The big book index

So this appeared in the Economist this week

It is really funny because we can kinda do some demographical statistics / consumer preferences, and find out how sick and depressed our society. The good news, dieting and pilates are out :).

Nr 1 : Kids are in, but since there is only 10%, we know, reading is kinda out.
Nr 2-4,6 : Are these people really bored, screaming to break free, but so very conforming. It is incredibly warped, because if you click some of these, you will be recommended: Why do men have nipples? hmm... maybe women might one day be redundant?
Nr 5,9,10 : Ok, we are talking abt reading, get intellectural
Nr 7,8 : So this is the "let me get this for my wife" which, incidently, only 40% of the guys did... the 60% were wiser and got lingerie instead.

The big book index

Jan 5th 2006
From The Economist print edition

What Santa carried in his Christmas sack

FATHER CHRISTMAS is the man to ask if you want to know why the world is at, why you have eyebrows, why the best food comes from Italy, why drug dealers live with their mothers, or why for some people everything is shit. Which may be why more books are sold in December than in any other month.

1. The Chronicles of Narnia (Boxed Set).
By C.S.Lewis. HarperTrophy; $28.77. HarperCollins; £22.79

The release of the film of Narnia in time for Christmas provided just the right opportunity for a special re-issue of all seven of the C.S. Lewis books, although re-arranging them in chronological order has caused turmoil in the kingdom.

2. Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Questions.
By New Scientist magazine. Profile Books; 256 pages; £3.76

Perfect if you want to know how long you can live on beer alone, why you have eyebrows, or whether a compass works in space.

3. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.
By Thomas L. Friedman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 496 pages; $18.15. Penguin/Allen Lane; £14

The New York Times columnist and three-times Pulitzer prize winner explains how globalisation has made the world smaller.

4. Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?: The Encyclopedia of Modern Life.
By Steve Lowe and Alan McArthur. Time Warner Books; 288 pages; £5.99

A broadside against modern culture and the things we love to hate: loft living; bar-clubs; Tony Blair; chick lit; loyalty cards; IKEA; Kabbalah; bling and more.

5. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.
By Doris Kearns Goodwin. Simon & Schuster; 944 pages; $21

How Lincoln won over his fiercest opponents and appointed them to the cabinet.

6. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.
By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. William Morrow; 256 pages; $17.13. Penguin/ Allen Lane; £8

If you want to know why Roe v Wade may have reduced crime and why drug dealers live with their mothers, this is the book for you.

7. Jamie’s Italy.
By Jamie Oliver. Michael Joseph; 336 pages; £8

A straight-talking, appetising selection of Italian classics from the telebrity chef.

8. Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners.
By Rachael Ray. Clarkson Potter; 352 pages; $13.57

The Food Network darling ensures you can put a different dish on your dinner table every night for a full year in just 30 minutes.

9. Teacher Man.
By Frank McCourt. Scribner; 272 pages; $15.60. Fourth Estate; £7.58

Best known for his miserable Irish childhood, Frank McCourt in his third book of memoirs tells of his years as an English teacher in the public high schools of New York City.

10. 1776.
By David McCullough. Simon & Schuster; 400 pages; $18.51. Penguin/Allen Lane; £17.50

The rise and fall and rise of George Washington’s rebel forces and how they won the day and made history.