Second best seller of all times--Imitation of Christ

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be." ~ Thomas a Kempis (Born: 1380, died: July 25, 1471) "The Imitation of Christ. Book I, ch. 16". 1418.

Advice that's still good today. His book "The Imitation of Christ" is the 2nd best-seller and 2nd most translated and most influential book of all times. The Bible is number one.

Merriam-Webster word for the day, heterodox

Today's M-W word is "heterodox," meaning different opinions or ways of perceiving things. I looked at the website for "Heterodox Academy" and found pretty much what I thought. Anything can be good or useful or instructional, but not if perceived as orthodox, conservative, and traditional. In fact, you could pretty much throw out the concepts of truth, goodness or beauty. I glanced through the blog written for Heterodox Academy and found a take down of Canadian psychologist/professor Dr. Jordan Peterson, who actually is best known for challenging orthodox leftist theory and mind control. Funny how words work. When Jordan Peterson challenges punishments for using the obvious pronoun, he's alt-right. Ten years ago, he would have just been using correct English. But the LGBTQ lobby has become very powerful in recent years and now the obvious has become the hateful.

Peterson has a best seller that is just driving the Leftists around the bend. It's called, "12 rules for life; an antidote to chaos." You can see from the title why it would upset those who want society in constant chaos--like attacking Chick-fil-A or killing off the unborn so they need to ship in more immigrants who have a higher birth rate. And admittedly, Peterson does give young people outrageous, non-leftist advice such as:

#1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back.
#5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.
#8 Tell the truth--or, at least, don't lie.
#12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.

You can see who is really heterodox. Peterson. He sprinkles his writing with basic psychological research, studies about animals (he particularly likes lobsters), some Judeo-Christian concepts, and a little Greek and Roman history. Except for the lobsters, people my age scratch their heads and say, This is best seller stuff? What our parents taught us? You'd never find such outrageous concepts in the writings of a recently tenured American professor at an elite university charging you $75,000 a year.

3400 Best selling books for youth

How often is a best seller for young people actually written by someone under 18 or even 21? The USA Today Best-selling books for 2006 list for young people has Christopher Paolini's Eragon as number one and his Eldest: Inheritance Book II was fourth. I'm not sure I read books for youth even when I was a teen and I claim total ignorance on this genre and mysteries and fantasies.

What I find fascinating is Paolini's background. Farm raised, and home schooled, he finished high school by age 15. He'd also had a few failed attempts (by age 15) at novel writing. In this interview for other teens interested in writing, he mentions, sort of off hand as though everyone does this, the depth of reading he'd done (before age 15) in Teutonic and Old Norse history in order to have the background for his characters, language and country.

He says when he was little he didn't want to learn to read--didn't think it was important, but that his mother was persistent and patient (a former teacher).

"Then she took me to the library. It's easy to write those words now, but they cannot convey how that single event changed my life. In the library, hidden in the children's section, was a series of short mystery novels. Attracted by their covers, I took one home and read it eagerly. I discovered another world, peopled with interesting characters facing compelling situations." Can you imagine how busy he must have kept the Interlibrary or Regional Loan department at his public library?

When he had his first book self-published after years of drafts and editing, the family marketed it themselves--beginning with talks at libraries. These parents obviously had a lot of faith in their boy! I think I heard an interview on the radio where he said they'd mortgaged their home to do this. But don't quote me.

"The Paolini family spent the next year promoting the book themselves. Beginning with talks at the local library and high school, they then traveled across the U.S. Christopher gave over 135 presentations at libraries, bookstores, and schools in 2002 and early 2003." His webpage

Someone who bought it brought the title to the attention of a publisher, who signed him, and by mid-2004 Eragon had sold over 1 million copies.