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	*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* by Mark Twain. A classic story about a boy who runs away from an abusive father. A slave named Jim accompanies him as they raft down the Mississippi. Epic in scope and poetic in a very American sense. The Mississippi River is a symbol for the struggle within all of us to overcome our own biases.
	Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Green. There are many other books with the same title by different authors. The stories are all the same. I learned to read well by age seven. This was one of the first books I read as a young boy. It is an epic of the true hero's journey.
	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (Wonderland) populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre, and its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.
	*All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten* by Robert Fulgum. Here Fulghum engages us with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental U.S.A. The little seed in the Styrofoam cup offers a reminder about our own mortality and the delicate nature of life . . . a spider who catches (and loses) a full-grown woman in its web one fine morning teaches us about surviving catastrophe . . . the love story of Jean-Francois Pilatre and his hot air balloon reminds us to be brave and unafraid to “fly” . . . life lessons hidden in the laundry pile . . . magical qualities found in a box of crayons . . . hide-and-seek vs. sardines—and how these games relate to the nature of God. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is brimming with the very stuff of life and the significance found in the smallest details. In the years that have passed since the first publication of this book that touched so many with its simple, profound wisdom, Robert Fulghum has had some time to ponder, to reevaluate, and to reconsider. And here are those fresh thoughts on classic topics, right alongside the wonderful new essays. Perhaps in today’s chaotic, more challenging world, these essays on life will resonate even deeper—as readers discover how universal insights can be found in ordinary events.
	*All the Presidents Men* by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. In the most devastating political detective story of the century, two Washington Post reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened. Top
Top	Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Travor. First published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the successful and now classic Otto Preminger film. For the twenty-fifth birthday of a work that is not only the most popular courtroom drama in American fiction, but one of the most popular novels of our time, St. Martin's is proud to introduce this special anniversary edition, with a new introduction by the author. A gripping tale of deceit, murder, and a sensational trial, Anatomy of a Murder is unmatched in the authenticity of its settings, events, and characters. This new edition should delight both loyal fans of the past and an entire new generation of readers. Top
Top	Ancient Mysteries: Discover the latest intriguiging, Scientifically sound explinations to Age-old puzzles by Peter James and Nick Thorpe. For centuries, philosophers, scientists, and charlatans have attempted to decipher the baffling mysteries of our past, from Stonehenge to the lost continent of Atlantis. Today, however, DNA testing, radiocarbon dating, and other cutting-edge investigative tools, together with a healthy dose of common sense, are guiding us closer to the truth. Now historian Peter James and archaeologist Nick Thorpe tackle these age-old conundrums, presenting the latest information from the scientific community–and the most startling challenges to traditional explanations of mysteries such as: • The rise and fall of the Maya • A lost cache of Dead Sea Scrolls • The curse of Tutankhamun • The devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah • The Nazca Lines and the Vinland Map • The existence of Robin Hood These true mystery stories twist and turn like a good whodunit, as James and Thorpe present the evidence for and against the expert theories, shedding new light on humankind’s age-old struggle to make sense of the past. Ancient Mysteries will entertain and enlighten, delight the curious and inform the serious. Top
Top	*Animal Farm* by George Orwell. Classic tale of neo totalitarianism of the left. Given the biased reporting of the news media today (trying to be entertaing and only being derisive) it will make you wonder if we aren't on the edge of a new facist state. This is a tale of how the downtrodden can be manipulated into making their own lives worse. Every generation discovers this book and makes it their own. Top
