Most Popular ebooks of 2008 and a slight observation

[The Octopussy]

1. War
2. Sex

:agree:

As it should be, no?

Top 20 Titles for 2008

4,624,184 copies of 22,670 titles were downloaded in 2008.

34,057 - The Art of War by Sun Tzu
31,164 - The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana by Richard Burton
17,842 - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
15,452 - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
14,360 - The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
13,162 - Fanny Hill by John Cleland
12,509 - Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Grenville Kleiser
11,710 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
11,111 - The Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang
11,059 - The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft
10,506 - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
10,155 - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, p�re
8,641 - The Grammar of English Grammars by Gould Brown
8,262 - Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
8,255 - How to Use Your Mind by Harry D. Kitson
7,832 - Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
7,646 - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
7,234 - Ulysses by James Joyce
6,654 - The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
6,607 - Dracula by Bram Stoker

[The Octopussy]

Those two titles have stayed in the running since 2004, the year the most popular ebook was

Fanny Hill [what a name!]
Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure


Written in 1749 while Cleland was in debtor's prison in London, it is considered the first "erotic" novel and its publication caused a furor. Immediately upon its release, the Church of England asked the British Secretary of State to "stop the progress of this vile Book, which is an open insult upon Religion and good manners." As a result, Cleland was arrested and charged with "corrupting the King's subjects."

Subversive and sympathetic to the dirty desires of humans (yet not from fin de siecle france). Perfect.

I think Ugly American should read this and Gary Ridgway stay away it will give him only bad ideas.

Rave reviews:

Eroticism is a precise art requiring a deep understanding of human nature and john cleland has effortless mastery over it. the descriptions are a literary feat as they never appear either clinical or comical. In other words he has achieved the almost impossible task of describing the sexual act in all its glory and poignance without being obscene or stooping to profanities. only the lucky read it.

[The Octopussy]

http://manybooks.net/titles/clelandjother04fannyhill.html

[Jake Featherston]

I will admit to having read three of those books. Two of them are actually quite good.

[il ragno]

I would think the introduction of Kindle has rendered such a list obsolete.

[gmork]

This one is still under copyright in the US, Europe and just about everywhere in the world EXCEPT Australia....

11,059 - The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft

Is it the only one on the list that is still under copyright? :scratchhead:

'Course it is just so damn difficult to find your way to Gutenberg-Australia and get it... :rolleyes: