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Books Review of the Week: “What the Dog Saw”

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Every week, we showcase an Amazon user review from an item on the current All Topics Books Pop Fifty list. Here’s your review of the week for this week!

Review of #3 “What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures”

Review by E. Bukowsky: “”A unique perspective on the complexity of the human mind.”"

This reviewer’s rating: 4/5, average reviewer rating: 4/5

Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures” is a compilation of the author’s favorite work from The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1996. This book is divided into three parts 1. Obsessives, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius 2. Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses 3. Personality, Character, and Intelligence. In the first part, Gladwell includes portraits of a pitchman for kitchen gadgets who is so persuasive that he could sell clothing to a nudist. In addition, he discusses three female advertising pioneers, a canny investment strategist, and a “dog whisperer” who is able to tame even the most intransigent canine…

Click here to see the full review for “What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures” >>

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Books list >>

Books Review of the Week: “Open”

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Every week, we showcase an Amazon user review from an item on the current All Topics Books Pop Fifty list. Here’s your review of the week for this week!

Review of #2 “Open: An Autobiography”

Review by H. S. Brice: “This book will change you. In a good way.”

This reviewer’s rating: 5/5, average reviewer rating: 4.5/5

So you’re thinking this might be one of those recently retired famous people books aren’t you? One where a celebrity, or a Politician, or a sports star cranks out hundreds of pages of self-serving, history-correcting drivel in order to cash the big advance check. A book you can’t even bring yourself to finish; better than a tranquilizer at bedtime.

Well, this is certainly not that book. “Open” is a journey that I predict will stay with you for a very long time. It’s a completely unexpected trip to places you’ve never been. I’m not one of those quasi-professional reviewers you see on Amazon. But this book practically made me write about it.

Interestingly, Open starts not at the beginning and not quite at the end. Second round, US Open, 2006.

…

Click here to see the full review for “Open: An Autobiography” >>

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Books list >>

Books Review of the Week: “Ford County”

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Every week, we showcase an Amazon user review from an item on the current All Topics Books Pop Fifty list. Here’s your review of the week for this week!

Review of #1 “Ford County: Stories”

Review by Jason Frost: “In the grand storytelling tradition…”

This reviewer’s rating: 5/5, average reviewer rating: 3.5/5

John Grisham is a storyteller. For all the flack he takes for being a “pop” author, this man knows how to tell a tale. The only thing this book was missing was a rocking chair and a porch. These are stories that might have been told on a lazy Sunday evening while sitting on grandpa’s lap listening to the cicadas playing a tune composed by Mother Nature. These stories run the gambit from touching, to sinister, to the unthinkable, to heart-wrenching to, “yep that’s what you get”, to my favorite… the “illegal yes, but I’ll bet it felt so good”!…

Click here to see the full review for “Ford County: Stories” >>

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Books list >>

This week in All Topics Movies (11/30/09)

Monday, November 30th, 2009

This week, the all topics movies top 50 saw a lot of change. 40 new titles entered the top 50. The hot mover of the week was Monsters vs. Aliens, which made it to the list for the first time, coming in at number 1.

37 items made it to the list for the first time this week:

Monsters vs. Aliens at number 1
Monsters vs. Aliens at number 2
Monsters, Inc. at number 4
Back to the Future - The Complete… at number 6
Land of the Lost at number 7
The Music Man at number 8
Dr. Seuss - How the Grinch Stole… at number 9
Looney Tunes - Golden Collection at number 11
Scooby Doo, Where Are You! - The… at number 12
Looney Tunes at number 13
The Land Before Time at number 14
Peanuts at number 15
Looney Tunes - Golden Collection… at number 16
SpongeBob SquarePants at number 17
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at number 18
Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas at number 19
SpongeBob SquarePants at number 20
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School at number 21
Pokemon Season 1 Vol. 3 at number 22
Pokemon at number 23
A Christmas Story at number 24
The Wiggles at number 25
Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase at number 26
The Muppet Movie at number 27
Pokemon 4Ever at number 28
Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? at number 29
The Sword in the Stone at number 30
Scooby-Doo’s Original Mysteries at number 31
Tom and Jerry at number 32
My Friends Tigger & Pooh - Friendly… at number 33
Elmopalooza! at number 34
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at number 35
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo at number 36
Mighty Joe Young at number 37
Air Bud - World Pup at number 38
Angelina Ballerina - The Show Must Go On at number 39
The Wiggles at number 40

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Movies list >>

This week in All Topics Books (11/30/09)

Monday, November 30th, 2009

This week in all topics books, the top 50 saw a lot of changes. 47 new titles entered the list. The hot mover of the week was Going Rogue: An American Life, which debuted on the list at number 1. The big loser of the week was Born of Fire (A League Novel), which plunged 33 spots to number 40.

