Book Summaries

Discover comprehensive summaries of popular books including characters, plot details, and endings. Get quick insights into your favorite novels with our AI-powered analysis.

Dark Matter

Blake Crouch

Dark Matter is a science fiction thriller by Blake Crouch, published on July 26, 2016. It follows Jason Dessen, a physics professor at a small college in Chicago who gave up a prom...

Sex at Dawn

Christopher Ryan

Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality is a non-fiction book by psychologist Christopher Ryan and psychiatrist Cacilda Jethá, published on June 29, 2010. The book...

Shiloh

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Shiloh is a middle-grade novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, published in 1991 and winner of the 1992 Newbery Medal. It is narrated by eleven-year-old Marty Preston, who lives with h...

The Black Swan

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable is a non-fiction book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, published on April 17, 2007. It argues that the most consequential events in his...

Brokeback Mountain

Annie Proulx

Brokeback Mountain is a short story by Annie Proulx, first published in The New Yorker on October 13, 1997, and later collected in Close Range: Wyoming Stories (1999). It tells the...

The Testaments

Margaret Atwood

The Testaments is a novel by Margaret Atwood, published on September 10, 2019, and the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale (1985). While The Handmaid's Tale is narrated entirely by Offre...

Pet Sematary

Stephen King

Pet Sematary is a horror novel by Stephen King, published on November 14, 1983. It tells the story of Louis Creed, a doctor who moves with his wife Rachel, their two children (Elli...

Front Desk

Kelly Yang

Front Desk is a middle-grade novel by Kelly Yang, published on May 29, 2018. It is narrated by ten-year-old Mia Tang, a recent Chinese immigrant whose family has moved to the Unite...

Traction

Gino Wickman

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business is a non-fiction business book by Gino Wickman, published in 2011 by BenBella Books. It introduces the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS),...

Attached

Amir Levine

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love is a non-fiction book by psychiatrist Amir Levine and psychologist Rachel Heller, publi...

Tangerine

Edward Bloor

Tangerine is a young adult novel by Edward Bloor, published in 1997. It is narrated by Paul Fisher, a legally blind seventh-grader who wears thick glasses and whose vision impairme...

Thirteen Reasons Why

Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult novel by Jay Asher, published on October 18, 2007. The novel opens when Clay Jensen arrives home from school to find a box of seven cassette t...

Stargirl

Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl is a young adult novel by Jerry Spinelli, published on August 1, 2000. It is narrated by Leo Borlock, a junior at Mica Area High School in Arizona, who witnesses the arriv...

Untamed

Glennon Doyle

Untamed is a memoir by Glennon Doyle, published on March 10, 2020. It tells the story of how Doyle — a Christian mommy blogger turned bestselling author, married with three childre...

Being Mortal

Atul Gawande

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End is a non-fiction book by surgeon and writer Atul Gawande, published on October 7, 2014. The book is about dying — specifically, a...

Blink

Malcolm Gladwell

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a non-fiction book by Malcolm Gladwell, published on January 11, 2005. It investigates the science and psychology of rapid cognitio...

Solito

Javier Zamora

Solito is a memoir by the Salvadoran-American poet Javier Zamora, published on September 6, 2022. It recounts Zamora's experience at age nine, in 1999, of traveling alone — without...

Ground Zero

Alan Gratz

Ground Zero is a young adult historical fiction novel by Alan Gratz, published on March 2, 2021. It tells two parallel stories that begin on opposite sides of the same catastrophe....

Five Feet Apart

Rachael Lippincott

Five Feet Apart is a young adult romance novel by Rachael Lippincott, published on March 1, 2019. It tells the story of two teenagers who meet in a hospital while being treated for...

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

Piranesi is a novel by Susanna Clarke, published on September 15, 2020. It is narrated through the journals of a man who calls himself Piranesi and who lives inside an infinite Hou...

Shutter Island

Dennis Lehane

Shutter Island is a psychological thriller novel by Dennis Lehane, published in April 2003. U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule arrive at Ashecliffe ...

Eat That Frog!

Brian Tracy

Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time is a productivity and time management book by Brian Tracy, first published in 2001 and revised ...

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

Uglies is a young adult dystopian science fiction novel by Scott Westerfeld, published on February 8, 2005. It is set in a future society where an operation performed on every sixt...

Atonement

Ian McEwan

Atonement is a novel by Ian McEwan, first published in the United Kingdom in September 2001. It is structured in three parts and a coda, spanning from a hot summer day in 1935 to t...

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline

Ready Player One is a science fiction novel by Ernest Cline, published on August 16, 2011. It is set in 2045, in a dystopian near-future where the real world has largely collapsed ...

Dopamine Nation

Anna Lembke

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence is a book by Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist at Stanford University, published on August 24,...

The Sun Is Also a Star

Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star is a young adult novel by Nicola Yoon, published on November 1, 2016. It tells the story of two teenagers who meet and fall in love over the course of a sing...

The Millionaire Next Door

Thomas J. Stanley

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy is a personal finance book by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, published in October 1996. It presents ...

The Martian

Andy Weir

The Martian is a science fiction novel by Andy Weir, first self-published as a Kindle ebook in 2011 and released by Crown Publishers in February 2014. It tells the story of Mark Wa...

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay is the third and final novel in Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy, published on August 24, 2010. It picks up where Catching Fire left off: Katniss Everdeen has been...

The First 90 Days

Michael Watkins

The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter is a business leadership book by Michael D. Watkins, originally published in 2003 and updated in a t...

Unbroken

Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption is a work of narrative non-fiction by Laura Hillenbrand, published in November 2010. It tells the true story o...

The Lorax

Dr. Seuss

The Lorax is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss, published in August 1971. It tells the story of the Once-ler, an entrepreneur who discovers a valley of...

The Mountain Is You

Brianna Wiest

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery is a self-help book by Brianna Wiest, published in April 2020 by Thought Catalog Books. The book addresses self-sa...

Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a work of narrative non-fiction by Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, originally published in Hebrew in 2011 and in English in September ...

No Country for Old Men

Cormac McCarthy

No Country for Old Men is a novel by Cormac McCarthy, published in July 2005. Set along the Texas-Mexico border in 1980, it follows three men whose fates converge around a botched ...

Mad Honey

Jodi Picoult

Mad Honey is a novel co-written by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, published in October 2022. The story takes place in Adams, a small town in New Hampshire, and unfolds in...

Hello Beautiful

Ann Napolitano

Hello Beautiful is a novel by Ann Napolitano, published in March 2023. It is a multigenerational family saga set in Chicago that follows the Padavano family across four generations...

My Life with the Walter Boys

Ali Novak

My Life with the Walter Boys is a young adult romance novel by Ali Novak, originally written on the online fiction platform Wattpad and published in print by Sourcebooks Fire in Au...

The Book of Lost Names

Kristin Harmel

The Book of Lost Names is a historical novel by Kristin Harmel, published in July 2020. It tells the story of Eva Traube, a twenty-two-year-old Jewish woman living in Paris in 1942...

The One and Only Ivan

Katherine Applegate

The One and Only Ivan is a children's novel by Katherine Applegate, published in January 2012, which won the Newbery Medal in 2013. It is narrated by Ivan, a silverback gorilla who...

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second novel in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, published in July 1998. It follows twelve-year-old Harry Potter through his secon...

Girl, Interrupted

Susanna Kaysen

Girl, Interrupted is a memoir by Susanna Kaysen, published in 1993. It describes the two years — 1967 to 1969 — that Kaysen spent as a patient at McLean Hospital, a private psychia...

Matilda

Roald Dahl

Matilda is a children's novel by Roald Dahl, published in October 1988 with illustrations by Quentin Blake. It follows Matilda Wormwood, an extraordinary child who has taught herse...

Killers of the Flower Moon

David Grann

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI is a work of narrative non-fiction by David Grann, published in April 2017. It investigates one of the most s...

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair

The Jungle is a novel by Upton Sinclair, published in February 1906. It follows Jurgis Rudkus, a young Lithuanian immigrant who comes to Chicago with his extended family, full of h...

Behind Her Eyes

Sarah Pinborough

Behind Her Eyes is a psychological thriller by British author Sarah Pinborough, published in January 2017. Louise, a single mother in her thirties who works as a secretary for a ps...

The Phantom Tollbooth

Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's fantasy novel by Norton Juster, published in 1961 with illustrations by Jules Feiffer. It follows Milo, a young boy who finds everything dull ...

The Silence of the Lambs

Thomas Harris

The Silence of the Lambs is a thriller novel by Thomas Harris, published in 1988. It is the second novel to feature Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and serial killer ...

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha is a novel by the German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse, published in German in 1922 and first translated into English in 1951. It follows a young Brahmin named Siddhartha —...

The Pearl

John Steinbeck

The Pearl is a novella by John Steinbeck, published in 1947. It is based on a Mexican folk tale Steinbeck first heard and included in his 1941 book Sea of Cortez, the account of a ...

Make Your Bed

William H. McRaven

Make Your Bed is a short motivational book by Admiral William H. McRaven, a retired US Navy admiral who commanded US Special Operations Command and oversaw the 2011 raid that kille...

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel by Ken Kesey, published in 1962. Set in a psychiatric hospital in Oregon, it follows Randle P. McMurphy, a loud, irreverent convict who f...

