Art

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 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Military / War, History: World, Literary Fiction, Historical Nonfiction


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Romance, Humor


Publication year 2014

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Place, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Historical Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, History: World, Arts / Culture

Here by Richard McGuire is a graphic novel published on December 4, 2014, by Pantheon Books. The graphic novel focuses on the same corner of a room over billions of years. It depicts the area long before the house is built and long after it falls. By using different visual styles, overlapping panels, and non-chronological narration, McGuire creates a narrative that comments on the nature of time and life. Here is considered a transformative work... Read Here Summary


Publication year 1977

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Philosophy

SummaryHoly the Firm is a 1977 book on Christian spirituality by American naturalist and author Annie Dillard. Dillard, whose 1974 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, is often championed for her ability to describe and narrativize the natural world. In Holy the Firm, Dillard applies this ability to what happened during a three-day period on an island in Puget Sound. Dillard ultimately stayed on this Island for two years... Read Holy the Firm Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Art, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Animals, Life/Time: The Past

Tags Historical Fiction, Animals, Race / Racism, American Civil War, Sports, History: World, Arts / Culture


Publication year 1910

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Class

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Relationships, Class, British Literature, History: World, Romance

E. M. Forster’s Howards End (1910) tells the story of two families, the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, who represent different aspects of society in Edwardian England. Specifically, it follows the Margaret Schlegel, the novel’s protagonist, amid her attempts to manage her own family as she becomes engaged to and marries the widowed Mr. Wilcox. In 1992 it was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, directed by James Ivory, and in 2017 it was adapted into... Read Howards End Summary


Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Music, Science / Nature, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Biography


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature

Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Animals, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Animals


Publication year 1924

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude

Tags Free verse, Modernism, Arts / Culture


Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Magical Realism, Post Modernism, Italian Literature, Science / Nature, Arts / Culture, Politics / Government, Sociology, History: World, Classic Fiction

If on a winter’s night a traveler is a 1979 postmodernist novel by Italo Calvino. The dual narrative is composed of two parallel strands: numbered chapters in which the narrator directly describes to the audience the process of reading the book, and titled chapters constructed from hypothetical first chapters of various books that the audience is reading. The innovative novel has been praised by critics and hailed as highly influential.This guide uses the 1998 Vintage... Read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Summary


Publication year 1965

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Arts / Culture, History: World, Classic Fiction

Elizabeth Borton de Treviño’s I, Juan de Pareja is a young adult historical fiction novel published in 1965. Its complicated portrayal of slavery, art, and self-expression earned it the Newbery Medal in 1966. In 1656, Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez unveiled his newest portrait: a simple study of one of his enslaved workers entitled Portrait of Juan de Pareja. Upon viewing the painting, de Treviño was inspired to imagine the story of this man... Read I, Juan de Pareja Summary


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Past, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Magical Realism, Romance, Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction

I’ll Give You the Sun (2015) is an award-winning novel penned by Jandy Nelson about relationships, art, and destiny. It follows the story of twins Noah and Jude Sweetwine who once shared a close relationship but find themselves barely speaking to each other two years after their mother’s death.Jandy Nelson is an American author who writes young adult fiction. I’ll Give You the Sun is her second novel, which won numerous awards and honors, including... Read I'll Give You the Sun Summary


Publication year 1987

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, Military / War, Education, Education, History: World

Imagining Argentina (1987) is a fantasy novel by American author Lawrence Thornton. Set against the backdrop of Argentina’s Dirty War, Imagining Argentina centers Carlos Rueda, a Buenos Aires native whose supernatural abilities grant him insight into the fates of Argentina’s disappeared. The novel’s complicated consideration of power, memory, and authoritarianism has been critically acclaimed, earning a nomination for the PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. Thornton would later expand the story into two succeeding novels, Naming the... Read Imagining Argentina Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Siblings, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Place, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Romance, Holidays & Occasions, Humor


Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Education, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature, Society: Community

Tags Education, Education, Social Science, Sociology, History: World, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics / Government


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Natural World: Environment, Life/Time: The Future, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Arts / Culture, Science / Nature, History: European, Renaissance, Italian Literature, Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure

Inferno by Dan Brown is the fourth installment in Brown’s Robert Langdon series of mystery/thriller novels, following (in order) Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol, and preceding Origin. Each edition covers a self-contained story, so readers need not follow the series in order, and often includes themes centered on European and Christian history and cultural traditions. The title character, Robert Langdon, is the only recurring character. Inferno won the Goodreads... Read Inferno Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Romance, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Magical Realism, Children's Literature, Humor, Arts / Culture, Fantasy