Leaf Storm and Other Stories is a collection of fiction by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. The collection includes the title novella, Leaf Storm (La Hojarasca), first published in its original Spanish-language text in 1955. When Gregory Rabassa produced the first English translation of the novella, it was published (originally in 1972) alongside six short stories representing García Márquez’s work between 1951 and 1968.The collection offers an early glimpse into the magical realism and rural... Read Leaf Storm Summary

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (2013) is a nonfiction book written by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Drawing on both research and her own experiences, Sandberg describes how and why gender inequality continues to operate in the modern workforce, and offers advice for women seeking to balance a career and family. Ultimately, Sandberg argues that full equality will only come about when women "lean in," pushing past their own fears and misgivings to... Read Lean In Summary

Written by Brynne Weaver and published in 2024, Leather & Lark is the second novel in the Ruinous Love Trilogy, which falls into the dark romance genre. The enemies-to-lovers narrative follows Lachlan Kane, an assassin and leather shop owner, and Lark Montague, an indie musician and a serial killer of predatory men, as they find themselves in a marriage of convenience. Although Lachlan and Lark dislike each other, they must pretend to be married in... Read Leather & Lark Summary

Lisa Genova’s second novel, Left Neglected (2011), is the fictional story of Sarah Nickerson, a high-powered executive whose life changes forever when she is in a serious car accident. Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, each dealing with a different neurological condition. She graduated from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and from Harvard University with a doctorate in neuroscience, a background that influences her writing. Other works by... Read Left Neglected Summary

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, by Immaculée Ilibagiza is an autobiography published in 2006. Immaculée is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which lasted from April to July that year. During this 100-day period, it is estimated that nearly a million Tutsis were killed by Hutus, the tribe that comprised the majority of Rwanda’s population at that time. Immaculée is a Tutsi and a 22-year-old college student when the genocide... Read Left To Tell Summary

Legend is the first book in the titular book trilogy by Chinese-American author Marie Lu. Originally published in 2011, Legend is a dystopian novel that explores topics of love, family, fascism, civil disobedience, inequality, propaganda, poverty, and hope in the face of an oppressive government. Lu was inspired by the classic Victor Hugo story Les Misérables and wanted to explore a similar cat-and-mouse dynamic in a futuristic setting. Just like the law-abiding policeman Javert pursued... Read Legend Summary

Legendary is the sequel to the first installment of Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series and was published in 2018. The plot picks up on the morning after the first book, Caraval, ends and follows a different character’s interactions with the fantastical contest of Caraval and its mysterious master, Legend. In Legendary, the protagonist, Tella, must race through a new Caraval game that quickly becomes very real. With her life on the line, she must grapple with... Read Legendary Summary

Lemons (2017) is a middle grade fiction novel written by Melissa Savage. The novel blends magical realism, adventure, and realistic fiction with themes of Navigating Grief and Creating New Love From Old Loss. The protagonist, Lemonade Liberty Witt, also learns the importance of Names and Legacy. Lemonade moves to rural Willow Creek, known for its Bigfoot sightings, from bustling San Francisco following the death of her mother. In Willow Creek, she slowly connects with her... Read Lemons Summary

Leonard and Hungry Paul (2019) is Irish author and musician Rónán Hession’s debut novel. It follows two quiet, introverted friends named Leonard and Paul as they navigate work, family, relationships, and loss. Although each man is set in his ways and dependent on routine, both ultimately break free from past patterns, forging new relationships and redefining their lives. Through a slow-paced, meditative narrative, the author explores the importance of love and relationships, the interplay of... Read Leonard and Hungry Paul Summary

Père Goriot is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac that was published in serial form between 1834 and 1835. The novel tells the story of three intertwined characters, Goriot, Vautrin, and Rastignac. The book is part of Balzac’s novel sequence, La Comédie humaine, and is one of the author’s most celebrated works, exploring themes of Wealth and Social Class in Restoration France, The Corruption of Parent-Child Relationships, and The Hypocrisy of 19th-Century French... Read Le Père Goriot Summary