It

Stephen King

It is a horror novel by Stephen King, published in September 1986. Set in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, it follows two timelines running in parallel: seven children who call ...

Book Lovers

Emily Henry

Book Lovers is a contemporary romance novel by Emily Henry, published in May 2022. Nora Stephens is a sharp, driven literary agent in New York — the kind of woman who represents th...

Intermezzo

Sally Rooney

Intermezzo is Sally Rooney's fourth novel, published in October 2024. It follows two brothers in Dublin — Peter Koubek, a successful thirty-two-year-old lawyer, and Ivan Koubek, a ...

Happy Place

Emily Henry

Happy Place is a contemporary romance novel by Emily Henry, published in April 2023. Harriet and Wyn have been together for six years and engaged for one. They are also, as of a fe...

56 Days

Catherine Ryan Howard

56 Days is a psychological thriller by Irish author Catherine Ryan Howard, published in August 2021. Set in Dublin during the first COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, it follows two strang...

1900: Or, the Last President

Ingersoll Lockwood

1900: or, The Last President is a short novel by American author Ingersoll Lockwood, published in 1896. Set in the near-future year 1900, it describes the aftermath of a presidenti...

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lionel Shriver

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a novel by Lionel Shriver, published in 2003. Narrated as a series of letters from a woman named Eva Khatchadourian to her absent husband Franklin, t...

Deep Work

Cal Newport

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is a non-fiction book by computer science professor Cal Newport, published in January 2016. Newport argues that the abili...

Anxious People

Fredrik Backman

Anxious People is a novel by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, first published in Swedish in 2019 and in English translation in August 2020. Set in a small Swedish town on New Year's...

Babel

R.F. Kuang

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution is a historical fantasy novel by R.F. Kuang, published in August 2022. Set primarily in...

A Time to Kill

John Grisham

A Time to Kill is a legal thriller by John Grisham, first published in 1989 and later re-released after the success of The Firm made Grisham a household name. Set in the fictional ...

Unwind

Neal Shusterman

Unwind is a young adult dystopian novel by Neal Shusterman, published in November 2007. Set in a near-future America following the "Heartland War" between pro-life and pro-choice f...

Icebreaker

Hannah Grace

Icebreaker is a sports romance novel by Hannah Grace, first self-published in October 2022 and later released by Atria Books. Set at the fictional Maple Hills University, it follow...

Hidden Pictures

Jason Rekulak

Hidden Pictures is a psychological thriller and ghost story by Jason Rekulak, published in May 2022. It follows Mallory Quinn, a 23-year-old woman fourteen months into recovery fro...

Credence

Penelope Douglas

Credence is a dark romance novel by Penelope Douglas, self-published in January 2020. Set on a remote Colorado mountain, it follows Tiernan de Haas — a wealthy but emotionally holl...

Rock Paper Scissors

Alice Feeney

Rock Paper Scissors, published in 2021 by Alice Feeney, is a psychological thriller set in a remote converted chapel in the Scottish Highlands. The novel follows Adam and Amelia Wr...

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak, published in 1999 by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a young adult novel narrated by Melinda Sordino, a ninth-grader who enters high school friendless and almost entirely mute aft...

Outlive

Peter Attia

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, written by physician Peter Attia with journalist Bill Gifford and published in 2023, is a comprehensive guide to living not just longer b...

Start with Why

Simon Sinek

This Start with Why summary follows Simon Sinek's 2009 book, published by Portfolio, which grew out of his TEDxPugetSound talk "How Great Leaders Inspire Action" — now one of the m...

Because of Winn-Dixie

Kate DiCamillo

This Because of Winn-Dixie summary follows Kate DiCamillo's debut novel, published by Candlewick Press in March 2000. It won a 2001 Newbery Honor — not the Medal, which went that y...

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

This Harry Potter and the Cursed Child summary follows the two-part stage play, based on a story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, with the script written by Thorne a...

The Crossover

Kwame Alexander

This The Crossover summary follows Kwame Alexander's 2014 middle-grade novel, published by Clarion Books and written entirely in free verse. It won the 2015 Newbery Medal and a Cor...

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

This The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind summary follows the 2009 memoir by William Kamkwamba, written with journalist Bryan Mealer and published by William Morrow. It became a New York...

James and the Giant Peach

Roald Dahl

This James and the Giant Peach summary follows Roald Dahl's 1961 novel, first published in the US by Alfred A. Knopf. UK publishers had turned the manuscript down for years as too ...

Anthem

Ayn Rand

This Anthem summary follows Ayn Rand's 1938 novella, first published in the UK by Cassell and released in a revised edition in the US in 1946 by Pamphleteers, Inc. Rand wrote it in...

Surrounded by Idiots

Thomas Erikson

This Surrounded by Idiots summary follows Thomas Erikson's book, first published in Swedish in 2014 and released in English by St. Martin's Essentials on July 30, 2019, translated ...

A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess

This A Clockwork Orange summary follows Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel, first published by William Heinemann in the UK on March 17 and by W.W. Norton in the US the following year. Bu...

Zero to One

Peter Thiel

This Zero to One summary follows Peter Thiel's 2014 book, published by Crown Business on September 16 and written with Blake Masters, who compiled it from notes on Thiel's Stanford...

Station Eleven

Emily St. John Mandel

This Station Eleven summary follows Emily St. John Mandel's 2014 novel, published by Knopf on September 9. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award,...

There There

Tommy Orange

This There There summary follows Tommy Orange's 2018 debut novel, published by Knopf on June 5. It sold roughly 48,000 copies across formats within its first month, hit #8 on the N...

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again — and the woman telling you that still does not give you her name. This Rebecca summary follows Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel, first ...

Radical Candor

Kim Scott

The shortest definition in the book is also the whole argument: Radical Candor is what happens when you put Care Personally and Challenge Directly together. This Radical Candor sum...

Scythe

Neal Shusterman

Nobody dies of old age, disease, or accident anymore — so someone still has to choose who dies on purpose. This Scythe summary follows Neal Shusterman's 2016 novel, published by Si...

Little Fires Everywhere

Celeste Ng

An artist and her daughter rent a duplex in planned, orderly Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the landlord's perfect family starts to come apart. This Little Fires Everywhere summary foll...

Homegoing

Yaa Gyasi

Two half-sisters in eighteenth-century Ghana never meet as adults: one marries a British governor and lives above Cape Coast Castle, the other is held in the dungeons below it and ...

Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins

Winning the Hunger Games was supposed to mean safety. Instead, it made Katniss Everdeen a problem the Capitol cannot leave alone. This Catching Fire summary follows Suzanne Collins...

The Psychology of Money

Morgan Housel

A janitor who quietly amassed an eight-million-dollar portfolio, and a Harvard-trained Merrill Lynch executive who went bankrupt — the gap between them, Morgan Housel argues, has a...

Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card

A six-year-old is recruited into an orbiting military academy to train as humanity's next great fleet commander — and he has no idea the final exam is real. This Ender's Game summa...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

J.K. Rowling

An orphan who's spent his whole life sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs discovers, on his eleventh birthday, that he's actually a famous wizard. This Harry Potter and the Sorc...

Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

A woman in 1970s Los Angeles keeps losing consciousness and waking up on a Maryland plantation a century and a half in the past, pulled there every time a white boy she's never met...

Good to Great

Jim Collins

A five-year research project set out to answer one question: why do some merely good companies break through to sustained greatness while other, seemingly comparable companies neve...

Divergent

Veronica Roth

Every sixteen-year-old in a fractured, post-apocalyptic Chicago must choose one of five factions to belong to for life — and one of them isn't supposed to fit into any of them at a...

The Richest Man in Babylon

George S. Clason

A former poor scribe becomes the richest man in ancient Babylon and spends the rest of his life teaching anyone who'll listen the handful of habits that got him there. This The Ric...

The Paper Palace

Miranda Cowley Heller

A woman wakes up the morning after sleeping with her oldest friend in the woods behind her family's summer house, with her husband asleep just inside — and has twenty-four hours to...

Holes

Louis Sachar

A boy sent to dig holes in a dried-up Texas lakebed as punishment for a crime he didn't commit ends up unraveling a century-old family curse and a buried fortune. This Holes summar...

Twilight

Stephenie Meyer

A girl moves to the rainiest town in America and falls for a boy who's been seventeen for almost a century. This Twilight summary follows Stephenie Meyer's 2005 young adult novel, ...

Refugee

Alan Gratz

Three twelve-year-olds, separated by nearly eighty years and thousands of miles, all make the same desperate choice: leave everything behind or risk losing everything that matters....

Restart

Gordon Korman

Restart, written by Gordon Korman, follows Chase Ambrose, an eighth-grade football star and school bully who loses his memory after falling off his roof. This summary of Restart co...

Book of James

James

The Book of James is a New Testament letter traditionally attributed to James, the half-brother of Jesus, and is thought to be one of the earliest books of the New Testament, likel...

Ephesians

Paul the Apostle

Ephesians is a New Testament letter traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul, written while he was imprisoned in Rome and addressed to the church in Ephesus, a major city in Ro...

The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle

A man wakes up one night in such deep despair that a strange, self-referential question dissolves the sense of self he'd suffered from for years — and spends the rest of his life t...

