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Books about Literature
At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
by Sarah Bakewell
An exploration of the key ideas of existentialism and its impact on today's society.
Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond ... (Goodreads)
Speak, Memory
by Vladimir Nabokov
Autobiographical journey exploring the intimate memories of author's past.
This is an older alternate cover edition for ISBN 0141183225/ 9780141183220. A newer edition may be found here . From one of the 20th century's great writers comes one of the finest autobiographies ... (Goodreads)
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
by Simon Winchester
True story of a murderer's contribution to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.
The book tells the story of the making of the, Oxford English Dictionary, (OED) and one of its most prolific early contributors, William Chester Minor , a retired United States Army surgeon . Minor ... (Wikipedia)
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
A young girl's journey of survival in Nazi Germany, preserving the power of words.
Narrated by Death , a male voice who over the course of the book proves to be morose yet caring. The plot follows Liesel Meminger as she comes of age in Nazi Germany during World War II . After the ... (Wikipedia)
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
A dystopian society where books are outlawed, and a fireman's search for freedom and truth.
Fahrenheit 451 is set in an unspecified city (likely in the American Midwest ) in the year 2049 (according to Ray Bradbury's Coda), though it is written as if set in a distant future. ,[note 1], The ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Essays
by Michel de Montaigne
Collection of essays exploring diverse topics, from philosophy to morality.
Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form. This Penguin Classics edition of The Complete ... (Goodreads)
84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff
A 20-year correspondence between an American book lover and a London bookseller.
This charming classic, first published in 1970, brings together twenty years of correspondence between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used-book dealer in London. ... (Goodreads)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
by Alan Moore
A band of Victorian-era misfits join forces to protect the British Empire.
In 1898, one year after her encounter with Dracula , Mina Murray has divorced her husband and now works for the British government. She meets with MI5 agent Campion Bond (the grandfather of James ... (Wikipedia)
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A thrilling mystery set in Barcelona, exploring the power of books and the secrets they keep.
"Gabriel García Márquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show."—, The New York Times Book Review, A, New York Times, Bestseller Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in ... (Barnes & Noble)
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
by Thomas C. Foster
A guide to exploring literature’s hidden meanings and uncovering the underlying themes.
While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper meanings interwoven in these literary texts... How to Read Literature Like a Professor helps us to discover those ... (Goodreads)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer
A journey through the aftermath of World War II in the company of a unique and inspiring cast of characters.
In January 1946, 32-year-old Juliet Ashton embarks on a cross-country tour across England to promote her latest book. Written under her pen-name Izzy Bickerstaff , the book is a compilation of ... (Wikipedia)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery
A story of two unlikely outcasts who find solace and comfort in each other's company.
The story revolves mainly around the characters of Renée Michel and Paloma Josse, residents of an upper-middle class Left Bank apartment building at 7 Rue de Grenelle – one of the most elegant ... (Wikipedia)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King
A series of personal reflections on the art of writing, and the power of story-telling.
"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is ... (Goodreads)
Don Quixote
by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
An aging knight's adventures and misadventures, filled with chivalry, honor, and satire.
Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading chivalric romances that he determines to become a knight-errant himself. In the company of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, his exploits blossom in ... (Goodreads)
Dead Souls
by Nikolai Gogol
A satirical tale of a man's quest for wealth, exposing the corruption of 19th century Russian society.
The story follows the exploits of Chichikov, a middle-aged gentleman of middling social class and means. Chichikov arrives in a small town and turns on the charm to woo key local officials and ... (Wikipedia)
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories
by Truman Capote
Collection of stories, exploring the lives of eccentric individuals in New York City.
In autumn 1943, the unnamed narrator befriends Holly Golightly. The two are tenants in a brownstone apartment in Manhattan 's Upper East Side . Holly (age 18–19) is a country girl turned New York ... (Wikipedia)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce
An exploration of a young man's struggle to find his identity and place in the world.
The portrayal of Stephen Dedalus's Dublin childhood and youth, his quest for identity through art and his gradual emancipation from the claims of family, religion and Ireland itself, is also an ... (Goodreads)
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
by David McCullough
Story of the American artists, writers, scientists, and others who flocked to Paris in the 19th century, searching for inspiration and creativity.
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring - and until now, untold - story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set ... (Goodreads)
Inferno
by Dan Brown
A race against time as a symbologist searches for clues to stop a global catastrophe.
