Fear

Should we heed our fears, or work to overcome them? Suppress and ignore them, or face them head-on? Do we fight—or should we flight? These books unpack the universal human emotion of fear.

Abend Der Worte

by Paul Celan

Publication year 1950

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Memory, Safety & Danger, Art, Fear, The Past, Good & Evil, Guilt

Tags Lyric Poem, Modernism, Post-War Era, Trauma & Abuse, Grief & Death, European History, World War II, Holocaust

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A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

by Valérie Zenatti

Publication year 2005

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Hate & Anger, Mental Health, Race, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Family, Social Class, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Justice, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (2005) is a young adult novel by French author and translator Valérie Zenatti. It was first published in French as Une bouteille dans la mer de Gaza. The novel begins when 17-year-old Israeli Tal Levine learns about a bombing at a neighborhood café. She is moved to send a letter in a bottle, which reaches 20-year-old Palestinian Naïm Al-Farjouk. Tal included her email address, and they begin corresponding. Initially... Read A Bottle in the Gaza Sea Summary

A Brief History of Seven Killings

by Marlon James

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Fear, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Memory, Revenge, Language, Race, Sexual Identity, Death, The Past, Place, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Immigration, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Equality, Fame, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Afro-Caribbean Literature, Trauma & Abuse, Politics & Government

Published in 2014, A Brief History of Seven Killings is a literary crime novel by Jamaican writer Marlon James. To serve as the foundation for his novel, James builds the narrative around a singular historical event: the 1976 assassination attempt on Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley, whom he fictionalizes as the Singer for thematic effect. James draws on his experiences growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s, and on his parents’ careers in law... Read A Brief History of Seven Killings Summary

Acceptance

by Jeff VanderMeer

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Hope, Regret, Gender Identity, Mental Health, Future, Animals, Climate, Environment, Plants, Space, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Politics & Government, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology

Tags Science Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction

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A Deadly Education

by Naomi Novik

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Teamwork, Fate, Safety & Danger, Fear, Equality, Power & Greed, Good & Evil, Loneliness, Wins & Losses, Appearance & Reality

Tags Horror & Suspense, Romance, Religion & Spirituality, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Social Class

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A Fable

by William Faulkner

Publication year 1955

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hate & Anger, Grief, Death, Fate, Social Class, Colonialism, Politics & Government, War, Nation, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Order & Chaos, Appearance & Reality, Conflict

Tags Symbolic Narrative, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, World War I, Military & War, American Literature, World History

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A Fire Upon the Deep

by Vernor Vinge

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Conflict, Fear, Race, Animals, Teamwork, Community, Politics & Government, War, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Gender Identity

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy

Vernor Vinge’s epic space opera A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) won the Hugo Award for Best Novel and is the first installment in the Zones of Thought series. The story is set in a galaxy where physical laws change depending on location. In a high-tech region called the Transcend, a human research team awakens an ancient, malevolent superintelligence known as the Blight, which begins consuming entire civilizations. A single ship escapes, carrying hundreds of... Read A Fire Upon the Deep Summary

A First Time for Everything

by Dan Santat

Publication year 2023

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Friendship, Love, Perseverance, Fear, Gratitude, Hope, Joy, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Future, The Past, Self Discovery, Community, Art, Beauty, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Children`s Literature, Romance, Biography, Coming of Age, Travel Literature

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A Flicker in the Dark

by Stacy Willingham

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Regret, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Memory, Love, Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Safety & Danger, Order & Chaos, Childhood & Youth, Death, The Past, Midlife

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction

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After The First Death

by Robert Cormier

Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Fear, Good & Evil

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Military & War, Trauma & Abuse, American Literature, Education, Education, Grief & Death, Realistic Fiction

After the First Death (1979) by Robert Cormier is a juvenile suspense/horror that examines the fragility of life through a terrorist hijacking of a bus full of children. The book in conjunction with Cormier’s two most famous teen titles, The Chocolate War (1974) and I Am the Cheese (1977), won him the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the Young Adult Services Division of the American Library Association in 1991. Cormier was born in 1925 and... Read After The First Death Summary

A House for Mr. Biswas

by V. S. Naipaul

Publication year 1961

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Shame & Pride, Revenge, Birth, Mental Health, Aging, The Past, Death, Childhood & Youth, Midlife, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Marriage, Religion & Spirituality, Fate, Equality, Power & Greed, Loyalty & Betrayal, Trust & Doubt, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Self Discovery, Literature, Economics

Tags Historical Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Poverty, Finance, Depression & Suicide, Social Class, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Indian Literature, Asian Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

A House for Mr. Biswas is a 1961 historical fiction novel by V. S. Naipaul. The story takes a postcolonial perspective of the life of a Hindu Indian man in British-owned and occupied Trinidad. Now regarded as one of Naipaul's most significant novels, A House for Mr. Biswas has won numerous awards and has been adapted as a musical, a radio drama, and a television show. Naipaul is also known for the works The Mimic... Read A House for Mr. Biswas Summary