While looking for an old post for a reader, I came upon one of the bestseller lists I did last year, which reminded me that I hadn’t posted one of these in a while. I had been trying to keep them up quarterly so that readers of this blog could see the books other readers were buying, but, what with all the links required, these posts are a real hassle to put up. So, since I, like most everyone else, gravitate toward pleasure and away from pain, I’ve not kept up with my quarterly timetable.
I can probably muster up the gumption to do it annually, so here is the list of the bestselling books from 2008. These are the books that readers of this blog purchased through Amazon by clicking on the links or book icons on my blog, MD’s blog and the home page of the website. I’ve listed only books not written by MD and/or me.
The number one bestselling book was Mistakes Were Made, which is one of the better books that I’ve read in a long, long time. It’s now out in paperback, so if you haven’t read it, get a copy. It explains in an easy-to-read way how the confirmation bias works and why we all need to carefully examine why we believe what we believe. And it shows the validity of Stuart Chase’s famous quote:
For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.
I’ve read a slew of books on the confirmation bias and why we believe what we believe, but, in my opinion, Mistakes Were Made is by far and away the best of them all.
Here are all the books in descending order of sales:
#1. Mistakes Were Made by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (my full review)
#2. Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes (my review)
#3 Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson et al (my review)
#4 The Brain Trust Program by Larry McCleary, M.D. (my review)
#5 500 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender
#6 The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick, M.D. (my review)
#7 200 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes by Dana Carpender
#8 Dr. Bernsteins Diabetes Solution by Richard Bernstein, M.D.
#9 How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (MD’s review)
#10 The Low-Carb Baking and Dessert Cookbook by Ursula Solom
As always, I appreciate all of you who have supported this site by purchasing your books, CDs, DVDs, clothing, electronics and all the other stuff you’ve purchased through the Amazon portal on this site.
For those of you who don’t realize how this all works, you can click on one of the above links or one of the book icons on the front page of this blog or the home page of the website and you will be taken to that particular book’s page on Amazon.com. Once there, you can search for anything Amazon has available, and if your purchase it, I get a little kickback for providing the entry portal. It is one of the few truly win-win deals out there. You get your book (or whatever) at the regular (usually heavily discounted) Amazon price, and I get a little dinero to help pay the web guys who keep the site updated and running. In looking over last year’s records, I was able to pay about two thirds of my tech bills with my Amazon kickback (I hate that word, but I can’t think of a better one), so thanks very much to all those who helped.
I’m constantly telling my own family members, most of whom order a lot of stuff from Amazon, to go to Amazon through the portal on this blog instead of just logging in on amazon.com and buying away. But it often falls on deaf ears, so maybe I’ll have a little better luck with readers here. I know it’s a little extra hassle to pull up this blog and click on one of the books to get to Amazon than it is to simply click on Amazon directly, but if you do take the extra couple of seconds, you’ll make an old man very happy.
On the website of Mistakes Were Made … http://www.mistakesweremadebutnotbyme.com/ is this:
“#1 2008 best-selling book on Dr. Michael Eades Health & Nutrition blog, MDÂs blog, and the Protein Power website”.
Wow, that was fast. I didn’t even realize that there was a Mistakes Were Made website until you sent this, and now I’m listed on it. Cool.
Glad to know about the Amazon thing. I just ordered “Mistakes Were Made.” It’s in my cart. It will have to wait there until I add enough stuff for the free shipping….:-)
How about books that are mentioned in comments on this blog? Do those count, too?
Thanks for all you do. I’ve learned so much.
Everything counts as long as you search for it after you click through to Amazon from one of the book icons on the blog. If you see a book in the comments section you would like to purchase, simply copy the title, go up to the icon for Protein Power, click it and you will be taken to the Amazon.com page for Protein Power. Then copy the title of the book in the search area, and when you get to that book’s page, purchase it. And thanks in advance.
Have you received a copy of Roy Mankovitz’s The Wellness Project? I finally finished reading it last week. Meat and fat, yes. Sweet organic fruit, no, for me. Any food other than animal protein is a trigger that I avoid.