Harvard professor Robert Langdon, professor of symbolism, wakes up in a hospital in Florence , Italy with a head wound and no memory of the last few days. Dr. Sienna Brooks, one of the doctors ... (Wikipedia)
J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Epic fantasy journey to save Middle-earth from an evil force.
This four-volume, boxed set contains J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterworks The Hobbit and the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the ... (Goodreads)
Eugene Onegin
by Alexander Pushkin
A poetic novel of unrequited love and tragic consequences, set in early 19th century Russia.
In the 1820s, Eugene Onegin is a bored St. Petersburg dandy , whose life consists of balls, concerts, parties, and nothing more. Upon the death of a wealthy uncle, he inherits a substantial fortune ... (Wikipedia)
Ficciones
by Jorge Luis Borges
A collection of short stories exploring the limits of the imagination.
The seventeen pieces in Ficciones demonstrate the whirlwind of Borges's genius and mirror the precision and potency of his intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his ... (Goodreads)
The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
by Ambrose Bierce
Collection of satirical definitions of everyday words, offering a cynical take on humanity.
If we could only put aside our civil pose and say what we really thought, the world would be a lot like the one alluded to in The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. There, a bore is "a person who talks ... (Goodreads)
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
by Italo Calvino
An exploration of the nature of storytelling, as two readers attempt to uncover the lost story of the novel's title.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a marvel of ingenuity, an experimental text that looks longingly back to the great age of narration—"when time no longer seemed stopped and did not yet seem to ... (Goodreads)
Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen
A young woman's journey of self-discovery, navigating the complexities of high society.
Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland is one of ten children of a country clergyman. Although a tomboy in her childhood, by the age of 17 she is "in training for a heroine" and is excessively fond of ... (Wikipedia)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
by Joan Didion
Collection of essays exploring the cultural landscape of 1960s America.
The first nonfiction work by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era, Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem remains, decades after its first publication, the essential portrait of ... (Goodreads)
Shirley
by Charlotte Brontë
A young woman's turbulent journey to find her place in a restrictive society.
Robert Moore is a mill owner noted for apparent ruthlessness towards his employees. He has laid off many of them, and is apparently indifferent to their consequent impoverishment. In fact he had no ... (Wikipedia)
Possession
by A.S. Byatt
Two modern academics uncover a hidden romance between two Victorian poets.
Obscure scholar Roland Michell, researching in the London Library , discovers handwritten drafts of a letter by the eminent Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash, which lead him to suspect that the ... (Wikipedia)
Death Comes to Pemberley
by P.D. James
A murder mystery set in the idyllic village of Pemberley, a sequel to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice".
The novel begins in October, 1803, six years after the events in, Pride and Prejudice, which resulted in the marriage of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet . The Prologue and Book One ... (Wikipedia)
Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings
by Jorge Luis Borges
A collection of metaphysical tales and philosophical musings exploring the nature of reality.
Although his work has been restricted to the short story, the essay, and poetry, Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina is recognized all over the world as one of the most original and significant figures in ... (Goodreads)
Ulysses
by James Joyce
Epic narrative following a day in the life of an Irishman living in Dublin.
It is 8 a.m. Buck Mulligan , a boisterous medical student, calls Stephen Dedalus (a young writer encountered as the principal subject of, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, ) up to the roof of ... (Wikipedia)
The Island of the Day Before
by Umberto Eco
A man's search for truth and identity on a mysterious island in the 1600s.
Roberto della Griva, a 17th-century Italian nobleman , is the sole survivor of a shipwreck during a fierce storm. He finds himself washed up on an abandoned ship in a harbour through which, he ... (Wikipedia)
Hark! A Vagrant
by Kate Beaton
A collection of humorous and witty comic strips about history, literature, and popular culture.
Hark! A Vagrant is an uproarious romp through history and literature seen through the sharp, contemporary lens of New Yorker cartoonist and comics-sensation Kate Beaton. No era or tome emerges ... (Goodreads)
The Club Dumas
by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Thriller uncovering hidden secrets and lost knowledge while searching for an elusive book.
Lucas Corso is a middle-aged book dealer with a reputation of doing anything—regardless of legality—for his privileged clientele. While in Madrid attempting to authenticate a previously unknown ... (Wikipedia)
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
by Mortimer J. Adler
Comprehensive guide to achieving fluency and understanding in the art of reading.
How to Read a Book, originally published in 1940, has become a rare phenomenon, a living classic. It is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader. And now it ... (Goodreads)
Lost in a Good Book
by Jasper Fforde
A journey through the magical world of fiction as a character attempts to find a way out of the book.
