Title: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”

Author: Maya Angelou

Rank: 2

Blurb: “Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local ‘powhitetrash.’ At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age — and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime.”

Review: “I am somewhat relieved that we were not permitted to read this book back in my high school literature class where many parents were opposed to it. I fear it would have caught me off guard in many respects. Many of the sexual themes running throughout the book are quite heavy and discussed in detail. Both the subjects of rape and teen pregnancy are covered and sex in general is frequently alluded to.”

Customers Also Bought: “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

Footnote: Maya Angelou ranks sixth on the American Library Association’s list of banned and challenged books for 2000-2009. Top honors go to Harry Potter.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

What a woman.

What a life.

[NYT]

Title: “One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future”

Authors: Ben Carson and Candy Carson

Rank: 3

Blurb: “Knowing that the future of my grandchildren is in jeopardy because of reckless spending, godless government, and mean-spirited attempts to silence critics left me no choice but to write this book.”

Review: “A recent CNN program on race had a black host and five black panelists but NO WHITES. Yes, a discussion about race in which whites are not invited, and this is the norm. It is virtually impossible to get on the air and say anything negative about the gay lifestyle or agenda. One nation? Really?”

Customers Also Bought: “Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything”

Footnote: We look forward to a future where the problems of Ben Carson’s grandchildren pale to those faced by his grandparents.

One Nation [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

Title: “Think and Grow Rich”

Author: Napoleon Hill

Rank: 88

Blurb: “Napoleon Hill researched more than forty millionaires to find out what made them the men that they were.”

Review: “I was introduced to ‘Think and Grow Rich!’ by an alcoholic member of our cemetery sales team.”

Customers Also Bought: “Eat That Frog!”

Footnote: First published in 1937, among the book’s thirteen principles of success is “The Mystery of Sex Transmutation”.

Think and Grow Rich [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

Title: “Conform: Exposing the Truth About Common Core and Public Education”

Authors: Glenn Beck and Kyle Olson

Rank: 5

Blurb: “There is no issue more important to America’s future than education. The fact that we’ve yielded control over it to powerful unions and ideologically driven elitists is inexcusable.”

Review: “Over the past several months more and more information has been trickling out about this insidious curriculum that is being touted by all the usual suspects on the Left.”

Customers Also Bought: “As It Was in the Days of Noah: Warnings from Bible Prophecy About the Coming Global Storm”

Footnote: Actually, Common Core criticism is bipartisan, as demonstrated by public-school dad Louis CK. It’s the New Math of our time.

Conform [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]

Title: “You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter”

Author: Joe Dispenza

Rank: 57

Blurb: “Is it possible to heal by thought alone—without drugs or surgery? The truth is that it happens more often than you might expect. In You Are the Placebo, Dr. Joe Dispenza shares numerous documented cases of those who reversed cancer, heart disease, depression, crippling arthritis, and even the tremors of Parkinson’s disease by believing in a placebo.”

Review: “A big THANK YOU to Dr. Joe for sharing, caring, and for your guidance as we evolve!”

Customers Also Bought: “Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration”

Footnote: “Dr. Joe is a faculty member at the International Quantum University for Integrative Medicine in Honolulu and an invited chair of the research committee at Life University in Atlanta, where he earned his doctor of chiropractic degree.”

You Are the Placebo [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon Kickback Link]