From Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita to Raven Leilani's Luster, the texts in this collection investigate themes related to the power and promise of many types of art — from the written word to visual arts such as painting and cinema.
Publication year 1985
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
The Vampire Lestat (1985) is a novel by Anne Rice, which was published as a sequel to her 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire. The novel follows the experiences of Lestat de Lioncourt, an 18th-century French nobleman who becomes a vampire. Throughout the work, Rice explores such themes as The Performance of Vampirism and Humanity, The Tensions Between Good and Evil, and The Importance of the Arts. After The Vampire Lestat was published, Rice’s titular... Read The Vampire Lestat Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Community, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Place
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Urban Development, Holidays & Occasions, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Action / Adventure, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Arts / Culture
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Mystery / Crime Fiction, WWII / World War II, Military / War, Italian Literature, History: World, Arts / Culture
Publication year 2002
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Fame, Identity: Language
Tags Business / Economics, Self Help, Arts / Culture, Psychology, Philosophy, Leadership/Organization/Management, Psychology, Philosophy
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery / Crime Fiction
Publication year 1917
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Art
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Romance, Holidays & Occasions
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Magical Realism, Mystery / Crime Fiction
Publication year 1935
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Sociology, German Literature
Publication year 1952
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Modernism
Publication year 1989
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Language
Tags Arts / Culture, Biography
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard is a work of creative nonfiction and memoir originally published in 1989 by Harper & Row. As a Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dillard explores the triumphs and struggles of her early writing years while also offering advice and guidance to aspiring writers through imaginative anecdotes. Dillard has called the work “an embarrassing nonfiction narrative,” and she distances herself from all but the final chapter about the pilot, Dave Rahm... Read The Writing Life Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Courage
Tags Biography, Arts / Culture
Publication year 1831
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags Mythology, Lyric Poem, Love / Sexuality, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, American Literature, History: World, Fantasy, Romance, Classic Fiction
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Identity: Disability, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Romance, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Gender / Feminism, Disability, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1773
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Lyric Poem, Arts / Culture, Grief / Death, Religion / Spirituality, Neoclassical, African American Literature, Colonial America
Publication year 1927
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Classic Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Class, Modernism, British Literature, The Bloomsbury Group, Arts / Culture, Education, Education, History: World
Virginia Woolf’s Modernist classic To the Lighthouse was published in May 1927 by Hogarth Press, the publishing house founded by Virginia Woolf and her husband Leonard Woolf in 1917. The Modern Library placed To the Lighthouse on its list of the 20th century’s best English-language novels. The three-part novel, which is written entirely in Woolf’s own stream-of-consciousness literary style, marks To the Lighthouse as a seminal work of Modernism. Woolf herself described To the Lighthouse... Read To the Lighthouse Summary
Publication year 1919
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Language
Tags Philosophy, British Literature, Education, Education, Arts / Culture, Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1934
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Masculinity, Natural World: Food, Values/Ideas: Art
Tags Classic Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, American Literature, Love / Sexuality, French Literature, History: World
Tropic of Cancer (1934) was Henry Miller’s third novel after the never-published Clipped Wings (1922) and Moloch: or, This Gentile World (1928). Miller referred to it as his “Paris book,” and it was wildly controversial for its candid depictions of sex. It was the subject of legal disputes and censorship attempts for decades, though ironically it has never been out of print. Tropic of Cancer brings together various genres, including autobiography, memoir, manifesto, and philosophical... Read Tropic of Cancer Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Food, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Grandparents, Relationships: Mothers
Tags Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Great Depression, Animals, Realistic Fiction, History: World
Turtle in Paradise is a 2010 historical fiction children’s novel by Jennifer L. Holm. Set in the Florida Keys during the Great Depression, the novel follows an 11-year-old girl’s struggles and successes as she visits her aunt and cousins in the town where her mother grew up. The novel won the Golden Kite Award and is a Newbery Honor Book as well as a Junior Library Guild selection. Other works by this author include The... Read Turtle in Paradise Summary