The following texts have appeared on the AP Literature test. Links are provided to Amazon.com for summary and reader reviews. You may find cheaper copies on other sites (like www.betterworldbooks.com) or by searching Amazon again.

Use ctrl+F to search concepts, authors, or genres to help you make your choices. The only required author is William Shakespeare. You must read one of his plays.

Other choices are allowed, but must have literary merit and be at least 800 Lexile level. You can check your book at www.lexile.com. Books not on the list below must be approved by your teacher to ensure literary quality.

Title (Year on AP test) Author Major Concepts Genre

Absalom, Absalom! (76, 00, 10, 12)

William Faulkner Family drama, race, rebellion, murder Novel

Adam Bede (06) George Eliot Love triangles, deception, tragedy Novel

The Adventures of Augie March (13)

Saul Bellow Growing up, friendships, alienation, belonging, making choices, family

Novel

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (80, 82, 85, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 99, 05, 06, 07, 08, 11, 13)

Mark Twain Slavery, rebellion, criminals, adventure, running away, individual conscience, the South

Novel

The Aeneid (06) Virgil Mythology, war, royalty, love, duty, fate Epic Poem

Agnes of God (00) John Pielmeier Murder, faith, parenthood, religion, loyalty, lies Novel

The Age of Innocence (97, 02, 03, 08, 12, 14)

Edith Wharton Honor, family, popularity,money, power, psychology

Novel

Alias Grace (00, 04, 08) Margaret Atwood Murder, jail, amnesia, mental illness Novel

All the King’s Men (00, 02, 04, 07, 08, 09, 11)

Robert Penn Warren

American politics, intrigue, blackmail, corruption, power

Novel

All My Sons (85, 90) Arthur Miller Business, corruption, choices and consequences, social responsibility

Drama

All the Pretty Horses (95, 96, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 13)

Cormac McCarthy Ranching, coming of age, journey Novel

America is in the Heart (95) Carlos Bulosan Childhood, assimilation in America (from the Philippines), immigration

Memoir

An American Tragedy (81, 82, 95, 03)

Theodore Dreiser Social climbing, love triangles, class, murder trial

Novel

American Pastoral (09) Philip Roth Family,”the perfect life,” political terrorism, Novel

The American (05, 07, 10) Henry James Love, rejection, society, secrets, revenge Novel

Angels in America (09) Tony Kushner AIDS, gay rights, politics, power, Drama

Angle of Repose (10) Wallace Stegner Family, traditions, dependence, writing Novel

Anna Karenina (80, 91, 99, 03, 004, 06, 08, 09)

Leo Tolstoy Scandal, Russia, betrayal, hope Novel

Another Country (95, 10, 12) James Baldwin Race relations, gender relations, love, hatred, artists

Novel

Antigone (79, 80, 90, 94, 99, 03, 05, 09, 11, 14)

Sophocles Civil disobedience, law, family love, loyalty, rebellion

Drama

Antony and Cleopatra (80, 91) William Shakespeare

Love, politics, social duty, lost causes, suicide Drama

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (94)

Mordecai Richler adolescence, school, coming of age, comedy Novel

Armies of the Night ((76) Norman Mailer Vietnam War, politics, peace protests Novel/History

As I Lay Dying (78, 89, 90, 94, 01, 04, 06, 07, 09)

William Faulkner Family, death, multiple narrators Novel

As You Like It (92, 05, 06, 10) William Shakespeare

Love, gender roles, how to live your life, being yourself, comedy

Drama

Atonement (07, 11, 13) Ian McEwan Love, war, childhood, class, forgiveness Novel

Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (02, 05)

James Weldon Johnson

Race, class, music, choices Novel

The Awakening (87, 88, 91, 92, 95, 97, 99, 02, 04, 007, 09, 11, 14)

Kate Chopin Feminism, gender roles, liberation, independence, expectations

Novel

“The Bear” (94, 06) William Faulkner Coming of age, hunting, pride, courage Short Story

Beloved (90, 99, 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 10, 11, 14, 15)

Toni Morrison Murder, ghosts, family, sacrifice, (post)-Slavery

Novel

A Bend in the River (03, 15) V. S. Naipaul India, Africa, journeys, tradition, modernism Novel

Benito Cereno (89) Herman Melville Sailors, slaves, mutiny, murder, trial Novel

Billy Budd (79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 99, 02, 04, 05, 07, 08, 15)

Herman Melville Sailors, mutiny, accusations, complex relationships, psychology

Novel

The Birthday Party (89, 97) Harold Pinter Musicians, murder, fate Drama

Black Boy (06, 08, 13, 15) Richard Wright Race relations, poverty, dreams, coming of age

Memoir

Bleak House (94, 00, 04, 09, 10)