Hidden Figures

Margot Lee Shetterly

Hidden Figures, written by Margot Lee Shetterly, is a nonfiction account of the African American women mathematicians who worked as "human computers" at NASA's Langley Research Cen...

The Art of Seduction

Robert Greene

The Art of Seduction, written by Robert Greene, is a nonfiction guide to the psychology of attraction and influence, framed as the follow-up to his bestseller The 48 Laws of Power....

Among the Hidden

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Among the Hidden, written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is the first book in the Shadow Children series and follows Luke Garner, a twelve-year-old boy who has never been to school, ...

Catch-22

Joseph Heller

A bombardier tries every trick he can think of to get out of flying more combat missions, only to run into a rule that guarantees no one can ever be excused. This Catch-22 summary ...

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

Ten strangers are lured to an isolated island mansion, accused over dinner of getting away with murder, and killed off one by one in exactly the order of an old nursery rhyme — unt...

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell

Success isn't mostly about talent, Malcolm Gladwell argues — it's about hidden structural advantages: when you were born, what your parents did for a living, and small early breaks...

If You Tell

Gregg Olsen

If You Tell, written by true crime author Gregg Olsen, tells the real story of sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek, who survived years of severe abuse inflicted by their mother, S...

The Untethered Soul

Michael A. Singer

The Untethered Soul, written by spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer, is a guide to inner freedom built on a single core distinction: you are not your thoughts, you are the awarenes...

Crucial Conversations

Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler

Crucial Conversations, written by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, is a communication and leadership book about handling discussions where opinions di...

Maus

Art Spiegelman

A cartoonist tapes his aging, difficult father's Holocaust survival story, drawing every character as an animal — Jews as mice, Nazis as cats, Poles as pigs — and ends up with a bo...

The Shining

Stephen King

A recovering alcoholic takes a winter caretaker job at an isolated mountain hotel, moves in with his wife and psychic five-year-old son, and slowly comes apart as the hotel itself ...

Coraline

Neil Gaiman

A bored girl finds a door in her flat that, once in a while, opens onto an identical version of her own home — except the parents there are more attentive, the food is better, and ...

Unreasonable Hospitality

Will Guidara

Unreasonable Hospitality, written by Will Guidara, is a bestselling business memoir about how he helped transform Eleven Madison Park from an unremarkable restaurant into one of th...

The Phantom of the Opera

Gaston Leroux

The Phantom of the Opera, written by Gaston Leroux, is a Gothic novel set beneath the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera House. This summary of The Phantom of the Opera follows Christ...

The Art of War

Sun Tzu

The Art of War, attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, is a compact treatise on strategy, leadership, and competition written more than two thousand years a...

The Last Thing He Told Me

Laura Dave

A woman's husband vanishes the same day his company gets raided by the FBI, leaving behind only two words scrawled on a note: "Protect her." This The Last Thing He Told Me summary ...

Bridge to Terabithia

Katherine Paterson

A poor farm kid and the strange new girl next door invent a make-believe kingdom in the woods, reached by swinging over a creek on a rope — and then, one day, she goes there withou...

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

A willful Georgia plantation daughter spends the Civil War and Reconstruction chasing a man who doesn't want her, married three times over, while the one man who actually loves her...

The Maze Runner

James Dashner

The Maze Runner, written by James Dashner, is a bestselling young adult dystopian novel and the first book in the Maze Runner series. This summary of The Maze Runner follows Thomas...

Lights Out

Navessa Allen

Lights Out, written by Navessa Allen, is a viral dark romance and the first book in the bestselling Into Darkness series. This summary of Lights Out follows Aly Cappellucci, an exh...

The Correspondent

Virginia Evans

The Correspondent, written by Virginia Evans, is a bestselling epistolary novel told entirely through the letters and emails of Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer and chief clerk ...

Dead Poets Society

N.H. Kleinbaum

A new English teacher tells a room of buttoned-up prep-school boys to rip a page out of their textbook, then has them stand on his desk to see the room differently. Within a year, ...

The Stranger

Albert Camus

A man's mother dies, and he doesn't cry. He goes swimming, starts a relationship, watches a comedy film — and months later, on a blinding-hot beach, he shoots a man he barely knows...

The Long Walk

Stephen King

A hundred teenage boys start walking down a Maine highway. They have to keep moving at four miles an hour or faster, forever, and the soldiers riding alongside in halftracks shoot ...

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson

A dying pirate lodges at a country inn, an old map turns up in his sea chest, and a boy named Jim Hawkins ends up on a ship sailing to dig up a dead man's gold — alongside a ship's...

Out of My Mind

Sharon M. Draper

Melody Brooks is almost eleven, has never spoken a single word out loud, and has one of the sharpest minds in her school — nobody around her knows it. She has spastic bilateral qua...

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

Starr Carter is sixteen and lives two lives: Garden Heights Starr, from the poor Black neighborhood where she grew up, and Williamson Starr, from the mostly white prep school she c...

Die with Zero

Bill Perkins

Bill Perkins's argument is that money you never spend is time you worked for free. If you save for forty years and die with a large balance, those hours went nowhere — and worse, y...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is fifteen and starting high school with no friends, because the only one he had shot himself the previous spring. He writes letters about it to a stranger he has never met...

Wonder

R.J. Palacio

August Pullman is ten years old, loves Star Wars, and was born with a severe facial difference that has taken twenty-seven surgeries to manage. He has been homeschooled his whole l...

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

Hazel Grace Lancaster is sixteen, has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs, and drags an oxygen tank everywhere she goes. Her mother has decided she is depressed and sends h...

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go is narrated by Kathy H., thirty-one years old, who has been a carer for over eleven years and will stop at the end of the year. She talks about her school, Hailsham...

Six of Crows

Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows is a heist novel about six teenage criminals hired to break into a fortress that has never been breached. A drug has been invented that turns Grisha — people who can m...

A Wrinkle in Time

Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time is about a girl who is bad at school, angry most of the time, convinced she is a biological mistake, and the only person in the universe who can do the one thing ...

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

Into the Wild is Jon Krakauer's account of Christopher McCandless, a twenty-four-year-old who walked into the Alaskan bush in April 1992 with ten pounds of rice and a .22 rifle and...

Extreme Ownership

Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Extreme Ownership is a leadership book built out of the 2006 Battle of Ramadi. Jocko Willink commanded Task Unit Bruiser and Leif Babin led one of its two platoons, and the book ta...

Tuck Everlasting

Natalie Babbitt

Tuck Everlasting is Natalie Babbitt's 1975 novel about a ten-year-old girl who finds out that a family living in the woods behind her house cannot die, and then has to decide wheth...

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is John Boyne's 2006 novel about a nine-year-old German boy who befriends a Jewish boy through the fence of a concentration camp without ever underst...

The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle is Jeannette Walls's memoir of being raised by parents who could have done better and mostly chose not to. Her father Rex was a brilliant, charming alcoholic who t...

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

People We Meet on Vacation is Emily Henry's second adult romance, published by Berkley on 11 May 2021, and it runs on one very simple idea: two people who should not be friends tak...

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie is Mitch Albom's memoir of the fourteen Tuesdays he spent with his dying college professor, and it is a true story from beginning to end. Morrie Schwartz taugh...

Too Late

Colleen Hoover

Too Late is Colleen Hoover's darkest book, and she said so herself before anyone else could. It follows Sloan, a twenty-one-year-old college student living with Asa Jackson, a drug...

Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich, published in 1937, is Napoleon Hill's self-help book about the mental habits he claimed to have found in wealthy men, and it is the foundation text of the enti...

Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi's autobiography in comics, drawn in stark black and white, about growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. This Persep...

Long Way Down

Jason Reynolds

Long Way Down, published in 2017, is a novel in verse by Jason Reynolds that takes place almost entirely inside a lift, over about sixty seconds. This Long Way Down summary follows...

November 9

Colleen Hoover

November 9, published in 2015, is a contemporary romance by Colleen Hoover about two people who agree to meet on the same date once a year for five years and have no contact in bet...

Number the Stars

Lois Lowry

Number the Stars, published in 1989, is a historical novel by Lois Lowry set in Copenhagen in September 1943, when the Germans began rounding up Denmark's Jews and the Danish Resis...

In Five Years

Rebecca Serle

In Five Years, published in 2020, is a novel by Rebecca Serle about a woman who spends exactly one hour five years in the future and spends the next five years trying to work out w...

Hatchet

Gary Paulsen

Hatchet, published in 1987, is a survival novel by Gary Paulsen about a thirteen-year-old boy who is left alone in the Canadian wilderness when the pilot of his bush plane dies of ...

Charlotte's Web

E. B. White

Charlotte's Web, published in 1952, is a children's novel by E. B. White about a runt pig who is saved twice: first by a girl, then by a spider. This Charlotte's Web summary follow...

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita, published in 1955, is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, narrated by a middle-aged European literature scholar who calls himself Humbert Humbert. This Lolita book summary follows...

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

Thinking, Fast and Slow, published in 2011, is a book about human judgment by Daniel Kahneman, the psychologist who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. This Thinking Fas...

The Firm

John Grisham

The Firm, published in 1991, is a legal thriller by John Grisham and the book that made him a household name. This The Firm summary follows Mitch McDeere, a brilliant, ambitious yo...

James

Percival Everett

James, published in 2024, is an award-winning novel by Percival Everett that retells Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved man, ...

