In a Holidaze is a 2020 romantic comedy novel by Christina Lauren, the authorial duo of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. Lauren is an acclaimed name in the genre, with 20 of the authors’ novels becoming New York Times bestsellers. The authors have also been honored with the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year awards from RT Magazine. Their most recent novels are The True Love Experiment (2021) and The Paradise Problem (2024).This... Read In a Holidaze Summary

Infinite Jest is a fiction novel by David Foster Wallace. First published in 1996, the novel has an unconventional narrative structure with hundreds of extensive footnotes. Exploring themes of addiction, alienation, and the plight of modern existence, Infinite Jest is famous for its complexity and humor. The novel has been praised by critics and heralded as one of the most important literary works of the 20th century. This guide was written using the 2014 Abacus... Read Infinite Jest Summary

Written in 2018 by Kenneth Oppel, the middle grade novel Inkling employs magical realism to relate the story of a sentient ink splotch who helps a family to cope with the long-lasting grief of losing a family member. Inkling received several awards after its publication, including the New York Times Notable Book, Sundogs Award, Amazon Best Book of the Year, and Quill and Quire Best Book.This guide refers to the 2018 Kindle e-book edition which was published... Read Inkling Summary

Born without arms, 13-year-old Aven Green approaches her unique life with good humor, grace, and unflagging positivity—until her parents take a job managing a worn-out Western theme park in Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus (2017). Suddenly the new kid at school, Aven discovers that others have trouble seeing past her disability to the creative, funny person inside. Aven’s life changes when she meets Connor, who struggles with Tourette syndrome. Author Dusti Bowling’s... Read Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus Summary

Chelsea Curto’s contemporary romance novel In Stormy Weather (2026) follows the evolving relationship between two rival meteorologists during a turbulent Florida hurricane season. Quincy Monroe is a dedicated scientist who has built a successful online weather show from the ground up, fighting for credibility in a male-dominated field. Her professional and personal life is disrupted by the return of her lifelong academic rival, Sebastian Dunn, a charismatic TV weatherman who is secretly battling career burnout... Read In Stormy Weather Summary

Charles Yu’s novel Interior Chinatown (published in 2020) was a New York Times bestseller and won a National Book Award. The novel is categorized as Historical Chinese Fiction and Asian American Literature, but it has a fair amount of humor too.Yu’s work as an author includes several earlier books—Third Class Superhero (2006), How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (2010), and Sorry Please Thank You: Stories (2012)—as well as articles and essays in... Read Interior Chinatown Summary

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), which premiered on Broadway in 2010, has since become one of Sarah Ruhl’s best-known and most popularly produced plays. Prior to Ruhl’s Broadway debut with In the Next Room, she earned a MacArthur Genius Fellowship and a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award, and her 2004 play The Clean House was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. In the Next Room was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist and... Read In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) Summary

Invisible Emmie is a 2017 middle-grade graphic novel written and illustrated by Terri Libenson. The first in the Emmie & Friends series, Invisible Emmie follows a 13-year-old girl over the course of an embarrassing school day as she learns to overcome her anxiety, stand up to bullies, and make new friends.This guide utilizes the 2017 HarperCollins Publishers edition.Content Warning: The source material discusses bullying and uses outdated and offensive language for people with speech disabilities... Read Invisible Emmie Summary

Invisible Monsters is the third novel by bestselling novelist Chuck Palahniuk. Published in 1999, the novel was intended to be Palahniuk’s first published novel but was rejected for its disturbing content. Invisible Monsters is a contemporary work in the first person with a non-linear narration. The main characters include a former model and transgender woman focused on the search for identity in a society where beauty defines a person’s self-worth.Content Warning: Please be advised that... Read Invisible Monsters Summary

Iona Iverson’s Rules of Commuting (2022) by Clare Pooley is an adult fiction novel first published in Great Britain under the title The People on Platform 5. The ensemble cast is held together by Iona Iverson, a middle-aged advice columnist who, one morning on her commuter train to London, witnesses Piers Sanders choking. Iona calls for help and Piers is rescued by Sanjay, an empathetic nurse, who has a crush on Emmie, a pretty young... Read Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting Summary