Charles Dickens Secrets, family, murder investigation, love, betrayal, suicide, social responsibility

Novel

Bless Me, Ultima (94, 96, 97, 99, 04, 05, 06, 08)

Rudolfo Anaya Family, religion, magic, Latin Americans, traditions, coming of age

Novel

The Blind Assassin (07, 11) Margaret Atwood Science fiction, accidental death, love Novel

The Bluest Eye (95, 08, 09) Toni Morrison Race, beauty, feminism, fitting in Novel

Bone: A Novel (03) Fae Myenne Ng Chinatown, honor, secrets, family Novel

The Bonesetter’s Daughter (06, 07, 11)

Amy Tan Mother-daughter bonds, assimilation in America (from China), immigration, curses,

Novel

secrets, forgiveness

Brave New World (89, 05, 09, 10)

Aldous Huxley Dystopia, science fiction, a “perfect world,” humanity, rebellion

Novel

Breath, Eyes, Memory (13) Edwidge Danticat Haiti, family, journey, supernatural, politics, traditions

Novel

Brideshead Revisited (12) Evelyn Waugh Love, aristocracy, class, society, modernism Novel

Brighton Rock (79) Graham Greene Violence, gang warfare, adolescence, justice Novel

Broken for You (09) Stephanie Kallos Friendship, secrets, coming to terms with the past, journeys

Novel

The Brothers Karamazov (90, 08)

Fyodor Dostoevski Corruption, faith, love triangles, temptation, Russia

Novel

Brown Girl, Brownstones (13)

Paule Marshall Childhood,family, culture, conflict, Barbados, self-discovery

Novel

Candida (80) George Bernard Shaw

Feminism, love triangle, jealousy Drama

Candide (80, 86, 87, 91, 95, 96, 04, 06, 10)

Voltaire Comedy, politics, religion, intellectualism, coming of age,

Novel

The Canterbury Tales (901, 08, 11, 13)

Geoffrey Chaucer Travelers, multiple narrators, series of stories Novel

The Caretaker (85) Harold Pinter Relationships, everyday life,mental illness Drama

Catch-22 (82, 85, 87, 89, 94, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 11, 15)

Joseph Heller World War II, Italy, difficult situations, choices Novel

The Catcher in the Rye (01, 08, 11, 13)

J. D. Salinger adolescence, expulsion, alienation, mental illness

Novel

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (00) Tennessee Williams

Brothers, family, greed, friendship,love, loneliness

Drama

Cat’s Eye (94, 08, 09, 13, 15) Margaret Atwood Artists, Canada, childhood, friendship, memories, betrayal

Novel

The Centaur (81) John Updike Modern mythology, immortality, sacrifice, fathers and sons

Novel

Ceremony (94, 96, 97, 99, 01, 03, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12)

Leslie Marmon Silko

World War II, Native Americans, prisoners, religion

Novel

The Cherry Orchard (71, 77, 06, 07, 09, 10)

Anton Chekhov Aristocracy, tradition, change, modernism, Russia, society

Drama

The Cider House Rules (13) John Irving Orphanage, love, friendship, love, difficult decisions, abortion

Novel

The Chosen (08, 13) Chaim Potok Fathers and sons, World War II, Judaism, Israel, coming of age, adolescence

Drama

“Civil Disobedience” (76) Henry David Thoreau

Thinking for yourselves, politics, conscience vs. law

Essay

Cold Mountain (06, 08) Charles Frazier Civil War, journey home, love, survival Novel

The Color Purple (92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 05, 08, 09, 12, 13)

Alice Walker Sisters, families, self-worth, love, betrayal, forgiveness

Novel

Coming Through Slaughter (01)

Michael Ondaatje Music, jazz, madness Novel

Copenhagen (09) Michael Frayn World War II, physics, atomic bomb Drama

The Country of the Pointed Firs (10)

Sarah Orne Jewett Women’s relationships, modernism Novella

Cry, The Beloved Country (85, 87, 91, 95, 96, 07, 09)

Alan Paton Fathers and sons, racial injustice, South Africa, love, murder

Novel

Crime and Punishment (976, 79, 80, 82, 88, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 09, 10, 11)

Fyodor Dostoevski Murder, guilt, prison, suffering, redemption, Russia, religion

Novel

“The Crisis” (76) Thomas Paine Independence, the American Revolution Letters

The Crossing (09) Cormac McCarthy Nature, westerns, ghosts, violence, adolescence, coming of age

Novel

The Crucible (71, 83, 86, 89, 04, 05, 09, 14, 15)

Arthur Miller Witch hunts, hysteria, unintended consequences

Drama

Daisy Miller (97, 03, 12) Henry James Travelling abroad, flirtation, consequences Novella

Dancing at Lughnasa (01) Brian Friel Family, Ireland, religion, rebellion, freedom Drama