The Women

Kristin Hannah

The Women, published in 2024, is a historical novel by Kristin Hannah. This The Women summary follows Frances "Frankie" McGrath, a young woman from a sheltered, patriotic Californi...

One of Us Is Lying

Karen M. McManus

One of Us Is Lying, published in 2017, is a young adult mystery thriller by Karen M. McManus. This One of Us Is Lying summary follows five students at Bayview High who walk into de...

The Wedding People

Alison Espach

The Wedding People, published in 2024, is a contemporary novel by Alison Espach. This The Wedding People summary follows Phoebe Stone, a heartbroken English professor whose life ha...

Heart Bones

Colleen Hoover

Heart Bones, published in 2020, is a contemporary romance novel by Colleen Hoover. This Heart Bones summary follows Beyah Grim, a tough, guarded nineteen-year-old who grew up in po...

Night

Elie Wiesel

Night, first published in the late 1950s, is a memoir by Elie Wiesel recounting his experiences as a teenage Jewish boy in the Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. This N...

The God of the Woods

Liz Moore

The God of the Woods, published in 2024, is a literary mystery novel by Liz Moore. This God of the Woods summary is set in 1975 at Camp Emerson, a summer camp in New York's Adirond...

To Build a Fire

Jack London

"To Build a Fire," published in its best-known version in 1908, is a short story by Jack London. This To Build a Fire summary follows an unnamed man traveling alone with a dog thro...

House of Sky and Breath

Sarah J. Maas

House of Sky and Breath, published in 2022, is the second book in the Crescent City fantasy series by Sarah J. Maas. This House of Sky and Breath summary follows Bryce Quinlan and ...

Family of Liars

E. Lockhart

Family of Liars, published in 2022, is a young adult mystery by E. Lockhart and a prequel to her bestseller We Were Liars. This Family of Liars summary is set a generation earlier ...

A Fatal Grace

Louise Penny

A Fatal Grace, published in 2007 (and also known as Dead Cold), is the second novel in Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. This A Fatal Grace summary returns to t...

Bartleby, the Scrivener

Herman Melville

"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street," published in 1853, is a short story by Herman Melville. This Bartleby the Scrivener summary is narrated by an elderly Wall Street...

In Cold Blood

Truman Capote

In Cold Blood, published in 1966, is a nonfiction novel by Truman Capote. This In Cold Blood summary recounts the real 1959 murder of the Clutter family, a well-liked farming famil...

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon, published as a novel in 1966 (based on Daniel Keyes's earlier short story), is a science fiction novel told through the "progress reports" of Charlie Gordon. ...

The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games, published in 2008, is a dystopian young-adult novel by Suzanne Collins and the first book of a trilogy. This Hunger Games summary is set in Panem, a nation built ...

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Anonymous (Ancient Mesopotamian)

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest surviving works of literature, an ancient Mesopotamian poem written in cuneiform and dating back over four thousand years. This Epic of G...

A Doll's House

Henrik Ibsen

A Doll's House, first performed in 1879, is a three-act play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. This A Doll's House summary follows Nora Helmer, a seemingly happy wife and mothe...

Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night, or What You Will, written by William Shakespeare around 1601–1602, is a romantic comedy about mistaken identity, disguise, and love. This Twelfth Night summary follo...

Born a Crime

Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, published in 2016, is a memoir by comedian and Daily Show host Trevor Noah. This Born a Crime summary follows Trevor growing u...

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

The Color Purple, published in 1982 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is a novel by Alice Walker told through letters. This Color Purple summary follows Celie, a poor Black woman i...

The Nickel Boys

Colson Whitehead

The Nickel Boys, written by Colson Whitehead, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the horrors of a brutal Jim Crow-era reform school and the two boys whose friendship is tested...

Daisy Jones and the Six

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones and the Six, written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is a bestselling novel about the meteoric rise and sudden breakup of a fictional 1970s rock band. This Daisy Jones and the ...

The Dutch House

Ann Patchett

The Dutch House, written by Ann Patchett, is an acclaimed novel about a brother and sister, the loss of their childhood home, and the way the past shapes an entire life. This The D...

Pachinko

Min Jin Lee

Pachinko, written by Min Jin Lee, is an acclaimed multi-generational saga about a Korean family living in Japan across most of the twentieth century. This Pachinko summary follows ...

Hamnet

Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet, written by Maggie O'Farrell, is a bestselling, award-winning novel that reimagines the life of William Shakespeare's family and the death of his only son. This Hamnet summa...

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry, written by Bonnie Garmus, is a bestselling novel about a brilliant female chemist battling the sexism of 1960s America. This Lessons in Chemistry summary foll...

The Vanishing Half

Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half, written by Brit Bennett, is a bestselling, multi-generational novel about identity, race, and the choices that shape a family. This The Vanishing Half summary f...

The Time Machine

H.G. Wells

The Time Machine, written by H.G. Wells, is a pioneering science fiction novella that helped popularize the concept of time travel by machine. This The Time Machine summary follows...

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, written by V.E. Schwab, is a bestselling fantasy novel about a woman cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. This The Invisible Life of Add...

The House in the Cerulean Sea

TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea, written by TJ Klune, is a bestselling, warm-hearted fantasy novel about found family, prejudice, and the courage to change. This The House in the Cer...

The Thorn Birds

Colleen McCullough

The Thorn Birds, written by Colleen McCullough, is a sweeping, bestselling family saga of forbidden love set against the vast Australian Outback. This The Thorn Birds summary follo...

Educated

Tara Westover

Educated, written by Tara Westover, is a bestselling memoir about a young woman's extraordinary journey from an isolated, survivalist upbringing to a PhD at the University of Cambr...

The Rosie Project

Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project, written by Graeme Simsion, is a warm, funny bestselling romantic comedy narrated by an unforgettable protagonist. This The Rosie Project summary follows Don Till...

Beach Read

Emily Henry

Beach Read, written by Emily Henry, is a bestselling contemporary romance about two rival writers who spend a summer as neighbors. This Beach Read summary follows January Andrews, ...

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl, written by Gillian Flynn, is a bestselling psychological thriller about a marriage that unravels into a chilling game of deception. This Gone Girl summary follows Nick D...

The Notebook

Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook, written by Nicholas Sparks, is a beloved romance novel about an enduring love that spans a lifetime. This The Notebook summary follows the story of Noah Calhoun and A...

Me Before You

Jojo Moyes

Me Before You, written by Jojo Moyes, is a bestselling, emotionally powerful novel about an unlikely love between a caregiver and the man she looks after. This Me Before You summar...

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train, written by Paula Hawkins, is a bestselling psychological thriller told through three unreliable female narrators. This The Girl on the Train summary follows ...

Big Little Lies

Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies, written by Liane Moriarty, is a bestselling novel that blends dark comedy, domestic drama, and mystery around a fatal school fundraiser. This Big Little Lies summa...

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Mitch Albom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, written by Mitch Albom, is a bestselling inspirational novel about the meaning of an ordinary life, revealed after death. This The Five People Y...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, written by Stieg Larsson, is an internationally bestselling crime thriller and the first book in the Millennium trilogy. This The Girl with the Dra...

The Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett

The Pillars of the Earth, written by Ken Follett, is a sweeping historical epic set in 12th-century England, centered on the building of a great cathedral. This The Pillars of the ...

Eat Pray Love

Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat Pray Love, written by Elizabeth Gilbert, is a hugely popular memoir chronicling one woman's year-long journey of self-discovery across three countries. This Eat Pray Love summa...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, written by Mark Haddon, is a bestselling novel narrated by a brilliant but socially challenged teenage boy who sets out to solve ...

A Man Called Ove

Fredrik Backman

A Man Called Ove, written by Fredrik Backman, is a beloved, bittersweet novel about a grumpy, isolated widower whose life is unexpectedly transformed by his new neighbors. This A M...

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale, written by Kristin Hannah, is a bestselling historical novel about two sisters surviving and resisting the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. This The ...

Water for Elephants

Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen, is a bestselling historical novel about love, cruelty, and survival in a traveling circus during the Great Depression. This Water for El...

The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones, written by Alice Sebold, is a bestselling novel narrated by a murdered teenage girl who watches over her family from the afterlife. This The Lovely Bones summary ...

Memoirs of a Geisha

Arthur Golden

Memoirs of a Geisha, written by Arthur Golden, is a bestselling historical novel that follows the life of a geisha in 20th-century Japan. This Memoirs of a Geisha summary traces th...

The Help

Kathryn Stockett

The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, is a bestselling novel about race, courage, and friendship in the segregated American South of the early 1960s. This The Help summary follows...

The Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadow of the Wind, written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, is an internationally bestselling literary mystery set in post-war Barcelona, a gothic tale of books, love, and buried secrets...

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife, written by Audrey Niffenegger, is a bestselling novel that blends romance and science fiction to tell the story of a marriage tested by uncontrollable tim...

The Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees, written by Sue Monk Kidd, is a beloved coming-of-age novel set in the American South during the Civil Rights era, a story of loss, healing, and the search ...

The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus, written by Erin Morgenstern, is a bestselling fantasy novel about a mysterious black-and-white circus that is secretly the arena for a magical duel between two yo...

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is an acclaimed novel about an American missionary family whose lives are transformed and shattered by their disastrous mission...

