Today I took a look at the Amazon bestsellers, and I noticed there are quite a few titles that are popular right now. When it comes to reading best selling books I usually only do so if the topic is really of interest to me, but I decided to share a few of Amazon's most popular books at the moment, and my takes on these volumes.

Maybe I am swimming against the crowd on this one, but I was never a big fan of the Da Vinci Code.  Actually I have no interest in reading that volume, but if you are a Dan Brown fan you might want to check out his new book The Lost Symbol coming out on September 21.  The great thing about ordering early from Amazon means it will be shipped out the very day the book is released, which is a great feature for those of us who do not want to wait months for a volume at our local library.  I did this when I decided to order Rose Water and Soda Bread, but if I had known our library was going to order it a month later I probably would have just waited.

Many people seem to have a lot of animosity towards Ted Kennedy, especially with the offensive Bury Obama with Ted Kennedy signs we have been seeing at rallies. Kennedy will be the first one to admit he made mistakes in his personal life, but that does not negate from all the great achievements he made as a US senator.

Kennedy was a liberal Democrat that believed in bi-partisanship and he helped to pass the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, which was a landmark piece of legislation that ensured disabled person could take public transportation with safety and ease. This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but if you ride the bus on a daily basis you will understand it really is. Many disabled people who take the bus happen to be veterans, so Kennedy actually did a great thing in helping to pass this legislation. The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 also helped to bring in end to school district and work place discrimination against people with disabilities. Just because a student is physically handicapped does not mean they should have to be bussed to a special class room far away from their city. Now many schools have special classes for students nearby or even at the closest schools nearby.

Kennedy was a proponent of adequate and universal health care. His family had been touched by many tragedies, so he always spoke of at length of how he would like to see everyone have access to the great health care he had the luxury of having. If Kennedy had survived brain cancer some say the tone of the health care debate may of been quite different considering he had a way of smoothing out differences between the two sides.

I definitely look forward to reading Kennedy's autobiography True Compass: A Memoir, and I would also recommend the HBO documentary Teddy Kennedy: In His Own Words. I had the chance to watch it on HBO video on demand shortly before he passed away late in August. All I can say is whether you admired or could not stand the man he did make some great contributions to American legislation, and you have to admire him for that at least.

Amazon told me that people who bought this book also bought Shanghai Girls, so I might be tempted to read this volume. The Help is a novel about a young writer that interviews African-American maids that are entrusted with raising the children of wealthy Caucasian women. This is an interesting behind the scenes type of book, but since I have not read it I cannot say much more about it. All I do know is if people that enjoyed Shanghai Girls enjoyed this book then it must be a pretty good novel. It sounds like there are many similar themes going on between these two novels, which might be the reason people bought both.

So many famous people have passed away this summer from Kennedy, to Faucet, to Jackson, and now Patrick Sawyze.  Those around Swayze also spoke of what a truly kind man he really was, and I will always remember him from Dirty Dancing!  His dance moves were fun, he was cute, and who could forego the charm of Swayze.  On top of it all Swayze is one of those Hollywood types that actually had a last relationship and marriage, so you have to admire the man for that. I did not know he had written a memoir, but now I want to check it out. 

Do you have kids?  If so, you might want to check out the Jeff Kinney series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  This volume is wildly popular at our local library, and parents always seem to be scrabbling to find all of the Kinney books.  I have never read any of these books, but apparently the main character Greg Heffley likes to play video games, and he is some one kids can identify with.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is a must have for those with young kids that enjoy this series.  The good part about buying your kids a book they enjoy is how they will not be interrupting you as you read yours.  Also, ordering books for both of you to read at the same time is a great way to model literacy.