.  “Please mom, just one book,” he said.

What she said next astounded me, “But you already have “a” book.  You don’t need more than one.”

My heart broke for that child.

• Doesn’t that mom want to provide a good education for a child?
• Doesn’t she want to feed his imagination?
• Doesn’t she want to provide the advantages that the knowledge contained within books could bring?

What advantage to you want for yourself?

Have you read from a good book today?

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

~Mark Twain, attributed

I was at a local book fair where I watched a young child eagerly run up to our booth to look at the vast array of children’s books.  He spent fifteen wide-eyed minutes in the booth devouring every picture in the book he could find.

All the while, his mom grew more and more impatient.  She tried pulling him away several times.  Finally she grabbed his arm and successfully pulled him away.

As they were walking away the child was pleading for a book.  “Please mom, just one book,” he said.

What she said next astounded me, “But you already have “a” book.  You don’t need more than one.”

My heart broke for that child.

• Doesn’t that mom want to provide a good education for a child?
• Doesn’t she want to feed his imagination?
• Doesn’t she want to provide the advantages that the knowledge contained within books could bring?

What advantage to you want for yourself?

Have you read from a good book today?

Want to create a buzz about your business?  Do you want your businesses message to spread through viral marketing?  Yes? Then Word of Mouth Marketing, by Andy Sernovitz is an essential read.  In fact, it should be an essential read for any business owner.

The marketing strategies presented in Word of Mouth Marketing will work for the home based business.  The marketing tips presented in this book will work for those in multi-level marketing as well as affiliate marketing, for those that own a corner store, and for those who manage marketing campaigns in a large corporation.

If you put some of the marketing tips learned in the book to use  you could get a much larger return on your money.  You see, according to Andy Sernovitz “word of mouth marketing is the most profitable marketing you can do. ” It brings a larger return, but costs practically nothing.”

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.”

~ Barbara W. Tuchman

Image Courtesy of brody4

Books not only carry a civilization – they alter a civilization.  Take a look at how Uncle Tom’s Cabin altered a civilization. In fact, it may be safe to say that few other novels have altered a civilization as much.

Henry James said that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was  “much less a book than a state of vision, of feeling and of consciousness.” The book sent a strong message about the wrongs of slavery. It was certainly shocking for it’s day. It was controversial, and it helped change the course of a the United States. However, it didn’t stop there.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped to alter views throughout the world. The book sold 300,000 copies in the first year, and has never gone out of print. The book eventually became the best-selling novel in the world during the 19th century. In fact, it was translated into thirty-seven different languages.

Of course, every major religious book has altered civilizations ~ the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, Bhagavad Gita, the Tipitaka.

Ayn Rand’s books have changed the views of many, and helped alter civilization as well. Her book Atlas Shrugged gained vast popularity based solely on word of mouth. People enjoy Ayn’s books for the inspiration they find within her pages. Any Rand’s books put forth her philosophy. She said,

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute^{. [1]}

I’d love to hear what books you’ve read that have either altered a civilization, has the power to alter a civilization, or you wish everyone would read so that it could alter a civilization.

What do you think?