National Book Critics Circle Award Winners & Finalists

Founded in 1974, the National Book Critics Circle’s mission is to inspire nationwide awareness and discussion about exceptional writing. Award categories include fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography, poetry, and criticism. This collection of study guides highlights fiction and nonfiction books for adults honored by the NBCCA, both winners and finalists.

Publication year 2004Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Midlife, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & LiesTags Latin American Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence

2666 (2004) is a novel by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, published one year after Bolaño's death. Centering around a reclusive German author and his role in investigating the ongoing unsolved murders in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, Mexico, 2666 jumps in location, narrative style, location, and characters over its five sections. The novel is widely acclaimed and was adapted into stage plays three times. The New York Times Book Review ranked 2666 as the... Read 2666 Summary


Publication year 1998Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & RealityTags Mental Illness, Science / Nature, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Biography

John Nash is born and raised in Bluefield, West Virginia. As a child, he is introverted and quiet, preferring reading and performing experiments to playing with other children. He is obsessed with codes and patterns and enjoys playing pranks on his sister and schoolmates. Intending to become an engineer like his father, Nash secures a scholarship to study at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. After a year, he abandons engineering to major in mathematics. He... Read A Beautiful Mind Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Society: Immigration, Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Immigration / Refugee, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Parenting, Arts / Culture, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: U.S., Biography

A Dream Called Home is a memoir published in 2018 by the award-winning Mexican American author Reyna Grande. The book is the sequel to her bestselling 2012 memoir, The Distance Between Us, which addresses Reyna’s experiences crossing the US-Mexico border as a child. The title alludes to the American dream while also gesturing to varied concepts of home. This summary refers to the 2018 English-language edition published by Atria Books.Plot SummaryReyna divides her memoir into... Read A Dream Called Home Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Essay Collection, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Society: NationTags Arts / Culture, History: U.S., African American Literature, Creative Nonfiction, Gender / Feminism, Music, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: World

Publication year 1982Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Science & TechnologyTags Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Arts / Culture, Philosophy, History: World, Sociology, Politics / Government, Modernism

Publication year 1992Genre Novel, FictionThemes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Natural World: AnimalsTags Historical Fiction, Western, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

All the Pretty Horses (1992) is a novel by Cormac McCarthy and a winner of the National Book Award. The book follows a young man, John Grady Cole, and his best friend Lacey Rawlins as they run away to Mexico in the late 1940s. A bestseller and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, All the Pretty Horses is the first novel in McCarthy’s Border Trilogy and helped increase the American novelist’s popularity and... Read All The Pretty Horses Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Identity: Race, Self Discovery, Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Relationships: Mothers, Identity: LanguageTags Parenting, Race / Racism, Biography

Publication year 2013Genre Novel, FictionThemes Natural World: Nurture v. NatureTags Race / Racism, African Literature, Gender / Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman who has lived in the US for thirteen years, goes to a hair braiding salon in Trenton, New Jersey to have her hair braided in preparation for her return to Nigeria. The narrative flashes back and forth between her afternoon in the braiding salon, her childhood and adolescence in Nigeria, and her adult years in America. Ifemelu grows up in Lagos, Nigeria with a religious mother and a patient, occasionally unemployed father... Read Americanah Summary


Publication year 1997Genre Novel, FictionThemes Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: FateTags Historical Fiction, American Literature, Relationships, History: U.S., Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

American Pastoral (1997) by Philip Roth examines in detail one man’s quest for the American dream and the fragility of the entire enterprise. Roth, one of the most critically acclaimed novelists of the 20th century, focuses his narrative microscope through the eyes of Nathan Zuckerman, his literary alter ego from whose perspective he has written 10 other novels, including Zuckerman Unbound (1981), The Anatomy Lesson (1983), The Human Stain (2000), and The Plot Against America... Read American Pastoral Summary


Publication year 2005Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Society: War, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Identity: Mental HealthTags Biography, History: U.S., History: World, Science / Nature, Politics / Government, Military / War, WWII / World War II

Publication year 1997Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Society: Nation, Life/Time: The Past, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Society: Politics & GovernmentTags History: U.S., Politics / Government

American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997) is a nonfiction history by Pauline Maier (1938-2013), a historian specializing in the American Revolution. A revisionist historian, Maier uses narrative techniques to bring to life the era in which the Declaration of Independence was created, seeking to demystify this foundational American document and to raise questions about how history is constructed. American Scripture was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1997. This study... Read American Scripture Summary


