Summer seems to have just started in Geneva (it has been so rainy!) so I am trying to get caught up on some books I probably should have already finished by now. On the marketing & bus. side, I just completed Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin (I know…probably a bit later than some of you) and am just now getting into Groundswell by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff. I will also check out Purpose, the Starting Point of Great Companies. On the cause side I am (finally) going to check out Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity by Stuart Hart and The Power of Unreasonable People by John Elkington. On the inspiration side, I will pick up The Way of the Peaceful Warrior on a tip from Mitch Joel in a very good post he recently wrote called The Way of the Keyboard Warrior.
As I was fishing through the (virtual) book stacks, I was wondering…which (recent) books have made the all-time best sellers list? Wikipedia is great for questions like this. I sorted through the list to find the top 3 selling books since 2000 (in English). I probably could have guessed #1 & #2…but #3 did surprise me.
1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown 2003: 57 million copies
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (2007) 44 million copies
3. The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (2002): 30 million copies
I saw the Da Vinci Code movie, but did not read the book. I did not read any of the books in the Harry Potter series…I did see a couple of the movies, however.
About a year ago, I had a listen through the Purpose Driven Life audiobook. Indeed, Rick Warren’s message of hope and spiritual purpose seems to have motivated millions of people worldwide. Eckhardt Tolle’s latest book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose is another recent purpose related best seller that continues to linger around the top 10 list after receiving strong Oprah endorsement.
So, my reading list is pretty full for the next couple of months.
What are you guys reading?
On m-cause, I discuss marketing and good causes. Sometimes I talk about P&G (my company). Sometimes I talk about life in Europe. Sometimes I talk about random things. If you want to connect further, email me at roborj@yahoo.com or connect with me on Facebook. If you see any "good" stuff happening out there, please let me know...
2 Comments
Now I know what Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, and Groundswell have in common — this blog post!
Hope you enjoy the book. -Josh
Ryan,
I have just read two very inspiring books. First is a very popular book titled “The Last Lecture” and the second was a great look at a very good book that I believe is very relevant in today’s time
It is “The Last Campaign: Robert Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America” It is great to read about a man that stood for something and did not do what was best for his campaign, but did what was right.
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