Browse our Staff Picks Collection to find your next reading recommendation, courtesy of our own team of book lovers. With selections ranging from nonfiction titles to plays, poetry, and novels, this diverse Collection has something to offer every literature lover.
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Romance, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Grief / Death, British Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction
The Last Letter from Your Lover is a 2010 romance novel by British journalist and writer Jojo Moyes. It centers on the interconnected lives and romances of two women living in London at different times. The first, Ellie Haworth, is a journalist in 2003 who comes across a set of love letters while researching the 1960s. The letters tell the story of Jennifer Stirling, the wife of a wealthy industrialist, and her intense affair with... Read The Last Letter From Your Lover Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1943
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship
Tags Children's Literature, Classic Fiction, French Literature, Education, Education, Fantasy, Philosophy, Philosophy
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry drew heavily on his own experiences when writing his 1943 novella, The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince). Like the story's first-person narrator, Saint-Exupéry was a pilot, and the inspiration for the book's central events came from his own 1935 crash-landing in the Sahara Desert. As the story begins, the narrator is still a young child showing off his drawings of boa constrictors eating elephants to the adults around him. The adults react... Read The Little Prince Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Immigration, Society: Community, Society: Colonialism, Society: Globalization
Tags Asian Literature, History: World, History: U.S., Race / Racism, Social Justice, Politics / Government, Immigration / Refugee
Publication year 1963
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Tags Politics / Government, Business / Economics, History: European, Sociology, Industrial Revolution, British Literature, Class
Publication year 1377
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Community
Tags History: World, Medieval Literature / Middle Ages, History: Middle Eastern, Middle Eastern Literature, Sociology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 1794
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Classic Fiction, Gothic Literature, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, History: World
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: War
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy
The Passage is a 2010 novel by Justin Cronin. It is the first novel in a post-apocalyptic horror series that includes The Twelve and City of Mirrors. The Passage is Cronin’s take on the vampire genre. He uses world-building to examine themes of Passages and Transitions, Vampirism as a Metaphor, and The Value of Life. The Passage was well-received and was adapted into a television series for the Fox Network, which aired its final episode... Read The Passage Summary
Publication year 1842
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Community
Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Children's Literature, Fairy Tale / Folklore, British Literature, Victorian Period, Animals, Class, Grief / Death
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Femininity
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence
Publication year 1999
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil
Tags Philosophy, Social Justice, Poverty, Business / Economics, Philosophy
Philosopher Peter Singer, known for his uncompromising commitment to utilitarian principles, published his opinion editorial “The Singer Solution to World Poverty” in The New York Times Magazine on 5 September 1999. In the essay, Singer argues that the inhabitants of affluent countries have a moral obligation to donate a significant portion of their wealth to charities that can save lives around the world.Singer begins by describing a situation from the 1998 Brazilian film Central Station... Read The Singer Solution to World Poverty Summary
Publication year 1095
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: War, Society: Nation, Emotions/Behavior: Courage
Tags Medieval Literature / Middle Ages, Narrative / Epic Poem, Military / War, History: European, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, French Literature
Composed at the turn of the 12th century, La Chanson de Roland (translated as The Song of Roland) recounts the events surrounding the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 CE. The Song of Roland is likely the oldest surviving poem in French and was immensely popular across Europe during the Middle Ages. The poem establishes many tropes and themes that have come to characterize medieval chivalric romances, but Roland is also an epic poem in... Read The Song of Roland Summary
Publication year 1951
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger
Tags Psychology, Philosophy, Politics / Government, Sociology, Social Science, History: World, Psychology, Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951), by Eric Hoffer, is a philosophical treatise that explores the question of why ordinary people join mass movements and become fanatical devotees of what they perceive as a holy cause. Hoffer argues that prospective fanatics—the soon-to-be true believers—experience personal frustration so intense that their strongest desire is to lose their individuality altogether by surrendering to something greater than themselves. Mass movements exploit this frustration... Read The True Believer Summary
Publication year 1976
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family
Tags Asian Literature, Chinese Literature, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, Education, Gender / Feminism, Classic Fiction, Biography
The Woman Warrior (1976) is an experimental memoir by Chinese-American author Maxine Hong Kingston. The book weaves together stories of Kingston’s childhood in California and her mother’s youth in rural China with folklore, legend, and myth, defying easy genre classification.The book is divided into five parts. In the first, “No-Name Woman,” Kingston imagines different life stories for an aunt she never met—a woman who drowned herself and her baby after being expelled from her village... Read The Woman Warrior Summary
Publication year 1998
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Fame, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Economics
Tags History: U.S., Business / Economics, Finance / Money / Wealth, Leadership/Organization/Management, History: World, Biography
Publication year 1922
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Society: Class, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Society: Nation
Tags Classic Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modernism, Irish Literature, History: World
Ulysses is a 1922 novel by Irish author James Joyce. The story is a loose adaptation of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, portraying a day in the lives of several characters who live in Dublin, Ireland, in June 1904. Ulysses proved controversial on release due to accusations of obscenity but is now celebrated as one of the most important and influential works in the English language and considered a classic.This guide is written using the... Read Ulysses Summary
Publication year 1994
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction
Walk Two Moons is perhaps the most famous work of Sharon Creech, a celebrated author of young adult fiction. The novel blends elements of both a coming-of-age narrative and a road story, and is set in the same literary universe as several of Creech’s other works, including Absolutely Normal Chaos (1990) and Chasing Redbird (1997). Following its 1994 publication, Walk Two Moons won numerous awards, including the 1995 Newbery Medal and the 1995 Children’s Book... Read Walk Two Moons Summary
Publication year 1932
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature
Tags Lyric Poem, Animals, Love / Sexuality, British Literature