I have in fact never read any of these, and have honestly only heard of The World is Flat (by way of the entire shelf at Border's once dedicated to it).
I'm not saying I would never read them however. In fact, I just added How to Win Friends and Influence People to my list, after several recommendations I saw for it here as well as from a friend.
What I am saying is that roughly all books start at zero in my mind, and get positive points whenever they are recommended to me by people I know or respect. A listing on the NYT list is like getting -5 points. (FWIW, Oprah's Book Club is more like -10.)
I'm not saying everyone should choose their books like I do, but that is what works for me. I would like to say that any book that deals with current politics or current leaders is nothing more than thinly veiled marketing, and no one is missing out by not reading those. Real history has to be written after the fact, and I'm sure that when it is, I will enjoy it, but no book about a current candidate will be anything more than another campaign outlet.
Edit: Oh and I almost forgot... everything I just said aside, I often do resist reading a book that I know I will enjoy just to be different (like Harry Potter, which I'm avoiding for another decade). It's not a crime to avoid the herd, and I'm sure everyone does it in their own way. It's hard to think for yourself, if you do not question authority (of the masses)... to paraphrase one of my favorite quotes.
I'm not saying I would never read them however. In fact, I just added How to Win Friends and Influence People to my list, after several recommendations I saw for it here as well as from a friend.
What I am saying is that roughly all books start at zero in my mind, and get positive points whenever they are recommended to me by people I know or respect. A listing on the NYT list is like getting -5 points. (FWIW, Oprah's Book Club is more like -10.)
I'm not saying everyone should choose their books like I do, but that is what works for me. I would like to say that any book that deals with current politics or current leaders is nothing more than thinly veiled marketing, and no one is missing out by not reading those. Real history has to be written after the fact, and I'm sure that when it is, I will enjoy it, but no book about a current candidate will be anything more than another campaign outlet.
Edit: Oh and I almost forgot... everything I just said aside, I often do resist reading a book that I know I will enjoy just to be different (like Harry Potter, which I'm avoiding for another decade). It's not a crime to avoid the herd, and I'm sure everyone does it in their own way. It's hard to think for yourself, if you do not question authority (of the masses)... to paraphrase one of my favorite quotes.