David Copperfield (78, 83, 06, 13)

Charles Dickens Coming of age, rags to riches, romance, self-control, respect

Drama

“The Dead” (97) James Joyce Marriage, secrets, self-realization, Ireland Short Story

The Death of Ivan Ilyich (86) Leo Tolstoy Wealth, status, family, dying, appreciating life Novella

Death of a Salesman (86, 88, 94, 03, 04, 05, 07, 12, 14)

Arthur Miller Family, respect, dreams, fathers and sons Drama

Delta Wedding (97) Eudora Welty Family, weddings, relationships, the South Novel

Desire Under the Elms (81) Eugene O’Neill Modern mythology, family, brothers, madness, murder

Drama

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (97)

Anne Tyler Family, fears, wounds, isolation, imperfection (but humorous)

Novel

The Divine Comedy (06) Dante Alighieri Journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise (PS - not a comedy)

Epic Poem

The Diviners (95) Margaret Laurence Mothers and daughters, writers, solitude, love, understanding

Novel

Doctor Faustus (79, 86, 99, 04, 11)

Christopher Marlowe

Selling one’s soul, greed, temptation, religion, salvation

Drama

Doctor Zhivago (10) Boris Pasternak Russian Revolution, love, war, survival Novel

A Doll’s House 71, 83, 87, 88, 95, 05, 09)

Henrik Ibsen Marriage, self-discovery, society, expectations, individualism

Drama

The Dollmaker (91) Harriette Arnow Family, traditions, war, overcoming adversity, motherhood, staying together

Novel

Don Quixote (01, 04, 06, 08) Miguel de Cervantes

Spain, knights, journey, escapism, identity, humor

Novel

Dreaming in Cuban (03) Cristina Garcia Family, politics, Cuban revolution, magical realism

Novel

Dutchman (03, 06) Amiri Baraka/ Leroi Jones

Interracial relationships, race, fear, manipulation

Drama

East of Eden (06) John Steinbeck Bible, Adam & Eve reinactment, families, identity, love, consequences

Novel

Emma (96, 08) Jane Austen Love, matchmaking, Clueless, friendship Novel

An Enemy of the People (76, 80, 87, 99, 01, 07)

Henrik Ibsen Brothers, morality, disease, government Drama

Equus (92, 99, 00, 01, 08, 09) Peter Shaffe Society, passion, obsession, mental illness Drama

Ethan Frome (80, 85, 03, 05, 06, 07, 14)

Edith Wharton Marriage, betrayal, love, morality Novella

Eumenides (96) Aeschylus (in The Orestia)

Mythology, brothers, rivalry, marriage, politics, war

Drama

The Fall (81) Albert Camus Morality, secrets, guilty, self-deception Novel

A Farewell to Arms (99, 04, 09)

Ernest Hemingway World War I, loyalty, desertion, love Novel

The Father (01) August Strindberg Gender, marriage,parenting, mental illness, secrets

Drama

Fathers and Sons (90) Ivan Turgenev Fathers and sons, science, religion, Russia, love triangles

Novel

Faust (02, 03) Johann Goethe Deal with the devil, love, power Novel

The Federalist Papers (76) Alexander Hamilton American Revolution, independence Essays

Fences (02, 03, 05, 09, 10) August Wilson Fathers and sons, modernism, marriage Drama

A Fine Balance (03) Rohinton Mistry India, political turmoil, strangers, friendship, love

Novel

Fifth Business (00, 07) Robertson Davis World War I, memories, psychology, religion Novel

The Fixer (07) Bernard Malamud World War I, Judaism, prison, religion, justice, morality,

Novel

For Whom the Bell Tolls (03, 06)

Ernest Hemingway Spain, war, loyalty, courage, love, faith Novel

Frankenstein (89, 00, 03, 06, 08, 15)

Mary Shelley Horror, suspense, science, monsters, morality Novel

A Free Life: A Novel (10) Ha Jin Family, assimilation in America (from China), lost love, immigration

Novel

A Gathering of Old Men (00, 11)

Ernest Gaines Race, murder, vengeance Drama

Germinal (09) Emile Zola France, mining, class, social activism Novel

A Gesture Life (04, 05, 15) Chang-Rae Lee Love, secrets, World War II, community, Korea, Japan

Novel

Ghosts (00, 04) Henrik Ibsen Fathers and children, expectations, marriage, secrets,

Drama

The Glass Menagerie (71, 90, 94, 97, 99, 02, 08, 09, 10, 12)

Tennessee Williams

Mothers and daughters,siblings, marriage, expectations

Drama

The God of Small Things (10, 11, 13)

Arundhati Roy Family, forbidden love, murder mystery, India, politics, society

Novel

Going After Cacciato(01, 06, 10)