This may seem trivial to some but thanks to his recommendation, I bought a large bottle of milk of magnesia and I’ve been using it as a deodorant. Not only does it de-stink me (I work out daily and i definitely don’t glow-I sweat) but it has made my underarm skin very soft and silky.
Who would a thunk it.
Marly
I have received the book, but I haven’t had time to read it yet.
I’ll take the extra seconds to make you happy–you deserve it! Thanks for all you do. You’re advice has made my life infinitely more comfortable.
Thank you.
I am happy to click through. After all, reading your archived posts along with the comments is like going through two years of medical school.
When I finished I felt I owed you $80,000 for tuition, Dr. Eades.
Thanks. I appreciate the kind words.
I did not know about loggin into Amazon from your blog. I am happy to do so. You give a lot to me through your blog and I have been wondering how to do something for you in return. Do you get credit if I go to Amazon from your blog and then select an other book than the one in the link?
PS you are an interesting writer.
As long as you get to Amazon by clicking through my blog (or MD’s or the website), we get credit for whatever you purchase while you’re there. Thanks in advance.
Why don’t you just call it “payback”? Or, if you want to sound intellectual, “stipend”. In any case, I’ll try to keep this portal in mind next time I buy something on Amazon. Have a nice weekend. Jim
What? You don’t like kickback? 🙂
Thanks in advance for any purchases you might make.
A better word for ‘kickback’ is ‘commission’!
Thanks for the list. I’m a huge fan of audiobooks. I listen during exercise to multitask. I just finished “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell. Great read about how the most successful people are successful not just due to talent and IQ, but also due to luck and culture. http://gladwell.com/outliers/index.html It’s an interesting read or listen (on audio).
Audiobooks are available on Amazon so next time I’ll click through your blog.
Ah, yes. Commission was the word I was desperately searching for while writing the post, but I just couldn’t get it to bubble up into my brain. Thanks in advance for the click throughs.
Wow, did not know about your “commission” from Amazon. I buy a ton of stuff from there as I live in a small town with limited shopping. From now on I will go through your portal. I will feel good knowing I am helping in a small way to keep your site up and running. You give your valuable time and expertise freely and generously here, it is the least I can do.
Thank you. Your efforts will be much appreciated.
I would not characterize the Amazon payment to you in any pejorative manner. In almost all aspects of commercial enterprise, referral fees, or commissions are paid. Only where there is personal gain that would be viewed as not business (what’s in it for me so to speak- hmm, politicians) is it an issue. The running of this blog is a business in every sense of the word, so any payment to you for referring people to Amazon is part of the business landscape, and nothing more than that.
I agree.
I just read your older review of Kendrick’s “The Great Cholesterol Con.” What’s your opinion of this review, which says he has some of his science wrong.
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Malcolm-Kendrick-Great-Cholesterol-Con.html
I think Chris’s review of Kendrick’s book is on the money, but I still recommend the book to people all the time. Although some of the scientific details are incorrect (Kendrick is, after all, a clinician, not a research scientist), the main thrust of the book is that the lipid hypothesis is wrong and that statins are way over prescribed. He writes in an easy-to-follow, engaging, humorous way, and more lay people will be persuaded that the lipophobes are wacko by reading and understanding Kendrick than they will by poring through Masterjohn’s stuff (which I think is terrific, but a little above the heads of most non-scientifically trained readers). If I were sending a scientist who wanted to learn more about the failures of the lipid hypothesis, I would send him/her to GCBC and Chris’s site; but if the guy next door wanted to learn more, I would probably give him a copy of Kendrick’s book.
I want to put in another recommendation for Crucial Conversations — I wish more people would read it. Dr. Eades’ review tended to stress how much hard work it is to use the book, but just reading it through and learning about different high stakes conversational styles and how to spot problems and ways to counter them is very helpful, not just in job-related situations but also in everyday encounters. It’s nice to feel that I’m better able to stay in a tough conversation without either alienating the other person or feeling alienated myself.
