8 Celebrities and Their Favorite Books

8 Celebrities and Their Favorite Books

We all love to watch the celebrities and keep up with all the gossip about them. One of my favorite actresses loves a book called “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again” by David Foster Wallace. Zooey Deschanel loves the book because it talks about a cruise in the Caribbean and the irony of the lack of fun Wallace had on the cruise. So, I wondered what some other celebrities enjoy reading.

Anna Kendrick’s favorite books are “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque, which talk about German soldiers stresses in WW1, and how they felt detached from civilian life upon their return home. Another is “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, a satirical novel about the experiences of WW2. The book describes living through the bombing of Dresden by the Allies during the war and surviving that event as a prisoner of war.

Jamie Chung’s favorite book is “The Orphan Master’s Son” by Adam Johnson. The book was written in 2012 and talks about identity and propaganda in North Korea. It’s written in two parts, The Biography of Jun Do and the Confessions of General Ga.

Jessica Biel loves the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Tender is the Night.” It’s the final book that Fitzgerald would complete. Biel says “It’s tragic, and I think tragedies might be good for you.” The book talks about a glamorous couple and a villa in southern France, and the troubles the couple has, and an affair with a movie star.

James Franco's favorite book

For those that love James Franco, his favorite book is “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner. His father gave him the book when he was in High School during a period that Franco was getting into trouble. He says the book is what caused him to love reading. The book describes the death of Addie Bundren and her family’s journey to take the body back to Addie’s hometown.

What does Daniel Radcliffe read?

Daniel Radcliffe was on Amazon.com and saw this book in a recommended section. “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov tells the story of the Devil visiting the very Atheist Soviet Union. The book is set in 1930’s Moscow, and the Jerusalem of Pontius Pilate. It is widely considered to be one of the best novels of the 20th century!

A 5th-grade teacher and long-time friend of Halle Berry suggested that Berry read “Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime” by J. California Cooper for advice. It became one of her favorite books. The book is a collection of fictions written by one of America’s most respected women writers.

I always wonder what actors and actresses like to read in their spare time when I watch them acting on the big screen. The story Franco tells of a time of trouble in his life, and how a book helped him through it is inspiring to me! I know for sure that I will be reading a few of these in the coming months.

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Top 5 Must-Read Books for Management Students

Top 5 must-read books for management students

Books are friends for life. They play a significant role in shaping one’s personality. We are lucky to have witnessed the era of some of the best authors who have produced books with timeless appeal. There are certain publications that a management student ought to read in order to hone his or her skills. The following suggestions will play a crucial role in molding your personality, as well as gradually moving you towards your goal.

How to Win Friends and Influence People
Author: Dale Carnegie

In spite of its age, How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the top-recommended choices for management students. Ever since it was released back in 1936, the book has sold over 15 million copies. Carnegie's principles can teach you how to have the best performance under every circumstance and climb the success ladder within a short amount of time. As the name of the book suggests, it's composed of many practical pieces of advice on influencing people around you and even on changing them so that you manage to achieve your goals. In short, this title can assist you in dealing with all sorts of situations.

Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
Author: Peter F. Drucker

This book covers some of the basic principles of management and is well-known for its comprehensive approach. The author, Peter Drucker, tries to define management as an organized body of knowledge. Drucker discusses management tools which, over time, have proved to be efficient. Most of these scopes and methods are used even nowadays. Although it's a somewhat minor detail, the bestseller has been included in the curricula of many colleges and educational institutions all over the world.

StrengthsFinder 2.0
Author: Tom Rath

StrengthsFinder 2.0 draws the attention of the reader to the fact that he or she spends more time fixing his shortcomings rather than concentrating on developing his or her talents. Acting as a practical guide when it comes to helping people with discovering their secret skills, StrengthsFinder 2.0 is one of the critically acclaimed management books we were able to come up with while sifting through online bookshops and libraries.

In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies
Authors: Thomas Peters and Robert H. Waterman

In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies is based on an in-depth study of various American companies with different fields of specialization. Based on the survey, the authors unravel the secrets of management principles. These eight golden rules, which have been richly illustrated with anecdotes and day-to-day examples from the world, can allow you to learn from these study cases, mainly because they're presented in such an entertaining way.