Tim O’Brien Vietnam War, heroes, fear, duty, abandonment

Novel

The Golden Bowl (09) Henry James Marriage, secrets, fathers and daughters, family

Novel

The Good Soldier (00, 11) Ford Madox Ford Marriage, secrets, betrayal Novel

The Grapes of Wrath (95, 03, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13)

John Steinbeck Great Depression, family, journey, farmers, migration

Novel

Great Expectations (79, 80, 88, 89, 92, 95, 96, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 10, 12, 13, 15)

Charles Dickens Aspirations, dreams, class, love, orphans, crimes

Novel

The Great Gatsby (82, 83, 88, 91, 92, 97, 00, 02, 04, 05, 07, 10)

F. Scott Fitzgerald Class, love, obsession, jealousy, Jazz age Novel

Go Tell It on the Mountain (83, 88, 90, 05, 09)

James Baldwin Religion, morality, family, fathers and sons, self-discovery

Novel

Gulliver’s Travels (87, 89, 01, 04, 06, 09)

Jonathan Swift Satire, journey, fantasy, politics Novel

The Hairy Ape (89, 0994, 97, 99, 00)

Eugene O’Neill Class,shame, self-discovery Drama

Hamlet (88, 94, 97, 99, 00) William Shakespeare

Royalty, murder, fathers and sons, tragedy, betrayal, politics, power, mental illness

Drama

The Handmaid’s Tale (03, 09) Margaret Atwood Future, society, religion, dystopia Novel

Hard Times (87, 90, 09) Charles Dickens Fathers and children, morality, industrialization, crime, satire

Novel

Heart of Darkness (71, 76, 91, 94, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 15)

Joseph Conrad Africa, humanity, corruption, race Novel

The Heart of the Matter (71) Graham Greene Love, suspense, West Africa, marriage, secrets, World War II

Novel

Hedda Gabler (79, 92, 00, 02, 03, 05)

Henrik Ibsen Evil, marriage, secrets, class, family Drama

Henry IV, Parts I and II (80, 90, 08)

William Shakespeare

Royalty, civil war, fathers and sons, rebellion, politics, history

Drama

Henry V (02) William Shakespeare

Royalty, war, politics, history Drama

A High Wind in Jamaica (08) Richard Hughes Childhood, secrets, pirates, Jamaica Novella

The Homecoming (78, 90) Harold Pinter Fathers and sons, crime, family, brothers, marriage

Drama

Home to Harlem (10) Claude McKay World War I, love, Jazz age, race Novel

A House for Mr. Biswas (10) V. S. Naipul India, marriage, society, independence Novel

House Made of Dawn (95, 06, 09)

N. Scott Momaday Native Americans, modernism, choices, tradition, expectations

Novel

The House of Mirth (04, 07, 10)

Edith Wharton Wealth, society, hypocrisy, love, exclusion Novel

The House of Seven Gables (89)

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Wealth, love, guilt, curses, greed, pride Novel

The House on Mango Street (08, 10, 13)

Sandra Cisneros Latin Americans, coming of age, society, traditions, self-discovery, dreams, childhood

Novel

The Iliad (80) Homer Mythology, Trojan War, honor, duty Epic Poem

The Importance of Being Earnest (06)

Oscar Wilde Comedy, class, absurdity, society, marriage Drama

The Inheritance of Loss (10) Kiran Desai India, family, modernism, class Novel

In the Lake of the Woods (00) Tim O’Brien Vietnam War, secrets, politics, mystery Novel

In the Time of Butterflies (05) Julia Alvarez Sisters, family, revolution, death, Dominican Republic, dictatorship, politics

Novel

Invisible Man (76, 77, 78, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 01, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15)

Ralph Ellison Race, politics, violence, humanity, self-discovery, coming of age,

Novel

Jane Eyre (78, 79, 80, 88, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 00, 05, 07, 08, 10, 13)

Charlotte Bronte Secrets, love, coming of age, feminism Novel

Jasmine (99, 10, 13) Bharati Mukherjee India, immigration to America, marriage, dreams, assimilation

Novel

J.B. (81, 94) Archibald MacLeish Wealth, loss, faith, hope, religion Drama

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (00, 04)

August Wilson Freedom, manhood, love, self-identity, Jazz age

Drama

The Joy Luck Club (97, 03, 13) Amy Tan Mothers and daughters, immigration to America from China, assimilation, family, sacrifice

Novel

Joseph Andrews (99) Henry Fielding Society, comedy, love, adventure Novel

Jude the Obscure (71, 76, 80, 85, 87, 95, 04, 09, 10)

Thomas Hardy Society, education, social unrest, marriage, class, religion

Novel

Julius Caesar (82, 97, 05, 07, 09)

William Shakespeare

Tragedy, assassination, betrayal, war, politics, honor, friendship

Drama

The Jungle (77, 78, 82, 88, 89, 90, 96, 09)

Upton Sinclair Labor conditions, equity, politics, poverty, immigration to America (from Lithuania), assimilation, survival

Novel

Kafka on the Shore (08) Haruki Murakami adolescence, journey, friendship, family, Japan

Novel

King Lear (77, 78, 82, 88, 89, 90, 96, 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 10, 11, 12, 14)

William Shakespeare

Royalty, fathers and daughters, rebellion, power, tragedy

Drama

The Kite Runner (07, 08, 09, 15)

Khaled Hosseini Friendship, loyalty, childhood, coming of age, secrets, betrayal, Afghanistan

Novel

Lady Windermere’s Fan (09) Oscar Wilde Society, marriage, betrayal, comedy Drama

The Last of the Mohicans (15) James Fenimore Cooper

Native Americans, French and Indian War, frontier life, traditions

Novel

A Lesson before Dying (99, 11)

Ernest Gaines Murder, trial, education, friendship Novel

Letters from an American Farmer (76, 11)

St. John de Crèvecœur

Travels, American colonies, Revolution, family Letters

Linden Hills (14) Gloria Naylor Class, family, identity, religion Novel

Light in August (71, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 95, 99, 03, 06, 11)

William Faulkner Race, religion, journeys,isolation, self-identity Novel

The Little Foxes (85, 90, 10) Lillian Hellman Family, evil, greed, betrayal Drama

Little Women (08) Louisa May Alcott Sisters, family, Civil War, identity, sacrifice, love

Novel

Long Day’s Journey into Night (90, 03, 07)

Eugene O’Neill Artists, actors, fathers and sons, expectations, failure

Drama

Look Homeward, Angel (10) Thomas Wolfe Coming of age, adolescence, school, family Novel

Lord Jim (77, 78, 82, 86, 00, 03, 07)

Joseph Conrad Sailor, guilt, redemption, religion, travel Novel

Lord of the Flies (85, 08, 15) William Golding Children, power, greed, society, human nature Novel

The Loved One (89) Evelyn Waugh Death, Hollywood, love triangle, satire, reputation, culture

Novel

Love Medicine (95) Louise Erdrich Native Americans, family, truth, secrets Novel

“Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (85)

T. S. Eliot Alienation, fear, overcoming obstacles Poem

Lysistrata (87) Aristophanes Comedy, war, feminism, rebellion, marriage Drama

Macbeth (83, 99, 03, 05, 09) William Shakespeare

Ambition, deception, tragedy, marriage Drama

Madame Bovary (80, 85, 04, 05, 06, 09, 10)

Gustave Flaubert Romance, marriage, secrets, morality Novel

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (12)

Stephen Crane Family, poverty, morality, siblings, Immigration to America (from Ireland)

Novel

Main Street (87, 09) Sinclair Lewis Small town, marriage, medicine Novel

Major Barbara (79, 96, 04, 07, 09, 11)

George Bernard Shaw

Religion, redemption, wealth, aristocracy Drama

Man and Superman (81) George Bernard Shaw

Comedy, love, religion, passion Drama

Mansfield Park (03, 06, 15) Jane Austen Wealth, society, rules, marriage, betrayal, friendship

Novel

“Master Harold”...and the Boys (03, 08, 09)

Athol Fugard South Africa, apartheid, race, injustice, friendship

Drama

The Mayor of Casterbridge (94, 99, 00, 02, 07, 10, 11)

Thomas Hardy Revenge, ambition, marriage, rejection Novel

M. Butterfly (95, 11, 12) David Henry Hwang

Crime, prison, passion, war, spies, France, China

Drama

Medea (82, 92, 95, 01, 03, 15) Euripides Mythology, betrayal, passion, jealousy, revenge

Drama

The Member of the Wedding (97, 08)

Carson McCullers Family, siblings, childhood, imagination, adolescence

Novel

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (09, 14)

Kim Edwards Family, motherhood, secrets, consequences, love,

Novel

The Merchant of Venice (85, 91, 95, 02, 03, 11, 15)

William Shakespeare

Marriage, tests, comedy, greed, friendship Drama

Metamorphosis (78, 89) Franz Kafka Family, transformations, expectations, science fiction, magical realism

Novella

Middlemarch (95, 04, 05, 07) George Eliot Society, politics, reform, love, forgiveness, temptation, psychology

Novel

The Middle Passage (06) V. S. Naipaul Trinidad, travel, culture, language, politics Novel

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (06, 12)

William Shakespeare

Marriage, choices, comedy Drama

The Mill on the Floss (90, 92, 04)

