Best Booksellers & Bookselling
He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. “A wonderful, moving, endearing story of redemption and transformation that will sing in your heart for a very, very long time.” -- Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain. “Readers who delighted in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and Letters from Skye will be equally captivated by this novel.” —* Library Journal, starred review. “This novel has humor, romance, a touch of suspense, but most of all love--love of books and bookish people and, really, all of humanity in its imperfect glory.” —Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child “Marvelously optimistic about the future of books and bookstores and the people who love both.” — The Washington Post. “Captures the joy of connecting people and books .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I actually didn't have any idea what the book was about when I started reading - and, at this point - having finished, I think I know what it's about but I'm unsure that I could really describe the "type" of book to anyone who asked."
"The recent death of his beloved wife has left him a widower at the age of thirty-nine. Enter an absolutely delightful cast of secondary characters who populate the island and A.J. And if you loved "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" or "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" you'll find lots to love here, as well - not because the plots are similar, but because of the similar feel to the novels that comes from a good cast of eccentric townsfolk, a small community, and a sense of closeness among the characters."
"We learn of his triumphs, his foibles, and his tragedies, and I think the author would make most readers share each of these with him--whether he is co-raising a child with his co-parent Google or finally summoning the nerve to propose to his love. Vikry says that he used to prefer full-length books but now most enjoys the short story, and I think this statement is key to another aspect of this work. Yes, it sells books, but it is also a communal meeting place and the location of ten different Reading Groups."
"If you love books, you are likely to love this novel about the owner of a small bookstore in the neighborhood of Cape Cod, owned by an impatient, embittered man who encounters love on many different levels almost in spite of himself."
"I approach book club choices with some trepidation as it is difficult to make choices that please a diverse group of people."
"The "Bookseller" goes from being a depressed and cynical as a widower to raising a baby left on his door and finding a new love."
"The things we loved."
"This was a case of laudatory reviews raising expectations and then having those expectations somewhat dashed."
He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. “A wonderful, moving, endearing story of redemption and transformation that will sing in your heart for a very, very long time.” —Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain. “Readers who delighted in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and Letters from Skye will be equally captivated by this novel.” —* Library Journal, starred review. In this sweet, uplifting homage to bookstores, Zevin perfectly captures the joy of connecting people and books. Filled with interesting characters, a deep knowledge of bookselling, wonderful critiques of classic titles, and very funny depictions of book clubs and author events, this will prove irresistible to book lovers everywhere. --Joanne Wilkinson “This novel has humor, romance, a touch of suspense, but most of all love--love of books and bookish people and, really, all of humanity in its imperfect glory.” —Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow Child “Marvelously optimistic about the future of books and bookstores and the people who love both.” — The Washington Post.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I actually didn't have any idea what the book was about when I started reading - and, at this point - having finished, I think I know what it's about but I'm unsure that I could really describe the "type" of book to anyone who asked."
"The recent death of his beloved wife has left him a widower at the age of thirty-nine. Enter an absolutely delightful cast of secondary characters who populate the island and A.J. And if you loved "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" or "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" you'll find lots to love here, as well - not because the plots are similar, but because of the similar feel to the novels that comes from a good cast of eccentric townsfolk, a small community, and a sense of closeness among the characters."
"We learn of his triumphs, his foibles, and his tragedies, and I think the author would make most readers share each of these with him--whether he is co-raising a child with his co-parent Google or finally summoning the nerve to propose to his love. Vikry says that he used to prefer full-length books but now most enjoys the short story, and I think this statement is key to another aspect of this work. Yes, it sells books, but it is also a communal meeting place and the location of ten different Reading Groups."
"If you love books, you are likely to love this novel about the owner of a small bookstore in the neighborhood of Cape Cod, owned by an impatient, embittered man who encounters love on many different levels almost in spite of himself."
"I approach book club choices with some trepidation as it is difficult to make choices that please a diverse group of people."
"The "Bookseller" goes from being a depressed and cynical as a widower to raising a baby left on his door and finding a new love."
"The things we loved."
"This was a case of laudatory reviews raising expectations and then having those expectations somewhat dashed."
