Probably the best selling book on how to solve the Rubik's Cube would have to be The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube, by James G. Nourse. This book offered a very practical, easy-to-memorize way to solve the puzzle. The major problem came if you wanted to use the method, as written, to solve the cube as quickly as possible.

There are also great methods for speed-solving, such as Jessica Fridrich's CFOP method or Philip Marshall's method, but the number of patterns and the situations you're required to memorize can seem daunting.

Fortunately, Cédric Beust offers a happy medium in his article, A Rubik's cube solution that is easy to memorize. It's taught with the help of some animated Rubik's Cube (courtesy of Java), to help make the learning easier. This method has the simplicity of the Nourse method, requiring the memorization of only eight sequences, yet can still help get your solution time under a minute with regular practice.

Now, if you do want to compete in competitions against people like these, you'll want to look deeper into the numerous more advanced algorithms. However, if you simply desire to impress your buddies with your speed, the Beust method is just the thing!