Three months after the events of The Eyre Affair , Thursday Next is happily married to Landen Parke-Laine and working as a literary detective out of Swindon . One day, Thursday meets her father, a ... (Wikipedia)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
by William Joyce
A magical journey of life lessons, through the power of books and imagination.
Morris Lessmore loved words., He loved stories.,He loved books.,But every story has its upsets. Everything in Morris Lessmore’s life, including his own story, is scattered to the winds. But the power ... (Goodreads)
A Moveable Feast
by Ernest Hemingway
A memoir of Hemingway's life in 1920s Paris, exploring its rich bohemian culture.
Hemingway's memories of his life as an unknown writer living in Paris in the twenties are deeply personal, warmly affectionate, and full of wit. Looking back not only at his own much younger self, ... (Goodreads)
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zevin
Life of an isolated bookseller is transformed when an unexpected visitor brings unexpected joy.
“Marvelously optimistic about the future of books and bookstores and the people who love both.”—, The Washington Post, A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his ... (Barnes & Noble)
Pale Fire
by Vladimir Nabokov
A darkly comic and philosophical exploration of art, sanity, and the nature of reality.
Shade's poem digressively describes many aspects of his life. Canto 1 includes his early encounters with death and glimpses of what he takes to be the supernatural. Canto 2 is about his family and ... (Wikipedia)
The Secret History
by Donna Tartt
A small group of misfit college students uncover a sinister secret and their lives become entangled with dangerous consequences.
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the ... (Goodreads)
The Atlas of Middle-Earth
by Karen Wynn Fonstad
Detailed guide to the world of Middle-Earth from Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Karen Wynn Fonstad's THE ATLAS OF MIDDLE-EARTH is an essential volume that will enchant all Tolkien fans. Here is the definitive guide to the geography of Middle-earth, from its founding in the Elder ... (Goodreads)
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
by Jon Scieszka
A humorous reimagining of the classic fairy tale, as told from the wolf's side of the story.
You thought you knew the story of the “The Three Little Pigs”… You thought wrong. In this hysterical and clever fracture fairy tale picture book that twists point of view and perspective, young ... (Goodreads)
Hamilton: The Revolution
by Lin-Manuel Miranda
A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the groundbreaking musical "Hamilton", and its impact on American culture.
A backstage pass to the groundbreaking, hit musical, Hamilton, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, including the award-winning libretto, ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
by Stephen Greenblatt
Uncovering the history of an ancient philosophical poem, and its impact on the modern world.
One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand ... (Goodreads)
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi
A young girl's adventures on the high seas, fighting for justice and freedom.
The story starts in the early summer of 1832, as thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle prepares to take a voyage from Liverpool , England, to her family's home in Providence, Rhode Island . Her upper ... (Wikipedia)
The Rings of Saturn
by W.G. Sebald
An exploration of the physical and metaphysical landscapes of the English coast.
The Rings of Saturn — with its curious archive of photographs — records a walking tour along the east coast of England. A few of the things which cross the path and mind of its narrator (who both is ... (Goodreads)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
by Tom Stoppard
A humorous exploration of fate and free will, seen through the eyes of two minor characters in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
Hamlet told from the worm's-eye view of two minor characters, bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, reality and illusion mix, and where fate leads heroes to a ... (Goodreads)
The Angel's Game
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A writer's journey through a supernatural world of secrets and lies.
The Angel's Game is set in Barcelona in the 1920s and 1930s and follows a young writer, David Martin. In a once-abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, Martín makes his living by writing ... (Wikipedia)
Step Aside, Pops
by Kate Beaton
Collection of humorous comics that poke fun at classic literature and history.
Six months on the, New York Times, bestseller list! Featured on 25 best of the year lists! , “Somewhere in my heart is a folder titled Things I Did Not Know I Wanted and it is full of Kate Beaton ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Aleph and Other Stories
by Jorge Luis Borges
A collection of stories featuring metaphysical and philosophical explorations of the human condition.
Full of philosophical puzzles and supernatural surprises, these stories contain some of Borges's most fully realized human characters. With uncanny insight, he takes us inside the minds of an ... (Goodreads)
2666
by Roberto Bolaño
An epic saga of interconnected stories exploring the darkness of the human soul.
The novel is substantially concerned with violence and death. According to Levi Stahl, it "is another iteration of Bolaño's increasingly baroque, cryptic, and mystical personal vision of the world, ... (Wikipedia)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
by Lynne Truss
A humorous look at the importance of punctuation and its effect on language.