The Everything Store is the book that the business world can't stop talking about, the revealing, definitive biography of the company that placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read. SELECTED AS A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, FORBES, THE NEW REPUBLIC, THE ECONOMIST, BLOOMBERG, AND GIZMODO, AND AS ONE OF THE TOP 10 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM BOOKS OF 2013 BY NIEMAN REPORTS. " The Everything Store is a revelatory read for everyone--those selling and those sold to--who wants to understand the dynamics of the new digital economy. If you've ever one-clicked a purchase, you must read this book." "A deeply reported and deftly written book.... Like Steven Levy's "In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives," and "Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry -- and Made Himself the Richest Man in America" by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews, it is the definitive account of how a tech icon came to life."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I wasn't really planning on reviewing this book, because I was mentioned in it several times and it didn't seem appropriate. But several other people who were also mentioned in the book have already posted reviews, and in fact, MacKenzie Bezos, in her well known 1-star review, suggested that other "characters" might "step out of books" and "speak for themselves". Since Mr. Stone did not have access to Jeff Bezos for this book, but had to rely on previous interviews and the accounts of others, it would be surprising if there weren't a few mistakes regarding his thought processes. As part of my agreement to be interviewed for this book, I was allowed to read a draft of the chapter which covered the time I was there, and I offered a number of corrections, some of which Mr. Stone was able to verify and incorporate. I have a pretty high degree of confidence that Mr. Stone made a significant effort, and did what was in his power, to make the book accurate. The irony is, of course, that by reviewing the book as MacKenzie Bezos did, she has brought an immense amount more attention to it -- there are dozens of articles referring to her review via Google News this morning -- and its sales rank has shot up considerably."
"Exciting story of one of the great companies and entrepreneurs Jeff Bezos."
"If you are one that enjoys business books and have used Amazon for any type or purchases then this book is for you."
"There is a lot to admire in successful companies, and Stone gives Amazon a lot of credit for being persistent, visionary, and relentless There is also plenty to fear -- and Stone does not shy away from pointing this out. He may have some of the details wrong, but I think that the picture he paints and the skill he shows in telling it make this a really compelling read."
"If you are looking merely for business case studies, this would not be the book for you; but if you find the anecdotal stories about the challenges and solutions the team used to build the business, I believe you will find this an outstanding read."
"Definitely worth a read, especially if you're addicted to this company like me."
"Bezos' story and personality is eerily similar to Jobs, and this book was as good if not better than that biography."
Best Book History & Criticism
A beautifully illustrated guide to more than 75 of the world's most celebrated, rare, and seminal books and handwritten manuscripts ever produced, with discussions of their purpose, features, and creators. Michael Collins is a native of Ireland and studied theology at the University College Dublin.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The definition of a good coffee table book, this work is almost impossible to avoid picking it up and paging through. Along with photographs of pages from the first edition which include a discussion of 16th century typesetting, is a general synopsis of the book’s subject matter, a thumbnail biography of the author, an over-view of culture during the book’s release and an In Context section which explores its impact in history which in this case is a look at the founding fathers of the U.S. Not every work in the book is covered as lavishly, for example in the final section most books, On the Road by Jack Kerouak has four or five columnar inches and a picture of the cover of the book. The inclusions cover a vast range of subjects from definitive botanical and anatomical works, ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead and the I Ching to Beatrice Potter’s Peter Rabbit along with Penguin publishers first 10 paperback books creating a thoroughly engaging volume."
"A stunning volume spanning centuries of beautiful books from all cultures."
"From earliest times, when books were laboriously written on clay tablets, papyrus, parchment, and paper, until the present, with millions of us obtaining books, magazines, and other reading matter electronically, books have been a hallmark of civilization. While doing so, you will discover a treasure trove about the Gutenberg Bible, Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable notebooks, Vesalius's studies of the human body that set "a new standard for anatomical illustration," Samuel Johnson's extraordinary dictionary, Audubon's masterpiece, "Birds of America," Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.""
"I thought not...). "Remarkable Books" is too big to sit down with and read all at once. However, it's a wonderful book to start at the beginning - 3000BCE - and goes on through the ages to modern times."
Best Business Operations Research
Written in a fast-paced thriller style, The Goal, a gripping novel, is transforming management thinking throughout the world. He has ninety days to save his plant - or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with a professor from student days - Jonah - to help him break out of conventional ways of thinking to see what needs to be done. It contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas, which underline the Theory of Constraints (TOC), developed by Eli Goldratt. One of Eli Goldratt s convictions was that the goal of an individual or an organization should not be defined in absolute terms. "A survey of the reading habits of managers found that though they buy books by the likes of Tom Peters for display purposes, the one management book they have actually read from cover to cover is The Goal."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As many other reviewers observed, the story has literal value as a conduit for learning how to identify process problems and resolve them by illustrating successful examples of HOW to question status quo plus successful examples of HOW to implement change through creating a collaborative or collective-ownership working environment that questions status quo as a matter of course."
"If you are employed in a business area, or interested in learning more about how to streamline company processes, this book is a great read."
"I have worked in oil and gas and manufacturing as an engineer and now manager for 20 years and I am finding this book is providing me insights on problems I am facing today."
"Between the fall of 2005 and the summer of 2011, I pursued a Master of Business Administration and Master of Systems Engineering back to back while working during the day."
"Anyone who is in their own business or has a management position in any size company should read this timeless classic."
"I had a really hard time finishing 11 CDs, I can not imagine what the book is like. From there, its hard to say which Chapters are the most valuable because he (Alex) does go back and forth about "The Goal" and the story of the book."
