Hot games - Sunday 6 June 2009

Another Sunday has rolled around and as usual we highlight the best-selling games on the various online retail platforms.

The Sims3 has arrived and it has plenty of fans topping all three lists - wow!

Check out the list:

Take2.co.za
1. The Sims 3: Standard Edition (PC/MAC DVD-ROM)
2. Sam & Max - Season 1 (PC)
3. Age of Empires III: Gold Bundle (PC) - AoE III + Warchief Expansion
4. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (PC DVD)
5. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor (PC DVD-ROM)
6. Crysis (PC DVD-ROM)
7. Mass Effect (PC DVD-ROM)
8. Infamous (PS3) In Stock
9. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PC DVD-ROM)
10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3 Platinum)

Amazon.com
1. The Sims 3 - PC
2. EA Sports Active - Nintendo Wii
3. Wii Fit - Nintendo Wii
4. Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel - Nintendo Wii
5. Infamous - PS3
6. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Bundle - Nintendo Wii
7. Wii Sports Resort - Nintendo Wii
8. The Sims 3 Collector's Edition - PC
9. EA Sports Active Multiplayer Pack - Nintendo Wii
10. Punchout - Nintendo Wii

Kalahari.Net
1. The Sims 3 - PC
2. Infamous - PS3
3. EA Sports Active - Nintendo Wii
4. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - PC
5. Singstar ABBA - PS2
6. Guitar Hero Metallica - Xbox360
7. Lego Star Wars - PC
8. Prototype - Xbox360
9. Demigod - PC
10. Ben 10: Alien Force - PS2

Bestsellers - Sunday 6 June 2009

Another Sunday has rolled around and as usual we highlight the best-selling books on the various online retail platforms.

It is interesting to see that Spud is back on the local charts with lots of Pre-Orders coming in for "Learning To Fly".

Check out the list:

Exclusive Books
1. Spud - Learning to Fly (Pre-order)
2. New Moon
3. Breaking Dawn
4. Eclipse
5. Twilight
6. The Winner Stands Alone
7. Oh, the Places You'll Go!
8. The Shack
9. Eat, Pray, Love
10. First Family

Take2.co.za
1. New Moon - Meyer, Stephenie
2. Eclipse - Meyer, Stephenie
3. Breaking Dawn - Meyer, Stephenie
4. Twilight - Meyer, Stephenie
5. Spud Learning to Fly (Paperback) - John Van De Ruit
6. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
7. Ashes of Midnight - Adrian, Lara
8. Burning Wild - Feehan, Christine
9. New Moon - Meyer, Stephenie
10. Twilight - Meyer, Stephenie

Amazon.com
1. Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make - Lifetime Television
2. New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) - by Stephenie Meyer
3. Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto - Mark R. Levin
4. The Shack - William P. Young
5. Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) - Stephenie Meyer
6. Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defense - Wayne W. Dyer
7. The Twilight Saga Collection - Stephenie Meyer
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
9. The Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)- Stephenie Meyer
10. Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) - Stephenie Meyer

Kalahari.Net
1. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
2. Spud Learning to Fly - John van De Ruit
3. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
4. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
5. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
6. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think about Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment - Steve Harvey
7. The Shack - William P. Young
8. Spud - John Van De Ruit
9. Spud - The Madness Continues - John Van De Ruit
10. Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian - Rick Riordan

Harlan Coben "Three Great Novels"

Had a great weekend with the Harlan Coben "Three Great Novels" trilogy and I'm definately planning to get my hands on more books by this author!

The three stories:

• Deal Breaker
• Drop Shot
• Fade Away

all focus around the Myron Bolitar character, who has quickly become one of the best I have ever come across in the action genre.

Bolitar is a former basketball prodigy whose career was cut short by injury. He got involved with some shady government spy work that allowed him to hook up with a some-time psychopath who also partners with him in his new sports representation business.

He brings a rather unique mix of business and investigative tools to help him get his company off the ground and his clients out of trouble - especially when they get mixed up with the mob and other unsavoury characters.

For me the real standout in this book was the witty dialouge and writing style - it all just flowed really easily and kept me interested the whole way through. It such a pleasure when you keep reading to pick up the next witty one-liner!