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
Authors: James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras

Last but not least, Successful Habits of Visionary Companies is the direct result of gathering inputs from a six-year research project at the Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. The authors have cited examples from eighteen ideal companies that have managed to survive over one hundred years and have outperformed their rivals on the stock market.

To sum up, these books can be handy for would-be managers. GMAT and GRE is a gateway for the management course. To know the difference between the two, go to https://edugorilla.com/gmat-vs-gre/.
This post was written by Ashita Kulshreshtha of EduGorilla, is one of the largest educational communities in the online environment, with thousands of monthly subscribers. To know more about the various courses that are available on the platform, we suggest you visit the official website and start learning something new today.


Image via Pixabay

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The Woman on the Orient Express, Lindsay Jayne Ashford (Review)

The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

Set in 1928, this novel follows the adventures of the famous Agatha Christie as she tries to escape from herself and the London society. She decides to travel on the Orient Express all the way to Baghdad to get rid of her thoughts about her recent divorce from Archibald Christie. The beginning of the book revolves around her nervous breakdown and the impact it had on the public press given that her disappearance and temporary memory loss after having learned that her husband was cheating on her and wanted a divorce were considered somewhat of an embarrassment.

On the one hand, Agatha needs a break because gossiping was quite common at the time, especially in London’s high society. On the other hand, the author knows that she will have the chance to discover new things that will probably be interesting enough to be included in one of her next novels. While on the train, the mastermind meets two ladies, and both have interesting stories to tell. Nancy Nelson is an unhappily married woman who wants to escape her husband but has little to no prospects in Baghdad. She hardly knows how she will be able to survive in an unknown environment, where there doesn’t seem to be anything expecting her. Katharine Woolley is a unique character that I very much enjoyed, especially as she is strong, willful, and rather masculine, to a certain extent. Katharine shares the same room with Agatha, which is why the two women manage to strike up a friendship. Agatha, traveling by the name of Mary Miller, has no idea that these two ladies have secrets of their own, which she will discover later on.

The book is focused both on the Orient Express journey and the events that occur when the three women eventually reach Baghdad. A good portion of the novel is set in Ur, where various archeological diggings are being performed. People who read Christie’s autobiography might be bothered by certain inadvertencies such as the fact that, in reality, the author doesn’t meet Max Mallowan, her second husband, until much later, when she undertakes her second trip to Mesopotamia.

Personal thoughts

I swear that this book was crafted perfectly. Of course, it all depends on one’s literary taste, but for me, it was just the right choice at the right time, particularly as I am currently traveling through Britain and for the time being, the English accent is the only one I can hear around me. Obviously, I am fascinated by Agatha Christie and have read more than forty pieces of her work, including her 700-something-page autobiography (twice!). I do admit that there are several historical liberties that the author had to take in order to make the book more attractive, but I honestly wasn’t bothered by any. Another reason I warmly recommend the novel is that it manages to be character-driven in spite of the fact that there are actually three characters that all work together in defining and sketching the personal life of Agatha Christie. Besides, I feel obliged to be honest and say that I was overwhelmed by a fuzzy, comfortable feeling while reading The Woman on the Orient Express and after having heard the author’s voice in a BBC interview, it was like the lady herself was speaking to me, at times.

As for the writing style, in all truthfulness, I have nothing bad to say about it. I thought that this novel would be a bit cheesy or too romantic for my taste, but it turned out to be a pleasurable read. It wasn’t overwritten in the least and it seems to me like Lindsay Jayne Ashford invested a lot of time in research.


I have to thank NetGalley and the publisher for offering me an electronic copy of this book to review. It’s one of the best novels I had the chance of reading this year, which only makes me happy.

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Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance of reading an electronic ARC of Life After Coffee!

What's this book about?

Amy O'Hara is a buyer for a company in the coffee industry. Seeing how she is forced to travel all the time, there is no point in her trying to focus on finding a work-life balance. She has none to speak of because she leaves her two children with her husband back at home, in Los Angeles, while she consistently searches for the perfect coffee bean, the one that can save them all from extinction. Just when she is about to make this discovery, she gets sacked. That's when she finds out that her family life isn't all fun and games, and that she will have to make a commitment and spend considerably more time with the kids and with her spouse, at least for the time being. All of the sudden, she finds herself at the mercy of her children, one of whom is a needy toddler and the other is trying to cope with his behavioral issues. Both Billy and Violet have suffered a great deal due to the constant absence of their mother, and that can be seen in the way they interact with the people around them, be they individuals they meet in the street or other kids of their age they come in contact with at kindergarten.