George Eliot Love, loyalty, self-discovery, responsibility Novel

The Misanthrope (08) Moliere Comedy, society, pretentiousness, hate Drama

Miss Lonelyhearts (89) Nathanael West Writers, reporters, love, advice, loneliness, Great Depression

Novel

Moby Dick (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 89, 94, 96, 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09)

Herman Melville Sailors, obsession, whaling, fighting monsters Novel

Moll Flanders (76, 77, 86, 87, 95, 09)

Daniel Defoe Travel, con artists, thieves, independence, feminism

Novel

Monkey Bridge (00, 03) Lan Cao Vietnam War, Vietnamese Americans, culture, assimilation

Novel

The Moor’s Last Sigh (07) Salman Rushdie India, art, ethnicity, religion, family, passion, crime, Spain

Novel

Mother Courage and Her Children (85, 87, 06)

Bertolt Brecht Thirty Years War, family, motherhood, loss, survival, antiwar

Drama

Mrs. Dalloway (94, 97, 04, 05, 07, 11)

Virginia Woolf Memories, aging, psychology, war, insanity Novel

Mrs. Warren’s Profession (87, 90, 95, 02, 09)

George Bernard Shaw

Mothers and daughters, secrets, self-identity, money, power, politics

Novel

Much Ado About Nothing (97, 14)

William Shakespeare

Love, comedy, family Drama

Murder in the Cathedral ( 76, 80, 85, 95, 07, 11)

T. S. Eliot Murder, religion, faith, politics Drama

“My Last Duchess” (85) Robert Browning Aristocracy, marriage, love, memories Poem

My Ántonia (03, 08, 10, 12) Willa Cather Childhood, coming of age, responsibility, love, Novel

My Name is Asher Lev (03) Chaim Potok Religion, Judaism, imagination, family, identity Novel

The Namesake (09, 10, 13) Jhumpa Lahiri Immigration from India to America, family, assimilation, culture

Novel

Native Son (79, 82, 85, 87, 95, 01, 04, 09, 11, 12)

Richard Wright Poverty, race, murder, trial, class, justicel Novel

Native Speaker (99, 03, 05, 07, 08)

Chang-Rae Lee Immigration from Korea to America, assimilation, family, race, culture, marriage, death, fathers and sons

Novel

Never Let Me Go (09, 10) Kazuo Ishiguro Innocence, adolescence, cliques, friendship, memories

Novel

Night (15) Elie Wiesel Holocaust, World War II, survival, Judaism Memoir

1984 (87, 94, 05, 09) George Orwell Dystopia, government control, individuality, conformity

Novel

No Exit (86, 12) John Paul Sartre Hell, humanity, relationships, Drama

Noah’s Compass (14) Anne Tyler Memories, forgiveness, humanity Novel

No-No Boy (95) John Okada Japanese American, World War II, internment camps, loyalty, patriotism

Novel

Notes from the Underground (89)

Fyodor Dostoevski Dystopia, individuality, society, revenge, Russia

Novel

Obasan (94, 95, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10)

Joy Kogawa World War II, Japanese-Canadians, internment, family

Novel

The Octopus (09) Frank Norris Farms vs. Railroads, greed, coercion, violence Novel

The Odyssey (86, 06, 10, 15) Homer Heroes, mythology, journeys, monsters, love, violence, loyalty

Epic Poem

Oedipus Rex (77, 85, 88, 00, 03, 04, 11)

Sophocles Parents and children, loyalty, royalty, fate, secrets

Drama

Of Mice and Men (01) John Steinbeck Friendship, mental disability, loyalty, alienation, Great Depression

Novel

Old School (08) Tobia Wolff Outsiders, adolescence, class, competition, loyalty

Novel

Oliver Twist (09, 15) Charles Dickens Orphans, poverty, loyalty, scheming, crime Novel

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (05, 10)

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Russia, work camps, prison, World War II Novel

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (01, 12, 15)

Ken Kesey Crime, mental illness, asylums, free will, destiny

Novel

One Hundred Years of Solitude (89, 04, 12)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Family, dreams, magical realism, civil war, sorrow, Colombia

Novel

O Pioneers! (06) Willa Cather Survival, family, love, greed, murder, farming, immigrants

Novel

The Optimist’s Daughter (94) Eudora Welty Family, fathers and daughters, memories, death, small towns

Novel

The Orestia (90) Aeschylus 3 plays; events off Agamemnon’s return from Trojan War; mythology

Drama

Orlando: A Biography (04) Virginia Woolf Fictional biography, gender, identity, aging Novel

Oryx and Crake (12, 14) Margaret Atwood Future, dystopia, science fiction, love Novel

Othello (79, 85, 88, 92, 95, 03, 04, 07, 11, 14, 15)

William Shakespeare

Friendship, loyalty, interracial relationships, betrayal

Drama

The Other (10) Thomas Tryon Brothers, fathers and sons, evil, crime, psychological horror

