Book Brief Library

Get inspired and find your next read with SuperSummary's growing library of bite-sized Book Briefs. Designed for easy browsing and discovery, each Book Brief provides a short, spoiler-free summary plus an at-a-glance snapshot of a book's mood, reviews and reception, reader profile, and other details to help you decide if a title is right for you. Explore Book Briefs alphabetically or by genre.

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The Physicists
Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1962

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Katherine Howe

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

The Pianist
Władysław Szpilman

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1946

The Piano Lesson
August Wilson

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1987

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier
Thad Carhart

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2000

The Piano Teacher
Janice Y.K. Lee, Elfriede Jelinek

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1983

The Piano Tuner

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002

The Pickup
Nadine Gordimer

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1890

The Pigeon
Patrick Süskind

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life

Nonfiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2016

The Pigman
Paul Zindel

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1968

The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho, Julia Sanches

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987

The Pilgrims of Rayne
D.J. MacHale

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2007

The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1678

The Pillars of Creation
Terry Goodkind

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001

The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1989

The Pillow Book
Sei Shōnagon

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1002

The Pillowman
Martin McDonagh

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2003

The Pilo Family Circus
Will Elliott

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

The Pilot's Wife
Anita Shreve

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

The Pinballs
Betsy Byars

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1976

The Pinks: The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Chris Enss

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017

The Pioneers
James Fenimore Cooper

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1823

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
David McCullough

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2019

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels
Ree Drummond

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2011

The Pirates of Pompeii (Roman Mysteries, #3)
Caroline Lawrence

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2002

The Pisces
Melissa Broder

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

The Places in Between
Rory Stewart

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2004

The Places I've Cried in Public
Holly Bourne

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
Pema Chödrön

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2001

The Plague
Albert Camus

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1947

The Plague Of Doves
Louise Erdrich

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

The Plains of Passage
Jean M. Auel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990

The Planet of Junior Brown
Virginia Hamilton

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1971

The Plant
Stephen King

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
Hui-Neng

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 780

The Play
Elle Kennedy

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015

The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War
James Shapiro

Nonfiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2024

The Playboy of the Western World
John Millington Synge

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1907

The Player of Games (Culture, #2)
Iain M. Banks

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988

The Playground
Jane Shemilt

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1953

The Playmaker
Thomas Keneally

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987

The Playroom
John Connor

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995

The Play that Changed My Life
Ben Hodges

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2020

The Pleasure of My Company
Steve Martin

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2003

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Alain de Botton

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2008

The Pledge
Kimberly Derting

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2011

The Plot
Jean Hanff Korelitz

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Plot Against America
Philip Roth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004

The Plum Tree
Ellen Marie Wiseman

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2008

The Poacher's Son (Mike Bowditch, #1)
Paul Doiron

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

The Pocket Wife
Susan Crawford

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015

The Poem of the Cid (The Song of the Cid)
Anonymous

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult

The Poe Shadow
Matthew Pearl

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

The Poet
Michael Connelly

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes
Anonymous, Henry Adams Bellows

Nonfiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1270

The Poetics of Space
Gaston Bachelard

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1957

The Poet of Tolstoy Park
Sonny Brewer

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2005

The Poet's Dog
Patricia MacLachlan

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2016

The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | YA | Published in 2018

The Point of Return
Siddhartha Deb

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2003

The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy
Anna Clark

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

The Poisoner
Stephen Bates

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2008

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Deborah Blum

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2010

The Poison Jungle (Wings of Fire, #13)

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Deborah Blum

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

The Poison Tree
Erin Kelly

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

The Pole
J.M. Coetzee

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Polished Hoe
Austin Clarke

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002

The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation
Drew Westen

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2007

The Political Unconscious
Fredric Jameson

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1981

The Politics of Aesthetics
Jacques Rancière, Gabriel Rockhill

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2000

The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude
Étienne de La Boétie

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1549

The Politics of the Administrative Process
Donald F. Kettl, James W. Fesler

Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 2001

The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton
Stephen Skowronek

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1993

The Ponder Heart
Eudora Welty

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1954

The Poorhouse Fair
John Updike

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

The Poor Mouth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1941

The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe
David I. Kertzer

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2014

The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe
David I. Kertzer

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

The Poppy War
R. F. Kuang

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

The Porcupine of Truth
Bill Konigsberg

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015

The Porpoise
Mark Haddon

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
Christopher Hitchens

Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 2007

The Portable Beat Reader
Ann Charters

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1992

The Portable Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1954

The Portable Veblen
Elizabeth Mckenzie

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

The Portable Virgin
Anne Enright

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1992

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
Steve Sheinkin

Nonfiction | Biography | YA | Published in 2014

The Portrait of a Lady
Henry James

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1881

The Positronic Man (Robot, #0.6)
Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1992

The Possessed
Elif Batuman

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2010

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics
George Lipsitz

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1998

The Post-Birthday World
Lionel Shriver

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2007

The Postcard
Anne Berest

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Postcard Killers
James Patterson, Liza Marklund

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Transl. Gregory Rabassa

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1881