The main thesis of this book, I suppose, is that while 99% of the world tries to avoid suffering, the most successful people and people that will be remembered for generations to come, not only choose to suffer, but embrace it fully, often asking for more. Suffering is not for the faint of heart, but neither is anything that leads to something truly meaningful. Through my usual use of literature historical figures, scripture, popular music, and popular movies, and my own personal experiences, I try to not only encourage you, the reader, to choose to suffer as I have said in the paragraph below, but also to embrace it. Malcom Gladwell once said, "good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." I hope I achieved this throughout the pages of Mrs. Dubose's Last Wish.

Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred One of the most cherished stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

There is no book out there today like Forget Self-Help, by Thomas Fellows. Through his use of literature, history, psychology, scripture and personal experiences, Fellows stresses the importance of living out the Golden Rule of Matthew 7:12 to live a fulfilling, joyful life. While there has been a myriad of self-help books that have come out in the last decade, Fellows contends that the best way to help yourself is to help others. From his life experiences in the computer software sales world to his ongoing struggle with clinical depression, Fellows deftly encourages the reader to think of their troubles in a different light, a light that puts the emphasis on others instead of oneself. Southern in nature, Forget Self-Help focuses on four main subjects: two literary and two historical. The book explores the profound writings and actions of Robert E. Lee, and includes quotations and thoughts from Martin Luther King Jr. that the lay person probably has not seen. From a literary perspective, the book focuses on the two books that has arguably changed the American landscape the most any two books have in history: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe. While the book references scripture quite often, it challenges modern Christian thought in the way that both To Kill a Mockingbird and Uncle Tom's Cabin did. It emphasizes Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:12 that "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Forget Self-Help reminds the reader that since we will never see God on Earth, we are called to be God's agents while on earth, and we should attempt to find favor not just with God, but with man as well. While one of the sources in the book is the Bible, it is intended to be enjoyed by people of all faith backgrounds

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Go Set a Watchman is such an important book, perhaps the most important novel on race to come out of the white South in decades." — New York Times A landmark novel by Harper Lee, set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—“Scout”—returns home to Maycomb, Alabama from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one’s own conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of the late Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor, and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic.

Director of the Citizenship Education Program, Dorothy Cotton, recounts the accomplishments of the program and her experiences in the civil rights movement.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the best loved novels of the twentieth century. But for the last fifty years, the novel’s celebrated author, Harper Lee, has said almost nothing on the record. Journalists have trekked to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where Harper Lee, known to her friends as Nelle, has lived with her sister, Alice, for decades, trying and failing to get an interview with the author. But in 2001, the Lee sisters opened their door to Chicago Tribune journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation—and a great friendship. In 2004, with the Lees’ blessing, Mills moved into the house next door to the sisters. She spent the next eighteen months there, sharing coffee at McDonalds and trips to the Laundromat with Nelle, feeding the ducks and going out for catfish supper with the sisters, and exploring all over lower Alabama with the Lees’ inner circle of friends. Nelle shared her love of history, literature, and the Southern way of life with Mills, as well as her keen sense of how journalism should be practiced. As the sisters decided to let Mills tell their story, Nelle helped make sure she was getting the story—and the South—right. Alice, the keeper of the Lee family history, shared the stories of their family. The Mockingbird Next Door is the story of Mills’s friendship with the Lee sisters. It is a testament to the great intelligence, sharp wit, and tremendous storytelling power of these two women, especially that of Nelle. Mills was given a rare opportunity to know Nelle Harper Lee, to be part of the Lees’ life in Alabama, and to hear them reflect on their upbringing, their corner of the Deep South, how To Kill a Mockingbird affected their lives, and why Nelle Harper Lee chose to never write another novel.