Lessons (2022) is a novel by British writer Ian McEwan, author of Atonement (2001). Protagonist Roland Baines, a single parent living in London in 1986, reflects on how his piano teacher sexually assaulted him when he was 11. The novel combines a description of Roland’s life up until 2022 with his recollections of the past, tracking how the sexual assault and his various relationships have affected his life. The novel’s central themes include The Significance... Read Lessons Summary

Let Me Hear a Rhyme (2019) is a young adult mystery novel by Tiffany D. Jackson. After the death of an aspiring teenage Brooklyn rapper in the 1990s, Steph, his friends, and sister sell and market his music, pretending he’s still alive. The stakes escalate as the kids tell lie after lie, but they also get closer to the truth behind their friend’s murder. The novel explores the power of music, the complexity of grief... Read Let Me Hear a Rhyme Summary

Renée Rosen’s 2025 novel Let’s Call Her Barbie is a work of historical fiction that dramatizes the creation of the world’s most iconic doll. Rosen is a USA Today bestselling author known for biographical novels about influential American women, including Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl (2023), which chronicles the life of Estée Lauder. Let’s Call Her Barbie follows Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler as she attempts to revolutionize the 1950s toy market by creating a doll with... Read Let's Call Her Barbie Summary

Letters From Cuba (2020) is a historical fiction novel for middle grade readers by Ruth Behar. On the eve of World War II, Jewish immigrants 12-year-old Esther and her Papa work hard in Cuba to bring the rest of their family safely across from Poland. Esther tells her story in the form of letters to her little sister, Malka. Esther grows to love her new home and the kindness of a diverse group of friends... Read Letters from Cuba Summary

Karen Hesse’s young adult historical novel Letters from Rifka (1992) takes place between 1919 and 1920 and follows a young Jewish girl, Rifka, and her family as they escape persecution in Russia and begin a new life in America. The novel takes the form of letters Rifka writes, but cannot send, to her cousin in Russia, composed in the blank spaces of a volume of poetry by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The work thus combines... Read Letters from Rifka Summary

Published posthumously in 1964, Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer is the final book by celebrated British author and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis. This work of theological reflection, presented as a series of 22 fictional letters to a fictional friend named Malcolm, explores the nature of private prayer in a conversational, non-systematic style. The narrator, a clear persona for Lewis himself, moves from practical matters like liturgical changes and formal prayers to theological paradoxes... Read Letters to Malcolm Summary

Let the Circle Be Unbroken (1981) is part of the Logan Family Saga by author Mildred D. Taylor. The series follows the fortunes of a Black farming family, the Logans, through more than one generation as they experience the tribulations of life in the South before the Civil Rights era. The saga consists of 10 novels and novellas. The award-winning novels include The Land (2001), Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976), and The Road... Read Let The Circle Be Unbroken Summary

Leviathan Wakes, written by James S. A. Corey and published in 2011, is a space opera set in the 24th century. It is the first of nine novels in the Expanse series, which also includes eight novellas and short stories. The novels are written in the third-person limited perspective, with the chapters rotating through a series of point-of-view characters. In Leviathan Wakes, the chapters follow Jim Holden and Joe Miller, with the Prologue and Epilogue... Read Leviathan Wakes Summary

Liar, Liar: The Theory, Practice and Destructive Properties of Deception, written by Gary Paulsen and published in 2011, is the first book in the Liar, Liar collection. Subsequent books in the series include Flat Broke, Vote, Crush, and Family Ties. Paulsen, a three-time Newbery honoree and prolific writer of books for children and teens, won the Margaret Edwards Award in 1997 for his lifetime achievement in young adult literature. Liar, Liar is a humorous work... Read Liar, Liar Summary

Written in 2012 by Rebecca Stead, Liar & Spy features a seventh-grade protagonist who must confront bullying at school and many changes in his home life. Liar & Spy is Stead’s third novel; after her debut novel, First Light, she earned considerable acclaim for her award-winning second novel, When You Reach Me. Similarly, Liar & Spy was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal in 2014 and was named one of School Library’s “Best Books of 2012.”... Read Liar & Spy Summary