Short stories aren't everyone's cup of tea, but a new collection by George Saunders titled Tenth of December is flying off bookstore shelves. Connoisseurs of the genre and subscribers to The New Yorker have long

been fans of Saunders, but many folks (myself included) are not familiar with his work. But this, his fourth book of short stories, is clearly resonating with readers across the board - Tenth of December hit #1 on the national independent bestseller list after only two weeks on bookstore shelves.

One reason for the success of the book is that booksellers are buzzing about the book. The Indie Next list is a monthly offering of book reviews by independent booksellers, and the January edition contains this rave for Tenth from Jessica Stockton Bagnulo of Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY:

"Saunders' stories stretch the boundaries of reality, but his characters are often defined by their limits. He is a master satirist in top form with this collection, but his occasionally outlandish settings never overshadow the humanity of the men, women, and children struggling through each tale. These stories do all the things we hope good fiction will do: blow your mind and break your heart, make you laugh and make you think. They are the kind of stories I feel grateful for, that stick in my head and heart and make me want to be a better person."

As with short stories, not everyone is enamored with business and marketing titles. But I'd still recommend taking a look at Daniel Pink's new book, To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. Pink has written other books, including Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and he's an engaging and entertaining writer with a sometimes counter-intuitive approach.

There's a lot of meat in To Sell Is Human, but I was intrigued by two of Pink's premises. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in nine Americans - more than 15 million people - works in sales. According to Pink, so do the rest of us. Whether we're employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, Pink asserts we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we're all in sales now.

The other fascinating point is how sales has changed. The old paradigm was that the salesman always had more information than the consumer and could use that knowledge to his advantage - hence, Buyer Beware. But these days, information and knowledge are readily and easily available, and buyers are often on at least equal footing. That means if you are the seller - of cars, of ideas, of rules - your pitch needs to be a lot different. Seller Be Aware.