In Eats, Shoots & Leaves , former editor Lynne Truss, gravely concerned about our current grammatical state, boldly defends proper punctuation. She proclaims, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and ... (Goodreads)
The Well of Lost Plots
by Jasper Fforde
A detective story set in a world of books, where characters and stories collide.
Apprentice Jurisfiction agent and SpecOps -27 operative Thursday Next is taking a vacation inside Caversham Heights , a never-published detective novel inside the titular Well of Lost Plots, while ... (Wikipedia)
Shades of Grey
by Jasper Fforde
A satirical fantasy adventure through a world divided by the ability to see colors.
Chromatacia is a future dystopian society that exists at least five hundred years (although possibly more) after the collapse of our own society, identified as 'the Previous'. All life is governed by ... (Wikipedia)
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
by Harold Bloom
A satire of religion, science, and the arms race, exploring themes of morality and mortality.
A critical overview of the work features the writings of Terry Southern, William S. Doxey, Jerome Klinkowitz, Richard Giannone, John L. Simons, James Lundquist, and other scholars. - After the bomb, ... (Goodreads)
The Bookshop on the Corner
by Jenny Colgan
A woman finds solace and purpose in a second-hand bookshop in the Scottish countryside.
Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now ... (Goodreads)
Poetics
by Aristotle
A philosophical treatise on the nature of tragedy and its effects on audiences.
‘The plot is the source and the soul of tragedy’ In his near-contemporary account of Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that combine to ... (Goodreads)
The Uncommon Reader
by Alan Bennett
A humorous look at the journey of a monarch who discovers the joy of reading.
The title's "uncommon reader" ( Queen Elizabeth II ) becomes obsessed with books after a chance encounter with a mobile library . The story follows the consequences of this obsession for the Queen, ... (Wikipedia)
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
by Anne Fadiman
A collection of essays about the joy and significance of reading, exploring the impact of books on everyday life.
Anne Fadiman is—by her own admission—the sort of person who learned about sex from her father's copy of, Fanny Hill, whose husband buys her 19 pounds of dusty books for her birthday, and who once ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Stories of John Cheever
by John Cheever
A collection of short stories that explore the human condition in the modern era.
Here are sixty-one stories that chronicle the lives of what has been called "the greatest generation." From the early wonder and disillusionment of city life in "The Enormous Radio" to the surprising ... (Goodreads)
Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion
by Neil Gaiman
A comedic exploration of the universe, using wit and science-fiction.
Told in the same fanciful, irreverent style as the Hitchhiker trilogy, with scraps of scripts, letters and comments from Adams, Don't Panic is the perfect companion to one of the most successful ... (Goodreads)
Love Is a Dog from Hell
by Charles Bukowski
A poetic exploration of the human experience, from joy to heartache and everything in between.
Collection of poems rising from and returning to Bukowski's personal experiences reflect people, objects, places, and events of the external world, and reflects on them, on their way out and back. ... (Goodreads)
The Savage Detectives
by Roberto Bolaño
A poetic journey of two young poets searching for a mysterious figure through Latin America.
The novel is narrated in first person by several narrators and divided into three parts. The first section , "Mexicans Lost in Mexico", set in late 1975, is told by 17-year-old aspiring poet, Juan ... (Wikipedia)
The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays
by Oscar Wilde
Satirical plays that explore the hypocrisies and absurdities of Victorian society.
Combining epigrammatic brilliance and shrewd social observation, the works collected in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays are edited with an introduction, commentaries and ... (Goodreads)
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt
by David McCullough
Biography of Theodore Roosevelt, tracing his humble beginnings to his rise to power.
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
Collection of stories, poems, and essays by Poe that explore death, despair, and terror.
The foremost and most energetic in instituting this search was the bosom friend of Mr. Shuttleworthy, a Mr. Charles Goodfellow, or, as he was universally called, Charley Goodfellow, or Old Charley ... (Barnes & Noble)
Outline
by Rachel Cusk
A woman's journey of self-reflection, exploring relationships and the complexities of life.
An English woman writer flies to Athens to teach a summer writing workshop. On the plane, she meets an older Greek bachelor , who tells her about his two failed marriages. The next day she meets with ... (Wikipedia)
Hopscotch
by Julio Cortázar
A surrealist journey of self-exploration and imaginative play.
Horacio Oliveira is an Argentinian writer who lives in Paris with his mistress, La Maga, surrounded by a loose-knit circle of bohemian friends who call themselves "the Club." A child's death and La ... (Goodreads)
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
by Azar Nafisi
Memoir of a professor's struggle in Iran, using literature to find freedom.