I See You’ve Called in Dead (2025) is a work of contemporary fiction by American author and humorist John Kenney. The novel follows Bud Stanley, a 44-year-old obituary writer whose life is stagnating after a divorce and a decline in his professional standards. After a drunken evening, he accidentally publishes his own satirical obituary on a major news wire, a blunder that forces him to confront his own unlived life and sets him on a... Read I See You've Called in Dead Summary

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (2011) by Mindy Kaling is a collection of personal and humorous essays about the writer’s childhood and career in Hollywood. Kaling explores a wide range of topics, including her experiences navigating television network pitch meetings, body image, thoughts on dating and relationships, and even karaoke etiquette. Kaling shows the value of meaning and joyful relationships in pursuing one’s dreams. Kaling is the recipient of the 2021... Read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Summary

Is She Really Going Out With Him (2024) is British author Sophie Cousens’s fourth novel. The story follows Anna Appleby, who, after divorce, embarks on a work project to go out on dates her two children selected. In the process, she falls for someone who doesn’t fit conventional expectations, forcing her to question whether external opinions or what truly feels right in her heart should dictate love. Cousens explores themes of The Challenges of Navigating... Read Is She Really Going Out with Him? Summary

It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel is a 2016 semi-autobiographical young adult novel by Iranian American author Firoozeh Dumas. The novel follows Zomorod, an 11-year-old girl from Iran, who moves with her parents to the United States in the midst of the Iranian Revolution and ensuing hostage crisis. It won the John and Patricia Beatty Award from the California Library Association the New York Historical Society’s 2017 New Americans Children’s History Book Prize, the Sunshine State... Read It Ain't So Awful, Falafel Summary

It Happened One Summer is a romantic comedy novel published in 2021 by best-selling American author Tessa Bailey. The novel is the first installment in a duology featuring the Bellinger sisters. Inspired by the TV series Schitt’s Creek, It Happened One Summer follows the adventures of young, wealthy socialite Piper Bellinger after she is banished from Los Angeles to the small fishing town of Westport, Washington. As Piper learns more about Westport and her past... Read It Happened One Summer Summary

It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is Trevor Noah’s 2019 young reader’s adaptation of his 2016 memoir Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. Noah is a comedian, writer, producer, and political commentator. While he rose to fame in South Africa in the 2000s, he became more well-known in the United States in 2015 after he took over Jon Stewart’s hosting duties on the popular late-night comedy... Read It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime Summary

Annie Barrows is the author of the chapter book for young readers, Ivy and Bean (2006). The book is often stylized at Ivy + Bean, and it’s part of a series that chronicles the adventures of the two titular idiosyncratic seven-year-olds. There are 12 books in the series, and the first installment details how Bean and Ivy go from dismissing each other to forming a close friendship. The book addresses themes like Judging a Person... Read Ivy and Bean Summary

James and the Giant Peach by British author Roald Dahl was first published in 1961. This critically acclaimed children’s novel was made into an award-winning film in 1996. It tells the story of a giant peach that magically grows in a young boy, James’s, back garden—big enough for him to enter the center of the peach and have adventures with the insects who live in there. Dahl is known as one of the 20th century’s greatest... Read James And The Giant Peach Summary

In Jitterbug Perfume, published in 1985, Tom Robbins combines realism with fantasy and comedy to tell his tale of intertwined lives across centuries. His works have reputations as cult classics that tweak conventional notions of the novel while seeking to reinforce new conventions of their own. The story spans both centuries of time and nearly the entirety of the globe. Other works by Robbins include Another Roadside Attraction, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and Still... Read Jitterbug Perfume Summary

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, a children’s novel, was written by Jack Gantos. The book was initially published in 1998 by Square Fish, a trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group; the work was a National Book Award Finalist, an American Library Association notable children’s book, and the School Library Journal’s book of the year. The novel’s 10-year-old protagonist, Joey Pigza, deals with an unnamed hyperactive disorder, abandonment, and academic problems before finding some stability after his... Read Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key Summary