Topic: The Grapes of Wrath

Sherlock Holmes knocked off a school reading list

The Sherlock Holmes novel, "A Study in Scarlet," has been taken off the sixth-grade reading list in a Virginia high school.

Tracy Kidder: can a writer be a social activist?

Prize-winning journalist Tracy Kidder wrote a popular book on social activist Paul Farmer. But how involved should he have become in promoting Farmer's work?

Strings Attached

Teens (and their parents) will love Judy Blundell’s stylish noir thriller set in 1950s New York.

Isabel Wilkerson, author of “The Warmth of Other Suns,” on "the biggest underreported story of the 20th century"

Why did 6 million US blacks leave their homes? Author Isabel Wilkerson talks about "the Great Migration" and how it reshaped the US.

Banned Books Week: Why these 10 classics got kicked out of class

Is this is a roundup of objectionable literature – or a Great Books roster? The same titles that some call great literature others find to be filthy, bad, or dangerous. Here are a handful of the often surprising – and sometimes downright baffling – reasons that objectors around the world wanted to ban these books.

Beyond texting while driving: we're car crazy

Great Depression icon meets the great recession

A modern visit to the nonfictional Sallisaw, Okla. – home of the fictional ‘Grapes of Wrath’ Joads

How to fight a recession with a bottle of shampoo

We’ve adopted a new frugality around our house, which includes turning paper clips into necklaces and doing away with the robotic vacuum.

American road trip

America's historic Route 66 fascinates visitors from other countries.

How Hamas is altering Israeli politics

The conflict in the Gaza Strip is already having an impact on the political landscape in Israel ahead of parliamentary polls in February.

Would another Depression make us more creative?

Barnes & Noble interview with Khaled Hosseini

Children learn to lasso that money

In a faltering economy, many families are teaching kids the value of frugal living.

Seniors record stories to preserve personal history

With notebooks, tape recorders, and video cameras, families are coaxing a lifetime of memories from beloved relatives.