Free Republic

Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, has sued her literary agent for allegedly duping her into assigning him the copyright on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, Lee says Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of Lee's long-time agent, Eugene Winick, took advantage of her failing hearing and eyesight to transfer the rights on the book, which has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and became an Oscar-winning film. The 87-year-old says she has no memory of agreeing to relinquish her rights or signing the agreement that cements the purported transfer.

A Philadelphia mother wants her son’s high school teacher fired after he bought the teen the novel Fifty Shades of Grey for in-class reading. Maya Ladson says she was shocked to find a copy of the racy read in her 14-year-old’s book bag back on March 9. That shock turned to outrage when she found out how he got the book. “The minute I found out about it, it raised concern,” the mother told NBC10.com Thursday. “This is not OK to me. This is major.” Ladson's son, who is a 9th grade student at Eastern University Academy Charter School in...

Ah, to know the mind of Aristotle, the man whom Dante called “the teacher of those who know.” How magnificent to commune with the intellect of Plato, of whom Alfred North Whitehead dared to say: “the European philosophical tradition consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” Many other ancient writers by their enduring works have bequeathed to us the gift of remarkable clarity on our unchanging human nature, a clarity which is conspicuously absent from most of the literature churned out in this Dark Age.Contrast the lasting classics of the Great Western Tradition with the divergent and self-conscious works...

Clarence Manion, the retired dean of the Notre Dame School of Law, became one of the most thoughtful conservatives from the mid-1950s through the 1970s. The “Manion Forum” began broadcasting in 1954 and continued until his death in 1979. In 1952, Manion would head the “Democrats for Eisenhower” organization. President Dwight D. Eisenhower named him as the chairman of a commission to study how to return to states the power that the federal government had taken away under the Roosevelt and Truman administration. When Manion did not back away from his support of something the administration opposed, Eisenhower fired him....

If you’re a regular Townhall reader, you’re familiar with Mike Adams’ columns. If you’re any other Townhall columnist (and competitive like me), always seeing him scattered among the “Top 10” most-read most-commented columns makes you want to finally give in and do a column on Mike Adams with the hopes of cracking the top 10. Adams graduated from high school with a GPA of 1.8. Despite his apparent fear of success, he still managed to get an Associate’s degree from San Jacinto College. He then got his B.A. with a more respectable 3.4 GPA and Master’s in psychology from Mississippi...

I have friends and relatives in Germany that just do not know the true story of Barack Hussein Obama. I go on Amazon.de and the only books about the guy are all lavish encomiums, books from the left, or his own two books written by Bill Ayres. Are there any conservative books written in German that anyone knows about? Is there a German version of Dinesh d"Souza's film or book? Appreciate your help. Thanks

There are hundreds of books that are considered classics and probably even more over-hyped ones on bestsellers lists. Which do you think are the three most overrated books?

Getting a literature Ph.D. will turn you into an emotional trainwreck, not a professor. Who wouldn’t want a job where you only have to work five hours a week, you get summers off, your whole job is reading and talking about books, and you can never be fired? Such is the enviable life of the tenured college literature professor, and all you have to do to get it is earn a Ph.D. So perhaps you, literature lover, are considering pursuing this path. Well, what if I told you that by “five hours” I mean “80 hours,” and by “summers off”...

At any book store in the country, you can find hundreds of titles from right-leaning authors — and they are selling like hotcakes. Over the past few years, the Tea Party groundswell and the presidency of Barack Obama has fueled a new and growing crop of conservative authors, as well as renewed interest in the canon of nonfiction works that have shaped conservative thought in American culture and politics. The following is a list of 13 books that are staples to any Republican bookshelf. While the list by no means comprehensive, its a good starter guide for any young conservative...

The digital age continues to confuse and confound a generation of adults who have learned to participate in it, but lack the ability for what Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley called "doin' what comes naturally." We still think a microwave is for heating coffee and thawing frozen food, never the name of a computer game. We weren't born to researching on Wikipedia or Googling for facts. Our fingers can text, but often strike two letters on the Android, making for some strange communications. We despair of catching up with the tools at hand and wonder what it all means...

I have been recovering from a stroke, so, to keep life interesting I have been reading a few novels. I have now read most of the novels by F. van Wyck Mason. He once was a military officer but I don't know if he is now alive. He really knows his early American History of around 1775 and the conflict between the rebels, Tories, and royalists. You will learn how the New Englanders fit in, Boston, Rhode Island, Norfolk, Virginia and Burmuda. They were brutal on each other as was never told in school history books. I'm reading 'Three Harbours'...

See Link.

<p>Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature are included in the California Department of Education's newest reading list for students,prompting complaints from critics who say a leftist agenda is being pushed on kids, the San Jose Mercury News reported.</p> <p>Controversial topics have been introduced to California students in the past, but this is the first time the state has put forth works celebrated by the Stonewall Book Awards, which since 1971 has recognized LGBT literature, according to the newspaper.</p>

Not since 1984 and the landslide victory of Ronald Reagan have the Republicans had a more winnable election than the 2012 presidential election. Yet the Republican Establishment managed to lose to the worst and most vulnerable President in modern history, with historically poor approval ratings, unemployment averaging over 8.7% during his entire first term, a stagnant economy and someone who ran the smallest and most absurd of all possible re-election campaigns. Why and how did this happen? In his new book WTF? How Karl Rove and the Establishment Lost...Again, C. Edmund Wright, a frequent contributor to the American Thinker website...

I’ve been an avid reader since childhood, and probably several thousand books have come and gone from my shelves over the decades. As with many other accumulated belongings, I’m getting to the age where the end is in sight, even if these perilous times pass, and society does get back on track. And so, last weekend I loaded many boxes of books into my pickup, and took them to sell for in-house credit at a local used book store. The money/credit was not that important to me - I mostly wanted to circulate the books back to people who might...

It’s been nearly a year since the death of Osama bin Laden, and the American public has become accustomed to hearing about an al Qaeda no longer under his leadership, be it in Yemen, Mali, or elsewhere. However, even while bin Laden was in hiding, al Qaeda was dominated by his micromanagement skills, whether it was the decision not to institute Anwar al-Awlaki head of Al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) or suggestions on how to avoid drone strikes. In his book, Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad, Peter L. Bergen argues that al...

The American Left and the Islamists work together to sabotage American, spreading their social justice (or sharia) values in a way that is inimical to American values, argues Andrew C. McCarthy in his book The Grand Jihad. For the hard left, social justice translates into Marxism and communism. For the Islamist, social justice leads to implementing Sharia and an Islamic state. These two are natural partners, he argues, because of their pursuit of “power” and opposition to American liberties. (McCarthy’s newest book is Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy.) A riveting tale of Islam in America and abroad, in...

(This is the second part of an ongoing series on federal "Common Core" education standards and the corruption of academic excellence.)The Washington, D.C., board of education earned widespread mockery this week when it proposed allowing high school students -- in the nation's own capital -- to skip a basic U.S. government course to graduate. But this is fiddlesticks compared to what the federal government is doing to eliminate American children's core knowledge base in English, language arts and history. Thanks to the "Common Core" regime, funded with President Obama's stimulus dollars and bolstered by duped Republican governors and business groups,...

The radical teachers group Rethinking Schools published an article in its Winter 2012-2013 magazine titled, “Books About Contemporary Palestine for Children,” EAGnews.org reported. Before you go any further, here’s a hint about the nature of these recommended books: The editors of Rethinking Schools are anti-Israel and see nothing wrong with Palestinian terrorist attacks against the people of that nation. The article’s author, San Jose State University Professor of Education Katharine Davies Samway, starts off by explaining how she volunteered to work in a booth at a recent local festival that was dedicated to drawing attention to “the impact of...

Lovers of ink and paper, take heart. Reports of the death of the printed book may be exaggerated. Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the shift from page to screen have varied. But the consensus has been that digitization, having had its way with music and photographs and maps, would in due course have its way with books as well. By 2015, one media maven predicted a few years back, traditional books would be gone. Half a decade into...

I am going through withdrawal...Ya'll have been helpful and have recommended some of the authors I'll name here...I've unfortunately exhausted Ben Coes, Brad Thor, Brad Taylor, Vince Flynn and Barry Eisler's novels...I would appreciate some more names...I was once told to read David Baldacci's novels...I read 2 pages and realized he's an America-hating liberal. Please, none of these. I only like America-supporting, conservative spy novels...many thanks in advance.

