Music

This collection brings together texts that explore the beauty and often redemptive power of music, from classical compositions in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, to gospel songs and spirituals in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

Little Wonder

by Sophie Chen Keller

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Memory, Coming of Age, Death, Climate, Environment, Place, Daughters & Sons, Mothers, Social Class, Community, Art, Equality, Music

Tags Literary Fiction

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Lovely War

by Julie Berry

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Race, Mental Health, War, Beauty, Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Mythology, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Grief & Death, World History, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, Music, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, World War I, World War II, Fantasy

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Machinal

by Sophie Treadwell

Publication year 1928

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Music

Tags Education, Education, World History, Dramatic Literature, Classic Fiction

Machinal, which means “mechanical” in French, is a play by Sophie Treadwell, and is based on the true story of a woman who murders her husband, after seven attempts; this woman, Ruth Snyder, is subsequently the very first female to be executed using the electric chair.The woman is convicted and executed for the murder.Machinal was first performed in London, in 1931, at the Royal National Theatre. Treadwell was a journalist and learned of the murder... Read Machinal Summary

Master and Commander

by Patrick O'Brian

Publication year 1969

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, War, Place, Music, Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Historical Fiction, World History, Classic Fiction, Action & Adventure, Military & War

Master and Commander is a historical novel by the English writer Patrick O’Brian. It was first published in 1969, although it is set in 1800. O’Brian’s work is meticulously researched, drawing upon documents from the time period such as naval logs, official letters, and memories of sailors who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Many of the naval battles described in the novel are based on real events, particularly Lord Thomas Cochrane’s victory over the superior... Read Master and Commander Summary

Mind Games

by Nora Roberts

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Love, Revenge, Mental Health, Coming of Age, Family, Self Discovery, Fame, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Music, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Romance, Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

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Mosquitoland

by David Arnold

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music

Tags Realistic Fiction, Travel Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness

David Arnold’s 2015 debut novel, Mosquitoland, is a coming-of-age story that’s intended for a young adult audience. The novel was one of NPR’s and Amazon’s best books of 2015. This guide refers to the 2015 Penguin Random House edition. Plot SummaryThe story follows 16-year-old Mary Iris Malone, also referred to as Mim, as she travels alone from Jackson, Mississippi, to Cleveland, Ohio. Shortly before her journey, her parents divorced, and her father remarried and moved... Read Mosquitoland Summary

Mumbo Jumbo

by Ishmael Reed

Publication year 1972

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Race & Racism, Education, Education, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

Published in 1973, Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo is a novel that decenters the Westernized, Judeo-Christian historical perspective and compels the reader to see history through a more Afrocentric lens. The novel incorporates nontraditional storytelling techniques such as linear distortion, footnotes, photographs, and charts. It is often affiliated with postmodernism and Afrofuturism.The story begins in 1920. There is an outbreak of Jes Grew, which is spreading toward Harlem, where the novel is primarily set. Those who... Read Mumbo Jumbo Summary

Nora Webster

by Colm Tóibín

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Loneliness, Memory, Shame & Pride, Death, Family, Social Class, Politics & Government, Art, Music

Tags Historical Fiction, Irish Literature, Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, Depression & Suicide

Written by Colm Tóibín, Nora Webster (2014) is a historical novel that follows the titular character, a young woman who is struggling to raise her four young children, process her grief, and reinvent her life after her husband passes away. In 2015, the novel won the Hawthornden Prize, and it has also received numerous other prestigious award nominations. Throughout his career, Colm Tóibín has alternated between fiction and non-fiction, producing works such as Brooklyn (2009), which... Read Nora Webster Summary

Notes From The Midnight Driver

by Jordan Sonnenblick

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Music, Humor

The novel opens on Alex choosing to get drunk and drive to his father’s in order to get revenge. Alex’s parents are recently divorced after his father starts to date Alex’s third-grade teacher. After crashing his mother’s car into a garden gnome, a very drunk Alex is taken into the police station and then transferred to the hospital with a concussion and alcohol poisoning. Alex’s mother grounds him for a month, until a judge punishes... Read Notes From The Midnight Driver Summary

Not Without Laughter

by Langston Hughes

Publication year 1930

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music, Coming of Age

Tags Classic Fiction, Coming of Age, Life-Inspired Fiction, US History, Harlem Renaissance, Race & Racism, American Literature, World History, Historical Fiction

Published in 1930, near the end of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes's Not Without Laughter is a coming-of-age narrative about James "Sandy" Rogers, an African-American boy from the small Kansas town of Stanton. Loosely based on Hughes's own childhood in Kansas, the novel traces the challenges of African-American life in the Midwest during the years leading up to World War I. The novel opens with a cyclone that rips the porch from the house of... Read Not Without Laughter Summary