Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

PAT CONROY — AMERICA’S MOST BELOVED STORYTELLER — IS BACK! “I was born to be a point guard, but not a very good one. . . .There was a time in my life when I walked through the world known to myself and others as an athlete. It was part of my own definition of who I was and certainly the part I most respected. When I was a young man, I was well-built and agile and ready for the rough and tumble of games, and... (more)

Lord of the Flies

by William Golding

14.5 Million copies sold to date The classic, startling, and perennially bestselling portrait of human nature-now available as a Premium Edition with a stunning new cover and re-set, easy-to-read text.

An American Tragedy

by Theodore Dreiser

A story of a poor boy whose ambition for wealth and social prestige leads him to commit murder.

Napoleon and Wellington: The Battle of Waterloo--and the Great Commanders Who Fought It

Napoleon and Wellington: The Battle of Waterloo--and the Great Commanders Who Fought It

by Andrew Roberts

On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, the Emperor Napoleon declared that the Duke of Wellington was a bad general, the British were bad soldiers and that France could not fail to win an easy victory. Forever afterwards historians have accused him of gross overconfidence, and massively underestimating the calibre of the British commander opposed to him. Andrew Roberts presents an original, highly revisionist... (more)

ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game

ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game

The most comprehensive reference book ever assembled on the history of college football From South Bend, Indiana, to Lincoln, Nebraska, Palo Alto, California, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Tallahassee, Florida, college football attracts the most dedicated fans in all of sports. This book is their Bible -- a rich and exhaustive reference guide to the game’s history, tradition, and lore.... (more)

The Long Season

by Jim Brosnan

The classic inside account of a baseball year by a major league pitcher. It begins, appropriately, with the winter doldrums and sweating out a new contract, then follows the author and his family to spring training in Florida and through the full season's schedule to October. One of the best baseball books ever written. It is probably one of the best American diaries as well. --New York Times Book Review

Looking Good: Male Body Image in Modern America

Looking Good: Male Body Image in Modern America

by Lynne Luciano

A valuable examination of the tyranny of body image--this time over men Not so long ago, what the average American man did mattered more than how he looked. Since the 1970s, however, projecting the right look has become more and more essential, and men are spending millions of dollars on fitness training, bodybuilding, hair replacement, and cosmetic surgery in the relentless pursuit of physical perfection. What... (more)

The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition

The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition

by W. J. Rorabaugh

"Rorabaugh has written a well thought out and intriguing social history of America's great alcoholic binge that occurred between 1790 and 1830, what he terms 'a key formative period' in our history....A pioneering work that illuminates a part of our heritage that can no longer be neglected in future studies of America's social fabric."--Journal of Psychohistory "A bold and frequently illuminating attempt to... (more)

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man

by Henry Louis Gates

What does it mean to be black and male in 20th-century America? The notion of the unitary "black man" is as illusory as the creature conjured up by Wallace Stevens in his poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", says Gates. With these eight essays--most of which appeared originally in "The New Yorker"--the chair of Harvard's Afro-American Studies department takes a close look at some of the most... (more)

Seven Commentaries on The Gallic War (Oxford World's Classics)

Seven Commentaries on The Gallic War (Oxford World's Classics)

by Julius Caesar

The Gallic War, published on the eve of the civil war which led to the end of the Roman Republic, is an autobiographical account written by one of the most famous figures of European history. This new translation reflects the purity of Caesar's Latin while preserving the pace and flow of his momentous narrative of the conquest of Gaul and the first Roman invasions of Britain and Germany. Detailed notes, maps, a... (more)

Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America

Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America

by Mark C. Carnes

In this study of American 19th-century secret orders, the author argues that religious practices and gender roles became increasingly feminized in Victorian America and that secret societies, such as the Freemasons, offered men and boys an alternative, male counterculture.

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My Losing Season

by Pat Conroy