So I work a job at night that's very repetitive, and I'm allowed to listen to music. I've found though i don't have the time for reading that I used to, and that I'd rather spend my time listening to audiobooks while working, then music to help keep my mind from dying a slow death from disuse. Which leads me here, what better group of people to come to for help finding books that will further my knowledge of both fiction and non-fiction, then everyone at Free Republic? I'm looking for any good non-fiction audiobooks on history, science, philosophy, medicine,...

During the holidays, a shopping mall can be more like a shopping maul. One way to avoid that scene is to give books as Christmas gifts, since books can be bought on-line, painlessly. A book that fits in with the holiday spirit is "No, They Can't!" by TV show host John Stossel. It is written with a light touch, but gets across some pretty heavy stuff about economics. The title is a take-off on Obama's old slogan, "Yes, we can!" It is the first book I have read that asks a question about electric cars that should have been asked...

PHILADELPHIA — Like many of his third-grade classmates, Mario Cortez-Pacheco likes reading the “Magic Tree House” series, about a brother and a sister who take adventurous trips back in time. He also loves the popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” graphic novels. But Mario, 8, has noticed something about these and many of the other books he encounters in his classroom at Bayard Taylor Elementary here: most of the main characters are white. “I see a lot of people that don’t have a lot of color,” he said.

I have a 16 year old grandson that spends too much time on the computer and playing X games. He doesn't read books. So, I am thinking of giving him a couple of books for his christmas present. Two books I am thinking of is; 'The Richest Man In Babylon' by George Clasan and 'Anthem' by Ayn Rand. I would like suggestions from other writers that counter act the teaching he is getting in his school, and still be interesting for a 16 year old.

United States Naval Academy Nimitz Library 589 McNair Road - Annapolis MD 21402-5029 • 410-293-2420 Home About the Library Hours Catalog Lending Policies Reference Services Contact USNA Home Complete List By Subject Introduction Arranged by Recommender's Name To contribute to this list, or add to your own list below, please use the Reading List for Life suggestion form. Professor Richard Abels, History Department: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. (PS 3558 .E476 C3 1961) Regeneration by Pat Barker. (PR 6052 .A6488 R4 1961) Waiting for the Barbarians by Joseph Coetzee. (PR 9369.3 .C58 W3 1982) The Making of the Middle Ages...

Barack Obama’s new progressive agenda has attempted to fundamentally transform every aspect of American society during his administration, argues the author of Takeover: How the Left’s Quest for Social Justice Corrupted Liberalism. While the liberalism voiced prior to the 1960s focused on caring for society’s disadvantaged and protecting citizens against what were seen as the flaws of capitalism, asserts co-author Donald T. Critchlow, 1960s radicals changed liberalism to focus on limiting consumption in the name of social justice. But, he argues, this new progressivism–the new liberalism espoused by Barack Obama and many of within his administration–seeks to control consumption by...

A quick thank you to the kind words and support that I recieved here this last June when I giddily announced I had published a book. I recieved some wonderful feedback and some very helpful advice as I forged forward in this new career of writing and selling book. Last week I launched my second book and I feel secure in my decision to become a book seller. The book I released is called "Bible Stories for Grown-Ups" and is a collection of 39 stories from the Bible designed to be read by anyone, especially those without a background in...

Since the 18th century, American founding fathers and scholars have been aware of deeply-rooted Islamic violence, terrorism, intolerance and hatred toward other Muslims, as well as non-Muslims. Early American leaders and thinkers were endowed with deep appreciation and unique knowledge of global history, international relations, ancient cultures, ideologies and religions. They spoke and wrote candidly about global threats, including the Islamic threat. In 1830, New York University Professor George Bush, the great-granduncle of George H. W. Bush, considered one of the most profound American scholars of the mid-19th century, published "The Life of Mohammed." He was not concerned about political...

James Wesley Rawles's new novel of the coming collapse, Founders, has hit #5 on the Amazon best sellers list. Today is the first day of release for this third book in Mr. Rawles's series of novels about a time in the near future when a monetary collapse precipitates a cascading societal collapse, and how various slightly overlapping groups deal with the subsequent challenges.

