Shelfari Book Activity

The Help

by Kathryn Stockett

Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...

There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is... (learn more about this book)

Night Trilogy: Book 1

Night

by Elie Wiesel

Original Yiddish title: Un di Velt Hot Geshvign (And the World Remained Silent), 1955; rewritten in French in 1958 as "La Nuit"; original 1960 translation from French into English by Stella Rodway; later translated anew from French into English by the author's wife, Marion Wiesel

Night,... (learn more about this book)

Three Cups of Tea

by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard. Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who,... (learn more about this book)

Sarah's Key

by Tatiana de Rosnay

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel’... (learn more about this book)

The Devil in the White City

by Erik Larson

Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men--the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America’s place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his... (learn more about this book)

The World Is Flat

by Thomas L. Friedman

When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter "Y2K to March 2004," what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed... (learn more about this book)

The Iliad

by Homer

Attributed to Homer, "The Iliad", along with "The Odyssey", is among the oldest literary documents in the Greek language. This epic war story depicts seven key weeks during the battle for Ilium, or Troy, culminating in the decisive battle between Achilles and Hector. More importantly, "The... (learn more about this book)

The Art of War

by Sun Tzu

This is the complete text of The Art of War, one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy in the world. It has also been applied to business and managerial strategies. The tranaslaton, by Lionel Giles is considered one of the best available. This unabridged editon of The... (learn more about this book)

Guns, Germs, and Steel

by Jared Diamond

In this groundbreaking work, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history’s broadest patterns. It is a story that spans 13,000 years of human history, beginning when... (learn more about this book)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

by Hunter S. Thompson

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is a well known book by self-dubbed 'gonzo journalist', Hunter S. Thompson. This drug laden tale is a common part of many high school curriculum and was made into a motion picture starring Johnny Depp and Benecio del Torro in 1998.

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