Novel

Our Mutual Friend (90) Charles Dickens Inheritance, murder, love, blackmail Novel

Our Town (86, 97, 09) Thornton Wilder Small town, family, community, marriage, death

Drama

Out of Africa (06) Isak Dinesen Africa, Kenya, farming, colonialism, culture Novel

Pale Fire (01) Vladimir Nabokov Mental illness, past, neighbors, poetry Novel

Pamela (86) Samuel Richardson Virtue, childhood, relationship Novel

A Passage to India (71, 77, 78, 88, 91, 92, 07, 09, 12)

E. M. Forster India, colonialism, cultures, mystery Novel

Paradise Lost (85, 86, 10) John Milton Religion, mythology, disgrace, forgiveness Epic Poem

Passing (11) Nella Larsen Race, friendship, memories, identity, murder, deception

Novel

Peer Gynt (06) Henrik Ibsen Choices, consequences, wedding, love, betrayal, loyalty

Drama

Père Goriot (02) Honore de Balzac Poverty, wealth, society, class, love Novel

Persuasion (90, 05, 07) Jane Austen Marriage, class, romance, marriage Novel

Phaedre (92, 03) Jean Racine Royalty, love triangles, fathers and sons, mythology

Drama

The Piano Lesson (96, 99, 07, 08, 10, 12)

August Wilson Family, past and present, ghosts, slavery, heritage

Drama

The Picture of Dorian Gray (02)

Oscar Wilde Evil, horror, obsession, youth, aging, art Novel

The Plague (02, 09, 12) Albert Camus Bubonic plague, North Africa, horror, death Novel

Pnin (97) Vladimir Nabokov Russian, academia, parties, love, heartbreak, satire

Novel

Pocho (02, 08) Jose Antonio Villarreal

Immigration from Mexico to America, Great Depression, traditions, assimilation, adolescence, coming of age

Novel

The Poisonwood Bible (10, 11, 12, 14)

Barbara Kingsolver Religion, family, Africa, missionaries, sisters, politics, culture, mental illness

Novel

Portrait of a Lady (88, 92, 96, 03, 05, 07, 11, 14)

Henry James Wealth, marriage, fraud, cruelty Novel

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (76, 77, 80, 86, 88, 96, 99, 04, 05, 08, 09, 10, 11, 13)

James Joyce Ireland, childhood, coming of age, religion, politics

Novel

The Power and the Glory (95) Graham Greene Corruption, redemption, religion, Mexico, thriller

Novel

Praisesong for the Widow (96) Paule Marshall Travel, Granada, marriage, memories, Carriacou, heritage, traditions

Novel

A Prayer for Owen Meany (09, 14)

John Irving Childhood, friendship, accidents, religion Novel

Pride and Prejudice (83, 88, 92, 97, 08, 11, 12)

Jane Austen Society, morality, marriage, expectations, class

Novel

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark Scotland, love, betrayal, society, ambition, Novel

(90, 08) girl’s school

Purple Hibiscus (13) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

adolescence, Nigeria, religion, tyranny, politics, coming of age, freedom

Novel

Push (07) Sapphire adolescence, poverty, abuse, transformations, coming of age, basis of the movie Precious

Novel

Pygmalion (03, 05, 08) George Bernard Shaw

Class, independence, rags to riches, basis of the movie My Fair Lady

Drama

Ragtime (03, 07) E. L. Doctorow Historical fiction, World War I, fantasy, violence

Novel

A Raisin in the Sun (87, 90, 94, 96, 99, 07, 09, 12, 14)

Lorraine Hansberry Poverty, dreams, prejudice, race, sacrifice, family

Drama

The Rape of the Lock (81) Alexander Pope Mythology, society, prophecy, wealth, obsession

Poem

The Red Badge of Courage (08, 15)

Stephen Crane Civil War, soldiers, abandonment, redemption Novel

Redburn (87) Herman Melville Coming of age, sailors, fathers and sons Novel

The Remains of the Day (00, 03, 11)

Kazuo Ishiguro Service, loyalty, love, duty, understanding Novel

Reservation Blues (08, 09) Sherman Alexie Native Americans, magic, music, traditions Novel

The Return of the Native (07) Thomas Hardy Love, prejudice, rejection, marriage Novel

Rhinoceros (09) Eugene Ionesco Transformation, self-delusion, magic, humor Drama

Richard III (79) William Shakespeare

Royalty, History, power, egotism, corruption, greed

Drama

A River Runs Through It (08) Norman Maclean Small towns, West, family, brothers, fathers and sons, love

Novella

The Road (10) Cormac McCarthy Post-apocalypse, horror, survival, fathers and sons, love