Amy has always been looked down at because of her busy schedule. Now, she discovers that many of the homemakers living in the same neighborhood have been eyeing her husband for a while. But this is not the biggest problem that's on her list because she'll have to deal with a lot more than trying to fend the attacks of other women. Since her husband, Peter, isn't employed, she has a tough time paying the mortgage. What's more, Peter doesn't seem to understand that working on his screenplay can pay the bills. Eventually, Amy touches base with one of her ex-boyfriends to try to get Peter a job. That's when things really start to become complicated...

Personal impressions

I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with the beginning of the novel. It didn't seem to me like Amy had made the right choices in her life, but who does? Fortunately, I was patient enough to give it another chance, and once Amy started spending more time in LA, I began to appreciate her efforts. Some of the parts in this book were hilarious, mainly because the main character is completely out of touch with what has been happening to her children. The same goes for her husband's plans, of which she had no idea. Once I read about 30% of the novel, I found it very hard to put it down. Luckily, I was traveling to Birmingham, UK, and spent many hours in transit, which fortunately gave me the chance to finish the book. All in all, it was a well-written title that I enjoyed thoroughly. Also, I liked the ending although I don't want to give too much detail about it so that you hopefully get a chance to read Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken, as well.

Is it worth reading?

Without a doubt, Life After Coffee is an enjoyable read particularly for individuals who are trying to cope with managing their busy schedules and the needs of their families.

Check out other reviews about Life After Coffee on Amazon!

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5 Reasons to Love Graphic Novels

5 Reasons to Love Graphic Novels

Since childhood, I have always been a huge fan of written words. But as much as I believe that good authors can express almost anything merely by finding the right words and building the perfect sentence, I always really appreciated books with illustrations as well. And graphic novels. Here are five reasons, why graphic novels are a wonderful thing, and if you haven’t already, you might want to give them a try.

They can feature a unique style

In graphic novels, the visuals play a major role in the total work of art, and the clever use of design elements sometimes opens a whole new box of narrative tools. The same story could feel entirely different with a darker art style than it would with a more cartoonish look. Take Sin City for example - the style was so capturing that even the movies adapted the black-and-white color scheme of the original comic books.

They are less intimidating to read

Particularly for younger readers, it can be quite breathtaking to stare at a wall of text, page after page, without any visual features whatsoever. After all, we got used to books with loads of fantastic illustrations at a very young age. The step from the colorful bedtime stories our parents read to us, straight into the world of novels can be a tough one to make, so why not get your little ones into reading with a good graphic novel? It certainly did enhance my reading skills a bit, back in these days :)

They can express many things in one image

As the old saying goes, a picture says more than a thousand words. While writers can certainly do a proper job describing the atmosphere of the world or the beauty of a landscape, not every reader enjoys wading through all these bits of information, but would rather focus on the action. Like with acting, there are certain things a single emotionally charged look from the protagonist or the view of a bizarre alien creature can express within a second, that words simply might not be able to convey.

They inspire great movies and series

This is especially true to manga, but also western franchises have spawned many great movie adaptations. There’s a good chance even one of your favorite movies started out as a graphic novel. While this holds true to regular books as well, the already existing artwork of graphic novels tends to make it much easier for filmmakers and animators alike, to stay true to the unique look and feel of the original work, which is - you know - a good thing.

They combine two arts into one

I alway admired how cartoonists were able to breathe life into a blank page. Writing, especially storytelling, is an incredible (sometimes even dominant) art by itself, but combined with the imagery of a skilled illustrator, it becomes an impressive blend, that can lead to genuine masterpieces and, in the end, that deserves to be considered an art form of its own.

About the Author

Ben Wendtner is an Austrian author and the creator of the online writing platform Belletristica, a place to publish, enjoy and chat about written words of all kinds.

Image credits: Pixabay

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5 Books About Online Marketing

5 Books About Online Marketing

It’s not always easy to create something that is worth sharing, but what can be even more challenging, is, in actuality, spreading the word. After you finished your novel, started your blog or founded your company, you still need to reach out to people, or all your hard work might go unnoticed. That’s why I’d like to introduce you to a few books about marketing, which can take you a long way.