42 items made it to the list for the first time this week:

Going Rogue at number 1
Stones into Schools at number 2
The National Parks at number 3
Where Men Win Glory at number 4
The Audacity to Win at number 6
Eat This Not That! 2010 at number 7
So Easy at number 8
The Belly Fat Cure at number 9
The Sellout at number 11
No Less Than Victory at number 12
Highest Duty at number 13
When Everything Changed at number 14
The Big Burn at number 15
Eat to Live at number 16
The Year of the Flood at number 17
Strength in What Remains at number 18
World War Z at number 19
D-Day at number 20
The Conscious Cook at number 23
The Ascent of Money at number 24
Knockout at number 25
Lone Survivor at number 26
Start-up Nation at number 28
The Kind Diet at number 29
Nourishing Traditions at number 30
To Try Men’s Souls at number 31
Ice at number 33
America’s Prophet at number 34
Angel Time at number 35
Food Inc. at number 36
Eat Right 4 Your Type at number 37
The Maze Runner at number 38
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to… at number 39
Sizzle at number 41
The Blind Side at number 42
Blue Book of Gun Values at number 43
The River of Doubt at number 45
In Defense of Food at number 46
Lamb at number 47
The Metabolism Miracle at number 48
Black Hills at number 49
The Honor of Spies at number 50

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Books list >>

This week in All Topics Movies (11/30/09)

Monday, November 30th, 2009

There was significant turnover in the all topics movies top 50 this week, with 40 new titles entering the list. The hot mover of the week was Monsters vs. Aliens, which made it to the list for the first time, coming in at number 1.

37 items made it to the list for the first time this week:

Monsters vs. Aliens at number 1
Monsters vs. Aliens at number 2
Monsters, Inc. at number 4
Back to the Future - The Complete… at number 6
Land of the Lost at number 7
The Music Man at number 8
Dr. Seuss - How the Grinch Stole… at number 9
Looney Tunes - Golden Collection at number 11
Scooby Doo, Where Are You! - The… at number 12
Looney Tunes at number 13
The Land Before Time at number 14
Peanuts at number 15
Looney Tunes - Golden Collection… at number 16
SpongeBob SquarePants at number 17
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at number 18
Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas at number 19
SpongeBob SquarePants at number 20
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School at number 21
Pokemon Season 1 Vol. 3 at number 22
Pokemon at number 23
A Christmas Story at number 24
The Wiggles at number 25
Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase at number 26
The Muppet Movie at number 27
Pokemon 4Ever at number 28
Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? at number 29
The Sword in the Stone at number 30
Scooby-Doo’s Original Mysteries at number 31
Tom and Jerry at number 32
My Friends Tigger & Pooh - Friendly… at number 33
Elmopalooza! at number 34
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at number 35
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo at number 36
Mighty Joe Young at number 37
Air Bud - World Pup at number 38
Angelina Ballerina - The Show Must Go On at number 39
The Wiggles at number 40

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Movies list >>

This week in All Topics Books (11/30/09)

Monday, November 30th, 2009

42 items made it to the list for the first time this week:

Going Rogue at number 1
Stones into Schools at number 2
The National Parks at number 3
Where Men Win Glory at number 4
The Audacity to Win at number 6
Eat This Not That! 2010 at number 7
So Easy at number 8
The Belly Fat Cure at number 9
The Sellout at number 11
No Less Than Victory at number 12
Highest Duty at number 13
When Everything Changed at number 14
The Big Burn at number 15
Eat to Live at number 16
The Year of the Flood at number 17
Strength in What Remains at number 18
World War Z at number 19
D-Day at number 20
The Conscious Cook at number 23
The Ascent of Money at number 24
Knockout at number 25
Lone Survivor at number 26
Start-up Nation at number 28
The Kind Diet at number 29
Nourishing Traditions at number 30
To Try Men’s Souls at number 31
Ice at number 33
America’s Prophet at number 34
Angel Time at number 35
Food Inc. at number 36
Eat Right 4 Your Type at number 37
The Maze Runner at number 38
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to… at number 39
Sizzle at number 41
The Blind Side at number 42
Blue Book of Gun Values at number 43
The River of Doubt at number 45
In Defense of Food at number 46
Lamb at number 47
The Metabolism Miracle at number 48
Black Hills at number 49
The Honor of Spies at number 50

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Books list >>

Movies Review of the Week: “Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia”

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Every week, we showcase an Amazon user review from an item on the current All Topics Movies Pop Fifty list. Here’s your review of the week for this week!

