The Clash of Orthodoxies: Law, Religion, and Morality in Crisis by Robert George This book is about the battle between the "Judeo-Christian traditionalist" orthodoxy and the "secular liberal" orthodoxy. It covers bioethical issues such as embryonic research, abortion, and genetic research. He also writes about natural law, homosexuality, and civil liberties. His basic premise is that the Judeo-Christian tradition is superior to the secular liberal orthodoxy. I got 100 pages into it before temporarily putting it aside when another book came out.
Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right by Ann Coulter: You've heard about this one, of course (unless you've been living under a rock). I finished this book recently, and it was awesome! I have never seen a better case against the liberal/leftist agenda. I met Ann Coulter once when she came to my university.
What's So Great About America by Dinesh D'Souza. I have all of Mr. D'Souza's books except the one that he released before this one. He refutes many of the leftist's arguments against America's greatness, and delivers an unique perspective as a naturalized immigrant. I got this through the Book Club when it came out. It was really good. It even helped me with two term papers I was writing at the end of spring semester. I cited it in the papers.
Principles and Heresies: Frank S. Meyer and the Shaping of the American Conservative Movement by Kevin J. Smant: I finished this book earlier this month, after I read Slander. This was another really good book. Frank S. Meyer was one of the great minds of the emerging conservative intellectual movement after World War II. He is also one of my intellectual heroes. His book, In Defense of Freedom, in which he outlines what he thinks conservatism is, is the closest thing I've seen to my own philosophy. He is one of the forgotten founding fathers of the modern conservative movement in America.
The Founder's Almanac, Edited by Matthew Spalding: I got a free copy of this book at this year's CPAC. It's a really handy book. It has a compilation of key dates in our nation's founding, a collection of great quotes by the Founders, short bios of the key Founding Fathers like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams; and it has copies of the Declaration, Constitution, and Washington's Farewell Address.
There are many others that have come out over this period, but there are too many to list here. I would consult the links above for more titles. If you want to know about any other books, just FReep mail me! I have many conservative books. My two favorite hobbies are reading books and listening to music. I've been fortunate enough to have been given books as gifts (as I did from ISI on 3 occasions). Besides new books, every conservative should try to read the following books, since they shaped what ISI calls "the conservative renaissance."
Ten Books That Shaped America's Conseravtive Renaissance (By the Intercollegiate Studies Institute)
1.) The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
2.) Socialism by Ludwig von Mises
3.) Memoirs of a Superfluous Man by Albert J. Nock
4.) Witness by Whittaker Chambers
5.) The New Science of Politics by Eric Voeglin
6.) In Defense of Freedom by Frank S. Meyer
7.) The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk
8.) Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver
9.) The Quest for Community by Robert Nisbet
10.) Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of An Idea by Irving Kristol
I hope this was helpful to you. Remember, a true conservative is a well-read conservative! ;-)
One more question: What do you think of Barbara Olson's book on the last days of the Clinton administration and the book about how Gore tried to steal the election (I forget the author)?