Subscribe RSS So what makes a book a best-seller?
Angelica Duran, associate professor of English and director of religious studies at Purdue University, discusses some of the attributes of best-selling novels:
Duran said best-sellers typically have cultural or personal relevance combined with a sense of immediacy.
"I think it touches the interest of people right then and there," she said.
Also, a good story plays a role, which is one of the reason's Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series is so attractive to readers, she said.
"(Meyer) creates this full environment," Duran said. "What would it really be like to be a vampire today?"
Duran said Meyer's books are also culturally relevant, linking a fantasy story to everyday experiences such as young love and finding one's identity.
Also, today movies play a major role in helping create a best-selling novel, she said.
"That was not the
Great reads in 2009 -- trends for 2010
Jan 25, 2010Self Help Books: How Can You Tell Which Ones Are Good?
What is it about self help books that drive scientists crazy? Find out in this video from my podcast: The Psych Files. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Five Simple Steps to Emotional Healing: The Last Self-Help Book You Will Ever Need
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Tap Your Troubles Away
It's that simple. Meridian Therapy is a self-healing system that can be learned in minutes and can relieve a lifetime of emotional pain. A cutting-edge technique based on the ancient art of acupressure, it involves stimulating the energy meridians in the body by tapping on specific energy points and awakening their healing power.
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The Power of Self-Coaching: The Five Essential Steps to Creating the Life You Want
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The new self-help guide from the author of the highly successful Self-CoachingThis empowering guide shows people who are experiencing emotional turmoil in their lives how to reconnect with their innate capacity for genuine happiness—before more serious emotional problems develop. The Power of Self-Coaching offers five simple, practical steps that put people back in touch with their natural and spontaneous potential—the inner power that can transform their lives. Using self-quizzes, training and coaching exercises, Power Drills, and Dr. Luciani's extremely successful technique of Self-Talk, readers of this book—the essential next level of Self-Coaching—can liberate themselves from reflexive, destructive thinking and begin to create a life of happiness and empowerment.
Joseph J. Luciani, PhD (Cresskill, NJ), the author of Self-Coaching (0-471-38737-1), is a psychologist in private practice with more than 25 years of experience.
Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior
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Procrastination...Envy...Anger...Self-pity...Compulsion....In any of its many forms, self-defeating behavior is the single most common reason that people seek psychotherapy. It is a poison that prevents people from achieving the love, success, and happiness they desire. Get Out of Your Own Way is an antidote, explaining the reasons for self-sabotage by going back to the childhood origins of various behaviors. With anecdotes and usable insights drawn from twenty years of psychiatric clinical practice, Dr. Mark Goulston shares ideas that have helped thousands of patients overcome pain, fear, and confusion-to approach life's challenges with dignity, wisdom, courage, and even humor.50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life
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This is the first and only "bitesized" guide to the works that have captured the imagination of millions and inspired readers everywhere to follow their dreams.Women Who Worry Too Much: How to Stop Worry & Anxiety from Ruining Relationships, Work, & Fun
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Women are more likely than men to develop anxiety disorders, a fact which researchers have attributed to a range of biological, psychological, and cultural factors. This predispostion inclines women to worry more than men about things like social problems, work, finances—even about worry itself, a phenomenon psychologists call meta-worry. The goal of this book is to help readers control excessive worry by learning to perceive threats more accurately and to stop focusing on things that are unlikely to happen.Following an introduction by noted psychologist Michelle Craske that explores the reasons women worry more than men, the book addresses the fundamentals of worry: what it is, how it differs from anxiety, and how it can develop into a chronic state of mind. The book offers strategies for overcoming worry that include monitoring personal worry triggers, breaking worry-provoking habits, and avoiding avoidance—a major aggravating factor for all anxiety disorders. From it, you’ll learn to use mindfulness techniques to avoid ruminating on the past or the future and how to use progressive relaxation to cope with worrisome situations.