Amen. CC is one of those books that I pickup and reread parts of every few months. I use it like a booster shot to keep infections of my old way of arguing from bringing me down.
Wow, I too didn’t know I could help you out by buying through amazon. Wish I would have known before making an amazon purchase yesterday. 🙁 I will keep you in mind next time!
You don’t have to post this part, this is more just for you Dr Eades. I thought since you like getting commission on people buying amazon through your portal, what about travel? I’m in the travel business myself (World Ventures) and you can get your own website (akin to Expedia, but we search more inventory – in January we actually beat Expedia and Travelocity 70% of the time) that you can make commission on your own travel, and all your friends and family can book through your travel website and you get commission too. This could definitely help “make an old man very happy”. There’s way too much to get into here, but how cool would it be to have a link on your website to have all your fans buy travel through you too? I hope I didn’t upset you writing this here, but after reading your blog, I thought this business could benefit you. I will put in my website below if you are interested, just watch #2 for a quick overview. Call or email with any questions.
Keep up the amazing work!!!
“Mistakes Were Made” is a terrific book — love books like this about common cognitive errors. I think, if you know what they are you’ll be less likely to make them or more likely to catch them in your own life. Another book like this that comes to mind is “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely. And I also enjoyed Gazzaniga’s “The Ethical Brain.” One more science book I recommend is “Evil Genes: Why Hitler Rose, Enron Fell, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend,” by my amazing engineering professor friend Barb Oakley, about the biological nature of evil. Fascinating book, written for everyone, not in universitese.
And by the way, thanks for all your great blog items and your links to debunk the “science” in the name of science. You’re probably the person I most frequently retweet.
I’ve read “The Ethical Brain,” which I enjoyed, but haven’t yet read “Predictably Irrational.” I’ll have to give it a look. I loved “Evil Genes: Why Hitler Rose, Enron Fell, and My Sister Stole My Mother’s Boyfriend,” which you put me onto via your blog. It’s a great book that explains a lot about how a certain type of person we’ve all encountered (usually not pleasantly) got that way. A terrific read.
I guess you and I belong to a mutual admiration society. I love your blog; it’s one of the few I read daily. But then how can it be anything but good when it’s written by a quick-witted true libertarian with a great sense of humor who brooks no BS. I wish I had your industry so that I could drive myself to publish something substantive each and every day.
Glad to learn about the kickback arrangement you have with Amazon. And I loved your review of Dr. Kendrick’s book, which is a treasure. Despite some legitimate criticism from other reviewers (Chris Masterjohn, in particular) it’s premise is irrefutable, in my opinion. But how long will it be before the overwhelming majority of mainstream physicians and nutritionists wake up to reality? My primary care physician and I recently parted company over this and other basic differences. A 25-year relationship is down the tubes because she will not even look at anything alternative to the mainstream propaganda about fats, statins, etc. Sad indeed…
It is sad indeed. See my take on Dr. Kendrick’s book vis a vis Chris Masterjohn’s review in the comment I put on Gretchen’s comment just a few before yours.
You got it, old man. Now let’s not say that again  remember… what you think, you become.
Hmmm. I must have thought it a long time ago, then.
Really? More than one review of “Mistakes Were Made…” on Amazon states that the authors show a definite politically-correct bias, filling the book with endless examples of how whites are always racist , homosexuals are always victims, etc
I know, but that’s the brilliant thing about the book: it gives you a roadmap to see through the confirmation biases of the writers, who probably think themselves the paragons of critical thinking virtue. And because of the authors’ obvious biases, which they present as the culmination of their own serious thinking, readers get the sense of how easy it is for one to fall into the faulty-thinking trap even while writing about the virtues of not doing so. But having said that, there’s not as much in the book as some reviewers would have one believe. Trust me: it’s a wonderful book and of great value.
I just read your Mar Â07 posting ÂA legitimate use for orlistat? (Category: ÂEndocrine disruptors for those whoÂd like to read it  itÂs a great read, as always). You really are thoughtful and ingenious!
