The Bookaholic

...as well as the editors of National Review!

The Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books
The Modern Library 100 Best Novels

I ran across the Forbes list of the 20 most influential business books over at the 800-CEO-Read blog.  I've read some of the books, but not all.  Here they are:

• In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman (1982)
• Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (1994)
• Reengineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and Jim Champy (1993)
• Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar (1993)
• Competitive Advantage by Michael Porter (1998)
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Galdwell (2000)
• Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore (1999)
• The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow (1990)
• The Six Sigma Way by Peter Pande et al (2000)
• Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey(1990)
• Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis (1989)
• The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen (1997)
• Japan Inc. by Shotaro Ishinomori (1988)
• Den of Thieves by James Stewart (1991)
• The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker (2001)
• Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad (1994)
• The Warren Buffet Way by Robert Hagestrom (1991)
• Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch with John Bryne (2001)
• Good to Great by Jim Collins (2001)
• The New New Thing by Michael Lewis (2000)

They also organized the books and you will find some good commentary under the topics of management, narrative, biography and investing.

Poor girl...but this is still insanely funny.

I'm fairly speechless about the headline to this article about the "Tooting man" who is believed to be a Hindu goddess?!?  Besides feeling flabbergasted about the fact that a man claims to be a goddess (and the villagers believe him), I couldn't help but laugh about all the references to his hometown in England. 

JOBLESS Steve Cooper has found work at last — as an Indian GODDESS who thousands of Hindus believe can cure their infertility.

Pilgrims head to a remote jungle temple to be blessed by Steve, 32, from Tooting, South West London.

He places his third finger on the their foreheads and mutters: “The goddess is here”.

Surrounded by followers, Steve told The Sun: “I love being here. I don’t miss anything about Tooting.

Stop laughing!!  This is serious work he's now doing.  Apparently he forgot to tell his brother back in Tooting about his new job in India.

But last night Steve’s stunned brother Justin Cooper said: “He’s just an ordinary guy.

“He never told me anything about this.”

It also seems that not all villagers are convinced that Steve is qualified to be a goddess:

Steve now follows a strict vegetarian diet and sleeps in a spartan room. He lives among 80 eunuchs — castrated men — at the temple. But some have their doubts that he is equipped to be a goddess.

A eunuch called Sudha said: “He is a fake. I checked and he still has a penis. (uh-oh!)

“He is a male so can’t be a goddess. He shouldn’t give blessings.” Steve, who has a tattoo of the goddess on his arm, just insisted: “I am both male and female.”

Fair enough.   I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who could confirm the veracity of this Tooting man's claims to be a goddess. 

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. 

-- Martin Luther King Jr.

All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.

      - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche