Thursday, April 08, 2010

Top 20 Good Reads or Good Rides?

Well, now we've gone and done it. We've made our most popular books reflections of our movie tastes, rather than our tastes for good literature.

That's nothing new for Americans, of course. That trend goes back to the days of Peyton Place and Gone with the Wind. But books that virtually owe their entire popularity to the long coattails of the films upon which they ride seem to be the rage.

So it is with USA Today's most current best-selling books list, featuring in the top two slots Nicholas Sparks' 2006 novel Dear John (the top-selling book of the quarter ending March 28) and The Last Song. Not surprisingly, they both have film tie-ins.

Also making the list: Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (film tie-in) and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson (film tie-in).

It is hardly a shock to learn that many other "best reads" with film tie-ins dominate the list, making us ask, Which comes first, the chicken or the flick?

Here's the complete list.

1. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

2. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

3. Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

4. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

6. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

7. Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 2: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

8. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

9. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

10. Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 3: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

11. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

12. Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

13. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

14. Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

15. Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

16. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

17. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

18. The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game by Michael Lewis

19. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

20. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Copyright 2009 AmSAW

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