My Favorite Book

KEVIN CARTER, TITANS DE
The Grapes of Wrath, 1939, 619 pages
by John Steinbeck

"I've read it three times," says Carter, 31, of the Steinbeck classic. "I think so many people have forgotten the struggle that we as Americans have gone through to get where we are. In the book, the Joad family moves out West during the Depression to find work, but there is no work, there is no food and there is so much hardship. It is a hard story to read, but it shows what really went on in America."

JEROME BETTIS, STEELERS RB
Trump: The Art of the Deal, 1987, 256 pages,
by Donald Trump

The first book by the real estate czar (written with journalist Tony Schwartz) practically has the Bus angling for a spot on The Apprentice."You want to know how great minds think and what their struggles were.I'd like to meet [Trump], just to talk to him about some of the deals he made and what made him think they'd actually work."

DONTE' STALLWORTH, SAINTS WR
Mind Manipulation: Ancient and Modern Ninja Techniques, 2002, 192 pages
by Dr. Haha Lung and Christopher B. Prowant

Ninja mind-control strategies dating back to medieval Japan are revealed in this guide to psychological manipulation. "The book teaches you how to discern things in people,"says Stallworth, 24, who majored in psychology at Tennessee. "Like being able to tell if a person is telling the truth or lying. It deals with a lot of aspects of conversation, and that interests me."

JONATHAN OGDEN, RAVENS OT
Angels & Demons,2000, 608 pages
by Dan Brown

The second book by the bestselling author of The Da Vinci Code (that one's his fourth) is a thriller in which a bomb is set beneath Vatican City. Says the seven-time Pro Bowler, "It's fast-paced, lots of fun, a definite page-turner."

MIKE MINTER, PANTHERS S
The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, 2002, 336 pages
by Rick Warren

Written by the pastor of Southern Baptist Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., it's divided into 40 short chapters. "It tells you your purpose, why you were born," says Minter. "The book lets you know it's not all about you."