Big Orange Book Festival at Chapman, September 21-22; Go Heckle Conservative Blowhard Mark Levin By Dan Chmielewski A postcard from our friends at Chapman University came in for the Big Orange Book Festival on the Chapman campus September 21-22. While the event looks like its a knock off of the LA Times Festival of Books, the promoted authoris include conservatiev radio host Mark Levin, a WABC host Sean Hannity often refers to as “The Great One,” expect I believe the correct spelling is “The Grate One.” Levin’s been one of the biggest critics of the Obama administration and once...

Please look over this inaugural list of Books That Shaped America, as determined by the Library of Congress. These books were written in America by Americans, and had a profound impact on our nation. Which THREE of these books do you think shaped America the most profoundly?

Zombies: How the Left Captured Academia, the Media, and Other OrganizationsAlinsky-style behavior in the workplace itself may have been the key Recent studies have confirmed that American universities have become bigoted and biased against the expression of conservative views. One new study documents bias against the expression of conservative views among social and personality psychologists, including those at universities: We find that respondents significantly underestimate the proportion of conservatives among their colleagues. … that conservatives fear negative consequences of revealing their political beliefs to their colleagues. Finally, we find that conservatives are right to do so. In decisions ranging from...

Publication date: March 20, 2012 "The Gospel of Barack Hussein Obama According to Mark" is designed to initiate the reader into a meditation on what it means to be human, what it means to be a manifestation of God, and how Barack Obama is a unique and important manifestation of God’s desire for human flourishing. In a blend of words from his public speeches, imagined conversation, and fictional situations, the book highlights Obama’s real stance on social justice and, in particular, economic and political empowerment. It juxtaposes ancient Biblical form and contemporary reality, challenging the reader to see and seek...

I need your help in locating a thread I was reading this AM. A fellow freezer was looking for authors to read, and he liked what I like, mysteries, spy novels... There were a bunch of comments and some new authors for me to read, but I cannot find it. I also can hide my own Easter eggs. Two authors I wanted to add to the list are Loren Eastleman and Walter Mosley. They have a bunch of series. I am reading the Leonid McGill (Mosley) and Amos Walker (Estleman) characters. Both are PI's, loners and hard boiled. Thanks in...

I need help...I am a Vincy Flynn and Brad Thor addict...my wife has brought home from the library, and like Dale Brown books, I see right through their liberal crap...it is hard to find anything to fill the void while Vince and Brad ginn up the next ones...help me if you will with some authors who can hold my interest. Silva is ok, but I don't care about stealing a Rembrant painting...I like conspiracy, spy, etc.

Thursday, July 8, 2010 A former congressman pleaded guilty Wednesday to serving as an unregistered agent in Washington for a Missouri-based Islamic charity that the federal government said had ties to international terrorism. It was an odd outcome for Mark D. Siljander, who said he wanted to help bridge the gulf between Muslims and Christians. A Republican who attained one of Michigan's congressional seats from 1981 to 1987 with assistance from the Moral Majority, Siljander was outspoken about conservative social issues. Siljander confirmed in a Kansas City, Mo., court that he contacted members of Congress in an effort to lift...

...the Damson Dene Hotel [London], a 40-bedroom retreat that has made the bold decision to replace the Gideon Bible in each room with the smash hit “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E. L. James. On his blog Innkeeper Jonathan Denby explained the decision noting the world is a more secular place, no one reads the bible (some even dislike that it’s in their room), and that “Fifty Shades of Grey” is something everyone seems to want to read at the moment.

Yesterday, July 23, Clark made this annoucement on Facebook: GREAT NEWS! TNT has optioned my Rachel Knight series for a TV series as a one hour drama! I'm attached as an Executive Producer and Executive Producer/Showrunner Dee Johnson is writing the pilot and Executive Producer Nelson McCormick will direct.” In an email communication with yours truly, Marcia confirmed to me “We're in development on a one hour drama series based on the Rachel Knight series.”

