Best-Selling Books List

USA Today has released it's big list of the top 150 Books of the last 15 years. You can find the full article here. I've only copied across the first fifty. Out of these, how many have you read? I've put the ones I've read in italics and made it yellow

Rank Title Author

1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

2 Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution Robert C. Atkins

3 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown

4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

10 Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson

11 The South Beach Diet Arthur Agatston

12 Tuesdays With Morrie Mitch Albom

13 Angels & Demons Dan Brown

14 What to Expect When You're Expecting Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway

15 The Purpose-Driven Life Rick Warren

16 The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom

17 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R. Covey

18 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

19 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus John Gray

20 The Secret Rhonda Byrne

21 Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter

22 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

23 Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... And It's All Small Stuff Richard Carlson

24 The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd

25 Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert

26 Twilight Stephenie Meyer

27 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks

28 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards

29 The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger

30 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden

31 A New Earth Eckhart Tolle

32 Oh, the Places You'll Go! Dr. Seuss

33 The Four Agreements Don Miguel Ruiz

34 Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt

35 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold

36 Body-for-Life Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso

37 New Moon Stephenie Meyer

38 Night Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway

39 Chicken Soup for the Soul Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen

40 The Greatest Generation Tom Brokaw

41 Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer

42 The Celestine Prophecy James Redfield

43 Wicked Gregory Maguire

44 Good to Great Jim Collins

45 Eclipse Stephenie Meyer

46 Eragon Christopher Paolini

47 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Rebecca Wells

48 Your Best Life Now Joel Osteen

49 In the Kitchen With Rosie Rosie Daley

50 Simple Abundance Sarah Ban Breathnach

Tired of Inanity

One of my colleagues at work is driving me nuts. She is dim, beyond anything I have ever come across. Dim and self-obsessed.

I have to explain big words to her. She only listens to part of conversations and instructions. She is older than me, has been here longer, but no one really seems to like her...

She obsesses about little things each day:

Monday it was her period (nonstop complaining about her female bits giving her problems...I wanted to shoot myself - she has no concept of TMI );

Tuesday I got the hear all about her make-up trials, trying to find the "right shade" of eyeshadow and lippy - she spent around £50 on trial bits and pieces at one of the make-up counters in Selfridges and I told her I couldn't see any change in what she had on afterwards, she was not best pleased;

Wednesday it was back to her female problems and what a struggle it is to get into the office and how bitterly cold it was.

Today, Thursday, I have to listen to her harping on endlessly about her sight - it's taken her TWO years to decide to sort out her failing eyesight and now she's telling all and sundry about it, constantly, repeating the same story over and over, including all her mates on the phone.

I am so tired of it already - each thing has to be discussed in the finest detail and obsessed about. I am now in the habit of not talking a lot - only responding when directly spoken to. She also whistles and sings under her breath, tapping her talon-like nails on the desk whilst talking to people on the phone.

I honestly hope that we move offices soon - which is the rumour - so that I don't have to sit near her...because I might, just might be tempted to throw a stapler at her head.

Other than that, I love my new job.

I've googled the word "inane" and found this website which is quite amusing, really.

in·an·ity (in an′i tē)

noun the quality or condition of being inane; specif.,
emptiness

lack of sense or meaning; silliness

something inane; senseless or silly act, remark, etc.Etymology: Fr inanité <>

There are also 203 synonyms listed in the Moby thesaurus for inanity:

absence of mind, absurdity, agnosticism, aimlessness, aridity,
asininity, barrenness, battiness, big deal, blank, blank mind,
blankmindedness, blankness, bloodlessness, bootlessness,
brainlessness, buffoonery, callowness, calm of mind,
characterlessness, clean slate, clownishness, colorlessness,
counterproductiveness, counterproductivity, crackpottedness,
crankiness, craziness, daffiness, dead letter, deadness,
desipience, dismalness, dottiness, dragginess, dreariness, dryness,
dullness, dustiness, eccentricity, effeteness, emptiness,
emptiness of mind, empty sound, empty space, empty-headedness,
etiolation, failure, fallow mind, fatuity, fatuousness,
fecklessness, flatness, flavorlessness, flimsiness, folly, foolery,
foolheadedness, foolishness, frivolity, frivolousness,
fruitlessness, futility, giddiness, goofiness, greenhornism,
greenness, heaviness, hiatus of learning, hollowness, idiocy,
idleness, ignorance, ignorantism, ignorantness, imbecility,
impotence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness,
inefficaciousness, inefficacy, ineptitude, inexcitability,
inexperience, innocence, insanity, insignificance, insipidity,
insipidness, invalidity, jejuneness, jejunity, know-nothingism,
knowledge-gap, lack of information, leadenness, levity,
lifelessness, lightness, lowness of spirit, lunacy, madness,
meaninglessness, mental blankness, mental void, mere noise,
mildness, mindlessness, nescience, niaiserie, nirvana, noise,
nonsensicality, nothing, nothingness, nugacity, nullity, nuttiness,
oblivion, obscurantism, otiosity, paleness, pallor, passivity,
phatic communion, pointlessness, pokiness, ponderousness,
preposterousness, profitlessness, purposelessness, queerness,
quietism, rat race, rawness, saplessness, sappiness, savorlessness,
screwiness, senselessness, shallowness, silliness, simpleness,
simplicity, slenderness, slightness, slowness, solemnity,
spiritlessness, staleness, sterility, stiffness, stodginess,
stuffiness, stupidity, superficiality, tabula rasa, tastelessness,
tediousness, the absurd, thinness, thoughtfreeness,
thoughtlessness, tranquillity, triflingness, triteness, triviality,
trivialness, unacquaintance, unfamiliarity, unintelligence,
uninterestingness, unknowing, unknowingness, unliveliness,
unmeaningness, unproductiveness, unprofitability, unprofitableness,
unripeness, unsavoriness, unsignificancy, uselessness, vacancy,
vacuity, vacuousness, vacuum, valuelessness, vanity, vapidity,
vapidness, vicious circle, void, wackiness, weakness, weirdness,
wishy-washiness, witlessness, woodenness, worthlessness, zaniness,
zanyism.

Randomness

I've been so wrapped up with my other blog that I've not had given Lizzy's Musings a thought in absolute ages. And I apologise, specifically to my sister, Elize - I know she visits often, because she told me so. We don't get to chat much as she's forever running around like a superhero doing her saving the world thing, so she checks in on LM to see how things are.

So, this is an update to let her know a few snippets.

Our holiday to Santori fell foul to the travel company, XL, going bust. This sucked ass, big time - apologies, Miss Jamie for bad language use - and so we had to make do with a local holiday here in an un-sunny UK. We ended up going to Wales, to Pembrokeshire which has some fantastically beautiful coastal areas. Shopping is non-existent and I did my best to honour Elize on payday by trying to spend of my hard earned cash. Sadly this came to naught - there were no shops. At all. Not even in St Davids. Again, with the sucking of ass. We did however find some good pubs to have lunch and dinner in. Mark made me pay to make up for not being able to spend money on fripperies such as books and jewellery.

The following week, still on holiday, but at home this time around, I got to meet up with Alison Goodman and her publicist, Madline Toy for breakfast, to discuss Alison's newest book - The Two Pearls of Wisdom. It was amazing, not just meeting Alison but being considered important enough to be "expensed" on the publisher's entertainment budget. How cool is that? I've worked up the interview and will hopefully be posting it shortly, once I get the go-ahead from Alison and Madeline. Alison came as a shock to me, having had this image in mymind of a slightly dowdy writer-ly person lounging about in trackie bottoms and tee, whilst writing, but it turns out that not only was she flamboyant, pretty, charming, funny, articulate and stylish but genuinely good people at heart. I think we could have sat there and chatted for the entire day.

My other coup, was the chance to meet up with my lovely publicity girls from Little Brown who look after the Piatkus, Orbit, Sphere imprints. We met at Wahaca for lunch, talked books, authors, writing, reading, what's hot, what's not, food - the list is endless! I had a blast and felt hugely honoured when they hauled out the newest catalogue and a few other treasures which they had brought with them.