Publication year 1996Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: FamilyTags Poverty, Irish Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography

Angela’s Ashes is a 1996 memoir written by Frank McCourt. It recounts his challenging upbringing in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. At the heart of the memoir is McCourt’s account of the people and events of his childhood, and how he tried to make sense of the world around him. McCourt narrates in the present tense and follows a generally chronological order, with his time in America as a young child and then later as... Read Angela's Ashes Summary


Publication year 1991Genre Novel, FictionThemes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Gender, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Play: Drama, Historical Fiction, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

A Thousand Acres is a historical fiction novel by the American author Jane Smiley. Taking place on an Iowa farm in the 1970s, the novel is a contemporary retelling of William Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. Shakespeare’s play focuses on King Lear as he determines which of his three daughters will inherit his kingdom depending on how much they flatter him. Smiley’s novel reimagines Shakespeare’s tragedy on an Iowa farm in the 1970s as Larry Cook... Read A Thousand Acres Summary


Publication year 2001Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The PastTags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Holocaust, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Military / War, History: World, Classic Fiction

Austerlitz is a historical novel by W. G. Sebald first published in 2001. Sebald was a German writer and academic who wrote mainly about the loss of memory and the Holocaust. Austerlitz, Sebald’s final novel, centers on an architectural historian, Jacques Austerlitz, who is tormented by his repressed past as a Jewish child evacuated from Czechoslovakia in 1939. The book was an international bestseller and won the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction... Read Austerlitz Summary


Publication year 2010Genre Short Story Collection, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: MusicTags Psychological Fiction, Music, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan tracks the passage of time in the lives of individuals in the rock music industry. The chapters defy conventional temporal and narrative chronologies, and each one is a self-contained episode in an unfolding network of stories, spanning six decades from the 1970s to the 2020s. The novel employs various narrative formats, such as the short story, the magazine article, and the graphic slide presentation. The variety... Read A Visit from the Goon Squad Summary


Publication year 2001Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Indigenous, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & GovernmentTags Music, Historical Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

Ann Patchett’s 2001 novel, Bel Canto, tells the alternately life-affirming and heart-wrenching story of a disparate group of people who are taken hostage in the Vice Presidential mansion of an unnamed South American country. The group has gathered to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese businessman and passionate opera lover. Mr. Hosokawa has requested that Roxanne Coss, a renowned soprano from America, sing at his party. She is captivating, but at the end... Read Bel Canto Summary


Publication year 2004Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Race / Racism, History: U.S., Crime / Legal, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, History: World, Biography

Blood Done Sign My Name (2004), by Timothy B. Tyson, is a nonfiction work of history centered on the racially motivated 1970 murder of Henry Marrow Jr. in Oxford, North Carolina. The killing occurred after Marrow, a 23-year-old Black Army veteran, husband, and father of two, allegedly made a flirtatious remark in the direction of a 19-year-old married white woman. The woman’s husband, brother-in-law, and father-in-law chased Marrow down the street, shot him from behind... Read Blood Done Sign My Name Summary


Publication year 2014Genre Graphic Memoir , NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Aging, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Humor, Grief / Death, Biography

Publication year 2004Genre Novel, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Colonialism, Society: Class, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Truth & LiesTags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Social Justice, Anthropology, Class, Depression / Suicide, Finance / Money / Wealth, Politics / Government, Love / Sexuality, Race / Racism, Sociology, Religion / Spirituality, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World

Cloud Atlas is a 2004 dystopian novel by British author David Mitchell. The sprawling narrative is composed of a series of nested stories, spanning centuries into the past and the future. In addition to winning numerous literary and science fiction awards, the novel was adapted into a 2012 film of the same name. This guide uses the 2014 Sceptre edition of Cloud Atlas.Content Warning: The novel and this guide depict slavery and discuss racism, death... Read Cloud Atlas Summary


Publication year 1997Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: The Past, Society: WarTags Historical Fiction, Romance, American Civil War, Military / War, Literary Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Survival Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

Cold Mountain (1997) is a novel by Charles Frazier. It tells the story of W.P. Inman, a deserter from the Confederate Army who attempts to return home to his romantic partner, Ada. The novel won the National Book Award and was adapted into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name. This guide refers to the 2011 Sceptre edition. Content Warning: The source text contains discussions of racism, violence, abuse of women and children, and... Read Cold Mountain Summary