20) "Ask yourself why totalitarian dictatorships find it necessary to pour money and effort into propaganda for their own helpless, chained, gagged slaves, who have no means of protest or defense. The answer is that even the humblest peasant or the lowest savage would rise in blind rebellion, were he to realize that he is being immolated, not to some incomprehensible noble purpose, but to plain, naked human evil." 19) "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." 18) "Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent."...

Interested in some ideas for a very basic basic primer to provide some foundation for a new college conservative going on a road trip...nothing too involved--just an easy-to-read basic first book that will provide basic information on politics, culture, economy from a conservative (or limited government libertarian) viewpoint.

<p>The political direction of the country may be up for grabs until November, but the right has scored an interim victory — if that’s the word — in a weeklong contest to determine “the least credible history book in print” just concluded by the History News Network.</p>

FULL TITLE: Fifty shades of grey forcing Bible to take a back seat: Enterprising hotel manager replaces Gideons bible with copies of the racy novel It is the erotic thriller that has had blushing women rushing to the book store for their fix of 'mummy porn.' With sales totting up to 1m books and ebooks per week and the author herself netting approximately £862,069 per week for the 20 million copies sold worldwide, it seems that Fifty Shades of Grey is the novel of the year. One hotel manager certainly thinks so and he is swopping the Gideon bible, famed...

By Dr. Phil Taverna I ran across this book in my travels. And it peaked my interest. Who was the Forgotten Man? According to Amity Shlaes, her book, The Forgotten Man  is someone that will peak your interest for sure. When I first saw the expression, I expected to see a book written by a commie liberal and it was about the plight of the blacks and minorities who can't seem to get a fair share no matter how much money we throw at them.This book is mainly about FDR the biggest commie of the 40's but it also gives you...

The Library of Congress--the worldÂ’s largest repository of knowledge and information--is beginning its multiyear "Celebration of the Book" with an exhibition, "Books That Shaped America," opening June 25. The exhibition is part of a larger series of programs, symposia and other events that explore the important and varied ways that books influence our lives. The "Books That Shaped America" exhibition will be on view from June 25 through Sept. 29 in the Southwest Gallery, located on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C., from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. This...

Citing Israel's "apartheid state," Alice Walker, who wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Color of Purple' reaffirms support of BDS movement. Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, refused to authorize a Hebrew translation of her prize-winning work, citing what she called Israel’s “apartheid state.” In a June 9 letter to Yediot Books, Walker said she would not allow the publication of the book into Hebrew because “Israel is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories.” In her letter, posted Sunday by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of...

The Great Destroyer: Barack Obama’s War on the Republic by David Limbaugh David Limbaugh is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller Crimes Against Liberty, which documents the atrocities of President Obama’s first half of his first term. Now, he’s back with the rest of the story. In The Great Destroyer, Limbaugh documents the many different wars Obama has been waging against America: the war on the Right, the war on those who disagree, the war on the economy, the war on our culture and values, the war on oil, the war on other energy, the war...

They've been called “Courtiers of the Marble Palace” and “Sorcerers' Apprentices.” But to the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, their law clerks are much more: sparring partners, workhorses and, often, extended family. Each of the court's nine justices hires several law clerks for yearlong stints, newly minted lawyers from top law schools who have impeccable credentials. The role of a clerk includes assisting the justices in determining what cases to take, preparing them for the oral arguments and helping write opinions. Now a new collection of essays, “In Chambers: Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices” (University...

At certain pivotal moments in history, societies have needed the contributions of truly great minds to sort through a flood of information and reconstruct it in a manner that can be properly digested by the general population. Shortly before the American Revolution, as the thirteen original colonies pondered their independence from Great Britain, it was Thomas Paine who solidified the debate and presented it to the public with his timeless work "Common Sense." No less of a historical milestone was embodied in the efforts of John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton as they delivered the set of essays that...

Bestselling author and international political expert Joel C. Rosenberg tackles the question: Is America an empire in decline or a nation poised for a historic Renaissance? America teeters on a precipice. In the midst of financial turmoil, political uncertainty, declining morality, the constant threat of natural disasters, and myriad other daunting challenges, many wonder what the future holds for this once-great nation. Will history’s greatest democracy stage a miraculous comeback, returning to the forefront of the world’s economic and spiritual stage? Can America’s religious past be repeated today with a third Great Awakening? Or will the rise of China, Russia,...