Success Books – Successful Reads

I love to learn, but often find it difficult to fit in as much educational time as I would like. David. S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have come up with an easy way to easily increase your knowledge. Simply read a page a day from their book The Intellectual Devotional.

Each day of the week is devoted to a specific topic:

• Monday – History
• Tuesday – Literature
• Wednesday – Visual Arts
• Thursday – Science
• Friday – Music
• Saturday – Philosophy
• Sunday – Religion

Of course there will be plenty of topics in the  The Intellectual Devotional that you already know about, but chances are that you will learn something new on that subject. For example, during the first week you’ll learn about…

Monday – Day 1 (History) The Alphabet

Did you know that the Egyptians developed the alphabet as an easy way to communicate with their slaves, and when these slaves eventually migrated back to their home country they took the writing system with them?

Tuesday – Day 2 (Literature) Ulysses by James Joyce

Did you know the novel Ulysses by James Joyce was banned from the United States for nearly twelve years due to the sexual imagery.

Wednesday, Day 3 (Visual Arts) – Lascaux Cave Paintings

The creators of the painters made use of perspective, they painted the figures high on the wall, and a manner that would not be distorted to the viewers below.

Thursday – Day 4 (Science)  Cloning

You’ll read about Dolly the Sheep.  However, did you know that Dolly’s
telomeres (a thin strand of protein at the end of the chromosomes) are the same as the mothers.  A newborn sheep would normally have much longer telomeres.  Telomeres seem to help protect our cells and get thinner as we age. So there could be some truth to all those science fiction stories of clones aging quickly.

Friday – Day 5 (Music) The Basics of Music

I played the Viola for many years so I have some musical background. However, I did learn that in India the musical pitches are chosen from a collection of twenty-two possibilities, and the distance between the steps on a scale are sometimes are larger and sometimes smaller than those used in the Western world.  This makes the differences between the pitches in Indian music very subtle.

Saturday – Day 6 (Philosophy) Appearance and Reality

I learned about a group of philosophers called the Presocratics. While I had heard of each of these philosophers before I didn’t know they believed the world was vastly different from what the experienced.  For example, Thales held the belief that all reality was ultimately composed of water, while Heraclitus believed the world was built from fire.

Sunday – Day 7 (Torah)

Torah scrolls are written in Hebrew by hand. They contain 304,805 letters and make take more than a year to produce. If a single mistake is made, the entire scroll becomes invalid.

I recommend this book for several reasons.

1. It’s a great way to expand your knowledge about a wide variety of subjects.
2. Each day’s reading is a quick read – just one page.
3. The things you learn can be a great way to start a conversation.  This is a lesson I learned from my teenage son.
   can always tell when he has been reading the book as he uses the things he learned to start a conversations with me.  He just revealed to me that one of his major motivations to reading it is to find something interesting to talk about, and interesting ways to start a conversation.  Personally I think that is brilliant, but then I think he is brilliant most of the time.  Interestingly the 2nd and 3rd book in the series uses the words “converse confidently” in the title.

One thing that would have improved the experience for me would be additional illustrations, particularly for the art subjects.  For example, when reading about the Lascaux Cave Paintings it would have been wonderful to have an illustration to look at.

Genre:  Daily Lessons/Devotional
Published by Rodale in 2006.
Hardcover;  364 pages.
List price is $24.00
ISBN: 1-59486-513-2

>>Currently available at Amazon.com for $16.32

Also from David. S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim

• The Intellectual Devotional: American History: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently about Our Nation’s Past (Hardcover)
• The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently with the Culturati (Hardcover)

In a previous post I ranked novels into a list called The Top Novels of All Time. I did this by referring to six different best-seller lists and averaging the score to determine each books placement on the list.

Referring back to that list only, I thought it would be interesting to see what our readers think should be the ranking of the books on that list.

So take the poll below and tell us which books would be in your top ten.

Also…

I know that many of you will have many books in your top 100 that aren’t even on this list.  After all, this list doesn’t have many of the modern books on it so click here to add your book to a readers choice listing.  Eventually your favorites will go head-to-head with the Top 100 Book listing in the Ultimate Book Showdown.

To review: vote for your favorite in the poll below then tell us which books you would like to see on that list by clicking here. Read the rest of this entry »

Image Courtesy of bensonkua's Photo Stream

Many of you have favorite books in your top 100 that aren’t on the The Best Books of All Time listing. After all, that list didn’t include many of the modern books on it.  So here’s your chance!

What book do you think should be on the list?

Share them in the comment section below.  Books that receive a lot of votes (via comments) will be added to a poll that includes the The Top Novels of All Time listing in the Ultimate Book Showdown.

New York Times Advice Bestseller List
Published May 1, 2009 for the week ending Apr. 25

Hardcover – Advice

1. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner - Relationship tips from the comedian and host of the “Steve Harvey Morning Show.” (13 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
2. The Ultimate Depression and Survival Guide by Martin D. Weiss. Strategies for protecting your money in the worst of times. (2 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
3. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow. Thoughts on “seizing every moment” from Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor who died of pancreatic cancer at age 47. (55 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
4. Master Your Metabolism by Jullian Michael with Mariska van Aalst. A plan for removing toxins and rebalancing hormones to lose weight, by a trainer and coach from “The Biggest Loser” on NBC. (3 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list).
5. 10-10-10 by Suzy Welch. Evaluating decisions based on how they will affect your life in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. (2 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
6. B Is For Beer by Tom Robbins.  Lessons, pleasant and unpleasant, about beer, as taught to a kindergartner named Gracie. (1 week on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
7. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The law of attraction as a key to getting what you want. (120 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
8. Think Like a Champion by Donald J. Trump with Meredith McIver. (Vanguard, $24.95.) Informal essays on success in business and in life. (1 week on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
9. The Deen Family Cookbook, by Paula Deen. Recipes from the extended Deen clan. (3 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
10. In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms, by Laura Schlessinger. Advice, support and compassion for mothers. (3 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)

Paperback – Advice

1. The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough. A 40-day challenge for spouses to practice unconditional love. (31 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
2. Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 by Lisa Lillien. Two hundred recipes under 200 calories, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack time. (2 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
3. Naturally Thin, by Bethenny Frankel with Eve Adamson. Rules and recipes of escaping the diet trap, fro a start of “The Real Housewives of New York City.” (7 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
4. What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. Advice for parents-to-be. (408 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
5. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. How to communicate love in a way a spouse will understand. (91 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
6. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Vegan diet advice from the world of modeling. (94 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
7. The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. Finding meaning in on’es life through God. (47 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
8. Twilight by Mark Cotta Vaz. A behind-the-scenes look a the film based on the vampire romance for young adults by Stephanie Meyer. (28 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
9. The Power of Now by Eckhart Toole. A guide to personal growth and spiritual enlightenment. (67 weeks on the New-York Times Best-seller list)
10. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. A spiritual teacher prescribes letting go of the ego to help end conflict and suffering.