Top	*Another Roadside Attraction* by Tom Robbins. Robbins is a unique American Treasure. He can craft a metaphor like no other. This enjoyable book will hook you and you will have to read his other works too. There aren't many and you will wish for more. Another Roadside Attraction is a tale of the sixties, not the drug culture part as an observer, but from the inside. For those of you were cleverly not born in time to experience the sixties, travel was often by automobile and the Interstate Highway system was still being developed. The main roads were littered with billboards advertising roadside attractions. Mostly tourist traps, but an excuse for getting the kids out of the car. Mystery Spots, tiny churches, Washington Slept Here, and much more was available to the traveler. Google Wall Drugs sometime to find the ultimate marketing of a pit stop. Top
Top	*The Art of War* by Sun Tzu. With well over a million copies sold, Sun Tzu's The Art of War is a true masterpiece, a series of brilliant aphorisms that illuminate the planning and conduct of war. Now this classic work is available in an elegant illustrated edition, featuring seventy-five color and black-and-white images. From perceptive descriptions of the nine varieties of terrain, to advice on how to gage an enemy's weaknesses and strengths, to suggestions on the employment of secret agents, here is timeless advice on combat and military strategy. Sun Tzu's writings are unsurpassed in depth of understanding, shedding light not only on battlefield maneuvers, but also on the relevant economic, political, and psychological factors that can shape the outcome of warfare. Equally important, the precepts outlined by Sun Tzu over two thousand years ago can be applied with great success outside the theater of war. Indeed, it is read avidly by corporate executives worldwide and has been touted in the movie Wall Street and the television series The Sopranos as the ultimate guide to strategy. Finally, this edition offers the definitive translation of Sun Tzu's text, by former U.S. Marine Brigadier General Samuel Griffith, who was also an authority of Mao Tse-Tung. Remarkable for its clear organization, lucid prose, and the acuity of its intellectual and moral insights, The Art of War is the definitive study of combat. It is an essential book for military history buffs, and an ideal gift for anyone who is interested in tactics and strategy, whether on the battlefield or in the boardroom. Top
Top	*Asimov's Guide to the Bible: A Historical Look at the Old and New Testaments* by Isaac Asimov . Not a book about religion but a good look at the meaning of the words used in the Bible. This is a wonderful book no matter what your faith is. You will have a better understanding of the Bible when you have finished. Asimov wrote over 450 books in his lifetime. He is mostly known for his science fiction books but most of his books are easy to read scholarly works. Top
Top	*Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare* by Isaac Asimov. While watching or reading one of Shakespeare's plays, it's interesting to read the notes of some of the different critics. Peter Levi does a wonderful job following the poetry and language of Shakespeare as it develops over his lifetime, in the context of the other writers of his era. Harold Bloom, of course, finds in Shakespeare both a mirror and an impulse for a leap forward in literature and therefore in society. Bloom has fallen in love with certain of Shakespeare's characters (Falstaff, Hamlet, etc.) and uses them as a yardstick for all others. Asimov takes a more historical view. He has done impressive research into the characters and times. His "Guide to Shakespeare" is useful for its insights into all of the plays, but I found it most useful for the English histories. In the eight plays of the Wars of the Roses --from Richard II, through the Henrys, and culminating in Richard III-- Asimov tracks the family trees and politics of the nobility, spots anachronisms, and does a wonderful job of simplifying the sometimes bewildering array of characters and historical references. Of course, even uneducated audiences in Shakespeare's day would have understood some of these arcane references without a guidebook, much as a modern US audience would easily understand references to Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. With his research and clear writing, Asimov brings the history plays --and indeed all of the plays-- back to life. This book is out of print so you will have to search a bit, but it is well worth finding. Top
Top	*Awakenings* by Oliver Sacks. Dr. Sacks chronicles some of his many patients who were victims of a sleeping-sickness epidemic of 1918. These patients, only occasionally able to communicate or move, were nearly all institutionalized for life, their ranks increasing every now and then with similarly afflicted men and women. Sacks came to work at a long-term care facility shortly before the first exciting results with L-dopa and Parkinson's in the late 1960s; his patients soon embarked on dramatic, difficult recoveries from up to 50 years of torpor. He documents their ordeals with great care to portray their individual personalities, long suppressed but finally released. Top

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