Publisher's Weekly 2006 Bestsellers - The Business Slice

Every year, Publisher Weekly runs lists of the bestsellers from various genre (fiction, non-fiction, paperback). What is different about this list is you can see the number of copies sold.

The author of 800CEORead ran down through the non-fiction list to pull out all the business titles that sold more than 100,000 copies. You often see personal finance books show up on the bestsellers lists so he included those.

1. The World Is Flat (Friedman) - 869,610 copies

2. Freakonomics (Levitt/Dubner) - 697,848 copies

3. Why We Want You To Be Rich (Trump/Kiyosaki) - 490,000 copies

4. Jim Cramer's Mad Money (Cramer) - 360,000 copies(#)

5. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Gladwell) - 317,303 copies

6. Jim Cramer's Real Money (Cramer) - 262,000 copies(#)

7. Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week! - 203,512 copies

8. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth (Eker) - 199,000 copies

9. The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner (Bach) - 178,000 copies

10. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (Lewis) - 148,000 copies

11. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More (Anderson) - 130,427 copies

12. Inteligencia Social/Social Intelligence (Goleman) - 130,000 copies(#)

13. The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization (Maxwell) - 119,339 copies

14. Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions (Kotter) - 107,621 copies

15. Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningful Life (Covey) - 102,438 copies

16. War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back (Dobbs) - 102,248 copies

17. Stumbling on Happiness (Gilbert) - 100,000 copies(#)

Well, read and catch your fortune. Be sure it's not dust;)

10 Most Famous Scots

According to the survey conducted in the UK the Loch Ness Monster was called the most famous representative of Scotland of all times. By the way they’ve still casted doubt on its existence. However, almost one third of respondents mentioned this mythical creature.

Then, according to the public opinion, the poet Robert Burns follows. In his honor Burns Evenings have been being organized for the last 200 years.

Sean Connery, an actor and a public nationalist living on the Bahamas now, became the third one.

Robert Bruce and William Wallace – the fighters for freedom – took the fourth and the fifth places.

Lorraine Kelly (a journalist and a presenter), Evan McGregor (an actor) and Lulu (a singer) conclude the TOP-10.

Read also Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms and be sure it's not dust.

10 Most Generous Alex Tew's Sponsors))

It looks like Alex Tew disappointed the advertisers: Pixelotto.com has earned only $140.000 since it was run. The trend of last week pixel purchases goes down:

But who are they - the advertisers which helped him to earn this money? Here is the list of Pixelotto project most generous participants.

1. Lastminute.com - 10.000 pixels for $20.000. The guys who sell everything you may need to buy in the last moment from hot tickets to Christnas presents. Their banner hangs on the site almost from the beginning.
2. Bodog.com - 8.400 pixels for $16.800. The large entertainment portal.
3. RCAM Corporation (www.rc.am) . 7.600 pixels for $15.200. High-End Laptop Computer Manufacture. It's interesting how many computers they will shove aside to Alex's vivitors.
4. Enough.com - all their links are redirected to different resources, so if you try to win $1.000.000 clicking the ads remember their logotype is devided into several sections and each one of them is for a special site.
5. Globat.com - 4.800 pixels for $9.600. The hosters who promise free hosting for one year. By the way, I like the conditions they offer after the year ends. I think their investment will certainly return.
6. mymemory.co.uk - 4.200 pixels for $8.400. EShop selling some computer stuff (HDDs, memory cards etc.).
7. JobsGroup.net - 4.200 pixels for $8.400. Free online brothel. A joke)) The large job search engine.
8. RomanticSingles.com - 3.600 pixels for $7.200. One of numerous acquaintance resources. "I am a full time student earning a degree inlibrary science and I am very committed to myeducation. I enjoy listening to classical, oldies,and jazz..." - that's what I've read on the first page. Pfa! Lame.
9. my2pals.com - 3.300 pixels for $6.600. Online Lotto ad on Pixelotto.com. Curious, isn't it?
10. Digitalkind.co.uk - 2.400 pixels for $4.800. Trade price hardware, software, networking, CPUs & electronics.

Well, that's all. OK, let's wait for the result.

Internet Riches: The Simple Money-making Secrets of Online Millionaires

The Strongest Girl in the Universe

Download the video of the strongest girl in the world from SportAchievements.com (You need RealPlayer to watch it) or from VaryaAkulova.com(mpg format)

Today my rating includes just one position. I offer you to be surprised with the amazing little girl called Varya Akulova skills. Varya lives in Ukraine with her parents and in general she seems to be a usual kid except one thing… her amazing physical power!

After she deadlifted more than 90 kg at the age of four she became a powerlifting champion. At 5 years old she competed in adult powerlifting competition for the first time. Varya’s skills examples also include throwing her father in wrestling training and carrying 3 small people on her shoulders. People say Varya has herculean genes and no one can understand the way such little girl can pump iron 7 hours a day if she doesn't eat any special food like steroids or even meat. The girl took part in bone tests to make sure it is safe for her to lift heavy weights.

The girl is trained in acrobatics, circus juggling and strongman act skills, she is an excellent arm wrestler also good in boxing and kick boxing.

