The meaning of atheism

I've spent Labor Day, so far, just playing: first with a post on The Butler, then a dog-walk, then a swim, then a bike-ride followed by another swim. I think I've earned the right to spend a portion of this day "working" now, albeit playfully, on something fun: the reading list for next semester's Atheism & Philosophy course coming in January.

The meaning theme we're humming in HAP 101 this semester should carry over nicely: what's the meaning of a godless existence? What gets atheists out of bed in the mornings? What reconciles them to life non-eternal? How do they deal with their mortality? What's their sacred text, if not The Good Book, the Koran, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, the collected works of L.Ron, ...? What is the meaning of life in its finitude?

So many possibilities leap to mind, but these are the ones that spring forward immediately.

• Julian Baggini, Atheism ("it is certainly not the case that only endless activities can be meaningful")
• A.C. Grayling, The Good Book: A Humanist Bible ("there is experience also, which is what makes good and its opposite, In both of which humankind seeks to grasp the meaning of things")
• Alain de Botton, Religion for Atheists: A Non=believers Guide to the Uses of Religion ("culture might be no less effective than religion in its ability to guide, humanize, and console. One would be able to have meaning unburdened by superstition"
• Christopher Hitchens, Mortality (“To the dumb question "Why me?" the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: why not?”)
• Hitch, ed., The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer ("the concept of a soul without a body seems to me to be empty and devoid of meaning”-Einstein)

Additional suggestions?
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The atheist shelf at Vandy B&N, alongside the religion section. If your bookseller lacks one, ask 'em why. pic.twitter.com/huNhlCQS6W

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