Publication year 1999Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Self Discovery, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: New AgeTags African Literature, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

Disgrace (1999) is a novel by South African author J. M. Coetzee. It follows a white South African professor of English as he navigates the changing world of post-apartheid South Africa. Disgrace won the Booker Prize after its publication in 1999 and, four years later, Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2008, the novel was adapted into a movie starring John Malkovich and Jessica Haines. This guide uses the 1999 Secker &... Read Disgrace Summary


Publication year 2015Genre Book, NonfictionTags Politics / Government, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Science / Nature, Sociology, History: World, Health / Medicine

Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic (Bloomsburg Press, 2015) is a nonfiction book by American journalist and writer Sam Quinones. It won the NBCC Award for General Nonfiction and was on Amazon’s list of best books of the year in 2015 as well as Slate’s list of the 50 best books of the past 25 years. In the book Quinones charts the parallel rise of prescription opiates and black tar heroin, and describes... Read Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic Summary


Publication year 2015Genre Novel, FictionThemes Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Modern Classic Fiction

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh was published in 2015 and won the PEN/Hemingway award for debut fiction. The novel is set in 1964. It follows the story of Eileen, a woman planning to escape her life in the New England town of X-ville. Eileen is characterized by self-loathing, depression, and body dysmorphia, all of which developed due to her abusive and neglectful childhood. Before she leaves X-ville forever, Eileen must come to terms with her own... Read Eileen Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Short Story Collection, FictionThemes Society: Immigration, Identity: Language, Society: CommunityTags Immigration / Refugee, Relationships, Modern Classic Fiction

Everything Inside (2019) is a short story collection by Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat. The eight stories in this collection, which focus primarily on the lives of Haitian people living across the Caribbean, are connected by their interest in loss and the search for identity. Like many of her characters, Danticat immigrated to the United States from Haiti at a young age; her love for Haiti and its history is evident throughout the collection, despite... Read Everything Inside Summary


Publication year 2016Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Relationships: Family, Society: CommunityTags Sociology, Social Justice, Poverty, Race / Racism, Business / Economics, History: World, Politics / Government

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, written by Matthew Desmond, a tenured sociology professor at Princeton University, was published in 2016 and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2017. In this influential work, Desmond highlights the interconnected issues of extreme poverty and affordable housing in the United States, themes he continues to explore in his more recent book, Poverty, by America. Through an ethnographic study, he follows the experiences of eight... Read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Summary


Publication year 2013Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Crime / Legal, Science / Nature, Journalism, History: World, Health / Medicine

Published in 2013, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital is a work of nonfiction by American journalist Sheri Fink. The book, which takes place in August 2005, describes the struggle of staff and patients to survive when trapped in New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lacking critical resources, the doctors make a drastic decision that will cause many patients to die via euthanasia. Five Days... Read Five Days at Memorial Summary


Publication year 2006Genre Graphic Memoir , NonfictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Femininity, Identity: MasculinityTags LGBTQ, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Parenting, Depression / Suicide, Mental Illness, Grief / Death, Gender / Feminism, Biography

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (2006) is a graphic novel memoir written and illustrated by underground cartoonist Alison Bechdel. The book centers on Bechdel’s relationship with her late father Bruce Allen Bechdel, who died in what she believes was a death by suicide. Fun Home is a non-linear narrative that rehashes events from Alison Bechdel’s youth and adolescence. Her memories are presented in the comic panels, overlayed with her prosaic, retrospective musings in text boxes... Read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic Summary


Publication year 2004Genre Novel, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & SonsTags Historical Fiction, Christian literature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

Published in 2004, Gilead is Marilynne Robinson’s second novel and the first in the Gilead trilogy, which includes Home (2008) and Lila (2014). The story is written as a letter from dying Congregationalist minister John Ames to his young son. The letter is a bittersweet account of John’s life. With a slow, thoughtful pace and intimate tone, John shares past family memories and resolves an old personal grievance with his best friend’s son. As John... Read Gilead Summary


Publication year 2022Genre Biography, NonfictionTags History: U.S., Politics / Government, Crime / Legal, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World, Biography

Publication year 2019Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Identity: SexualityTags Anthropology, History: World, Science / Nature, Race / Racism, Anthropology, Gender / Feminism, Sociology, Biography, Politics / Government

Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century, was written by Dr. Charles King, and published in 2019 by Penguin Random House. King is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and the author of 10 books, predominantly on the subject of society, government, and culture in Eastern Europe. Gods of the Upper Air is a New... Read Gods of the Upper Air Summary


Publication year 2003Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags History: European, History: World, Military / War, Politics / Government, Incarceration, Russian Literature

Publication year 2014Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Natural World: Environment, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: GriefTags Animals, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, Biography

H Is for Hawk (2014) is British author Helen MacDonald’s award-winning memoir about her attempts to train a goshawk named Mabel in the wake of her father’s death. It is a memoir of grief, self-discovery, and the healing power of nature. MacDonald intersperses her descriptions of training Mabel with references to the memoirs of T.H. White, who writes about his own hapless attempts at falconry in the 1930s. The memoir was an instant bestseller and... Read H Is For Hawk Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Justice & InjusticeTags History: U.S., Race / Racism, Social Justice, Politics / Government, History: World

Publication year 2020Genre Short Story, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Society: Education, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Language, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Society: Class, Society: ImmigrationTags Immigration / Refugee, Asian Literature, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, History: Asian, Modern Classic Fiction

Publication year 2017Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & PrideTags Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, Mental Illness, Biography

Content Warning: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body describes and references rape and sexual violence, emotional abuse, and verbal abuse.Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) is a memoir by Roxane Gay that addresses the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of sexual assault—and how they tie into self-image. Though Gay’s memoir centers her body, food, and self-image, she also confronts society’s fatphobia—the world’s unwillingness to accept fat people as they are due to assumptions about... Read Hunger Summary


Publication year 2022Genre Short Story Collection, FictionThemes Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Identity: RaceTags Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, African American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance

Publication year 1997Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Place, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Travel Literature, Action / Adventure, Sports, Drama / Tragedy, Natural Disaster, History: World, Biography

Into Thin Air is American is authored by professional mountain climber Jon Krakauer. It is a personal account of attempting to ascend Mount Everest, prompted by an assignment from Outside magazine to cover the commercial development of the communities at the mountain’s base. Krakauer’s climbing attempt, which was fatal for several, became the deadliest expedition ever on the mountain. In the book, he reflects on his experience, reporting it as truthfully as possible.Krakauer recalls being... Read Into Thin Air Summary


Publication year 2019Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: ArtTags Crime / Legal, Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Biography

Published in 2019, Chanel Miller’s Know My Name: A Memoir is her first book. A harrowing account of surviving rape and reclaiming identity, Miller’s memoir documents her 2015 rape at Stanford University and its aftermath. A New York Times bestselling author, Miller provides a raw yet hopeful examination of sexual assault. Through the intersections of gender, race, and class, Miller, who is Chinese American, explores society’s treatment of survivors. Ultimately, Miller offers a hopeful journey... Read Know My Name: A Memoir Summary


Publication year 2016Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Relationships: FamilyTags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

Published in 2016 and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, LaRose is a work of fiction written by author Louise Erdrich, an enrolled member of the Ojibwe people. The novel takes place on the land in and around an Ojibwe North Dakota reservation, the same physical setting as Erdrich’s previous award-winning novel The Round House. However, LaRose’s characters and time period differ from her previous book. LaRose takes place primarily during the years... Read LaRose Summary


Publication year 2011Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Society: ColonialismTags History: U.S., American Revolution, Politics / Government, Military / War, American Literature, History: World

Publication year 1985Genre Novel, FictionThemes Relationships: Friendship, Natural World: Place, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: GenderTags Western, Historical Fiction, American Literature, History: World, Action / Adventure, Classic Fiction

Lonesome Dove is a 1985 novel by American author Larry McMurtry. Chronologically, it is the third book in the Lonesome Dove series, although it was published before its two prequels, Dead Man’s Walk (1995) and Comanche Moon (1997). One of the most celebrated novels in the Western genre, Lonesome Dove tells the story of former Texas Rangers Augustus (Gus) McRae and Woodrow Call (Call) as they take a herd of cattle on an ill-fated drive... Read Lonesome Dove Summary


Publication year 2019Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Language, Society: Immigration, Relationships: FamilyTags Action / Adventure, Immigration / Refugee, Latin American Literature, History: U.S., Modern Classic Fiction, Travel Literature

Lost Children Archive is the first English-language novel by Mexican author Valeria Luiselli. Published in 2019, Lost Children Archive was awarded the 2020 Rathbones Folio Prize and was shortlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2019 Booker Prize. The novel illustrates the intersections and overlaps between a troubled family’s cross-country journey and the treacherous journeys of “lost” children migrating from Mexico to the United States.Lost Children Archive is also an archive in... Read Lost Children Archive Summary


Publication year 1984Genre Novel, FictionThemes Relationships: Family, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: ConflictTags Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

American author Louise Erdrich’s debut novel, Love Medicine, was first published in 1984 to critical acclaim. A bestseller and winner of the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the novel follows three generations of members from five Ojibwe families in Minnesota and North Dakota. Lyrical, metaphorical, and a complex exploration of oppression, joy, and family, the novel is both a record of history and an analysis of love. Blending the genres of historical... Read Love Medicine Summary


Publication year 2007Genre Book, NonfictionTags Race / Racism, Science / Nature, History: World, Social Justice, Health / Medicine

In the 2007 nonfiction book Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, medical researcher Harriet A. Washington describes the long history of American medical experiments on Black Americans. Although some of these abuses are well-known, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the book presents a comprehensive history that describes the long-standing pattern of exploitative practices. By uncovering how American medicine has been built upon the... Read Medical Apartheid Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Novel, FictionTags Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Irish Literature

Milkman is author Anna Burns’ third novel and the winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize in Fiction (widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in literature). Burns was the first Northern Irish writer ever to receive the award, and Milkman’s subject matter is inseparable from its author’s nationality. Like Burns herself, the novel’s protagonist grows up in 1970s Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles: a 30-year political, ethnic, and religious... Read Milkman Summary


Publication year 2020Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Relationships: Daughters & SonsTags Race / Racism, Social Justice, Relationships, Gender / Feminism, American Literature, Korean Literature, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Asian Literature, Biography

Publication year 1999Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionTags Sociology, Journalism, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World, Biography

Newjack is a nonfiction book written by Ted Conover. Conover, a journalist, spends a year as a correction officer in Sing Sing Prison and keeps a detailed record of events in a spiral notebook. The story takes place largely at Sing Sing, a historic prison located in Ossining, New York. Sing Sing is a palimpsest of structures dating back to the 1800s: spread across fifty-five acres, the prison includes massive cell blocks, a solitary-housing unit... Read Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing Summary


Publication year 2019Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Masculinity, Society: CommunityTags Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Mystery / Crime Fiction, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Social Justice, Politics / Government

No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us (2019) was written by Rachel Louise Snyder, an associate professor of creative writing and journalism at American University. A world traveler, longtime contributor to magazines and podcasts, and a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, Snyder has won awards for both her fiction and nonfiction works, which include Fugitive Denim and What We’ve Lost is Nothing. No Visible Bruises, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, won the... Read No Visible Bruises Summary


Publication year 1977Genre Essay Collection, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Society: Economics, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & GovernmentTags Arts / Culture, Philosophy, History: World, Business / Economics, Class, Finance / Money / Wealth, Sociology, Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

On Photography is a 1977 collection of seven essays by American scholar, activist, and philosopher Susan Sontag. The essays were published in the New York Review of Books from 1973 to 1977 before publication in a single volume. Sontag explores the history of photography and its relationship to reality, the fine arts, and sociopolitical power structures. Individual essays explore these various relationships between photography and the world through a different lens before the culminating exploration... Read On Photography Summary


Publication year 2011Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Race, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Colonialism, Society: ImmigrationTags American Literature, Psychological Fiction, Immigration / Refugee, Race / Racism, September 11 Attacks, Modern Classic Fiction

Teju Cole’s first full-length novel, Open City was published in 2011 to widespread acclaim, winning the PEN/Hemingway Award, The New York City Book Award, and the Rosenthal Foundation Award. Open City made many lists of the best books of the year, including at the New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR. Cole was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Nigerian parents and spent most of his childhood in Lagos, Nigeria before returning... Read Open City Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Literature, Society: Politics & Government, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Truth & LiesTags Arts / Culture, History: World, Politics / Government, Philosophy, Social Justice, Science / Nature, Biography

Publication year 1976Genre Novel, FictionThemes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Power & GreedTags Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, African American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