At the moment it’s impossible to tell how strong she really is as her father doesn’t allow her to strain for safety reasons. That’s why she is supposed to demonstrate just a little part of her strength potential. By the way, Varya’s father who is a professional circus strongman and weighs about 250 lbs (115 kilograms) believes by age 12 the girl is stronger than he.

Now Varya does a variety of trainings and usually trains with her father. She has been known to lift over 100,000 lb. (50 tons) in one training session. One more amazing thing about Varya Akulova is that her upper body (arms, shoulders) is as strong as her lower body.

Now some part of the girl’s day is spent in body-building, stretching, contortion and kick boxing. She works hard on balance and juggling and does meditation and yoga. But the family also encourages the girl reading her schoolbooks, do homework and read literature (she’s recently finished a "Tom Sawyer" novel).

Read also Amazing Achievements (Facts and Records)

15 Wonderful St.Peterburg bridges

Three years ago St.Peterburg celebrated its 300th birthday. This city is also known as Russian Venice. It was founded on bogs which were put into granite and became strict channels and rivers. Now St.Peterburg is decorated with 178 bridges. At the photos below you can see 15 of them (not most beautiful - I've no idea of how to rate them). If to be truthful I've snatched most of these photos from Most-SPb.ru. There you can find much more amazing pictures.

1. Anichkov Bridge

2. Belinsky Bridge

3. Dvortsovy Bridge

4. Egipetsky Bridge

5.Leshtukov Bridge

6. Lomonosov Bridge

7. Liteyny Bridge

8. Obuhovsky Bridge

9. Ohtinsky Bridge

10. Pantelemonovsky Bridge

11. Pracheshny Bridge

12. Semenovsky Bridge

13. Shmidt's Bridge

14. Staro-Kalinkin Bridge

15. Troytsky Bridge

Some more about bridges:

A Picture History of the Brooklyn Bridge

The Most American Books Ever Written - 2

Well, here I'm going to end the topic touched upon in the previous post. The rest of the most American books list is something like that:

9. The world according to Garp

Fabulous piece of work from one of the best American writers of all time.

10. The Grapes of Wrath

I don't know what the success rate is for reading this book, but once you get past the slow beginning it's an awesome book and a great portrayal of American life during the period it was set in.

11. The Fountainhead

A little hard to read for some, but I still think it's pretty popular piece of extremely captivating philosophy--and it discusses in depth the earlier half of this century. Another work by the author, Atlas Shrugged, is at heart an even more extended version of the same criticisms.

12. The Outsiders

Used to be more popular, but is fading out; a great book about gang life in the sixties.

13. The Phantom Tollboth

Popular children's book, though a quite a fun read as well for adults, full of puns and wordplay.

14. Ender's Game Gift Edition

Amazing book, because it is simple and yet powerful, and can be not only read and enjoyed by dults and children alike but both will want to re-read it many times over.

15. White Oleander

Presents a view of many lowlife American households as the protaginist moves from one to another in their foster care -- though it doesn't really portray American life accurately, it is a good representation of its lowest level.

16. Walden

Pretty popular, classic work that is on the short side but highly philosophical.

I think that's a pretty good list of books people have actually read.

The Most American Books Ever Written

There was a time someone published the list of most American books on Google Answers page. I generally agree with its contents and in two posts (this and the next ones) I'm going to cite it a bit edited according to my preferences and some rational sense.

So, if you want books that give you a feel about life in America:

1. Fight Club: A Novel

It's popular, and it's likely to stay that way for a
while because it actually has good content. The book is much better
than the film, though most people have seen it instead of read it. Ok,
so this book is from '96, but still.

2. Zen And the Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

Very popular, well-read
book; deeply philosophical, but at a light level that is easy to read
and wonderful to read again and again. Since it takes place on
motorcycle across the US, it discusses attitudes and ideas from
throughout the countryside, as well as the author's own insight as he
examines himself and his friends' attitudes.

3. Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals

By the same author as #2, this book goes even more deeply
into American culture; it's a little harder to read, and a little
longer, but it's even more focused on what makes America what it is,
and comes up with an astoundingly perceptive theory that we are the
synthesis of the Native American and European cultures.

4. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away

Though not as highly read, this is an
excellent book for understanding American culture--the author of this
work is from America as a youth, but lived in England for the first
two decades of his adult life and then returned to America with his
English wife. His writing style is quirky and captivating, and he
catches things the rest of us might miss writing about our own
culture.

5. The Catcher in the Rye

High schoolers tend to identify very deeply
with this material. It only sort of is a story; it's more of a
character portrayal of a youth fighting disillusionment and his
surroundings. Very few people think this book is just ok; most either
love it or hate it.

6. The Old Man and the Sea

Almost everyone reads this at some point
in school. From my experience, guys tend to like this story, and girls
tend to dislike it, but most people have read it.

7. The Great Gatsby (Audio Editions)

Also a school favorite, as it is rather short but
a "literary classic." Personally, I thought it was rather bad, but
again it falls into that sharp one-way-or-the-other grouping: either
you love it or you hate it.

8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (The Illus Children's Library) and to a lesser extent The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn

These books are classics, plus they make for
wonderful reading. They're funny and witty and cute, and they show a
vision of an earlier America with an angle that you don't normally see
in writing of that time.