The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins that tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in poverty-stricken District 12 of Panem. Set in what is assumed as futuristic North America, the ruling Capital chooses teen tributes, one girl and one boy, from each district each year to participate in the Hunger Games as punishment for their part in an uprising against the city decades before.
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, originally published in 1890, details the life of exceedingly handsome Dorian Gray, who comes to live a decadent lifestyle in Victorian London. While initially innocent, symbolized by his alluring countenance, he becomes obsessed with a desire for eternal youth and beauty. Through his acquaintance with mysterious aristocrat Lord Henry Wotton, he enters a bargain in which he will remain handsome and youthful, while a painting of him, created by artist Basil Hallward, ages.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a powerful story following the life of Kambili, a fifteen-year-old girl living in Nigeria. The novel explores many themes, including identity, faith, family, resilience and politics. Kambili lives with her religious and oppressive family, and is required to make painful decisions for survival of both her home-life circumstances as well as her country’s changing political climate.
Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis follows Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, who awakens one morning to discover he has transformed into a giant insect. The story details the secondary conflicts Gregor experiences as a result of this new physical form, including his familial relationships, identity, and isolation.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is an engrossing novel filled with suspense and drama that takes readers on an intense, emotional journey. It follows the lives of two characters, a father and son, as they travel across a stark and hostile post-apocalyptic world in search of a better life. The story has a strong moral message which is thought-provoking and the characters’ struggles in the face of adversity are quite moving.
Macbeth, a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare, tells the story of a Scottish general Macbeth who receives a prophecy from three witches that he will become the king of Scotland. Driven by ambition and his wife's encouragement, he murders King Duncan and takes the throne. However, his guilt and paranoia lead to further acts of violence, and he eventually meets his tragic end.
The Bean Trees is a novel written by Barbara Kingsolver about a young woman, Taylor Greer, who leaves her hometown of Pittman, Kentucky and sets off on a journey of personal growth in search of a better life. The story follows Taylor as she strikes out alone and takes charge of her life, meeting various people who influence her growth and transformation, including a orphaned Cherokee infant, Turtle, whom she takes under her wing.
The book follows Winston Smith, a low ranking member of the ruling Party in London in the nation of Oceania. The Party watches the citizens through telescreens. Everywhere he would look there was the party’s leader, Big Brother. The Party would control citizens’ minds and they would erase history to make the past what they wanted it to. Winston did not want to follow the Party’s strict rules and wanted to take down the Party. Winston met a woman who he soon began a secretive relationship with and they joined the Brotherhood, a group that would do anything to take down the Party.
This Is Where It Ends is a young adult novel by Marieke Nijkamp. The novel is about a school shooting that takes place in a small town’s highschool. One of the students, Tyler Browne, is responsible for the shooting, locking the students in the auditorium and ending up killing thirty-nine people.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is classified as a fiction book. The book follows a pair of twins throughout two periods in their lives, the present and the past, and their dynamics and relationships with their family. The book features an array of topics such as; family dynamics, generational trauma, sexual assault, and death. So the book isn’t a light read because of the topics, but it is a beautiful combination of words and themes.
