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Summaries of 9,835 books.

  1. Prince of Thorns

    Mark Lawrence

    ★ 3.9 (95k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Haunted by a brutal past, the charming yet ruthless Prince Jorg leads a band of outlaws through a post-apocalyptic world, carving a bloody path to his father's throne while confronting the monstrous horrors that shaped him.

  2. Blankets

    Craig Thompson

    ★ 4.0 (95k) average on GoodreadsSpirituality

    A sensitive boy in a Wisconsin winter navigates sibling rivalry, first love, and a spiritual awakening that shatters his innocent world.

  3. Rivers of London

    Ben Aaronovitch

    ★ 3.9 (94k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Rookie cop Peter Grant's mundane career takes a supernatural turn when he discovers he can speak to ghosts, thrusting him into a hidden London where ancient river gods and dark magic clash with modern policing as he apprentices under England's last officially sanctioned wizard.

  4. Let the Great World Spin

    Colum McCann

    ★ 3.9 (94k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In 1970s New York, a tightrope walker's daring act above the Twin Towers connects the lives of a diverse group of New Yorkers, who find their paths interwoven by hope, grief, and the city's energy.

  5. Silver Borne

    Patricia Briggs

    ★ 4.4 (94k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter, must navigate dangerous fae secrets from a borrowed book and her werewolf friend's unraveling sanity, all while trying to survive in a world where magic is both a weapon and a target.

  6. My Not So Perfect Life

    Sophie Kinsella

    ★ 3.8 (94k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A young woman's curated online persona clashes with her messy reality when her seemingly perfect ex-boss becomes a guest at her family's struggling farm, forcing them both to confront the truths behind their 'perfect' lives.

  7. The Wee Free Men

    Terry Pratchett

    ★ 4.3 (94k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Armed with a frying pan and a strong will, young Tiffany Aching, helped by a clan of six-inch-high, sword-wielding blue men, must face Fairyland's nightmare to rescue her brother and save her world from the Elves' queen.

  8. Night Road

    Kristin Hannah

    ★ 4.2 (94k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A mother's life shatters after her children and their foster friend are in a tragic accident, making her face blame, forgiveness, and a mother's love.

  9. All the Pretty Horses

    Cormac McCarthy

    ★ 4.0 (94k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In post-WWII Texas, sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole, the last in a ranching family, rides south with his friends into a beautiful but brutal Mexico. There, the romantic ideal of the cowboy clashes with the harsh realities of fate and violence.

  10. Vanishing Acts

    Jodi Picoult

    ★ 3.7 (94k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A woman's perfect life shatters when a policeman reveals her father kidnapped her as a child, forcing her to confront her past and redefine family.

  11. Howl and Other Poems

    Allen Ginsberg

    ★ 4.1 (94k) average on GoodreadsFiction

    Ginsberg's electrifying collection is a raw, impassioned scream against the conformity and destruction of his generation, a jazz-infused lament for the 'best minds' driven to madness.

  12. The Death of Ivan Ilych

    Leo Tolstoy

    ★ 4.1 (93k) average on GoodreadsCreativity

    A high court judge faces the deep emptiness of his life and society's cold indifference as a fatal illness forces him to understand the true meaning of existence.

  13. A Canticle for Leibowitz

    Walter M. Miller Jr.

    ★ 4.0 (93k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a post-apocalyptic world, cloistered monks guard ancient knowledge, watching centuries of rediscovery, hubris, and humanity's endless cycle of self-destruction.

  14. Brideshead Revisited

    Evelyn Waugh

    ★ 4.0 (93k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    An artist, Charles Ryder, recounts his deep involvement with the Marchmain family and the slow decline of their privileged world, influenced by modernity and faith.

  15. The Art of Happiness

    Dalai Lama XIV

    ★ 4.2 (93k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    The Dalai Lama, guided by a Western psychiatrist, shares practical wisdom on finding lasting inner peace amid life's challenges and achieving happiness.

  16. Faithful Place

    Tana French

    ★ 4.0 (93k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A detective is forced to confront the ghosts of his past when the cold case of his vanished first love resurfaces in the working-class Dublin neighborhood he fled two decades prior.

  17. This Present Darkness

    Frank E. Peretti

    ★ 4.2 (93k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In the quiet town of Ashton, a skeptical journalist and a pastor uncover a New Age conspiracy, finding themselves in a war where angelic and demonic forces fight for human souls.

  18. Drama

    Raina Telgemeier

    ★ 4.2 (93k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    Amidst the chaos of middle school theater, set designer Callie navigates backstage carpentry woes, dwindling ticket sales, and a whirlwind of crushes on two brothers, all while striving to build a Broadway-worthy set for 'Moon Over Mississippi'.

  19. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

    Carson McCullers

    ★ 4.0 (93k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In a sleepy 1930s Southern town, a silent, all-observing deaf man becomes the unexpected confidant for a range of lonely, lost, and longing people, each projecting their deepest desires onto his quiet empathy.

  20. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    ★ 4.0 (93k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In a Siberian Gulag, Ivan Denisovich lives through one day, where every small gain is a victory against Stalin's regime.

  21. The Vegetarian

    Han Kang

    ★ 3.6 (93k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    A woman's choice to stop eating meat upends her ordinary life, leading to a disturbing change in her body and mind as her family tries to control her defiance.

  22. Paranormalcy

    Kiersten White

    ★ 3.9 (92k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Armed with a taser and a quirky sense of humor, a 'normal' girl working for a supernatural containment agency finds her chaotic love life with a faerie ex and a shapeshifter complicated by a dark prophecy that puts her at the heart of paranormal destruction.

  23. The Red Badge of Courage

    Stephen Crane

    ★ 3.3 (92k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A young Civil War recruit's shame-fueled flight from the battlefield turns into a desperate quest for a "red badge of courage" amidst the brutal realities of war.

  24. Stones from the River

    Ursula Hegi

    ★ 4.1 (92k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction
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