I also got to meet up with some of my ex-work colleagues from my old company and I was so happy to see them - I knew I missed them, but to be honest, I had no idea HOW much I had missed them. Listening to them regale me with nightmarish stories of what is currently happening at my old place of work, had me thanking my lucky stars that I was made redundant a while ago. It's given me a headstart on getting my life in order and a new job under my belt - I feel so heartsore for the people in the City who have lost their jobs. I know the rest of the country dislike the fat cat bankers and wotnot, but the thing is: the fatcats are not the only ones who lost their jobs - there are the other "norms" who lost their livelihoods too - the secretaries, post-room working, admin staff, IT consultants. This has a knock-on effect on the local economy - several sarnie places, eateries and coffee shops, including dry cleaning places, hairdressers, and other small concerns - all of these had to close because of this, which means that these people in the service industry lost their jobs, which means that they can't afford to pay their bills in turn - it is a big viscious circle and I would like to say to those people coming down on the people working in London and in the City specifically - stuff you all - this tiny square mile has kept this country running through so much trouble and contribute in excess of 6% of the nation's growth and wealth on its own. What's happening isn't just affecting the bigwigs, its affecting everyone in ever widening circles and instead of relishing the trauma these people are in, think about helping out instead.

Ahem. Where did that come from? Clambers off soap-box.

La-la-la - innocent singing to detract from the verbal outrage above.

It was my nephew's birthday on the 10th of October. I miss him so much. He would have been 33 this year had his life not been stupidly cut short by a pointless act of rebellion and misguided delusions of coolness. I lit a candle to him on the day and sent my sister a text telling her I miss her. Her and her hubby were having a tough time of it too.

This weekend past, the 17th, Mark and I got to go on our competition trip we had won through XFM Radio to Bruges and we had a blast. He drank loads of beer, I soaked up the sunshine and the atmosphere and am keen to write something dripping with elves, goblins and trolls. There is something about that small compact city that just ... I don't know, gets under your skin and makes you want to write. Or is that just me?

I love autumn, it makes me want to nest. I have been fortunate, having received quite a stack of books from various publishers, so I know my evenings will be well spent.

Right, that's enough of me for now. Slightly maudlin, for which I apologise, slightly feisty and fighty, for which I do not apologise.

Catch you on the flip-side.

Reasons why I feel grow'd up today:

1. I am officially working from home today, linked to the world via my blackberry. Tres grown up. I've sorted out a conference to South Africa for two directors, including flights and accommodation. I've also tidied the house...

2. I am at home, waiting for the delivery of our brand new leather couches which we've bought because we were in desperate need of new couches...visitors in the past were in the danger of being sucked into the old couches and coming out in Narnia or sumat.

In my mind, ever since I can remember, leather couches equated to being grown up. My oldest sister had a lovely set and I remember as an eight year old sitting on them, feeling more posh than QEII could on her throne. Once it became apparent that we can afford said leather couches, we took the plunge. And delivery is today.

I have my reservations, to be honest. I think we will need a bigger house to accommodate the couches but I am happy - we've bought them cash outright, like we did with everything else we own, so no debt. It feels very good. Very grown up.

To prevent myself from pacing like a caged animal I've popped some popcorn and am lazing about reading. And waiting.

= Excited and relieved

Tripple hurrah.

Exams are now done. Yay!

No assignments, no studying for two months. Guilt free days and evenings, nestled on the couches, reading, writing and reviewing books. This is the life.

Ecstatically happy.

Exam Time!

I've not been able to keep the old blog up to date these past few weeks due to well, some particularly shitty news regarding the work situation oh, and don't forget, the even crummier exams which I have to sit on behalf of work tomorrow.

So, I will be back online on Wednesday, 2nd July, with hopefully some good news, and the exams behind me.

Why I want to work in Asian Cinema

Because purely...nowhere else in the entire world do they put together movies like this:

In ‘Forbidden Kingdom’, American, Kung Fu-obsessed teenager Jason (Michael Angarano), finds an antique Chinese staff in a pawn shop. This turns out to be the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King (Jet Li). With the lost relic in hand, Jason unexpectedly finds himself transported back to ancient China.There, he meets the drunken Kung Fu master, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan); an enigmatic and skillful Silent Monk (Jet Li); who leads him on his quest to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King. While attempting to outmaneuver scores of Jade Warriors, Cult Killers and the deadly White Hair Demoness, Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing), Jason learns about honor, loyalty and friendship, and the true meaning of Kung Fu, and thus frees himself.