ALTADENA, CA, March 18, 2002 - Best Book BuysTM (www.bestbookbuys.com), a leading online book comparison shopping site for college students and a service of Best Web Buys, today announced Chaka Akbar, a Junior at Richland College in Dallas, Texas as the winner of the $1,500 Scholarship on "The Book All College Students Should Read". Akbar's winning essay on Plato's The Republic was chosen from more than 11,000 entries from college students across the country.
"We were very surprised by the number of students that applied and the passion they had about the books they recommended," said Steve Loyola, President of Best Web Buys. "The students' essays were remarkably personal and sensitive. Chaka Akbar's winning essay was well written, compelling and persuasive."
11,388 college students recommended over 3,000 different books. Below is a list of the top ten books recommended in order:
1. The Holy Bible
2. Tuesday's with Morrie
3. Oh, The Places You'll Go
4. Who Moved My Cheese?
5. Chicken Soup for the College Soul: Inspiring and Humorous Stories About College
6. To Kill a Mockingbird
7. (Tie) A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive
7. (Tie) The Catcher in the Rye
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
10. Ishmael
Akbar writes in his winning essay, "Plato encourages patience and humility in argument. He also promotes the idea of using reason as opposed to force. This text is not about how to argue your position and win, but rather how to utilize logic and reason to examine ideas - how to recognize details and work with others through argument to discover truth. The Republic presents a way of looking at and solving problems.
The image of the process of learning is particularly important to college students; it is the very process in which they are engaged. It illustrates that learning is a challenge, and one that must be undertaken by all to give true meaning to life."
The entire essay can be read at http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/essay2001.html.
About Best Book Buys
Best Book Buys compares prices, shipping and availability of more than 3 million titles at dozens of online bookstores including Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Barnes and Noble (NYSE: BNBN), half.com, and Powell's. Besides serving the college market, Best Book Buys also helps consumers find new, used, close-out and audio books.
Best Book Buys was one of the first comparison shopping sites on the Internet and has received accolades from a number of sources including Forbes, The Today Show, Money, Smart Money, USA Weekend, PC Magazine, Cool Site of the Year Awards, and CoolShopping.com. Best Book Buys is a service of Best Web Buys and was founded in 1997 by Steve Loyola, a former Jet Propulsion Laboratory computer scientist. Best Web Buys has five product specific sites -- Best Book Buys, Best Music Buys, Best Video Buys, Best Bike Buys and Best Electronic Buys. The company is located at 2400 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, California, 91001 and can be reached at 626.296.6260.