Cloud Atlas

David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas, written by David Mitchell, is an ambitious, genre-spanning novel composed of six interlocking stories that reach from the 19th century into a distant post-apocalyptic ...

A Gentleman in Moscow

Amor Towles

A Gentleman in Moscow, written by Amor Towles, is a beloved literary novel about a Russian aristocrat sentenced to spend his life confined to a grand hotel. This A Gentleman in Mos...

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day, written by Kazuo Ishiguro, is a Booker Prize-winning novel about an aging English butler reflecting on a lifetime of devoted, self-denying service. This The...

Howards End

E.M. Forster

Howards End, written by E.M. Forster, is a classic novel about class, culture, and human connection in Edwardian England, centered on the question of who will inherit the country a...

Circe

Madeline Miller

Circe, written by Madeline Miller, is an acclaimed feminist retelling of Greek mythology that gives voice to one of its most famous witches. This Circe summary follows Circe, the o...

Of Human Bondage

W. Somerset Maugham

Of Human Bondage, written by W. Somerset Maugham, is a classic semi-autobiographical novel widely regarded as his masterpiece. This Of Human Bondage summary follows Philip Carey, a...

Sons and Lovers

D.H. Lawrence

Sons and Lovers, written by D.H. Lawrence, is a classic, semi-autobiographical novel about a young man torn between his intense bond with his mother and his relationships with othe...

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles, written by Madeline Miller, is an award-winning retelling of Homer's Iliad that reimagines the Trojan War as a profound love story. This The Song of Achilles ...

The Mill on the Floss

George Eliot

The Mill on the Floss, written by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), is a classic coming-of-age novel about the intense bond between a brother and sister, and the confl...

The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James

The Portrait of a Lady, written by Henry James, is a classic novel about a spirited young American woman whose desire for freedom and independence leads her into a disastrous marri...

The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch, written by Donna Tartt, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning literary novel about grief, art, fate, and the enduring power of beauty. This The Goldfinch summary follows Theo ...

Normal People

Sally Rooney

Normal People, written by Sally Rooney, is an acclaimed contemporary novel about the complex, on-and-off relationship between two young people over several years. This Normal Peopl...

Silas Marner

George Eliot

Silas Marner, written by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), is a beloved classic novel about redemption, community, and the transforming power of love. This Silas Marne...

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Thomas Hardy

Tess of the d'Urbervilles, written by Thomas Hardy, is a tragic classic novel about a poor young woman destroyed by fate, social injustice, and the double standards of Victorian so...

Middlemarch

George Eliot

Middlemarch, written by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), is a monumental classic novel widely regarded as one of the greatest works of English literature. Subtitled "...

White Fang

Jack London

White Fang, written by Jack London, is a classic adventure novel about a wild wolf-dog's journey from savagery to domestication, often seen as a companion piece and mirror image to...

The Awakening

Kate Chopin

The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, is a landmark novel of American literature and proto-feminist fiction about a woman's fierce quest for selfhood and independence. This The Aw...

A Room with a View

E.M. Forster

A Room with a View, written by E.M. Forster, is a classic novel about love, passion, and the conflict between social convention and personal honesty. This A Room with a View summar...

The Call of the Wild

Jack London

The Call of the Wild, written by Jack London, is a classic adventure novel about a dog's transformation from a pampered pet into a wild creature of the North. This The Call of the ...

Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey, written by Jane Austen, is a witty coming-of-age novel and a gentle satire of the Gothic fiction so popular in Austen's day. This Northanger Abbey summary follows...

Persuasion

Jane Austen

Persuasion, written by Jane Austen, is a classic novel of second chances, enduring love, and quiet regret. This Persuasion summary follows Anne Elliot, a gentle, intelligent woman ...

The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a beloved classic of children's literature about healing, nature, and transformation. This The Secret Garden summary follo...

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, is a beloved fantasy adventure and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings. This The Hobbit summary follows Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving hobb...

Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility, written by Jane Austen, is a classic novel about two sisters with contrasting temperaments navigating love, heartbreak, and society. This Sense and Sensibili...

A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway

A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a powerful novel of love and war set during World War I. This A Farewell to Arms summary follows Frederic Henry, an American ser...

Dracula

Bram Stoker

Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, is the classic Gothic horror novel that defined the modern vampire myth. This Dracula summary follows the ancient, aristocratic vampire Count Dracu...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is a classic American novel about freedom, conscience, and friendship along the Mississippi River. This The Adventures of...

Emma

Jane Austen

Emma, written by Jane Austen, is a witty and beloved comedy of manners about a clever, well-meaning young woman whose matchmaking schemes go comically awry. This Emma summary follo...

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a short but powerful novella about an aging Cuban fisherman's epic struggle with a giant fish. This The Old Man and the Sea...

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy, is a sweeping masterpiece of Russian literature about love, marriage, society, and the search for meaning. This Anna Karenina summary follows...

Les Misérables

Victor Hugo

Les Misérables, written by Victor Hugo, is a monumental novel of justice, redemption, and revolution set in 19th-century France. This Les Misérables summary follows Jean Valjean, a...

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott, is a beloved coming-of-age novel about the four March sisters growing up in New England during and after the American Civil War. This Li...

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy, is a bleak, powerful post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son struggling to survive in a devastated world. This The Road summary follows ...

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, is a haunting novella about imperialism, moral corruption, and the darkness within the human soul. This Heart of Darkness summary follo...

Beloved

Toni Morrison

Beloved, written by Toni Morrison, is a searing, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the lasting trauma of slavery, told through one family's haunting. This Beloved summary follows ...

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens, is a classic coming-of-age novel about ambition, social class, love, and self-discovery in Victorian England. This Great Expectation...

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression and one of the most powerful social novels in American literature. This The...

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel García Márquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude, written by Gabriel García Márquez, is a landmark of magical realism chronicling seven generations of the Buendía family in the mythical town of Macon...

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a landmark anti-war novel that blends dark satire, science fiction, and autobiography. This Slaughterhouse-Five summary follows Bi...

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas, is a sweeping classic adventure of betrayal, imprisonment, and elaborate revenge. This The Count of Monte Cristo summary foll...

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a powerful novel about friendship, betrayal, guilt, and redemption set against the backdrop of Afghanistan's turbulent history. This...

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a philosophical adventure novel about survival, faith, and the power of storytelling. This Life of Pi summary follows Piscine Molitor "Pi" Pa...

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a landmark dystopian novel about a totalitarian regime that strips women of their rights and reduces fertile women to reproducti...

The Great Gatsby Chapter 7

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the novel's climax, the day everything comes to a head. This The Great Gatsby Chapter 7 summary unfolds on the hot...

The House of the Spirits

Isabel Allende

The House of the Spirits, written by Isabel Allende, is a sweeping multi-generational saga that blends magical realism with political history. This The House of the Spirits summary...

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, is a historical novel set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. This A Tale of Two Cities summary follows a...

His and Hers

Alice Feeney

His and Hers, written by Alice Feeney, is a twisty psychological thriller about a series of murders in a small English town and the two people, and one hidden third voice, caught a...

The Woman in Cabin 10

Ruth Ware

The Woman in Cabin 10, written by Ruth Ware, is a claustrophobic locked-room psychological thriller set aboard a luxury cruise ship. This The Woman in Cabin 10 summary follows Lo B...

The Great Gatsby Chapter 6

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, pulls back the curtain on Jay Gatsby's true origins and marks a turning point in his pursuit of Daisy. This The Great...

Moby Dick

Herman Melville

Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville, is a monumental American novel about obsession, fate, and humanity's struggle against nature. This Moby Dick summary follows Ishmael, a wande...

The House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, is a beloved coming-of-age novel told in a series of short, poetic vignettes. This The House on Mango Street summary follows ...

The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, is one of the most famous novellas in modern literature. This The Metamorphosis summary follows Gregor Samsa, a hardworking traveling sal...

The Crucible Act 1

Arthur Miller

Act 1 of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, sets the Salem witch trials in motion. This The Crucible Act 1 summary opens in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, where Reverend Parris's ...

The Great Gatsby Chapter 2

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, takes Nick Carraway away from the glamour of the Eggs and into the bleak "valley of ashes" and a sordid affair. This ...

The Most Dangerous Game

Richard Connell

The Most Dangerous Game, written by Richard Connell, is a classic adventure and suspense short story about the ultimate hunt. This The Most Dangerous Game summary follows Sanger Ra...

Still Life

Louise Penny

Still Life, written by Louise Penny, is the first novel in the beloved Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series. This Still Life summary follows Gamache, a thoughtful, humane ...

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye, written by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, is a powerful and harrowing novel about race, beauty, and self-worth. This The Bluest Eye summary follows Pecola Breedlove,...

We Were Liars

E. Lockhart

We Were Liars, written by E. Lockhart, is a gripping young adult psychological novel with one of the most talked-about twist endings in recent fiction. This We Were Liars summary f...

Just Mercy

Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy, written by Bryan Stevenson, is a powerful memoir about justice, race, and mercy in the American legal system. This Just Mercy summary follows Stevenson, a young Black l...

The Iliad

Homer

The Iliad, attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, is one of the oldest and greatest works of Western literature. This The Iliad summary covers a pivotal stretch of the Trojan ...

Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara and the Sun, written by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro, is a moving science-fiction novel narrated by an "Artificial Friend" (AF) named Klara. This Klara and the Sun summary f...

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi

When Breath Becomes Air, written by Paul Kalanithi, is a profound memoir about life, death, and meaning. This When Breath Becomes Air summary follows Kalanithi, a gifted neurosurge...

The Great Gatsby Chapter 3

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 3 of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, brings Nick Carraway, and the reader, to one of Jay Gatsby's legendary parties, and to Gatsby himself. This The Great...

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing, written by Delia Owens, is a bestselling novel that blends a coming-of-age story, a love story, and a murder mystery. This Where the Crawdads Sing summary ...

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe

The Tell-Tale Heart, written by Edgar Allan Poe, is a classic Gothic horror short story narrated by an unnamed murderer who insists he is sane even as he describes a chilling crime...

Confess

Colleen Hoover

Confess, written by Colleen Hoover, is a contemporary romance about grief, secrets, and second chances. This Confess summary follows Auburn Reed, a young woman rebuilding her life ...

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a classic American novel set in 17th-century Puritan Boston. This The Scarlet Letter summary follows Hester Prynne, a woman c...

The Tempest

William Shakespeare

The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare, is a late romance believed to be among the last plays he wrote alone. This The Tempest summary follows Prospero, the exiled Duke of Mil...

The Book of Revelation

John of Patmos

The Book of Revelation, traditionally attributed to John of Patmos, is the final book of the Christian New Testament and one of the most famous works of apocalyptic literature. Thi...

Oedipus Rex

Sophocles

Oedipus Rex (also called Oedipus the King), written by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, is one of the most famous tragedies ever composed. This Oedipus Rex summary follows O...

We'll Always Have Summer

Jenny Han

We'll Always Have Summer, written by Jenny Han, is the third and final book in the beloved The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy. This We'll Always Have Summer summary follows Isabel ...

Lord of the Flies Chapter 1

William Golding

Chapter 1 of Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is titled "The Sound of the Shell" and sets up the entire novel. This Lord of the Flies chapter 1 summary follows a grou...

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

Harlan Ellison

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, written by Harlan Ellison, is a landmark science-fiction horror short story about the last five humans on Earth, kept alive and endlessly torture...

We Were the Lucky Ones

Georgia Hunter

We Were the Lucky Ones, written by Georgia Hunter, is a sweeping historical novel based on the true story of the author's family. This We Were the Lucky Ones summary follows the Ku...

Tower of Dawn

Sarah J. Maas

Tower of Dawn, written by Sarah J. Maas, is the sixth book in the bestselling Throne of Glass fantasy series. This Tower of Dawn summary follows Chaol Westfall, the former Captain ...

The Great Gatsby Chapter 4

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, deepens the mystery of Jay Gatsby and finally reveals the secret at the heart of the novel. This The Great Gatsby cha...

The Midnight Library

Matt Haig

The Midnight Library, written by Matt Haig, is a bestselling novel about second chances, regret, and the meaning of life. This The Midnight Library summary follows Nora Seed, a dep...

Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged, written by Ayn Rand, is a sweeping, ambitious novel that dramatizes Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. This Atlas Shrugged summary follows railroad executive Dagny T...

Wild Dark Shore

Charlotte McConaghy

Wild Dark Shore, written by Charlotte McConaghy, is a gripping literary novel and climate-fiction thriller set on a remote, storm-battered island near Antarctica. This Wild Dark Sh...

Never Never

Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Never Never, written by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher, is a bestselling romantic-suspense novel with a mysterious, almost supernatural premise. This Never Never summary follows ...

The Lion Women of Tehran

Marjan Kamali

The Lion Women of Tehran, written by Marjan Kamali, is a sweeping historical novel about a decades-long friendship between two women set against the turbulent history of Iran. This...

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, is a sweeping, heartbreaking novel about the lives of two Afghan women across three decades of war and upheaval. This A Thousa...

The Rape of Nanking

Iris Chang

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, written by Iris Chang, is a landmark work of nonfiction documenting one of the worst atrocities of the twentieth centu...

The Frozen River

Ariel Lawhon

The Frozen River, written by Ariel Lawhon, is a historical mystery novel inspired by the real diary of eighteenth-century midwife Martha Ballard. This The Frozen River summary is s...

Letter From Birmingham Jail

Martin Luther King Jr.

Letter from Birmingham Jail, written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most important documents of the American civil rights movement. This Letter from Birmingham Jail s...

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Jenny Han

The Summer I Turned Pretty, written by Jenny Han, is a beloved young adult romance and the first book in a bestselling trilogy. This The Summer I Turned Pretty summary follows fift...

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Stephen R. Covey, is one of the best-selling self-help and business books of all time, offering a principle-centered approach to...

A Modest Proposal

Jonathan Swift

A Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift, is one of the most famous works of satire in the English language. This A Modest Proposal summary explains Swift's shocking, deadpan "...

Harrison Bergeron

Kurt Vonnegut

Harrison Bergeron, written by Kurt Vonnegut, is a famous dystopian short story about a future America where everyone is forced to be exactly equal. This Harrison Bergeron summary i...

Who Moved My Cheese

Spencer Johnson

Who Moved My Cheese?, written by Dr. Spencer Johnson, is a bestselling self-help parable about how to deal with change in work and life. This Who Moved My Cheese summary follows fo...

Crown of Midnight

Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight, written by Sarah J. Maas, is the second book in the bestselling Throne of Glass fantasy series. This Crown of Midnight summary follows Celaena Sardothien, who ha...

Federalist No. 51

James Madison

Federalist No. 51, written by James Madison, is one of the most famous essays in The Federalist Papers, the series written to persuade Americans to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Th...

Broken Country

Clare Leslie Hall

Broken Country, written by Clare Leslie Hall, is a literary novel about grief, first love, and a fatal love triangle in the English countryside. This Broken Country summary follows...

The Book of Job

Anonymous

The Book of Job is one of the most profound books of the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, exploring the problem of suffering and the justice of God. This Book of Job summary follows...

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, is a classic dystopian novel about a future society engineered for stability, pleasure, and conformity at the cost of freedom and individ...

As You Like It

William Shakespeare

As You Like It, written by William Shakespeare, is a classic pastoral comedy about love, disguise, and escape from a corrupt court to the freedom of the countryside. This As You Li...

Federalist No. 10

James Madison

Federalist No. 10, written by James Madison, is one of the most famous essays in The Federalist Papers, a series written to persuade Americans to ratify the U.S. Constitution. This...

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a classic tragedy about two young lovers whose families are locked in a bitter feud. This Romeo and Juliet summary follows Rome...

The Let Them Theory

Mel Robbins

The Let Them Theory, written by Mel Robbins with her daughter Sawyer Robbins, is a self-help book about reclaiming your energy and peace by stopping the urge to control other peopl...

The Great Gatsby Chapter 1

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, introduces the narrator Nick Carraway and the world of Long Island's wealthy elite. This The Great Gatsby chapter 1 s...

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes, is a classic Spanish novel about an aging gentleman who loses himself in dreams of knighthood. This Don Quixote summary follows Alonso ...

The Lottery

Shirley Jackson

The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson, is a classic short story about a small town that holds a brutal annual ritual disguised as an ordinary community event. This The Lottery su...

The Odyssey

Homer

The Odyssey, attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, is an epic poem about the hero Odysseus's long and perilous journey home after the Trojan War. This Odyssey summary follows...

The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power, written by Robert Greene, is a nonfiction guide to gaining, keeping, and defending power in social, professional, and political life. This The 48 Laws of Powe...

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People, written by Dale Carnegie, is a classic self-help book about human relations and the art of dealing with people. This How to Win Friends and...

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is a classic psychological novel about guilt, morality, and redemption. This Crime and Punishment summary follows Rodion Raskoln...

The Body Keeps the Score

Bessel van der Kolk

The Body Keeps the Score, written by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, is a nonfiction book about how trauma reshapes the brain, mind, and body, and how people can heal. This The B...

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, is a classic romance and comedy of manners about love, class, and first impressions in early 19th-century England. This Pride and Preju...

Dune

Frank Herbert

Dune, written by Frank Herbert, is a landmark science-fiction epic about power, prophecy, and survival on a hostile desert planet. This Dune summary follows Paul Atreides, the youn...

Every Summer After

Carley Fortune

Every Summer After, written by Carley Fortune, is a contemporary romance about first love, betrayal, and second chances. This Every Summer After summary follows Persephone "Percy" ...

Theo of Golden

Allen Levi

Theo of Golden, written by Allen Levi, is a gentle literary novel about kindness, attention, and grief. This Theo of Golden summary follows a mysterious, elderly widower named Theo...

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary, written by Andy Weir, is a science-fiction novel about a lone astronaut trying to save humanity from extinction. This Project Hail Mary summary follows Ryland Gr...

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor Dad, written by Robert Kiyosaki, is a personal-finance classic about how to think differently about money. This Rich Dad Poor Dad summary contrasts the money philosop...

Regretting You

Colleen Hoover

Regretting You, written by Colleen Hoover, is a contemporary romance and family drama about a mother and daughter whose bond is shattered by grief and hidden secrets. This Regretti...

The Book of Enoch

Attributed to Enoch

The Book of Enoch, also known as 1 Enoch, is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text traditionally attributed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. This summary of the Book of Enoch ...

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare around 1606, is a tragedy about ambition, guilt, and the corrupting pursuit of power. This Macbeth summary follows a brave Scottish general ...

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare around 1600, is a tragedy about Prince Hamlet of Denmark, who is called on to avenge the murder of his father. This Hamlet summary follows th...

The Four Agreements

Don Miguel Ruiz

The Four Agreements, written by Don Miguel Ruiz, is a short self-help book based on ancient Toltec wisdom about how to free yourself from self-limiting beliefs. This summary of The...

1984

George Orwell

1984, written by George Orwell and published in 1949, is a dystopian novel about life under a totalitarian regime that controls every aspect of thought and behavior. This 1984 summ...

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a classic American novel about racial injustice, childhood innocence, and moral courage in the segregated Deep South. This To Kill ...

Atomic Habits

James Clear

Atomic Habits, written by James Clear, is a practical self-help book about how small, everyday behaviors compound into remarkable long-term results. This Atomic Habits summary show...

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights is a dark, passionate story by Emily Brontë that explores the lives of two families, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, on the Yorkshire moors. The plot revolves ar...

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah

The Great Alone, written by Kristin Hannah, is a bestselling novel about a troubled family's move to the Alaskan wilderness and a daughter's coming of age amid beauty and danger. T...

The Housemaid

Freida McFadden

The Housemaid, written by Freida McFadden, is a wildly popular psychological thriller full of twists about a maid, her wealthy employers, and the dark secrets hidden in their mansi...

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt

Remarkably Bright Creatures, written by Shelby Van Pelt, is a bestselling, heartwarming debut novel about grief, loneliness, and unlikely connection, narrated in part by a giant Pa...

Demon Copperhead

Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead, written by Barbara Kingsolver, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that retells Charles Dickens's David Copperfield in the mountains of contemporary Appalachia. Thi...

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, written by Gabrielle Zevin, is a bestselling novel about friendship, creativity, and the world of video game design. This Tomorrow and Tomorrow ...

Reminders of Him

Colleen Hoover

Reminders of Him, written by Colleen Hoover, is a bestselling contemporary romance about guilt, forgiveness, and second chances. This Reminders of Him summary follows Kenna Rowan, ...

It Ends with Us

Colleen Hoover

It Ends with Us, written by Colleen Hoover, is a bestselling contemporary novel that confronts domestic abuse with unflinching honesty and emotional depth. This It Ends with Us sum...

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is a bestselling novel about a legendary, reclusive Hollywood film star who finally reveals the truth about her g...

Verity

Colleen Hoover

Verity, written by Colleen Hoover, is a bestselling psychological thriller that departs from her usual romance to deliver a dark, twisty tale of obsession and deception. This Verit...

The Silent Patient

Alex Michaelides

The Silent Patient, written by Alex Michaelides, is a bestselling psychological thriller famous for its shocking twist. This The Silent Patient summary follows Alicia Berenson, a c...

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist, written by Paulo Coelho, is a world-famous philosophical novel, an allegorical fable about following one's dreams. This The Alchemist summary follows Santiago, a you...

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is an acclaimed, deeply moving novel set in Nazi Germany and narrated, unusually, by Death itself. This The Book Thief summary follows Lies...

The Secret History

Donna Tartt

The Secret History, written by Donna Tartt, is a modern classic of literary fiction, an "inverted detective story" that reveals its murder at the very start and then explores how a...

The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar, written by Sylvia Plath, is a powerful, semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman's descent into mental illness and her struggle toward recovery. This The Bell ...

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a classic American novella about friendship, dreams, and hardship during the Great Depression. This Of Mice and Men summary follows G...

Ugly Love

Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love, written by Colleen Hoover, is an emotional contemporary romance about a no-strings-attached relationship that becomes anything but simple. This Ugly Love summary follows...

The Housemaid's Secret

Freida McFadden

The Housemaid's Secret, written by Freida McFadden, is a gripping psychological thriller that follows Millie, a dedicated housemaid helping abused women to escape dangerous marriag...

The Housemaid Is Watching

Freida McFadden

The Housemaid Is Watching, written by Freida McFadden, is a gripping psychological thriller. It follows a woman who moves into her dream home with her family, seeking a fresh start...

A Little Life

Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara, follows the lives of four friends in New York City, diving deep into their experiences with friendship, trauma, substance abuse, sexual assault,...

If He Had Been with Me

Laura Nowlin

If He Had Been With Me, written by Laura Nowlin, is a coming-of-age story that focuses on Autumn and Finny, who were best friends in childhood but grow apart in high school. As Aut...

If Only I Had Told Her

Laura Nowlin

If Only I Had Told Her, by Laura Nowlin, is a young adult novel that tells the story of Finn Smith, who looks back on his concealed love for Autumn and the moments that lead to his...

It Starts with Us

Colleen Hoover

It Starts With Us is a contemporary romance by Colleen Hoover that continues Lily Bloom's story from It Ends With Us. In this novel, Lily rekindles her relationship with her first ...

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses, written by Sarah J. Maas, tells the story of 19-year-old Feyre, a huntress who is taken to the world of Prythian after killing a wolf. In this magical ...

A Court of Mist and Fury

Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas centers on Feyre, who deals with nightmares and a stifling engagement to Tamlin after surviving dangerous trials. As she explores her deep...

A Court of Wings and Ruin

Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Wings and Ruin, by Sarah J. Maas, centers on Feyre Archeron as she returns to the Spring Court to gather secrets and prepare for a significant battle against the formida...

A Court of Frost and Starlight

Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight, by Sarah J. Maas, is a novella that takes place after the war in the magical land of Prythian. It focuses on Feyre, Rhysand, and their friends as th...

A Court of Silver Flames

Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Silver Flames, written by Sarah J. Maas, centers on Nesta Archeron, who faces her past trauma and navigates her complicated relationship with the warrior Cassian. The st...

Fourth Wing

Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing is a new adult fantasy novel by Rebecca Yarros, centered on Violet Sorrengail. Facing pressure from her mother, a military general, Violet must attend Basgiath War Coll...

Iron Flame

Rebecca Yarros

Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yarros, tracks Violet Sorrengail's return to Basgiath War College for her second year, where she faces dangerous political secrets and threats from dark wiel...

Onyx Storm

Rebecca Yarros

Onyx Storm, by Rebecca Yarros, is the third book in the Empyrean fantasy romance series. The story follows Violet as she embarks on a mission to find a cure for Xaden, who is becom...

The Wager

David Grann

The Wager, written by David Grann, is a nonfiction book that details the harrowing journey of the British ship Wager, which faced shipwreck during a secret mission in 1740. The sto...

Wicked

Gregory Maguire

Wicked, by Gregory Maguire, is a darker retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It tells the story of Elphaba, a green-skinned girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. Thr...

All the Colors of the Dark

Chris Whitaker

All the Colors of the Dark is a gripping novel written by Chris Whitaker. Set in 1975 Missouri, it intertwines a missing-person mystery, a dark serial-killer thriller, and a love s...

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Frankenstein is a novel by Mary Shelley that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who brings a creature to life through unusual experiments. As the creature ex...

Beowulf

Unknown

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem that follows the heroic warrior Beowulf, who aids King Hrothgar of the Danes by defeating the monster Grendel and later Grendel's mother. After ...

Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger that follows 16-year-old Holden Caulfield over two days after he's expelled from prep school. Throughout the story, Holden grappl...

First Lie Wins

Ryan Holiday

First Lie Wins is an exciting thriller featuring Evie Porter, a woman adept at taking on false identities for secret missions. When a mysterious boss gives her a new name and targe...

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a rich man who hosts extravagant parties in 1920s New York. His main goal is to win back his true l...

Good Girl Bad Blood

Holly Jackson

Good Girl, Bad Blood" by Holly Jackson continues the story of Pip Fitz-Amobi, who takes on a new investigation into the disappearance of a classmate's older brother. As Pip dives d...

The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, tells the story of a young woman's decline into madness as a result of the restrictive rest cure her husband enforces after she ...

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, tells the story of a group of English schoolboys stranded on a deserted island. They attempt to create their own society, but without...

A Rose for Emily

William Faulkner

A Rose for Emily," by William Faulkner, tells the story of Miss Emily Grierson, a solitary Southern woman dealing with her father's death. As time goes on, she struggles to accept ...

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel by Ray Bradbury that follows Guy Montag, a fireman in a future society where books are burned to keep people from thinking critically. As Montag starts to...

Antigone

Sophocles

Antigone, a tragedy by Sophocles, tells the story of Antigone, who goes against King Creon's command by giving her brother Polynices a proper burial. She believes family loyalty is...

Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart is a novel by Chinua Achebe that centers on Okonkwo, a revered Igbo leader grappling with the impacts of colonialism and Christianity on his traditional Nigerian ...

Blood Meridian

Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian is a violent Western novel by Cormac McCarthy. The story centers around a teenage runaway called "the kid" who becomes part of a brutal gang of scalp hunters along t...

None of This Is True

Lisa Jewell

None of This Is True is a psychological thriller by Lisa Jewell. It follows Alix Summer, a well-known true crime podcaster, who encounters Josie Fair—her birthday twin with a troub...

