Community

A community can come together for the common good or be torn apart by disagreement and strife. This collection explores what makes a community and how individuals struggle or succeed in finding their place within it.

No Sweetness Here

by Ama Ata Aidoo

Publication year 1969

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Mothers, Community, Family, Power & Greed

Tags African Literature, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Gender & Feminism, Race & Racism, African American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction

... Read No Sweetness Here Summary

Notes from Underground

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Publication year 1864

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Memory, Community

Tags Classic Fiction, Philosophy, Psychological Fiction, Russian Literature, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy

Notes from Underground (sometimes translated as Notes from the Underground) is an 1864 novella by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky was a novelist, journalist, and short story author. His novels are deeply rooted in philosophy and politics and explore the experiences and repercussions of his 19th-century Russian sociopolitical context. Dostoevsky is also the author of Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov. His writing influenced many other writers and philosophers, including existentialists... Read Notes from Underground Summary

Notes on Being a Man

by Scott Galloway

Publication year 2025

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Joy, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Nostalgia, Regret, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Race, Sexual Identity, Aging, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Death, Future, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Food, Nature Versus Nurture, Daughters & Sons, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Grandparents, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Immigration, Politics & Government, Fame, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Wins & Losses

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Notes on Nursing

by Florence Nightingale

Publication year 1860

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Death, Teamwork, Perseverance, Trust & Doubt, Equality, Community, Education

Tags Health, Psychology, Relationships, Science & Nature, World History, Classic Fiction

Florence Nightingale was an English nurse commonly known as the founder of modern nursing practices. Born in Italy, she became an experienced nurse and formed many of her opinions while serving in the Crimean War, enrolling in nursing school at age 24 in Germany. She penned Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What it Is Not in 1859, just a few years after serving in the war, and the work was first published in... Read Notes on Nursing Summary

Nothing Tastes as Good

by Luke Dumas

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Hate & Anger, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Mental Health, Appearance & Reality, Food, Community, Equality, Justice

Tags Horror & Suspense, LGBTQ+

Luke Dumas’s 2026 novel, Nothing Tastes as Good, is a work of body and psychological horror that satirizes contemporary diet culture. The story follows Emmett Truesdale, a 28-year-old man living with severe obesity whose life is defined by trauma and shame. Desperate to escape a world that constantly judges his body, he enrolls in a clinical trial for Obexity, a revolutionary drug that promises rapid weight loss without diet or exercise. While the treatment initially... Read Nothing Tastes as Good Summary

Not Nothing

by Gayle Forman

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Apathy, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Memory, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, The Past, Friendship, Community

Tags Coming of Age, Children`s Literature

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No Visible Bruises

by Rachel Louise Snyder

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Community

Tags Trauma & Abuse, Gender & Feminism, Women`s Studies, 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

Oathbound

by Tracy Deonn

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Race, Coming of Age, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

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Odour of Chrysanthemums

by D. H. Lawrence

Publication year 1911

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Marriage, Death, Social Class, Loneliness, Community

Tags Classic Fiction

“Odour of Chrysanthemums” is a short story by English author, D. H. Lawrence, written in 1909 and revised before its first publication in The English Review literary magazine in 1911. Lawrence also included it in his 1914 collection, The Prussian Officer and Stories. “Odour of Chrysanthemums” was among the first of Lawrence’s works to be published, though he had been writing extensively for some time. Its key themes of The Inevitability of Death and Decay... Read Odour of Chrysanthemums Summary

Oedipus at Colonus

by Sophocles

Publication year 401

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Grief, Guilt, Regret, Aging, Death, Future, The Past, Daughters & Sons, Community, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Classical Period, Tragedy, Mythology, Ancient Greece

Oedipus at Colonus is an ancient Athenian tragedy composed by Sophocles in (it is widely believed) the last year of his life, approximately 406 BC. His grandson, who was named Sophocles after him, first produced the play in 401 BC at the Festival of Dionysus, also known as the Great Dionysia. Along with Oedipus Rex and Antigone, it is one of three surviving tragedies by Sophocles, known as the Theban plays, that retell episodes from... Read Oedipus at Colonus Summary

Oil and Marble

by Stephanie Storey

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Conflict, Fear, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Hope, Joy, Love, Memory, Sexual Identity, Death, Appearance & Reality, Place, Family, Fathers, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Politics & Government, War, Beauty, Fate, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology

Tags Life-Inspired Fiction, Historical Fiction, Arts & Culture, Renaissance

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Old New York

by Edith Wharton

Publication year 1924

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Guilt, Loneliness, Love, Regret, Femininity, Masculinity, Death, The Past, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Art, Beauty, Equality, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Omar Rising

by Aisha Saeed

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Education, Social Class, Community, Self Discovery, Justice

Tags Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Social Justice, Race & Racism

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Omeros

by Derek Walcott

Publication year 1990

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Loneliness, Memory, Regret, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Indigenous Identity, Language, Masculinity, Mental Health, Race, Midlife, Death, Future, The Past, Climate, Environment, Plants, Place, Friendship, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Literature, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Narrative Poem, Afro-Caribbean Literature, Postmodernism

Omeros (1990) by Derek Walcott is an epic poem that reimagines The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer on the island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. Walcott explores themes of post-colonial identity and trauma while linking life on the island to Homer’s legendary characters, such as Achilles, Helen, and Hector. Omeros has been celebrated as a foundational work of post-colonial fiction and has won numerous awards. This guide refers to the 1992 Farrar, Straus... Read Omeros Summary

On Beauty

by Zadie Smith

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Beauty, Family, Marriage, Aging, Religion & Spirituality, Race, Loyalty & Betrayal, Mothers, Social Class, Community, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Siblings, Midlife, Trust & Doubt, Friendship, Loneliness, Childhood & Youth, Forgiveness, Art, Apathy, Guilt, Equality, Hate & Anger, Coming of Age, Masculinity, Conflict, Education, Femininity, Self Discovery, Truth & Lies, Shame & Pride, Appearance & Reality, Death, Grief, Gender Identity, Hope

Tags British Literature, Race & Racism, Modern Classic Fiction

On Beauty by the celebrated British author Zadie Smith was published in 2005. On Beauty was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Smith is known for writing novels and essays that analyze the intersections of identity in the contemporary world with nuance, clarity, and empathy. She is also known to be influenced by the classic English author E.M. Forster. On Beauty is loosely based on Forster’s masterpiece... Read On Beauty Summary

On Call

by Anthony Fauci

Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Death, Family, Community, Nation, Politics & Government, Science & Technology

Tags Biography, Politics & Government, Science & Nature, World History, Health

... Read On Call Summary