The Price of Privilege

A book that is rocketing to the top with rave reviews is the Price of Privilege How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, by Dr. Madeline Levine. It seems that our "culture of affluence," is not healthy for our children. Parents often make the mistake of using materialism as an incentive while putting children under pressure to perform to keep up the image. Dr. Levine makes it clear why kids need love, limits, challenges and involvement, not indulgence and pressure. At 246 pages, this well written book cuts right to the point by providing ample real life evidence. In spite of presenting a number of disturbing realities, The Price of Privilege isn’t a depressing read. Rather, Dr. Levine's experience of family incidents, as well as her wit and empathy, make us feel that we can make the necessary adjustments to do a much better job with our children.

Battle of the Bestsellers

Today I am introducing a new feature to the Bestseller Book Search: Battle of the Bestsellers. I will list and briefly discuss two books competing for your book-buying dollar, but just for the fun of things, they will be going about it in completely different ways. Then we can check back in a week or two, and see which ends up claiming the title of bestseller. So, without further ado, the books:

In the left corner we have 6-Day Body Makeover, by Michael Thurmond. In a world of super fast food, why not offer fast-diet as well? Thurmond promises a completely new body in less than a week... and claims you will be able to keep it off as well. The weight-loss program works through what Thurmond calls his "blue-print" system. By identifying your unique physical makeup, you can maximize your program, and achieve the promised results. Currently 6-Day Body Makeover is sitting at #109 on Amazon's sales list.

And in the right corner, weighing in at 528 pages (and what looks like 320 pounds), we have Molto Italiano : 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home, by Mario Batali. Why try and lose weight, when you can eat this good? Batali offers hundreds of easy to follow Italian recipes from across Italy. By the look of Batali, the food must be good, and not exactly "diet - friendly". Molto Italiano : 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home is currently sitting at #301 on Amazon's sales list (up from #862 last week).

Who has the best book? Tune in next time to see which book stays on top. In the meantime, I'm going to make me some quicki-lasagna.

Who doesn't want to live forever?

The art of picking bestselling books before they become bestsellers is really the science of knowing what people want, and then knowing who can write well about those things that people want. So, when a book comes laying out in perfectly simple steps how you can live a longer and fuller life... and that book just happens to be written by a previously bestselling author... it's a pretty good bet that this book will do well.

What is the book?

The Longevity Bible : 8 Essential Strategies for Keeping Your Mind Sharp and Your Body Young by Dr. Gary Small. In this book, Dr. Small, the chief of UCLA's Memory and Aging Research Center, lays out a very simple plan that anyone can follow to achieve a better, longer life. And the best part about this book is that Dr. Small is not presenting radical new ideas on how to live your life. Nothing you read in this book will challenge traditional science. Rather, The Longevity Bible simply states the facts we all need to be reminded of to improve the way we live.

On a completely separate side note, I want to follow up with a previous bestseller prediction. A few weeks ago I predicted YOU: The Smart Patient (Dr. Oz's new book) would hit record sales. Alas, I was totally wrong. What appeared to have happened was all the marketing for this new book resulted in increased sales for Dr. Oz's previous book, You: The Owner's Manual, which once again achieved top 5 sales status. Oh well - can't win them all.

Thin was In... for about a week

The fun thing about tracking bestsellers is the insight you gain into the American subconscious. Case in point: dieting books. If you were to look at the list of bestselling books only three weeks ago, you would have seen a very clear pattern: two of the ten spots were held by dieting books... namely Ultrametabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman, and French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. Both excellent books, both making excellent points, and both completely vacant from today's bestseller list.

Apparently, American's are only worried about their weight in the week running up to spring fashions. After that, it's business as usual.

If there is a pattern on the current bestseller list, it's dogs. Two of the top five spots are currently claimed by dog books. But don't look for any deeper meaning here; those books have been on the list for many months now... even before we decided to try and lose weight.

YOU is back!

Everyone remembers the bestselling book: YOU: The Owner's Manual by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet Oz. Well, the good doctors are back with a new book titled YOU: The Smart Patient. This time, the book focuses on squeezing every available resource out of the medial industry as possible. Everything from choosing the right insurance company to the pitfalls of alternative medicine.

Roizen and Oz can contribute at least some of their previous success to their ability to combine a humorous and off-beat writing style with clear and definitive advice. Happily, YOU: The Smart Patient does not disappoint on either accounts. The book is very light-hearted and readable, while at the same time full of so much useful information, you'll wonder how you ever navigated the medical industry without it. This is definitely the type of book you will want to keep on a near-reaching shelf; no doubt you will want to refer to it again and again.

YOU: The Smart Patient will achieve bestselling status, not only because it is a follow-up book to a previous bestseller, but also because it is a book so many people feel they need to read. Many people are confused, and even frightened by the medical industry; a manual describing how best to navigate this maze is just what the doctor ordered... no pun intended.

The Middle East from the Inside Out

Whether it be the war in Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions, or our ever-drecreasing supply of oil, the middle east is on just about everyone's mind... which is why nearly any book discussing the chaos in that part of the world is a shoe-in for bestselling status. Especially a book written from a Middle East insider like Efraim Havley, the former head of Israeli secret services.

In his new book Man in the Shadows: Inside the Middle East Crisis with a Man Who Led the Mossad, Efraim Havley recounts his personal experiences conducting secret operations, political upheaval, and more. While the memoirs date as far back as 1988, they do include much inside details on the creation and advancement of al-Qaeda in the world stage.

Published just a few weeks ago, this book is sure to see rising success as more and more readers learn of the insightful tails contained therein. Watch for Man in the Shadows; it will surely be the next books on everyone's mind.

The World is Flat 2.0?

Nothing says "instant bestseller" more than a "revised" version of a previous (and still current) publishing king. For those who keep an eye on Amazon's book sales rank, you know that The World is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman has been ranked, if not number 1, then in the top 10 for the last 5 trillion years.

As of April 18, 2006, Friedman is back with his new "Updated and Expanded" version of The World is Flat, naturally only available in hardcover. This may be the first time a book has been revised while it is still a best seller.

According to an interview with Friedman available on Amazon's website, this is much more than just a typo correction. He refers to it as "The World is Flat 2.0", and also "The World is Still Flat." In this book, Friedman not only focuses on defining and describing the new world economy we find ourselves in, but also how we forward thinkers can best capitalize on this. He discusses which education and jobs will be successful in the future.

Friedman also expands on his oil dependency topics, pushing his "green is the new red, white and blue" banner. He looks at how our political system has just begun implementing policy to help this dependency, and also what else needs to happen to get this monkey off our back.

The World is Flat, Updated and Expanded will undoubtedly become an overnight bestseller, if for no other reason, as it will replace the previous edition on the sales shelves.