In many ways, who we are is shaped by what we remember, yet our recollections aren't always a reliable account of the past. This collection gathers texts that explore the ideas, theories, and challenges conjured by memory.
Publication year 2002
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Animals, Romance, Canadian Literature, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2011
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Self Discovery, Life/Time: Aging, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Before I Go to Sleep (2011) is the debut novel of English writer S. J. Watson. This psychological thriller features a protagonist suffering from amnesia. Forty-seven-year-old Christine Lucas wakes every morning with no memory of who or where she is. Each day she must reconstruct her identity with the help of her journal. Christine also gleans information from her husband, Ben, and a neurophysiologist, Dr. Nash. However, the more Christine discovers, the more she doubts... Read Before I Go to Sleep Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Memory
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, Sports, Relationships, American Literature, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Life/Time: Midlife, Life/Time: The Past
Tags Romance, Relationships, Love / Sexuality
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Parenting
A 2017 New York Times bestseller, Lisa Wingate’s Before We Were Yours is a haunting and compelling work of historical fiction told in polyvocal form with two alternating principle voices narrating a story of complex family history. From chapter to chapter, the book goes back and forth between present day South Carolina (in settings of Southern power and prestige) and Tennessee in the late 1930s and early 1940s (in settings of squalor and abuse). In... Read Before We Were Yours Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Romance, Relationships, Mental Illness, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Grief / Death, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
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
Publication year 2018
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Place, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags History: European, Holocaust, WWII / World War II
Publication year 1987
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Daughters & Sons
Tags Magical Realism, Race / Racism, American Literature, Existentialism, African American Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction
Toni Morrison’s Beloved was published in 1987. It is inspired by the real story of an African American woman named Margaret Garner, who, while attempting to liberate herself and her children from enslavement, killed her own daughter to prevent her capture and enslavement. It tells the story of Sethe, a self-liberated, formerly enslaved woman who kills her daughter in the same manner. This daughter later returns to haunt the family. The novel is widely classified... Read Beloved Summary
Publication year 1992
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Self Discovery, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Hope
Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Romance, WWII / World War II, Class, Education, Finance / Money / Wealth, Love / Sexuality, Relationships, Military / War, Grief / Death, History: World, Parenting
Publication year 1920
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Psychology
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Identity: Race, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Memory
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Race / Racism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, History: World, Arts / Culture
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Published in 2014, Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies is a work of contemporary fiction set in the Pirriwee Peninsula, located in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, Australia. Through the perspective of multiple characters, Big Little Lies addresses subjects including bullying, lying, parenting, friendship, and domestic violence. Big Little Lies was adapted into an award-winning television drama of the same name. Plot Summary The first chapter foreshadows a school trivia night gone awry. The details of... Read Big Little Lies Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Hope
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Romance, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Self Discovery
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1915
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Appearance & Reality
Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, American Literature, Modernism
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Natural World: Place, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Birth, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy
Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction
Bird Box is a 2014 post-apocalyptic, dystopian horror novel by Josh Malerman. The story follows a woman’s struggle to protect two children in a world where people are driven to violence by unseen monsters, touching on such themes as paranoia, raising children to deal with an uncertain future, and the dangers of exceptionalism. Bird Box won a Michigan Notable Book Award and was also nominated for the James Herbert Award as well as the Bram... Read Bird Box Summary
Publication year 1966
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature
Tags Education, Education
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community
Tags LGBTQ, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction