Books & Literature

The Dutch philosopher Erasmus said, “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” Why do we value books and literature so highly? This thematic collection gathers books that offer unique insights into the power, energy, and appeal of, well, books!

Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote

by Jorge Luis Borges

Publication year 1939

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Identity: Language

Tags Humor, Post Modernism

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Playground

by Richard Powers

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Teams, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Society: Education, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

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Poetics

by Aristotle

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature, Identity: Language

Tags Philosophy, Narrative / Epic Poem, Arts / Culture, Creative Nonfiction, Ancient Greece, Philosophy, Literary Criticism, Classical Period, Classic Fiction

Poetics, written around 335 BCE, is one of the most important works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. This guide refers to the 2013 Oxford World’s Classics edition, translated and edited by Anthony Kenny.Poetics sets out to analyze the nature and uses of poetry. To Aristotle, poetry doesn’t just mean verse but theater; the works he examines are mostly plays. While Poetics is one of the most influential works of world philosophy, it’s also incomplete:... Read Poetics Summary

Powers of Horror

by Julia Kristeva

Publication year 1980

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Literary Criticism, Psychology, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Philosophy, Psychology, Gender / Feminism, French Literature

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Preface to Lyrical Ballads

by William Wordsworth

Publication year 1800

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Arts / Culture, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Education, Education, British Literature, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

“Preface to Lyrical Ballads” is an essay by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In 1798 Wordsworth wrote, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads. Believing that the poems were so novel in theme and style that they required some explanation, Wordsworth wrote a prefatory essay to accompany the second edition of the poems in 1800; he then expanded the essay for the third edition of 1802.The “Preface” is often considered a manifesto... Read Preface to Lyrical Ballads Summary

Prologue

by Anne Bradstreet

Publication year 1650

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Equality, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Values/Ideas: Fame

Tags Gender / Feminism

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Reading Like a Writer

by Francine Prose

Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Language

Tags Literary Criticism, Arts / Culture

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Reading Lolita in Tehran

by Azar Nafisi

Publication year 2003

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Society: War, Self Discovery, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Gender / Feminism, History: Middle Eastern, Politics / Government, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: World, Biography

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books is a memoir by Iranian American author Azar Nafisi, first released to widespread critical and popular acclaim in 2003. The memoir recalls Nafisi’s experiences living and teaching in Iran after the 1979 revolution that created the Islamic Republic of Iran, until her eventual exile in the United States in 1997. At the center of the memoir is Nafisi’s account of a secret book club she hosted during... Read Reading Lolita in Tehran Summary

Romancing Mister Bridgerton

by Julia Quinn

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Regency Era

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Room

by Emma Donoghue

Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Grandparents, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Place

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Crime / Legal, Modern Classic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy

IntroductionEmma Donoghue’s Room is a 2010 novel about a boy named Jack who lives in a single room with his mother, Ma. Room is a crime thriller novel that explores themes of trauma, innocence, and adaptability through the eyes of five-year-old narrator, Jack. Room has received many awards, including the ALA Alex Award, the Indies Choice Book Award for Fiction, and The New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year award. Room was... Read Room Summary

Save the Cat

by Blake Snyder

Publication year 2005

Genre Reference/Text Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Fame, Identity: Language

Tags Arts / Culture, Education, Business / Economics, Self Help

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Schooled

by Paul Langan

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Disability, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Education, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Realistic Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Children's Literature

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Selecting a Reader

by Ted Kooser

Publication year 1980

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Lyric Poem

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Shark Heart

by Emily Habeck

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Romance, Fantasy

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She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways

by William Wordsworth

Publication year 1800

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Flora/plants, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Literature, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness

Tags Lyric Poem, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Grief / Death, British Literature

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem

by Joan Didion

Publication year 1968

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Nation, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Arts / Culture, History: U.S., American Literature, Vietnam War, Journalism, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography

Slouching Towards Bethlehem is Joan Didion’s 1968 collection of essays that document her experiences living in California from 1961 to 1967. It is her first collection of nonfiction (many of the pieces originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post) and is hailed as a seminal document of culture and counterculture in 1960s California. Didion’s style was part of what Tom Wolfe called “New Journalism,” which emphasized the search for meaning over the reporting of facts... Read Slouching Towards Bethlehem Summary

Snow

by Orhan Pamuk

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature

Snow is a novel of postmodern literary fiction published in Turkish in 2002 and in English in 2004. Snow won the Le Prix Médicis étranger award for the best foreign novel in France. The author, Orhan Pamuk, won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature and was the youngest person ever to receive this award. Pamuk was born in Istanbul in 1952 and grew up in Nişantaşı, Turkey. He studied architecture and journalism, only to decide... Read Snow Summary

So Big

by Edna Ferber

Publication year 1924

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Gender, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, American Literature, Poverty

... Read So Big Summary