"TOC is a very beneficial way of finding constraints in your organization and work on a path of constant improvement .After listening to the successful implementation of TOC''s implementations in verious fields like hospitals , Automobiles etc I am convinced it can be the best tool for a manager and will be happy to be a part of its implementation or be the implamenter one day."
Best General Books & Reading
Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Dr. Mortimer J. Adler was Chairman of the Board of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Director of the Institute for Philosophical Research, Honorary Trustee of the Aspen Institute, and authored more than fifty books.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The second reading involves digging in, an attempt to understand and analyze the author's central argument or thesis, and the third reading is for the purpose of argument, i.e., of reflecting on where we agree with the book and where we disagree, and why... 50 years after that first reading, i still try to follow the advice (above), and find it as helpful and true today as it was back then."
"This level means “skimming systematically” to grasp as much as you can from a book in a limited time-frame (possibly just a few minutes). If “Customer’s Review” sections existed during their time, I am sure they would also have devoted a portion of Chapter 4 to provide insights on how to better profit from them. These note-taking techniques are indispensable to read well and the reader is advised to experiment with them and adapt them to his own style of understanding and to the new types of media now available. The authors present these questions in sequence, but they are quick to explain that in practice (and with experience) we should try to answer them mostly simultaneously. You should then proceed to outline its main parts, each of which should be treated as a subordinate whole and have its unity also expressed. This process could continue ad aeternum, but “the degree of approximation varies with the character of the book and your purpose in reading it”. This means first reconciling the grammatical and the logical aspects of what he writes by matching his chosen words with the terms they express. Part 3 is useful in that it provides some interesting aspects of specific types of reading material, namely practical books, history (including biographies and current events), imaginative literature (including plays and poems), science and mathematics, philosophy and the social sciences. There is, however, a lot of value in this part of the book, specially in the later chapters, and the reader is strongly advised to read it. One thing I should say is that, while they detail interesting aspects of reading imaginative literature, their techniques mostly apply to expository works. You are simply trying to understand the controversy itself, to establish the many voices you hear in a pure exercise of dialectical objectivity. This is a fantastic topic, which the authors have materialised in their greatest contribution to mankind, in my opinion — the Syntopicon, volumes II and III of the Great Books of the Western World. ), but the authors are prompt to address the reader and explain that the list does not have any time frame attached to it. For a much more restrictive (but also magnificent) reading list, the reader is referred to the 10-year-reading plan provided in Adler’s Great Books. Like they state at the beginning of the appendix, the selected texts are "themselves worth reading", so you can’t lose much by doing so. It is a delightful taste of what awaits you in your future exploits of the Great Books — if you do well and accept the challenge, of course. I’ll be forever in debt with two of the greatest absent teachers I’ve had, Dr. Mortimer J. Adler and Dr. Charles Van Doren."
"The regular human will more than likely need to use the methods in the book to read the book..."
"This is an excellent book for any one who loves reading or wants to better understand any written material."
"definitely a must read if you're having issues comprehending books."
"We will sometimes forget overtime that reading and scholarly analysis of the reading we become immersed in is a learned skill involving multiple levels of discipline, technique, and style."
"As bonuses, it also includes tests to help you understand how to use these techniques on passages from famous books and it has Mortimer Adler's famous bibliography that he developed while creating his famous Great Books program."
Best History of Books
A beautifully illustrated guide to more than 75 of the world's most celebrated, rare, and seminal books and handwritten manuscripts ever produced, with discussions of their purpose, features, and creators. Michael Collins is a native of Ireland and studied theology at the University College Dublin.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The definition of a good coffee table book, this work is almost impossible to avoid picking it up and paging through. Along with photographs of pages from the first edition which include a discussion of 16th century typesetting, is a general synopsis of the book’s subject matter, a thumbnail biography of the author, an over-view of culture during the book’s release and an In Context section which explores its impact in history which in this case is a look at the founding fathers of the U.S. Not every work in the book is covered as lavishly, for example in the final section most books, On the Road by Jack Kerouak has four or five columnar inches and a picture of the cover of the book. The inclusions cover a vast range of subjects from definitive botanical and anatomical works, ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead and the I Ching to Beatrice Potter’s Peter Rabbit along with Penguin publishers first 10 paperback books creating a thoroughly engaging volume."
"A stunning volume spanning centuries of beautiful books from all cultures."
"From earliest times, when books were laboriously written on clay tablets, papyrus, parchment, and paper, until the present, with millions of us obtaining books, magazines, and other reading matter electronically, books have been a hallmark of civilization. While doing so, you will discover a treasure trove about the Gutenberg Bible, Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable notebooks, Vesalius's studies of the human body that set "a new standard for anatomical illustration," Samuel Johnson's extraordinary dictionary, Audubon's masterpiece, "Birds of America," Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.""
"I thought not...). "Remarkable Books" is too big to sit down with and read all at once. However, it's a wonderful book to start at the beginning - 3000BCE - and goes on through the ages to modern times."