Review of #3 “Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season 4″

Review by R. Hall: “This show just keeps getting better!”

This reviewer’s rating: 5/5, average reviewer rating: 4.5/5

“Its Always Sunny” is without a doubt the funniest show on TV, although I would not recommend it for the easily offended. The writing, the directing, and above all, the acting (of both the main and support cast) is as close to perfection as anything I have seen in a comedy.

Every season they manage to somehow top themselves in hilarity and absurdity, and now that they have developed a good fan base FX must have upped their budget for this season so their wacky antics are even more over the top than previously (for example, there are at least 2 car explosions in season 4, possibly more). On top of their flashier action (well, destruction) sequences the characters have really developed their niches and honed their comedy to razor-thin perfection.

…

Review by D. Sull: “A great story and so much more”

This reviewer’s rating: 5/5, average reviewer rating: 4.5/5

Born to Run succeeds at three levels. First, it is a page turner. The build up to a fifty-mile foot race over some of the world’s least hospitable terrain drives the narrative forward. Along the way McDougall introduces a cast of characters worthy of Dickens, including an almost superhuman ultramarathoner, Jenn and the Bonehead–a couple who down bottles of booze to warm up for a race, Barefoot Ted, Mexican drug dealers, a ghostly ex-boxer, a heartbroken father, and of course the Tarahumara, arguably the greatest runners in the world.

…

Click here to see the full review for “Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” >>

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Books list >>

This week in All Topics Movies (11/23/09)

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

This week, the all topics movies top 50 saw a lot of change. 41 new titles entered the top 50. The hot mover of the week was G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy) (Blu-ray), which debuted on the list at number 1. The big loser of the week was Terminator Salvation (Widescreen Edition), which was knocked down 10 spots to number 15.

35 items made it to the list for the first time this week:

G.I. Joe at number 1
Inglourious Basterds at number 3
Angels & Demons at number 4
Transformers at number 5
Angels & Demons at number 11
G-Force at number 12
Public Enemies at number 13
Inglourious Basterds at number 18
True Blood at number 19
Angels & Demons at number 21
Supernatural - The Complete First Season at number 23
Interview with the Vampire at number 25
Public Enemies at number 26
Hocus Pocus at number 27
Drag Me to Hell at number 30
The Untouchables at number 31
Scarecrow and Mrs. King at number 32
Shaun of the Dead at number 33
Drag Me to Hell at number 34
Trick ‘r Treat at number 35
The Monster Squad at number 36
Spaceballs at number 37
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at number 38
True Blood at number 39
Flight of the Navigator at number 40
Pink Panther 2 at number 41
Harry Potter and the Order of the… at number 42
Stargate at number 43
The Little Mermaid II at number 44
Dora the Explorer - Dora’s Ultimate… at number 45
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. -… at number 46
GoodFellas at number 47
Notorious at number 48
The Patriot at number 49
The Dark Crystal at number 50

Click here to see the current Pop Fifty All Topics Movies list >>

Top Books
1. Title:
  
  Open: An Autobiography
  
  Image:
  
  by:
  
  Andre Agassi
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  Open: An Autobiography
  
  by: Andre Agassi
  
  Knopf
  
  From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography.
  
  Agassis incredibly rigorous training begins when he is just a child. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return.
  
  And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the worlds best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in th...
2. Title:
  
  The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy
  
  Image:
  
  by:
  
  Bill Simmons
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy
  
  by: Bill Simmons
  
  ESPN
  
  Amazon Best of the Month, October 2009: The Book of Basketball is a 700-page work of hoops genius that would make Dr. James Naismith beam proudly – and probably blush. Author Bill Simmons, best known as ESPN.com's "The Sports Guy," explores the NBA with hilarious insight, brilliant analysis, and a bevy of irreverent footnotes. Simmons is a fan first – a fact best explained in an entertaining foreword by Malcolm Gladwell – and writes from the stands, not the press room. His knowledge and passion for the game provide him with few peers, yet his voice represents those who stick by their teams through thick and thin. As a result, The Book of Basketball is not just a tribute to hardwood heroes, but also a celebration of yelling at TV sets,...
3. Title:
  
  Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
  
  Image:
  
  by:
  
  Stephenie Meyer
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
  
  by: Stephenie Meyer
  
  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  
  Great love stories thrive on sacrifice. Throughout The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse), Stephenie Meyer has emulated great love stories--Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights--with the fated, yet perpetually doomed love of Bella (the human girl) and Edward (the vampire who feeds on animals instead of humans). In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella’s story plays out in some unexpected ways. The ongoing conflicts that made this series so compelling--a human girl in love with a vampire, a werewolf in love with a human girl, the generations-long feud between werewolves and vampires--resolve pretty quickly, apparently so that Meyer could focus on Bella’s latest opportunity for s...
4. Title:
  
  The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time)
  
  Image:
  
  by:
  
  Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time)
  
  by: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson
  
  Tor Books
  
  Tarmon Gaidon, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready.
  