Did you ever try the POP-elimination described therein, or hear from anyone who did? My search of your site did not produce any follow-ups.
Now that ÂAlli is available otc (or is there a cheaper source?), IÂm thinking of following your Âprotocol to reduce the Persistent Organic Pollutants in my system; their release, as I lose weight, has been a background worry.
Thanks, as always, for your wonderful informational posts. (I do go through your site for my Amazon purchases.)
PS  some time ago you solicited our opinions regarding the utility of your responses to the comments we make. I find them very, very useful. I hope youÂll continue to respond selectively  as you seem still to be doing!
I have not tried it, nor do I know anyone who has. I do still stand by the notion that it would eliminate organic toxins, but I just haven’t found the weekend that I want to stay home with a bathroom close at hand. If you do try it, let me know.
There are some other alternatives besides orlistat (Alli) that should work as well. Potato chips made with olestra, if eaten in large enough quantities, will provide the same result as will hefty portions of an oily fish called escolar. Just be prepared for a couple of days of gastric unpleasantness.
“Kickback” is cool. Go for it!!!
Hey Dr. Mike, just an fyi – the link to Dana Carpender’s Slow Cooker book is broken.. it goes to her 15 minute cookbook instead…
Thanks for the list.. I have a resources page on my website as well, with your Protein Power book listed as one choice. 🙂 The Amazon thing is great. I get to easily share the books I love with my readers, they get great information, and I get a little nod of thanks from Amazon for sharing.
Thanks for the heads up. I fixed the link. Thanks for the Protein Power listing.
To Bob Rauh’s query, you said:
“As long as you get to Amazon by clicking through my blog (or MDÂs or the website), we get credit for whatever you purchase while youÂre there. Thanks in advance.”
Does this include, let us say a camcorder or laptop purchased through Amazon after linking to it from Protein Power site? Please let me know. Most of my purchases are through Amazon. I would gladly put those extra seconds effort to pay back for the wonderful knowledge you share with us.
Regards,
Ram
It includes anything you purchase through Amazon by going through our website or blogs. People have purchased clothing, camcorders, iMacs, laptops, shredders, vitamins, Iodoral (Amazon is the best place to get it), insulin syringes, and almost anything else you could imagine. Thanks in advance for any purchased you might make.
Interesting that the bestseller list reflects the two basic interests of man  socialization and food, in that order as indicated in the list; same as our ancestors although probably in reverse order.
True.
I do use this method when shipping stuff to the US, but do you know if I click through your site to amazon.com and from there click through to amazon.ca (or UK or wherever), if it can still track the purchase back to you or is that link broken when I switch countries (to avoid huge shipping costs)?
The link is broken when you switch countries. I’m working on getting a portal for Amazon.co.uk, but I haven’t gotten it yet.
Thanks for your response:
“If I were sending a scientist who wanted to learn more about the failures of the lipid hypothesis, I would send him/her to GCBC and ChrisÂs siteI”
I wasn’t sure at first what GCBC was, so I googled it and got” Grand Case Beach Club in St. Martin.” Sounds to me like a good place to send people . . .
I did soon realize it was “Good Calories, Bad Calories.”
Glad you finally figured it out. But if I were a scientist I would much rather be sent to the other GCBC. 🙂
Prompted by the above comment I read your endocrine disruptor article with great interest – and being an experimental sort, I started to make some tentative plans to try out your POP-elimination protocol… 😉
Couldn’t regular blood donations have the same effect, minus the bathroom excitement? (Plus the side benefit of ferritin reduction.)
Yep, but you can do it only once every 60 days.
Have you read David Kessler’s “The End of Overating.” I just read a summary of his ideas in the CSPI Nutrition Action newsletter. I was so annoyed as it just seems totally offbase. Your thoughts?
It is offbase, but what would you expect? Kessler is as mainstream as you can get, and, as you may have noted, the mainstream has done a pretty dismal job of preventing the obesity epidemic.
My editorial aside, apologizing for reading the CSPI newsletter didn’t seem to come through. Please forgive me.