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Hooked by Nir Eyal is one of my favorite books about marketing, and I can honestly recommend reading it, because not only does it focus on selling your stuff, but on how to craft products that are good and engaging, to begin with. As the title suggests, this book teaches a lot about how we usually form habits, and how to use that knowledge to create addictive things. Especially if you’re running a blog or website that means a lot to you, you do not only want people to visit your site once, or occasionally – you want to make it so right, that it’s worthy of becoming part of your users' daily routine.

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes is all about crafting excellent content. You’ll learn how to write stories that people want to read, and you’ll learn how to chose the right words to make your articles sound trustworthy, honest and entertaining. Content marketing can offer a lot that traditional marketing won’t, and if you’re serious about your business, you should undoubtedly make use of it. Everybody Writes features a lot of practical tips which are instantly applicable and contains advice that even advanced writers will find useful.

Growth Hacker Marketing

Growth Hacker Marketing by Ryan Holiday teaches you how to reach a broad audience effectively with just a limited marketing budget. Much like guerrilla marketing, growth hacking ditches traditional means of marketing (like TV commercials, press releases, and billboards) for more unconventional and creative methods. If you need to market something and don’t mind spending a lot of time and effort rather than money, then this book might be worth a buy.

Epic Content Marketing: How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter and Win More Customers by Marketing Less

Another book about content marketing, but a rather good one. Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pulizzi features a lot of great advice and in-depth case studies of leading companies, and it has even been named as one of 5 must-read business books by Fortune Magazine. So if you want to learn some marketing, you should give it a try too.

The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users

Of course, this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a book on Social Media. The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki offers solid advice on how to successfully navigate through Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr as a company while getting the most out of your accounts and avoiding typical traps and mistakes that could hurt your reputation. If you plan on using Social Media for marketing (which you should), you might want to check this one out.

About the Author

Ben Wendtner is an Austrian author and the creator of the online writing platform Belletristica, a place to publish, enjoy and chat about written words of all kinds.

Featured image via PicJumbo

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Let's Celebrate World Cat Day!

In case you didn’t know, August 8th is a day for celebrating cats and kittens all around the world. We’ve collected some info about this international celebration because we were curious as to how it became so popular over the years, but we also included some fun facts about felines. We also own a cat and love it dearly, and we thought about making this post as personal as possible by including some pictures of our darling Bluezzy. All of the images are from our Instagram account, Books for What.

World Cat Day was introduced in 2002 by the International Fund of Animal Welfare, in order to raise awareness about the requirements of cats. Few people are aware of the fact that there are now over half a billion pet cats living in apartments and homes around the world. Cats have been around for many, many years, during which they’ve gathered quite a good degree of popularity. Some of the greatest fans of cats were the Ancient Egyptians who are said to have had a religion where they worshipped animals, cats included. The reason cats were critically acclaimed back then was that they were capable of keeping small communities clean and vermin-free thanks to their abilities to catch and kill cobras and rats. Although it might be hard to believe, around one hundred and eighty thousand mummified cats were sold at an auction in 1890, in Britain.

In the United States, cats are the most popular pets as there are over eighty million of them living in households, and there are just over seventy million dogs owned by Americans these days. In 2011, an Italian cat named Tommaso became the richest one ever to have lived on the planet because his 94-year old owner left him a 13 million dollar fortune. From rags to riches doesn’t get cooler than this because up to a point in his life, Tommaso was a stray cat living in the streets of Rome. When he was adopted by Maria Assunta, things changed substantially. The woman didn’t have any kids or relatives and was a widow, so she left all her money to the cat.

Many cats are lactose-intolerant, in spite of their owners’ tendency to give them milk once they adopt them. Our cat hates milk and any other milk-related product (including cream and sour cream) aside from butter, but we’ve figured that her preference for buttery dishes is probably due to the heavy fat content. Cats can’t taste sweetness, but they might love ice cream and other foods of this sort because they’re fatty, and they like the consistency. There have been cases (and our cat is not an exception) where cats have been surprised eating coconut oil.

Famous cat lovers include Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Renoir, Monet, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter, Yeats, Sir Walter Scott, Theodore Roosevelt, the Bronte sisters, and Lord Byron.

To make things a bit more fun, we’ve decided to make a short list of several gifts for cat lovers that will seriously blow them away. Some of these items are sweet and decorative whereas others are functional and useful.

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