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.

Bread of Angels

by Patti Smith

Publication year 2025

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Marriage, Family, Perseverance, Grief, Love, Memory, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Death, The Past, Objects & Materials, Place, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Art, Beauty, Fame, Literature, Music

Tags Memoir & Autobiography, Music, Arts & Culture, Love & Sexuality, Grief & Death

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Bridge of Clay

by Markus Zusak

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Love, Grief, Siblings, Conflict, Forgiveness, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Memory, Regret, Death, Order & Chaos, Loyalty & Betrayal, Literature, Mothers, Marriage, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, The Past

Tags Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Grief & Death, Modern Classic Fiction

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Bridge of Sighs

by Richard Russo

Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Forgiveness, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Nostalgia, Regret, Death, Social Class, Community

Tags Modern Classic Fiction

Richard Russo’s 2007 novel Bridge of Sighs is a work of literary fiction that became a national bestseller. The novel follows 60-year-old Louis “Lucy” Lynch, who has lived his entire life in the small, economically distressed town of Thomaston, New York. As Lucy and his wife, Sarah, prepare for their first trip abroad to Venice, he begins to write a history of his life, his family, and his hometown. This act of remembering frames the... Read Bridge of Sighs Summary

Brimstone

by Callie Hart

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Hope, Love, Memory, Revenge, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Death, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Community, Politics & Government, War, Fate, Good & Evil, Safety & Danger

Tags Fantasy, Romance

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Broken Harbour

by Tana French

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Death, Appearance & Reality, Family, Mothers

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Irish Literature

Broken Harbour (2012), a literary thriller by Tana French, is the fourth installment in her Dublin Murder Squad series. The novel won numerous awards, including the Irish Crime Fiction Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. French has been praised for her blend of literary characterization, setting, and use of language alongside propulsive plots. Broken Harbour is told from the first-person point of view of Detective Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy. The plot involves... Read Broken Harbour Summary

Brothers

by Alex Van Halen

Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Love, Memory, Language, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Siblings, Teamwork, Fame, Loyalty & Betrayal, Music

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Buddenbrooks

by Thomas Mann

Publication year 1901

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Conflict, Loneliness, Regret, Masculinity, Mental Health, Death, Appearance & Reality, Marriage, Economics, Art, Power & Greed

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, German Literature, World History, Classical Period

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

Bullet Points

by Jericho Brown

Publication year 2019

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Race, Death, Mothers, Community, Nation, Equality, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Trauma & Abuse, Race & Racism, Social Justice

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Burn

by Peter Heller

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Fear, Forgiveness, Guilt, Memory, Regret, Death, Environment, Fathers, Friendship, Politics & Government, War, Safety & Danger

Tags Science Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Action & Adventure

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Butcher's Crossing

by John Edward Williams

Publication year 1960

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Nature Versus Nurture, Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Hope, Loneliness, Memory, Indigenous Identity, Masculinity, Coming of Age, Death, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Food, Place, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Economics, Globalization, Nation, Beauty, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Literature, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses

Tags Western, American Literature, Historical Fiction

Published in 1960, Butcher’s Crossing is a revisionist Western novel by American author John Williams. The book follows a young Harvard dropout who ventures into the Kansas wilderness in the 1870s on a buffalo-hunting expedition, confronting the brutal realities of the American frontier and the destruction of the natural world. The novel explores themes that include The Deconstruction of the American Frontier Myth, Human Arrogance Versus Nature’s Indifference, and Disillusionment and the Loss of Idealism.Williams... Read Butcher's Crossing Summary

By the Waters of Babylon

by Stephen Vincent Benét

Publication year 1937

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Death, Science & Technology, War

Tags Science Fiction, Technology, Education, Education, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

Stephen Vincent Benét lived from 1898 to 1943. Much of his writing examines subjects from American history, including his highly acclaimed narrative poem John Brown’s Body. Benét won four Pulitzer Prizes, including one for “By the Waters of Babylon.” First published in 1937 in The Saturday Evening Post as “The Place of the Gods,” the postapocalyptic story follows a young man’s journey for truth and explores the themes of The Destruction of War, Coming of... Read By the Waters of Babylon Summary

Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History

by Bill Schutt

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Indigenous Identity, Mental Health, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Climate, Nature Versus Nurture, Colonialism, Community, Globalization, Politics & Government, War, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Science & Nature, World History, Anthropology, Psychology, Biology, Animals

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Canyons

by Gary Paulsen

Publication year 1990

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Indigenous Identity, Race, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Colonialism, Nation, Equality, Justice, Religion & Spirituality, Self Discovery

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Survival Fiction, Children`s Literature

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