Memory

In many ways, who we are is shaped by what we remember, yet our recollections aren't always a reliable account of the past. This collection gathers texts that explore the ideas, theories, and challenges conjured by memory.

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Relationships: Siblings, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender

Tags Historical Fiction, History: World, French Literature, Indian Literature, Arts / Culture


Publication year 1999

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: War

Tags Holocaust


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Holocaust, Jewish Literature, French Literature, Military / War, History: World


Publication year 1881

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Self Discovery, Society: Colonialism

Tags Classic Fiction, Latin American Literature


Publication year 2022

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret

Tags Psychology, Self Help, Relationships, Business / Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine


Publication year 1925

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Identity: Masculinity, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature

The Professor’s House by Willa Cather depicts the inner struggles of Godfrey St. Peter, a history professor struggling to understand his identity in middle age. Published in 1925, the novel moves from the fictional college town of Hamilton, Michigan, to the deserts of the American Southwest, where St. Peter’s most brilliant student, the late Tom Outland, had discovered the ruins of an ancient pueblo village. Haunted by the missed opportunities of the past, St. Peter... Read The Professor's House Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance, Depression / Suicide, Fantasy, Mental Illness

The Program is a 2014 young adult dystopian novel by Suzanne Young. Young is a novelist specializing in science fiction, thriller, and romance novels in the young adult genre. The novel takes place in a dystopian society where the government declares mental illness an epidemic. The Program follows seventeen-year-old Sloane Barstow, who struggles to reunite with her boyfriend James after a treatment clinic called The Program erases their memories in an attempt to “cure” their... Read The Program Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Mothers, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Relationships: Marriage

Tags Psychological Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1845

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Narrative / Epic Poem, Classic Fiction, Animals, Grief / Death

Influenced by the English Romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Lord” George Gordon Byron, and Percy Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe represents one of the essential American Romantic poets of the nineteenth century. Romanticism here refers to a literary movement of the late 1700s and 1800s which focused on the emotional life of the individual and curiosity about the self. This movement complemented a larger geopolitical and ideological shift in the United States. As a young nation... Read The Raven Summary


Publication year 1995

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, Holocaust, German Literature, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World, Romance, Classic Fiction

Introduction Law professor Bernhard Schlink published The Reader (Der Vorleser) in Germany in 1995. Two years later, an English version arrived in the United States, and it became a bestseller and a selection for Oprah's Book Club. The German newspaper Abendzeitung named the book Stern des Jahres (Star of the Year), and it was also awarded the 1998 Hans Fallada Prize, given to works that address social or political issues. Translated editions of The Reader... Read The Reader Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Gender, Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community, Society: Immigration

Tags History: World, Modern Classic Fiction, Literary Fiction


Publication year 1923

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, American Literature


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship

Tags Realistic Fiction, Action / Adventure, Philosophy, Children's Literature, Grief / Death, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2002

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Emotions/Behavior: Grief

Tags Magical Realism

“The Rememberer,” by American author Aimee Bender, is a short story that uses conventions of magical realism to explore the themes of Thought Versus Feeling, Love and Obligation, and The Sublime Quality of Loss. First published in the September 1, 1997, issue of The Missouri Review, the piece later appeared in Bender’s award-winning short story collection, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt (1998). Bender uses first-person point-of-view to tell the story of Annie, a woman... Read The Rememberer Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Society: Immigration, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, History: World, Arts / Culture

Written by Sonia Manzano in 2012, The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano is a middle grade coming-of-age story set in the heart of Spanish Harlem, New York, in 1969. The novel introduces Evelyn Serrano, a young Puerto Rican girl caught between her conservative family and the vibrant, radical spirit of the Young Lords Movement. As Evelyn becomes more involved with the movement, she starts to uncover her family’s complex history and the struggles of the Puerto... Read The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano Summary


Publication year 1916

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Aging, Natural World: Place

Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Allegory / Fable / Parable, Science / Nature, Philosophy, American Literature, Modernism, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1937

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Society: Class, Society: Community

Tags Social Justice, Class, History: European, British Literature, Journalism, Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government, Biography

The Road to Wigan Pier is a 1937 nonfiction book by George Orwell. The book describes Orwell’s firsthand experiences of life in Great Britain’s working-class communities in the early 20th century and advocates for the adoption of socialism. SummaryThe Road to Wigan Pier begins in a small lodging house in Northern England. The impoverished, rundown house rents crowded rooms to people who work in the nearby mines. The landlord, Mr. Brooker, was once a miner... Read The Road to Wigan Pier Summary


Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Values/Ideas: Fame, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: The Past, Society: Education, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: War, Relationships: Fathers, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Society: Nation, Self Discovery

Tags Fantasy, Children's Literature, Action / Adventure, Class

In The Ruins of Gorlan, a Medieval adventure-fantasy novel for middle-grade readers, young Will learns the arts of the secretive Ranger tracker-warriors and defends his kingdom against an evil baron. Released in 2004 by author John Flanagan, The Ruins of Gorlan won multiple awards, spawned the bestselling Ranger Apprentice book series, and has been published in 18 countries. A television adaptation is in the works.Following a long career in advertising, author Flanagan shifted to book... Read The Ruins of Gorlan Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Sexuality, Society: War

Tags Historical Fiction, Jewish Literature