Roots is a 1976 historical fiction novel by Alex Haley. Haley served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II and as a military journalist after the war. Prior to writing Roots, Haley interviewed famous Black Americans and ghostwrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which has remained a bestselling work since its publication in 1965. In Roots, Haley combines his journalistic experience with Black America and his family’s oral history, bolstered with research... Read Roots Summary


Publication year 2018Genre Book, NonfictionTags Crime / Legal, History: European, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Military / War, History: World, Irish Literature, Politics / Government

Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland interprets the Irish “Troubles” in which clashing state and paramilitary forces in Northern Ireland fought an unofficial ethno-nationalist war. Though the monograph is a work of non-fiction investigative journalism, it unfolds like a murder mystery, focusing on the case of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10 that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) abducted and secretly killed in 1972. The... Read Say Nothing Summary


Publication year 1980Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Life/Time: Childhood & YouthTags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

So Long, See You Tomorrow is the acclaimed final novel by American writer and editor William Maxwell. Originally published in two parts in New Yorker magazine in 1979, the book appeared the following year and received the prestigious National Book Award in 1982. Maxwell was the fiction editor of the New Yorker from 1936 to 1975, making him one of the most influential literary editors of the era. He worked closely with J. D. Salinger... Read So Long, See You Tomorrow Summary


Publication year 2016Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & BetrayalTags Music, Realistic Fiction, British Literature, Arts / Culture, Class, Finance / Money / Wealth, Gender / Feminism, History: African , History: European, Love / Sexuality, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction

Swing Time (2016) is renowned author Zadie Smith’s fifth novel. Inspired by classic movie musicals and Smith’s childhood passion for musical theater, Swing Time is a story about women, how forms of privilege warp our worldviews, and the ways in which history informs our present. The novel is divided into seven parts, each narrated by the same unnamed protagonist sometimes as a child and sometimes as an adult.One of the most respected literary voices of... Read Swing Time Summary


Publication year 2017Genre Essay Collection, NonfictionThemes Society: Politics & Government, Society: ImmigrationTags Immigration / Refugee, Social Justice, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Education, Education, History: World, Politics / Government

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions is Valeria Luiselli’s 2017 book-length essay exploring the influx of undocumented child migrants from Latin America that began in 2014. Through her work as a volunteer translator, Luiselli became intimately aware of what these children experienced, and the essay argues that their inhumane treatment at the hands of American bureaucracy is an unjust denial of due process and the core principles of the American Dream... Read Tell Me How It Ends Summary


Publication year 1985Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: FamilyTags Romance, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

Anne Tyler’s The Accidental Tourist is a literary fiction novel that follows the character-driven story of Macon Leary, who must navigate life following the death of his son and the dissolution of his marriage. The Accidental Tourist was originally published in 1985 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Accidental Tourist is Anne Tyler’s 10th novel and one of her most recognized works. This study guide follows the paperback Berkley edition released in... Read The Accidental Tourist Summary


Publication year 1986Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Identity: Indigenous, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: CommunityTags Historical Fiction, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Relationships, Depression / Suicide, LGBTQ, Race / Racism, Religion / Spirituality

Louise Erdrich’s The Beet Queen, published in 1986, is a sequel to her award-winning debut novel, Love Medicine. The Beet Queen was followed by two other novels in the series, Tracks and The Bingo Palace. Though most of The Beet Queen’s characters are non-Indigenous, the series as a whole is concerned with issues facing Indigenous Americans, particularly those living on tribal lands in Minnesota and North Dakota. Characters and storylines are woven throughout the four... Read The Beet Queen Summary


Publication year 1987Genre Novel, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Truth & LiesTags Satire, Class, Race / Racism, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Humor, Classic Fiction

Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities, published in 1987, is a critically acclaimed, sprawling saga of the vivid world of New York City in the 1980s. Modeled after Charles Dickens’s socially realistic novels, the book is a satire on the excesses and disparities of New York society. Powered by diverse, opinionated characters and iconic locations, the plot follows the wealthy, married Manhattan investment broker Sherman McCoy as his American Dream begins to unravel. Sherman’s... Read The Bonfire of the Vanities Summary


Publication year 2009Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Gender, Society: Colonialism, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: RaceTags Historical Fiction, Race / Racism, Afro-Caribbean Literature, History: World

Publication year 2007Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Masculinity, Life/Time: Coming of AgeTags Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a 2007 novel by the Dominican American author Junot Díaz. Its title character is a young overweight Dominican American man obsessed with fantasy novels, superhero comics, and tabletop role-playing games. Using Spanish neologisms, magical realism, and references to late-20th-century nerd culture, Díaz weaves a multigenerational family saga chronicling life under the murderous Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo and the subsequent Dominican diaspora to the United States. Widely praised... Read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Summary


Publication year 2001Genre Novel, FictionThemes Relationships: FamilyTags American Literature, Drama / Tragedy, History: U.S., Modern Classic Fiction

The Corrections is a 2001 novel by Jonathan Franzen that won the National Book Award. Franzen is the author of several essay collections and novels, including the novels Freedom, Purity, and Crossroads. He has received many awards for his work, including the Whiting Award in 1988 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996.The main action of the novel takes place during the turn of the 21st century, a time of great financial prosperity in the United... Read The Corrections Summary


Publication year 2020Genre Autobiography / Memoir, NonfictionThemes Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Society: ImmigrationTags Immigration / Refugee, Relationships, History: African , Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Race / Racism, African American Literature, Military / War, History: World, Biography

Publication year 1998Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: MemoryTags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

The Hours is a 1998 novel by the American author Michael Cunningham. It is an homage to Virginia Woolf’s 1923 novel Mrs. Dalloway (of which the working title was “The Hours”). Mimicking Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness narrative style, Cunningham re-situates her characters and themes within a modern context, making them his own. The story follows three different women, in three different decades, affected by Mrs. Dalloway over the course of one June day in each of their... Read The Hours Summary


Publication year 2005Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & AngerTags Asian Literature, Indian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Historical Fiction

The Inheritance of Loss, a 2006 book by Kiran Desai, explores immigration, identity, and relationships on both the interpersonal and international scale. Spanning India, England, and the United States, the novel details the conflict between traditional Indian ways of life and the shiny opulence of Western nations. The book won several awards, including the Man Booker Prize in 2006 and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award in 2007. Desai wrote the book in the... Read The Inheritance of Loss Summary


Publication year 1991Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: ColonialismTags Science / Nature, History: World, Depression / Suicide, Education, Religion / Spirituality, Indian Literature, Biography

The Man Who Knew Infinity is a 1991 biography of famed Indian mathematician Srinivāsa Ramanujan, written by Robert Kanigel. The text closely follows Ramanujan’s rise from humble origins to become one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. Joining forces with another notable mathematician in his own right, G. H. Hardy of Cambridge University, Ramanujan produced some of the most insightful, imaginative, and original work in mathematics that is still studied today. From Ramanujan’s... Read The Man Who Knew Infinity Summary


Publication year 2021Genre Novel, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Nation, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Identity: Race, Life/Time: The PastTags Historical Fiction, Satire, Politics / Government, Jewish Literature, American Literature

Publication year 2006Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plantsTags Food, Health / Medicine, Science / Nature

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan is an exploration of what people eat and why. Pollan is an immersive journalist who has studied and written on a wide range of topics including gardening, food, architecture, and psychedelics. Pollan is the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Each of Pollan’s books examines the intersection of humans and nature. Pollan’s 2001 book... Read The Omnivore's Dilemma Summary


Publication year 2019Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Society: Education, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: ClassTags Education, Business / Economics, Social Justice, Politics / Government, Education, Class, Sociology, Race / Racism

Publication year 1980Genre Novel, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Religion / Spirituality, Mental Illness, Psychological Fiction, Southern Literature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Christian literature, Classic Fiction

Publication year 2015Genre Novel, FictionThemes Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Identity: RaceTags Satire, Humor, Race / Racism, African American Literature, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

Paul Beatty is the author of the 2015 novel The Sellout—a satire that makes fun of contemporary norms around race and identity. In the novel, Beatty applies his no-holds-barred idea of comedy to segregation, slavery, police brutality, and countless tragic and fraught issues that people typically treat with extreme seriousness and sensitivity. Through the main character, Me, the book provides an ironic and unexpected take on themes like Racial and Personal Identity and Capitalism’s Power... Read The Sellout Summary


Publication year 1975Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Fathers, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Identity: LanguageTags Psychology, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Parenting, Love / Sexuality, Philosophy, Philosophy, Literary Criticism, Psychology, Fantasy

