Mortality & Death

"Nothing can be said to be certain," wrote Ben Franklin, "except death and taxes." And yet, death is often ignored, dismissed, or delayed as an experience worth contemplating—until we are forced to reckon with it head-on. The books in this collection do their own reckoning.

Firefight

by Brandon Sanderson

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Revenge, Death, Appearance & Reality, Teamwork, Politics & Government, War, Order & Chaos

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure

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Five Days at Memorial

by Sheri Fink

Publication year 2013

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Death

Tags Crime & Law, Science & Nature, Journalism, World History, Health

Published in 2013, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital is a work of nonfiction by American journalist Sheri Fink. The book, which takes place in August 2005, describes the struggle of staff and patients to survive when trapped in New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lacking critical resources, the doctors make a drastic decision that will cause many patients to die via euthanasia. Five Days... Read Five Days at Memorial Summary

Flashlight

by Susan Choi

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Forgiveness, Loneliness, Memory, Language, Mental Health, Race, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Death, Place, Family, Marriage, Community, Immigration

Tags Coming of Age

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Four Perfect Pebbles

by Lila Perl, Marion Blumenthal Lazan

Publication year 1996

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Memory, Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Gratitude, Grief, Hope, Love, Race, Death, The Past, Politics & Government, War, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger

Tags World War II, Holocaust

Four Perfect Pebbles is a Holocaust memoir written by Marion Blumenthal Lazan and co-authored by Lila Perl. It was originally published in 1996, 51 years after Marion and her family were liberated from the death train by Russian troops in Nazi Germany. Marion was five years old when she and her family moved to a refugee camp in Holland, which was later converted into a transit camp for Auschwitz. The Blumenthals also lived at the... Read Four Perfect Pebbles Summary

Four Quartets

by T. S. Eliot

Publication year 1941

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Fate, Death, Aging, Conflict

Tags Lyric Poem, The Lost Generation

Four Quartets is a collection of four poems by T.S. Eliot. The four pieces were originally published between 1934 and 1942, during a period of time in which Eliot’s life was disrupted by the events of World War II. They were then collected into a single volume in 1943. The poems are linked loosely by theme; all of them are about the relationship between people and the divine. At the time of its publication, several of... Read Four Quartets Summary

Frankissstein

by Jeanette Winterson

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Death, Future, The Past, Marriage, Social Class, Economics, Art, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology

Tags Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Modern Classic Fiction

Frankissstein is a novel by Jeanette Winterson that combines speculative and historical fiction in revisiting Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein. Winterson is a prolific author, known for her explorations of physical reality, gender, sexuality, and identity. Her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, won the 1985 Whitbread Prize for First Novel, and Frankissstein was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize. Winterson is a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester, and... Read Frankissstein Summary

Full Measures

by Rebecca Yarros

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Love, Memory, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Death, Future, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Community, War, Fate, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

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Fuzz

by Mary Roach

Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Animals, Death, Equality

Tags Science & Nature, Animals, Crime & Law, Humor, World History

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Games at Twilight

by Anita Desai

Publication year 1978

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Childhood & Youth, Perseverance, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Coming of Age, Death, Family, Siblings

Tags Indian Literature, Education, Education, Asian Literature, Classic Fiction

“Games at Twilight” is a short story written by Indian author Anita Desai. It was originally published in 1978 in a collection titled Games at Twilight and Other Stories, which contains several texts that explore different aspects of Indian life in urban settings. That same year, Desai was nominated for the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and the Sahitya Akademi Award for her novel Fire on the Mountain. “Games at Twilight” focuses on a young boy who... Read Games at Twilight Summary