USA Today, a daily newspaper, was first printed in 1982. Its award winning website was launched in 1995. While its reach is world wide the paper's headquarters is in McLean, Virginia. The site offers access to the latest breaking news, sports, money, life, weather, technology and travel news.
If you're looking for book related articles and reviews then you'll find them under the "Life" section. I'm actually not a big fan of this area as you can't tell from the headlines what the article is about and they are all kind of jumbled together.
An interesting feature of this site is the ability for readers to interact by commenting, voting and starting discussions with other readers and staff. When you register to their website (yes, it's free) you also get to create a profile which allows for a photo, bio, listing of your interests, and if you like, your very own blog.
USA Today provides a Top 150 Best Sellers list based on sales of the previous week. Viewers are able to see at a glance the book's title, a one line descriptor, the number of weeks it has appeared in the top 150, the previous week's placement and when it entered the top listing. The list can be sorted by rank, title or author but not genre. Unfortunately the viewer has to go through an annoying ad every time a change is made.
The database for the 150 Best Sellers also has a search feature to look for a specific author, book or to look up a previous week's listing. It's too bad they don't have one for genre. There is a "printable version" (about 4 pages) that provides an uncluttered view without distractions. This view provides current and previous week's placement, title, author, publisher and price.
If you have some time to spare USA Today's website is worth checking out despite the flashy ads. The interactive aspect is fun and provides contact with other voices besides editorial.
Visit USA Today's Best Seller List.
M. E. Wood lives in Eastern Ontario, Canada. If you are going to find this eclectic reader and writer anywhere it is probably at her computer. For more information visit her official website.
