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Summaries of 9,834 books.

  1. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.6 (133k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Lost in the ancient woods, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland, with only a Walkman and the imagined presence of her baseball hero Tom Gordon, must outwit a lurking, supernatural entity or become another forgotten whisper in the Appalachian shadows.

  2. The Austere Academy

    Lemony Snicket

    ★ 4.0 (133k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    At a boarding school filled with tyrannical teachers, devious plots, and an abundance of crabs, the Baudelaire orphans must outwit their guardians and uncover a sinister secret before they become the next victims.

  3. The Surgeon

    Tess Gerritsen

    ★ 4.1 (133k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A Boston detective hunts a surgeon who meticulously tortures and murders women, only to discover the killer's methods chillingly mirror a past attack on a doctor who believed she'd already killed her assailant.

  4. The Idiot

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    ★ 4.2 (133k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A Christ-like prince, aiming for pure goodness, enters a wild Russian society focused on wealth and desire, only to find his innocence spark scandal, betrayal, and tragic love.

  5. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

    Atul Gawande

    ★ 4.4 (132k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    A surgeon confronts medicine's greatest triumph and ultimate failure, arguing for a reimagining of care that prioritizes dignity and quality of life over the relentless, often futile, pursuit of longevity at all costs.

  6. Hex Hall

    Rachel Hawkins

    ★ 3.9 (132k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    After a prom-night spell goes wrong, rebellious witch Sophie Mercer is sent to a supernatural reform school where she deals with mean witches, a forbidden crush, and a secret society hunting her kind.

  7. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

    Stuart Turton

    ★ 3.9 (132k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Trapped in an aristocratic manor, a man must relive the same day in a different body, each a potential suspect, to unmask Evelyn Hardcastle's killer before the cycle, and his memory, is lost forever.

  8. Blue Bloods

    Melissa de la Cruz

    ★ 3.7 (132k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A reclusive New York teen learns she descends from ancient, secretive vampires who founded America, and she enters a world of hidden power and deadly intrigue when their centuries-old secret comes apart.

  9. The Story of My Life

    Helen Keller

    ★ 4.1 (132k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Blinded, deafened, and muted as a toddler, Helen Keller's autobiography chronicles her journey of discovering language and the world through Anne Sullivan's guidance, culminating in her graduation from Radcliffe and a life dedicated to advocacy.

  10. The Vanishing Half

    Brit Bennett

    ★ 4.3 (132k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Twin sisters, separated by race and identity, find their lives and their daughters' futures linked across generations.

  11. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

    Haruki Murakami

    ★ 3.9 (132k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Abandoned by his four closest friends in college, Tsukuru Tazaki begins a journey years later to understand what happened and heal his emotional wounds.

  12. The Woman in White

    Wilkie Collins

    ★ 4.0 (132k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    An art teacher falls for his student and uncovers a plot involving stolen identity, an asylum, and a spectral woman, all connected by a dark secret.

  13. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

    Melissa Bank

    ★ 3.3 (132k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A witty young woman navigates dating and career challenges with a generous heart and sharp observations, moving through perplexing relationships and self-discovery.

  14. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

    Helen Simonson

    ★ 3.9 (132k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In an English village, a retired major upholding tradition finds his world upended by a romance with a Pakistani shopkeeper, challenging expectations and his own decorum.

  15. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

    Judy Blume

    ★ 4.1 (132k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    Peter Hatcher navigates the chaotic, often humiliating, reality of being an older brother to the mischievous, mashed-potato-smearing toddler known as Fudge, whose antics consistently steal the spotlight and Peter's pet turtle.

  16. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

    James C. Collins

    ★ 4.1 (131k) average on GoodreadsBusiness

    Learn how average companies became great, outperforming the market through disciplined leadership, strategic focus, and a culture of continuous improvement, based on five years of research.

  17. The Goose Girl

    Shannon Hale

    ★ 4.1 (131k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Betrayed by her lady-in-waiting, a princess with the rare gift of animal speech must masquerade as a goose girl to reclaim her rightful throne and discover the true strength of her voice.

  18. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

    Seth Grahame-Smith

    ★ 3.7 (131k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    After a vampire kills his mother, a young Abraham Lincoln begins a secret, lifelong quest for revenge that leads to his presidency and a hidden Civil War against the undead.

  19. All the Missing Girls

    Megan Miranda

    ★ 3.8 (131k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A woman returns to her hometown, where another girl has gone missing, mirroring a disappearance from a decade ago. She must untangle years of secrets to uncover the truth behind both cases.

  20. House of Leaves

    Mark Z. Danielewski

    ★ 4.1 (131k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    An ordinary house on Ash Tree Lane turns into an impossible, expanding maze, trapping a family in its terrifying story of creature darkness and a reality-defying abyss.

  21. Clear and Present Danger

    Tom Clancy

    ★ 4.1 (131k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When Colombian drug cartels assassinate the FBI Director, Jack Ryan and the enigmatic Mr. Clark must navigate a shadowy war where the gravest threat might not be the enemy abroad, but the betrayals lurking within their own government.

  22. Anthem

    Ayn Rand

    ★ 3.6 (131k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    In a collectivist dystopia that has erased individuality, one man's forbidden discovery of self and electricity sparks a rebellion against the tyranny of 'we'.

  23. Childhood's End

    Arthur C. Clarke

    ★ 4.1 (130k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Humanity's golden age of peace and prosperity under the benevolent, yet enigmatic, Overlords slowly reveals itself to be a cosmic nursery, preparing mankind for an unimaginable, terrifying metamorphosis into a collective consciousness that transcends individual existence.

  24. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

    Alison Bechdel

    ★ 4.1 (130k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir uncovers the hidden life of her enigmatic, closeted gay father, a funeral home director, as she comes to terms with her own lesbian identity and the questions surrounding his death.

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