The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976) won acclaims such as the US National Book Award and the National Book of Critics Circle Award. Its author, Bruno Bettelheim (1903-1990), was an Austrian-born psychoanalyst and public intellectual who worked primarily in the United States. Bettelheim wrote The Uses of Enchantment to persuade parents and educators that the European fairy tale, with all its fantastical and violent content, was a greater aid... Read The Uses of Enchantment Summary


Publication year 2010Genre Book, NonfictionTags History: U.S., Race / Racism, History: World, Social Justice, Biography

Published in 2010, The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping ethnography of the Great Migration—the mass exodus of African-Americans from the South to Northern and Western US cities dating from approximately 1914-1970. The book traces the history of racism in the Jim Crow South as well as the reasons, successes, and failures of those African-Americans who left the place of their birth in order to seek better economic and social opportunities elsewhere in the... Read The Warmth Of Other Suns Summary


Publication year 1979Genre Essay Collection, NonfictionThemes Life/Time: The Past, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Trust & DoubtTags History: U.S., Journalism, Politics / Government, Arts / Culture, Class, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Grief / Death, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction, Biography

Publication year 1978Genre Novel, FictionThemes Identity: Gender, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Values/Ideas: EqualityTags Relationships, Drama / Tragedy, American Literature, Humor, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction

The World According to Garp, John Irving’s fourth novel, was first published in 1978 and continues to enjoy a wide circulation. The novel features elements drawn from Irving’s life and is a literary satire of gender dynamics in the wake of second-wave feminism. Irving himself claims that it’s a protest novel. The main subject areas include parenthood, death, feminism, manhood and masculinity, marriage and family structures, the influence of literature in a reader’s life, and... Read The World According To Garp Summary


Publication year 2007Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Life/Time: The FutureTags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, History: World

Publication year 1998Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Fame, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: EconomicsTags History: U.S., Business / Economics, Finance / Money / Wealth, Leadership/Organization/Management, History: World, Biography

Publication year 1992Genre Biography, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Society: Nation, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Politics / Government, History: U.S., WWII / World War II, Crime / Legal, History: World, Biography

Publication year 1997Genre Novel, FictionTags Historical Fiction, Cold War, Post Modernism, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Classic Fiction

Publication year 1997Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Society: Politics & Government, Society: Economics, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Natural World: EnvironmentTags History: European, Journalism, Natural Disaster, Science / Nature, Agriculture, Business / Economics, Food, Education, Grief / Death, History: World, Military / War, Poverty, Politics / Government, Social Justice, Russian Literature, Biography

Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich is a collection of 35 first-person oral accounts of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union. Originally published in Russian in 1997, the book was translated into English by Keith Gessen in 2005; it has been translated into almost every European language. Alexievich, a Belarusian investigative journalist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for Voices from Chernobyl in... Read Voices from Chernobyl Summary


Publication year 1998Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Society: Colonialism, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Society: Politics & GovernmentTags History: African , Journalism, Military / War, Politics / Government, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: World, Biography

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda (1998) describes the Hutu majority’s slaughter of at least 800,000 Tutsis in 100 days in 1994—with author and journalist Philip Gourevitch documenting the meticulous planning behind the genocide. Gourevitch chastises the international community, especially the United States and France, for failing to stop the genocide in accordance with obligations under the Genocide Convention. Visiting Rwanda one year after... Read We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families Summary


Publication year 2016Genre Book, NonfictionThemes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Society: CommunityTags Sociology, Politics / Government, Black Lives Matter, Race / Racism, History: U.S., History: World, Social Justice

Carol Anderson's 2016 nonfiction book, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, looks at the way African-American progress has been halted and repressed, again and again, by a powerful cocktail of economic self-interest, fear, and hatred on the part of America's white elites, a philosophy she calls "white rage." The book’s five chapters examine five crucial turning points in the African-American struggle for freedom and equality: Reconstruction and the abolition of slavery, the... Read White Rage Summary


Publication year 2009Genre Novel, FictionTags Historical Fiction, British Literature, History: World, History: European

Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall is the first in a trilogy of historical novels depicting life in the court of King Henry VIII. The story takes place in England during the tumultuous 1520s, and is told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, one of the king’s most trusted advisors. Mantel conducted extensive research to ensure historical authenticity and continuity, providing a rich account of the events leading up to the beginning of the English Reformation. Wolf... Read Wolf Hall Summary