The individual titles are available from South African online retailer Loot (see banner right) for as little as R55, but I recommend ordering the trilogy because the stories all tie into one another and there is a GREAT twist at the end of Fade Away which ties the whole thing together.

Title: Three Great Novels
Author: Harlan Coben
ISBN-13: 978-0-7528-4733-7

Rated the whole series as a four out of five and a definate "must-read" for those who love the action thriller genre.

New releases from Exclusive Books and Penguin Books SA

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Set in 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, there are lines that are not crossed. Black maids raise the white children, but no one trusts them not to steal the silver. Aibileen is a black maid, raising her seventeenth white child, but with a bitter heart after the death of her son. Minny is the sassy woman of the town and Skeeter is a white woman with a degree but no ring on her finger. Skeeter discovers her beloved maid Constantine has disappeared without a trace. And as different as they may be, these three women will come together for a clandestine project that will put all of them at risk.

The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble

A gorgeous and unforgettable novel set in a turn-of-the-century New York apartment building on the Upper West Side, The Girl Next Door features four interwoven stories about love, life and living together. Meet Eve Gallagher in Apartment 7A, newly relocated to New York from London with her ambitious banker husband. But she's lonely and lost ... until she meets elderly neighbour Violet, who's concealing a tragic story of her own. The Kramers and the Schulmans in Apartments 6A and 6B are about to find their lives intersecting in a most unfortunate manner when Jason Kramer falls head-over-heels for Rachael Schulman.

These books are available to purchase or order at your nearest Exclusive Books branch.

Horror / Sci-Fi

I love the whole sci-fi and horror genre and I was surfing around and found this bunch called SomeThing Wicked - http://www.somethingwicked.co.za.

It looks like a pretty new offering and while their site looks a little cluttered there looks like there is some interesting stuff there.

Go check it out and let me know what you think of it!

Paths of Glory - Jeffrey Archer

I have just finished reading "Paths of Glory" which is the latest offering from Jeffrey Archer.

I'll be honest the book while the book was good - well written? - it never really seemed to get out of 2nd gear.

The story revolves around George Mallory and his attempts to climb Everest. It takes us over the story of his life as he develops from an eager young student into one of the best climbers of his generation.

I don't think anyone will ever be able to fault Archer's ability to write a story but this just did not seem to have the same punch that some of his other works did have. I found myself plopping into bed and reading two or three pages before passing out.

The character development was good in that you "watched" as the climbers and social circle matured as world events (such as World War 1 played out).

In all honesty I can't put my finger on what was missing but there wasn't enough to keep me turning page after page.

Title: Paths of Glory
Author: Jeffrey Archer
ISBN-13: 978-0-230-53143-7
Loot price: R199.00 (see banner right)

Our conclusion: A well written read with good character development. Unfortunately the story just wasn't engaging enough for me. Rated it a 3 out of 5.

Hot games

As usual on a Sunday we highlight the best selling video games on the various online retail platforms:

Amazon
1. Virtual Villagers [Game Download] - PC
2. Atlantis Quest - PC
3. Ricochet Lost Worlds: Recharged - PC
4. Slingo Quest - PC
5. Wii Fit - Nintendo Wii
6. Alice Greenfingers - PC
7. Phineas and Ferb DS - Nintendo DS
8. EA Sports Active - Nintendo Wii
9. Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel - Nintendo Wii
10. Gold's Gym Cardio Workout - Nintendo Wii

Take2
1. Crysis (PC DVD-ROM)
2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3 Platinum)
3. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition (PC DVD)
4. Sam & Max - Season 1 (PC)
5. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PC DVD-ROM)
6. Drakensang: The Dark Eye (PC DVD-ROM)
7. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2 Platinum)
8. Exclusive: Age of Empires: Collectors Edition (PC)
9. Another World: 15th Anniversary Edition (PC)
10. Mass Effect (PC DVD-ROM)

Kalahari.Net
1. The Sims 3 Collectors Edition - PC
2. Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution - Xbox360
3. Metal Gear Solid 4 (Platinum) - PS3
4. Resident Evil 5 - Xbox360
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - PS2
6. Guitar Hero World Tour with Guitar Wii - Nintendo Wii
7. Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - PC
8. Lego Star Wars - PC
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - PS2
10. Call of Duty 2: Game of the Year Edition (Xbox 360 Classic) - Xbo360