The book consists of a memoir of the author's experiences about returning to Iran during the revolution (1978–1981) and living under the Islamic Republic of Iran government until her departure in ... (Wikipedia)
Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
by Oscar Wilde
Collection of witty, satirical and thought-provoking works from the iconic playwright.
The Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde is the only truly complete and authoritative single-volume edition of Oscar Wilde’s works.Continuously in print since 1948, the Collins Complete Works of ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Dead
by James Joyce
A man's reflections on his past, present, and future in the wake of a death.
The story centres on Gabriel Conroy, a teacher and part-time book reviewer, and explores the relationships he has with his family and friends. Gabriel and his wife, Gretta, arrive late to an annual ... (Wikipedia)
The Areas of My Expertise: An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order
by John Hodgman
A humorous almanac of random knowledge and trivia, organized into various topics.
The brilliant and uproarious #15 bestseller (i.e., a runaway phenomenon in its own right-no, seriously) - a lavish compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom - all of ... (Goodreads)
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
by Therese Anne Fowler
A reimagining of the life of the iconic Jazz Age socialite and her tempestuous marriage with F. Scott Fitzgerald.
A dazzling novel that captures all of the romance, glamour, and tragedy of the first flapper, Zelda Fitzgerald. When beautiful, reckless Southern belle Zelda Sayre meets F. Scott Fitzgerald at a ... (Goodreads)
Istanbul: Memories and the City
by Orhan Pamuk
A personal exploration of Istanbul, an exploration of its culture, people, and history.
A shimmering evocation, by turns intimate and panoramic, of one of the world’s great cities, by its foremost writer. Orhan Pamuk was born in Istanbul and still lives in the family apartment building ... (Goodreads)
The World of Yesterday
by Stefan Zweig
Autobiography of a Jewish writer, describing the intellectual and social life of fin de siècle Europe.
The World of Yesterday, mailed to his publisher a few days before Stefan Zweig took his life in 1942, has become a classic of the memoir genre. Originally titled “Three Lives,” the memoir describes ... (Goodreads)
Shakespeare's Christmas
by Charlaine Harris
A mysterious holiday tale of a family's secrets and a chance at redemption.
Even in a sleepy Arkansas town, the holidays can be murder. Lily Bard is going home for the holidays. More comfortable in baggy sweats than bridesmaid's frills, Lily isn't thrilled about attending ... (Goodreads)
The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
An eccentric literary detective, in an alternate 1985, uses time-travel to save kidnapped characters from classic novels.
In a parallel universe , England and Imperial Russia have fought the Crimean War for more than a century; England still has a parliamentary government, although heavily influenced by the Goliath ... (Wikipedia)
Hamlet: Screenplay, Introduction And Film Diary
by Kenneth Branagh
A reimagined version of Shakespeare's classic play, told through film.
Often credited with creating a popular movie audience for Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh has wanted for many years to bring to the screen the complete, full-length version of Hamlet , Shakespeare's ... (Goodreads)
The City of Dreaming Books
by Walter Moers
An adventure through a literary world, as a librarian searches for a mysterious book.
Protagonist Optimus Yarnspinner ( Hildegunst von Mythenmetz in the German text) is a Lindworm ( dinosaur ) who inherits his authorial godfather 's possessions, including a perfect story written by an ... (Wikipedia)
Shakespeare: The World as Stage
by Bill Bryson
An exploration of Shakespeare's life, works, and enduring cultural impact.
At first glance, Bill Bryson seems an odd choice to write this addition to the Eminent Lives series. The author of 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid' isn't, after all, a Shakespeare scholar, ... (Goodreads)
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
by Dai Sijie
Two city boys discover the beauty of the countryside, and the power of art, during the Cultural Revolution.
The novel, written by Dai Sijie, is about two teenage boys during the Chinese Cultural Revolution , Luo, described as having "a genius for storytelling", , and the unnamed narrator, "a fine ... (Wikipedia)
Paris
by Edward Rutherfurd
An epic historical saga of love, loyalty, and power, spanning centuries of life in the city of Paris.
The novel follows six families: the Le Sourds (a revolutionary family), the de Cygnes (a noble family), the Renards (a bourgeois family of merchants), the Blanchards (a family of Napoleon ... (Wikipedia)
The Penultimate Peril
by Lemony Snicket
The Baudelaire orphans must uncover the mystery of the Hotel Denouement.
