“At Home” is a short story by Anton Chekhov, published in 1897. Chekhov was a prolific Russian writer, composing seven plays, one novel, and hundreds of short stories. “At Home” conveys many of the themes common to Chekhov’s body of work, including the search for happiness, the boredom of provincial life, the divide between landowners and the peasantry, and a pessimism about the possibility of change. Vera Ivanovna Kardin, the main character of the story... Read At Home Summary

Atmosphere (2025) is a historical romantic drama novel from American author Taylor Jenkins Reid. Reid’s novels are known for their rich historical detail and the depth of their romantic plot lines. She has published many titles, including The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017), Daisy Jones and the Six (2019), Malibu Rising (2021), and Carrie Soto is Back (2023). Daisy Jones and the Six was adapted into a television miniseries by Amazon Studios, and Netflix... Read Atmosphere Summary

Attached (2010) by Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel Heller explores the origins and application of attachment theory to facilitating adult relationships. It is a collaboration between psychiatrist and neuroscientist Levine and writer and psychologist Heller. Interspersed with interactive exercises for the reader, Attached explores the importance of identifying one’s attachment style and the ability to transform into a more secure partner.Attached maintains a high ranking on Amazon and has been translated into 20 languages. More... Read Attached Summary

Content Warning: Readers should be advised that this short story uses racial slurs. They are not reproduced in this guide.One of her earliest published short stories, Kate Chopin’s “At the ’Cadian Ball” (1892) leans heavily on the use of local color to bring her characters, setting, and plot to life. Chopin later republished this work in her book, Bayou Folk, a collection of short fiction depicting the people and culture of Louisiana’s Acadiana region. The... Read At the ’Cadian Ball Summary

“Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” is a poem from Adrienne Rich’s first volume of poetry, A Change of World (1951), which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award upon publication. This book launched Rich’s long and prestigious career as a poet, essayist, and activist. Formally controlled and vibrant with meaningful imagery, the poem stands in Rich’s literary oeuvre as an early example of her talent. It shows the influence of W. H. Auden, who selected the... Read Aunt Jennifer's Tigers Summary

Awake is a 2025 memoir by Jen Hatmaker, an author and former prominent figure within the American Evangelical Church. The book candidly recounts the painful collapse of Hatmaker’s 26-year marriage, her loss of faith in the religious systems that shaped her life, and her eventual rebirth as an independent woman. Through a blend of vignettes, memories, and reflections, the memoir explores the devastation of heartbreak and the challenges of deconstructing and rebuilding one’s identity.This study... Read Awake Summary

A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts (2018) by Therese Anne Fowler is a historical fiction biography of the life of Alva Belmont, formerly Vanderbilt née Smith. Alva became part of the wealthy Vanderbilt dynasty in 1875 when she married Vanderbilt heir William Kissam Vanderbilt. For much of her life, Alva strives to be the titular “well-behaved woman,” ensuring the Vanderbilts’ ascension to New York high society. However, when she discovers that her husband... Read A Well-Behaved Woman Summary

Published in 2025, Bad Bishop is the first novel in the Society of Villains series by L. J. Shen. A prominent author in the dark-romance subgenre, Shen is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author known for creating morally complex antiheroes. Shen is the author of several other popular dark-romance series, including Sinners of Saint and All Saints High.Bad Bishop is set in New York’s criminal underworld and follows the... Read Bad Bishop Summary

Bad Mormon is a memoir by American reality television star and businesswoman Heather Gay. Best known as a cast member of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Gay is also the co-owner of a medical spa services company in Utah. Bad Mormon details Gay’s early life in the Mormon church, her time as a missionary in France, her failed marriage and life as a single mother, and her experience being cast on a... Read Bad Mormon Summary

Beautiful Ugly is an adult psychological thriller novel by British author Alice Feeney, published in January 2025 by Flatiron Books. Written from the protagonist Grady Green’s and his wife Abby Goldman’s first-person points of view, the novel is primarily set on the fictional Isle of Amberly. A year after Abby disappears on her ride home from work one night, Grady can’t eat, sleep, or write. His literary agent and Abby’s godmother, Kitty Goldman, invites him... Read Beautiful Ugly Summary

Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanna Barbot De Villeneuve first appeared in her collection of fairy tales La jeune américaine, et les contes marins (The Young American and Marine Tales) in 1740 and was abridged into a Christian moral tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756. As a fairy-tale classic, Beauty and the Beast has been retold around the globe and in several mediums, including books, film, theater, and opera. The most well-known adaptations... Read Beauty and the Beast Summary

Becoming is Michelle Obama’s deeply personal memoir that chronicles her journey from a modest upbringing on the South Side of Chicago to becoming the First Lady of the United States. The book offers an intimate look at her challenges, triumphs, and the life lessons she learned along the way, emphasizing themes of The Role of Family, The Importance of Believing in Oneself, and Balancing Personal and Professional Life. In 2022, Michelle Obama followed this memoir... Read Becoming Summary

Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray is a 2024 historical fiction novel that explores the life and career of the United States’ first female Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Dray, a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling author, explores themes such as Resistance in the Face of Sexist Discrimination, The Role of Determination in Accomplishing Reform, and The Tension Between Idealism and Pragmatism... Read Becoming Madam Secretary Summary

Patti Callahan Henry, who also writes as Patti Callahan, gives voice to unexplored terrain in the past in her historical fiction. Published in 2018, Becoming Mrs. Lewis chronicles how Joy Davidman’s first marriage crumbles as her faith in the Christian God builds through the burgeoning friendship and love between her and C. S. Lewis. Deeply researched, Becoming Mrs. Lewis includes biographical and textual details from the intellectual milieu of the Inklings, a group of Oxford... Read Becoming Mrs. Lewis Summary

Before I Let Go is a 2022 romance novel by Kennedy Ryan. Ryan’s work is well known in the genre for her focus on social and political issues as well as on emotionally satisfying love stories. Her 2016 novel, Long Shot, received a RITA award from the Romance Writers of America, making her the first Black winner in the award’s history. The award has since been renamed the Vivian, after Vivian Stephens, RWA’s founder. Stephens... Read Before I Let Go Summary

The original Japanese version of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold hit the shelves in 2015, with the English translation by Geoffrey Trousselot being published in 2019 by Picador. In 2018, the novel was adapted into a film called Café Funiculi Funicula, and in October 2021, SK Global and the Jackal Group were set to develop a television series based on the novel. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is also a popular BookTok book.Prior... Read Before the Coffee Gets Cold Summary

Behind Her Eyes, a psychological thriller, was written by Sarah Pinborough and published in 2017. The book has sold over 1 million copies worldwide and was adapted for a TV series by Netflix. While clearly a best seller, there is great divergence of opinion on the book’s very unexpected twist at the end, with the publishers using the hashtag #WTFThatEnding to promote the book.Plot SummaryLouise is a single mother living in London and working as... Read Behind Her Eyes Summary

Written by Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) and published in 1801, Belinda remains one of the landmark works of the late Restoration novel and a precursor of the realistic novel of the mid-19th century. Its purpose is made clear by Edgeworth herself in a brief preface that begins the novel: “The following work is offered to the public as a Moral Tale” (1). Edgeworth was distressed by the glut of frivolous novels that sought only... Read Belinda Summary

Be Ready When The Luck Happens is the memoir of award-winning American chef, cookbook author, and television personality Ina Garten. Best known for her Barefoot Contessa television series and cookbooks, Garten came to prominence after opening a small gourmet food store in Westhampton, New York. Since the release of The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook in 1999, she has published 13 additional cookbooks. The memoir details her early childhood, career as a civil servant, and personal life... Read Be Ready When the Luck Happens Summary

“Berenice” by Edgar Allan Poe is a horror story first published in 1835 that deals with themes of obsession, illness, and death. Poe is one of the most prominent American authors of Gothic fiction, and his short stories frequently explore macabre and horrific subjects. In “Berenice,” the narrator, Egæus, is a bookish young man who becomes obsessed with his dying fiancée’s beautiful teeth. After she is accidentally buried alive, he discovers that he violently removed... Read Berenice Summary