Animal Farm

George Orwell

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a satirical novel that tells the story of farm animals who rebel against their human owner to create a society where everyone is equal. However, t...

Funny Story

Emily Henry

Funny Story, written by Emily Henry, follows the journey of Daphne and Miles, who find themselves living together after their childhood-best-friend exes marry each other. As a rese...

The Perfect Couple

Elin Hilderbrand

The novel The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand centers on a glamorous wedding in Nantucket, which takes a dark turn when the maid of honor, Merritt, is discovered dead. This shoc...

The Perfect Marriage

Jenna McCarthy

The Perfect Marriage, written by Jenna McCarthy, follows Sarah Morgan, a successful defense attorney, as she defends her husband, Adam, who is accused of murdering his mistress. Th...

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is about a blind French girl named Marie-Laure and a German boy named Werner, whose paths cross during World War II. As Marie-Laure...

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is a novel by Charlotte Brontë that follows the life of an orphaned girl, Jane Eyre. She faces a tough childhood, becomes a governess, and finds love with her employer, M...

Powerless

Lauren Roberts

Powerless by Lauren Roberts follows seventeen-year-old Paedyn, known as Pae, who is an Ordinary in a kingdom ruled by a ruthless king. This setting forces Pae into deadly Purging T...

The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

The Things They Carried, written by Tim O'Brien, tells the story of a group of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It highlights the physical objects they carry, along with t...

Hadestown

Anaïs Mitchell

Hadestown, written by Anaïs Mitchell, is a modern retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this story, Eurydice struggles to escape her bleak life in the und...

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, revolves around the Salem witch trials in a Puritan town, showcasing how fear and hysteria lead to wrongful accusations and tragic outcomes....

The Giver

Lois Lowry

The Giver is a novel by Lois Lowry that follows an 11-year-old boy named Jonas in a controlled, emotionless society where pain and choices are removed to keep peace. When Jonas b...

Then She Was Gone

Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone, written by Lisa Jewell, is a gripping psychological thriller centered around Laurel, a mother whose teenage daughter, Ellie, vanished without a trace ten years a...

The Last Letter

Lisa Wingate

The Last Letter, written by Lisa Wingate, is a historical novel that follows a woman's journey to uncover her family's hidden history connected to a children's home in Tennessee an...

The Things We Leave Unfinished

Rebecca Yarros

The Things We Leave Unfinished, written by Rebecca Yarros, explores the life of Georgia Stanton as she comes back home after a tough divorce. She is given the task of finishing her...

Better Than the Movies

Lynn Painter

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter is a young adult romance that follows Liz Buxbaum, a high school senior who adores romantic films. As she attempts to create her dream romanc...

Cruel Prince

Holly Black

In The Cruel Prince, Holly Black tells the story of Jude Duarte, a mortal girl who witnesses her parents' murder and is taken to the dangerous High Court of Faerie. At seventeen,...

Shatter Me

Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me is a young adult dystopian novel by Tahereh Mafi that follows 17-year-old Juliette, whose touch can kill. Imprisoned by a severe regime known as The Reestablishment, J...

From Blood and Ash

Jennifer L. Armentrout

From Blood and Ash, authored by Jennifer L. Armentrout, is a fantasy novel that follows Penellaphe Balfour, or Poppy, a Maiden chosen to “Ascend” as a tribute to the gods. As her f...

Lightlark

Alex Aster

Lightlark is a young adult fantasy novel by Alex Aster, featuring Isla Crown, a 19-year-old ruler from Wildling. She competes in the Centennial, a perilous game held every centur...

Esperanza Rising

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Esperanza Rising is a young adult historical fiction novel written by Pam Muñoz Ryan. The story follows Esperanza, a privileged girl in Mexico, whose life turns upside down after h...

Once Upon a Broken Heart

Stephanie Garber

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber tells the story of Evangeline Fox, who makes a risky deal with the Prince of Hearts to prevent her ex-lover from marrying her step-...

One Dark Window

Rachel Gillig

One Dark Window is a dark gothic fantasy novel by Rachel Gillig that tells the story of Elspeth Spindle, a young woman with a dangerous spirit known as the Nightmare living in he...

Things We Never Got Over

Lucy Score

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score is a contemporary romance that follows Naomi Witt, a runaway bride who flees to a small town to assist her mischievous twin sister, T...

Twisted Love

Ana Huang

Twisted Love is a contemporary romance novel by Ana Huang, featuring Ava Chen, a photographer, and her brother’s best friend, Alex Volkov. Their relationship becomes intense as A...

Heir of Fire

Sarah J. Maas

Heir of Fire is a novel by Sarah J. Maas that centers on Celaena Sardothien, a skilled assassin who learns she is Aelin Galathynius, the rightful heir to a lost kingdom. As she j...

Queen of Shadows

Sarah J. Maas

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas centers on Aelin Galathynius as she returns to claim her throne and seek revenge on those who ruined her life. Aelin confronts dark truths, fo...

Butcher and Blackbird

Lydia Fitzpatrick

The novel Butcher and Blackbird, by Lydia Fitzpatrick, mixes dark humor with romance in a quirky tale about finding the right partner to handle a dead body. This unusual story ad...

A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry

A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, tells the story of the Younger family, a Black family living on Chicago's South Side. They face challenges like racial segregati...

Allegory of the Cave

Plato

The Allegory of the Cave by Plato is a philosophical story that shows how people can be trapped by their illusions, mistaking shadows for reality. In this tale, prisoners are stu...

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

Flannery O'Connor

A Good Man Is Hard to Find" is a Southern Gothic short story by Flannery O'Connor. It centers on a family's road trip from Georgia to Florida that takes a dark turn when they meet ...

Girl in Pieces

Kathleen Glasgow

The novel Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow tells the story of Charlie Davis, a teenage girl facing trauma, self-harm, and deep loss. Following a suicide attempt, she leaves a p...

The Cask of Amontillado

Edgar Allan Poe

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that explores themes of revenge and betrayal. In the story, Montresor plans a lethal revenge against Fortunato, whom...

The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe

The Fall of the House of Usher, authored by Edgar Allan Poe, tells a haunting tale about a visitor returning to the decaying mansion of his childhood friend, Roderick Usher. The st...

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin

The Story of an Hour is a short story by Kate Chopin, focusing on Louise Mallard, a woman with a heart condition who hears about her husband's death in a railroad accident. While s...

Three Body Problem

Liu Cixin

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin is a science fiction novel that explores Earth's contact with an alien civilization from a three-sun system known as Trisolaris. The story sta...

Never Lie

Freida McFadden

Never Lie by Freida McFadden is a gripping mystery-thriller featuring newlyweds Tricia and Ethan, who find themselves stuck in a remote manor during a snowstorm. This eerie house...

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel by Zora Neale Hurston that follows Janie Crawford, a black woman in the American South, as she seeks true love and self-discovery through ...

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that tells the story of a Moorish general in Venice named Othello. He is manipulated by his dishonest ensign, Iago, into thi...

Parable of the Sower

Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower is a dystopian novel by Octavia Butler that follows Lauren Olamina, a young woman who flees from a violent and crumbling America. As she journeys north, she ...

Screwtape Letters

C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters, written by C.S. Lewis, is a novel that features 31 letters from Screwtape, a senior devil, to his nephew Wormwood. Through these letters, Screwtape guides Wo...

The Outsiders

S. E. Hinton

The novel The Outsiders, written by S. E. Hinton, centers on 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis and his two brothers as they face the intense social divide between the working-class Grease...

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that centers on Uncle Tom, a kind-hearted and devout enslaved man, and the people around him who face ...

The Berry Pickers

Garry Disher

The novel The Berry Pickers by Garry Disher weaves a tale of complex human relationships and social expectations in a rural Australian setting. It centers on a small community wh...

King Lear

William Shakespeare

King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, explores the tragic tale of an old king who splits his kingdom among his three daughters, driven by their flattery. He casts out Cordelia...

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan follows Bill Furlong, a coal merchant in a small Irish town in 1985. As Christmas approaches, he uncovers troubling secrets about a...

Tom Lake

Ann Patchett

Tom Lake is a novel by Ann Patchett that focuses on a mother named Lara, who recounts her youthful romance with a well-known actor, Peter Duke, while participating in summer theate...

Haunting Adeline

H.D. Carlton

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton is a dark romance that follows Adeline Reilly, a young author who moves into her grandmother’s house and discovers hidden family secrets linked t...

The Lost Bookshop

Emma Davis

The Lost Bookshop, written by Emma Davis, is a magical women's fiction novel set in modern-day Dublin. It tells the story of Martha, who escapes an abusive relationship; Henry, a P...

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde, tells the story of a young man named Dorian Gray who stays young while his portrait ages, showing the effects of his immoral cho...

The Measure

Michele Wucker

The Measure, by Michele Wucker, explores how cultures view and deal with risk. It helps you understand how personal and collective attitudes toward uncertainty play a big role in o...

Pretty Girls

Karin Slaughter

Pretty Girls, by Karin Slaughter, is a gripping thriller that follows two estranged sisters as they come together to uncover hidden family secrets. Their journey begins with the my...

I Who Have Never Known Men

Jacques Roubaud

I Who Have Never Known Men is a novel by Jacques Roubaud that tells the story of forty women held captive in an underground prison, observed by armed guards without understanding...