Mortality & Death

Published in 2008, Olive Kitteridge is an unconventional novel by Elizabeth Strout that interlinks 13 tales about the people of Crosby, Maine. The novel is a collection of short stories tied together by the unifying element of titular character Olive Kitteridge. The novel won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and HBO created a mini-series of the book in 2014. Because of its construction, Strout’s novel is less about its plot than it is about... Read Olive Kitteridge Summary

Kevin Henkes is the author of Olive’s Ocean, a 2001 coming-of-age chapter book for young readers. Kevin has written and illustrated several books for children and young readers, including Waiting (1991) and The Year of Billy Miller (2013). Henkes was born in Wisconsin, and this Midwest state is the home of his character Billy Miller, as well as Martha Boyle, the 12-year-old protagonist in Olive’s Ocean. In the novel, Martha grapples with the sudden death... Read Olive's Ocean Summary

On Beauty by the celebrated British author Zadie Smith was published in 2005. On Beauty was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction. Smith is known for writing novels and essays that analyze the intersections of identity in the contemporary world with nuance, clarity, and empathy. She is also known to be influenced by the classic English author E.M. Forster. On Beauty is loosely based on Forster’s masterpiece... Read On Beauty Summary

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“Once More to the Lake” is a narrative nonfiction essay written by E. B. White. The essay was originally published in Harper’s Magazine in 1941. White (1899-1985) was an American author best known for his children’s novels, including Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, as well as his contribution as co-author to The Elements of Style, a seminal English-language writing guide. “Once More to the Lake” recounts White’s experience of revisiting, as an adult, a lakefront... Read Once More to the Lake Summary

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On Death and Dying is a 1969 psychological study by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. It is best known in popular culture for introducing the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Kübler-Ross’s work with terminally ill patients inspired the model. She wrote the study as a response to the lack of instruction in medical schools about how to handle the topic of death. It was the very first book written by Kübler-Ross in her... Read On Death and Dying Summary

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On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer is a middle grade and young adult novel published in 1986. It was a Newberry Honor winner in 1987 and was also named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Bauer is a prolific writer who has written more than 80 books for young readers. In this novel, written in third-person omniscient point of view, she uses sparse language to deliver a profound message about honor... Read On My Honor Summary

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Nevil Shute’s novel On the Beach was published in 1957. It tells the story of a group of people living in Melbourne, Australia, who face the end of the world after a nuclear war destroys the entire Northern Hemisphere. As they wait for the radioactive fallout to reach them, the characters must deal with the fact that their days on Earth are numbered. The story was initially published in four parts under the title The... Read On the Beach Summary

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G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy was published in 1908 as an awaited follow-up to his acclaimed essay collection entitled Heretics, which was published three years earlier. A short and pithy volume, Orthodoxy lays out the author’s philosophical convictions aligning with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the Christian religion. Chesterton questions the resonance and popularity of Christianity, and he attempts to answer this question by saying that it is the perfect blend of the... Read Orthodoxy Summary