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“Bliss” is a short story written by New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield. It was originally published in 1918 in The English Review and later republished in 1920 as a collection of short stories entitled Bliss and Other Stories. Katherine Mansfield was a contemporary of British writers such as Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando), D. H. Lawrence (Sons and Lovers, Women in Love), and James Joyce (Ulysses, Dubliners). As a Modernist story, “Bliss” focuses on the... Read Bliss Summary

Blithe Spirit is a 1941 farce written by the English playwright, composer, and actor Noël Coward. Known for his wit and style, Coward’s theatrical career lasted for nearly six decades. Blithe Spirit, one of his most popular and enduring works, was first performed in the West End, running for 1,997 performances, before transferring to Broadway for 657 performances. It was adapted into the musical High Spirits in 1964. To this day, the play continues to... Read Blithe Spirit Summary

Blood Wedding, a Spanish rural tragedy, was written by Federico Garcia Lorca in 1932 while he was director of the travelling theater company Teatro Universitario La Barraca. The play was first performed at Teatro Beatriz in Madrid in 1933 under the title Bodas de Sangre. It ran briefly in America on Broadway in 1935, where it was retitled Bitter Oleander. It was not well received; the passions and folkloric culture in the play were too... Read Blood Wedding Summary

“Blue Beard,” by 17th-century French author Charles Perrault, is a short story in the fairy tale genre that relies on symbolism and concision to address themes of Female Agency, Transgressive Knowledge, and Patriarchal Control. First published in Perrault’s 1697 book Histoires ou Contes du Temps passé, avec des Moralités (meaning Stories or Tales from Times Past, with Morals), “Blue Beard” was found alongside other classic fairy tales that engage with similar themes, such as “Sleeping... Read Bluebeard Summary

Bluebird, Bluebird (2017) by Texas native Attica Locke, published by Little, Brown and Company, is a 2018 Edgar and Anthony award-winning mystery novel. It was also selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Kirkus Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2017. The first in the Highway 59 series follows Texas Ranger Darren Mathews through the backroads of Texas in search of justice and reform... Read Bluebird, Bluebird Summary

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Bring Up the Bodies (2012) is a Tudor-era historical novel by British writer Hilary Mantel. It is the second novel in a trilogy depicting the life and career of Thomas Cromwell, a 16th-century English politician and advisor to King Henry VIII. Bring Up the Bodies followed Wolf Hall (2009) and preceded The Mirror and The Light (2020). It received significant critical acclaim and was awarded the 2012 Man Booker Prize. BBC produced a television adaptation... Read Bring Up The Bodies Summary

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Bruiser by Neal Shusterman, first published in 2010, is a young adult novel. It explores the life of Brewster “Bruiser” Rawlins, a high school student who has the ability to take pain away from those he cares about. Through his supernatural ability, the novel explores themes of Finding Emotional Balance, The Complications of Empathy, and The Dangers of Excessive Dependence on Others. Shusterman is the author of dozens of young adult novels, short stories, and works... Read Bruiser Summary

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Thomas Mann’s novel Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family was first published in 1901 and came to be recognized as a monumental work in the canon of modern literature. Thomas Mann (1875­–1955) was a German novelist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929 for his novels, Buddenbrooks and The Magic Mountain. Mann draws on his own family history to craft Buddenbrooks’ narrative, demonstrating profound understanding of societal and familial dynamics in the... Read Buddenbrooks Summary

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“Cat in the Rain,” a short story by American author Ernest Hemingway, was first published in the 1925 collection In Our Time. Hemingway’s story, like much of his work, is semi-autobiographical and based on his experience as an expatriate in Europe after World War I. Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, shared a love of cats, and it’s thought he wrote this story for her while they lived in Italy and France. The short story... Read Cat in the Rain Summary