American Gods: the Tenth Anniversary Edition by
Now a STARZ® Original Series - Season 3 premiere in January 2021 "Pointed, occasionally comic, often scary, consistently moving and provocative....American Gods is strewn with secrets and magical visions."--USA Today Newly updated and expanded with the author's preferred text. A modern masterpiece from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, lauded for its brilliant synthesis of "mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose" (Washington Post) and as a modern phantasmagoria that "distills the essence of America" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It is the story of Shadow--released from prison just days after his wife and best friend are killed in an accident--who gets recruited to be bodyguard, driver, and errand boy for the enigmatic trickster, Mr. Wednesday. So begins Shadow's dark and strange road trip, one that introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. For, beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing--an epic war for the very soul of America--and Shadow is standing squarely in its path. "Original, engrossing, and endlessly inventive."--George R. R. Martin
The Wednesday Wars by
In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt tells the witty and compelling story of a teenage boy who feels that fate has it in for him. Seventh grader Holling Hoodhood isn't happy. He is sure his new teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. Throughout the school year, Holling strives to get a handle on the Shakespeare plays Mrs. Baker assigns him to read on his own time, and to figure out the enigmatic Mrs. Baker. At home, Holling's domineering father is obsessed with his business image and disregards his family. As the Vietnam War turns lives upside down, Holling comes to admire and respect both Shakespeare and Mrs. Baker, who have more to offer him than he imagined. And when his family is on the verge of coming apart, he also discovers his loyalty to his sister, and his ability to stand up to his father when it matters most. Each month in Holling's tumultuous seventh-grade year is a chapter in this quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in suburban Long Island during the late '60s.
Contact by TEDxCopenhagen talk given by Caroline Schaffalitzky posted on the TEDx Talks YouTube Channel on April 17, 2019.
YouTube description: "What would a world without religion look like?
"Caroline Schaffalitzky intends to show, how that thought experiment is a little more complicated than you might think."
TED talk given by Richard Dawkins posted on the TED YouTube channel on April 15, 2008.
From the YouTube Description: "Biologist Richard Dawkins launches into a full-on appeal for atheists to make public their beliefs and to aggressively fight the incursion of religion into politics and education. Dawkins' scornful tone drew strongly mixed reactions from the audience; some stood and applauded his courage. Others wondered whether his strident approach could do more harm than good. Dawkins went on to publish The God Delusion and become perhaps the world's best-known atheist."
TED talk given by Alain de Botton posted on the TED YouTube channel on January 17, 2012.
YouTube description: "What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a "religion for atheists" -- call it Atheism 2.0 -- that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence."
New Atheism: Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Debates by 
Atheism revisited : rethinking modernity and inventing new modes of life by