  The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, was partially written by Robert Jordan before his untimely passing in 2007. Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Mistborn books, was chosen by Jordans editor---his wife, Harriet McDougal---to complete the final book. The scope and size of the volume was such that it could not be contained in a single book, and so Tor proudly presents The Gathering Storm as the first of three novels that will make up A Memory of Light. This short sequence will complete the struggle against the Shadow, bringing to a close a journey begun almost twenty years ago and marking the conclusion of the Wheel of T...
5. Title:
  
  When the Game Was Ours
  
  Image:
  
  by:
  
  Larry Bird, Earvin Johnson Jr., Jackie MacMullan
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  When the Game Was Ours
  
  by: Larry Bird, Earvin Johnson Jr., Jackie MacMullan
  
  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  
  Amazon Exclusive: Bill Walton Reviews When the Game Was Ours
  
  Bill Walton played in the NBA for 13 years, and in 1996, was named one of the top 50 players in NBA history. He's been an analyst for CBS Sports and NBC Sports, and since 2002, he's been a game analyst for ESPN NBA telecasts. Read his guest review of When the Game Was Ours:
  
  Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are transcendent, iconic and timeless standard bearers of excellence who changed "The Game" forever, always bringing out the best in each other and never failing to put a smile on all our faces.
  I was one of the lu...
Top Movies
1. Title:
  
  Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)
  
  Image:
  
  Label:
  
  Summit Entertainment
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)
  
  Summit Entertainment
  
  Genre: Suspense
  Rating: PG13
  Release Date: 21-MAR-2009
  Media Type: DVD
2. Title:
  
  True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
  
  Image:
  
  Label:
  
  HBO Home Video
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
  
  HBO Home Video
  
  Alan Ball’s True Blood series works well for television, as it has enough sensationalism to tantalize and enough story girth to make the viewer care about the characters. That one can finally invest emotion into monsters, including an undead Civil War victim, a transformer who can shapeshift into various animals, and a female mind reader, speaks volumes about America’s willingness to accept fantasy. Of course, television has always produced good fantasy shows (I Dream of Jeannie), but True Blood’s Southern Goth brand of fun horror is more macabre and more perverse, not to mention gorier, than most shows of its kind to date. Adapted from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, True Blood thrills because of its equal blend in...
3. Title:
  
  True Blood: The Complete Second Season (HBO Series)
  
  Image:
  
  Label:
  
  HBO Home Video
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  True Blood: The Complete Second Season (HBO Series)
  
  HBO Home Video
  
  Welcome back to Bon Temps, home to mystery, Southern sensuality and dark secrets. For Sookie Stackhouse, life is more dangerous than ever after she and Bill become more deeply involved. Meanwhile, Tara finds herself under a lover’s spell; Sam puts his trust in an unlikely ally; Jason becomes involved with an anti-vampire sect; Eric becomes interested in Sookie after he recruits her to investigate the disappearance of his 2,000-year-old maker; and Maryann is revealed to possess a power that can control almost everyone in town. Then, after making a shocking discovery, Sookie, Bill and Sam must form the last line of defense against a diabolical plan that raises this award-winning series to bloody new heights.
  
  True Blood: The Complete Second Season includes all 12...
4. Title:
  
  Supernatural - The Complete Third Season
  
  Image:
  
  Label:
  
  Warner Home Video
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  Supernatural - The Complete Third Season
  
  Warner Home Video
  
  Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/02/2008
5. Title:
  
  Supernatural - The Complete First Season
  
  Image:
  
  Label:
  
  Warner Home Video
  
  Rating:
  
  On Chart:
  
  8 weeks on chart
  
  Description:
  
  Supernatural - The Complete First Season
  
  Warner Home Video
  
  Brothers seek out and fight supernatural forces in an attempt to find their mysteriously missing father and the person or force responsible for their mother's death.
  Item Type: DVD Movie
  Item Rating: NR
  Street Date: 09/05/06
  Wide Screen: yes
  Director Cut: no
  Special Edition: no
  Language: ENGLISH
  Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
  Dubbed: no
  Full Frame: no
  Re-Release: no
  Packaging: Sleeve
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