The Baudelaire orphans, Violet , Klaus and Sunny are travelling with pregnant V.F.D. member Kit Snicket to Hotel Denouement, the last safe place for volunteers to gather. She tells them that, prior ... (Wikipedia)
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
by Jen Campbell
Lighthearted collection of humorous conversations between bookshop customers and staff.
A simple Twitter question posed by John Cleese—“What is your biggest pet peeve?”—inspired Jen Campbell to start a blog collecting all the ridiculous conversations overheard in her bookstore. “Did ... (Barnes & Noble)
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
by Rachel Cohn
A romantic journey of two teens, exchanging dares and exploring New York City.
“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & ... (Goodreads)
The Dante Club
by Matthew Pearl
A group of poets, scholars and academics band together to unravel a dark mystery in 19th century Boston.
The Dante Club begins with the murder of fictional Massachusetts Chief Justice Artemus Healey, who had avoided taking a position to stop or support the escaped slaves of the South . Found by his ... (Wikipedia)
How Proust Can Change Your Life
by Alain de Botton
A journey of self-discovery and personal growth, inspired by the insights of Marcel Proust.
For anyone who ever wondered what Marcel Proust had in mind when he wrote the one-and-a-quarter-million words of, In Search of Lost Time, (while bedridden, no less), Alain de Botton has the answer. ... (Goodreads)
Mister Pip
by Lloyd Jones
A story of hope and resilience in a war-torn region, inspired by a classic novel.
The novel is the story of a girl caught in the throes of war on the island of Bougainville. Matilda survives the war through the guidance of her devoted but strict Christian mother and her white ... (Wikipedia)
Dear Committee Members
by Julie Schumacher
An epistolary novel of a professor's reflections on his life and career.
Finally, a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary." Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished ... (Goodreads)
First Among Sequels
by Jasper Fforde
A madcap, comedic detective story featuring a time-traveling protagonist.
It's been fourteen years since Thursday pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and Friday is now a difficult sixteen year old. However, Thursday's got bigger problems. Sherlock Holmes is killed at the ... (Goodreads)
8 أعمال دوستويفسكي الأدبية: الجريمة والعقاب 1 ـ المجلد
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
An exploration of morality, justice, and redemption through a series of crime and punishment stories.
إنه دوستويفسكي, الروائي العظيم الفريد من نوعه الذي أثر فينا ثأثيراً كبيراً, بحيث جعل من نفسه شريكاً لنا في تصرفاتنا وأفعالنا السيئة منها قبل الحسنة. لم يكن دستويفسكي عالماً نفسياً, لكنه تمكن من الغوص ... (Goodreads)
Why I Write
by George Orwell
Reflection on the art and craft of writing, exploring its purpose and power.
Whether puncturing the lies of politicians, wittily dissecting the English character or telling unpalatable truths about war, Orwell's timeless, uncompromising essays are more relevant, entertaining ... (Goodreads)
The Moor
by Laurie R. King
A gripping tale of murder, mystery, and suspense set in the English countryside.
The book opens with Mary Russell receiving a telegram to come immediately to Devon and to bring her compass. Initially Mary is reluctant to abandon her academic studies in Oxford to assist Sherlock, ... (Wikipedia)
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
by Matthew J. Sullivan
A gripping mystery set in a bookstore, revealing secrets from the past.
When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this “intriguingly dark, twisty” ( Kirkus Reviews ) debut novel from an award-winning short ... (Barnes & Noble)
Teacher Man
by Frank McCourt
A memoir of the author's 30-year career as an English teacher in New York City.
McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he ... (Goodreads)
Something Rotten
by Jasper Fforde
A comedic detective story set in a literary world, filled with literary allusions and puns.
The fourth installment in Jasper Fforde’s, New York Times, bestselling series follows literary detective Thursday Next on another adventure in her alternate reality of literature-obsessed ... (Barnes & Noble)
Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography
by Lemony Snicket
A mysterious narrator's tongue-in-cheek account of his own life, filled with dark humor.
A Warning from the Publisher: Many readers have questions about Lemony Snicket, author of the distressing serial concerning the trials of the charming but unlucky Baudelaire orphans, published under ... (Goodreads)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter
by Theodora Goss
A group of female monsters and misfits, use their wits to solve a mysterious case.
Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend ... (Goodreads)
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
by Jasper Fforde
A zany and thrilling detective story set in a world of fantasy and fairytales.
Literature detective Thursday Next, who has the ability to travel between the RealWorld and the BookWorld, disappears before stopping a genre war. Her BookWorld counterpart, Thursday Next, receives a ... (Wikipedia)
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