Novel

Robinson Crusoe (10) Daniel Defoe Shipwreck, castaway, survival Novel

A Room of One’s Own (76) Virginia Woolf Women, writers, creativity, feminism Essay

A Room with a View (03) E. M. Forster Society, Italy, England, love, love, choices, freedom, passion

Novel

Romeo and Juliet (90, 92, 97, 08)

William Shakespeare

Adolescence, passion, rebellion, consequences, hatred, love, Tragedy

Drama

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (81, 94, 00, 04, 05, 06, 10, 11)

Tom Stoppard Hamlet, perspective, fate, illusions Drama

Saint Joan (95) George Bernard Shaw

Modern Joan of Arc, religion, adolescence, rebellion, feminism

Drama

The Sandbox (71) Edward Albee Families, relationships, obligations Drama

The Scarlet Letter (71, 77, 78, 83, 88, 91, 99, 02, 04, 05, 06, 11, 14, 15)

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Religion, adultery, secrets, loyalty, independence

Novel

The Secret Life of Bees (13) Sue Monk Kidd Motherhood, friendship, sisters, race, love, feminism

Novel

Sent for You Yesterday (03) John Edgar Wideman

Music, exclusion, mental illness, tragedy, World War II

Novel

A Separate Peace (82, 07, 13)

John Knowles World War II, adolescence, friendship, innocence, coming of age

Novel

Set This House on Fire (11) William Styron Friendship, tragedy, Italy, violence, evil, suicide

Novel

The Shipping News (97) E. Annie Proulx Marriage, betrayal, mental illness, family, secrets,

Novel

Siddhartha (13) Hermann Hesse Suffering, rejection, peace, greed, passion, religion, search for happiness

Novel

Silas Marner (02) George Eliot Accusations, crime, recluse, love, redemption Novel

Sister Carrie (87, 02, 04, 09, 10, 15)

Theodore Dreiser Rags to riches, controversy, morality, fame Novel

Sister of My Heart (10) Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Childhood, maturity, secrets, friendship, families, India, tragedy

Novel

Slaughterhouse-Five (91, 04) Kurt Vonnegut Aliens, prisoner of war, World War II Novel

Snow (09) Orhan Pamuk Turkey, writer, memories, suicides, reporting Novel

Snow Falling on Cedars (00, 10, 12)

David Guterson Japanese-Americans, murder, trial, memories, love, World War II

Novel

A Soldier’s Play (11) Charles Fuller World War II, race, murder, investigation Drama

Song of Solomon (81, 88, 96, 00, 04, 05, 06, 07, 10, 13)

Toni Morrison Coming of age, ambition, family, discrimination, magical realism

Novel

Sons and Lovers (77, 90) D. H. Lawrence Love, possessiveness, mothers and sons Novel

Sophie’s Choice (09, 15) William Styron Choices, consequences, World War II, Auschwitz, survival, friendship,

Novel

The Sorrows of Young Werther (13)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Love, rejection, self-destruction, German Novella

The Sound and the Fury (77, 86, 97, 01, 07, 08, 13)

William Faulkner Family, memories, tragedy, greed, mental disability

Novel

The Stone Angel (96, 04) Margaret Laurence Canada, women, isolation, youth, age Novel

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (11, 13)

David Wroblewski Childhood, West, dogs, tragedy, survival, sign language

Novel

The Stranger (79, 82, 86, 04) Albert Camus Alienation, morals, crime, trial Novel

A Streetcar Named Desire (91, 92, 01, 04, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 14)

Tennessee Williams

Sisters, marriage, mental illness, secrets, violence

Drama

The Street (07) Ann Petry Violence, poverty, race, family, single mom Novel

Sula (92, 97, 02, 04, 07, 08, 10, 12)

Toni Morrison Friendship, childhood, women, coming of age, secrets, betrayal

Novel

Surfacing (05) Margaret Atwood Mystery, thriller, artists, Canada, marriage, violence

Novel

The Sun Also Rises (85, 91, 95, 96, 04, 05, 12)

Ernest Hemingway World War I, Paris, Spain, friendship, journey, love

Novel

A Tale of Two Cities (82, 91, 04, 08, 14)

Charles Dickens French Revolution, war, crime, prison, trial Novel

Tartuffe (87) Moliere Society, behavior, comedy, hypocrisy, France Novel

The Tempest (71, 78, 96, 03, 05, 07, 10)

William Shakespeare

Royalty, aristocracy, shipwreck, castaways, love, magic

Drama

Tess of the D’Urbervilles (82, 91, 03, 06, 07, 12, 14, 15)

Thomas Hardy Class, religion, marriage, hypocrisy Novel

Their Eyes Were Watching God (88, 90, 91, 96, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 13, 14)

Zorah Neale Hurston

Women, identity, marriage, friendship Novel

Things Fall Apart (91, 97, 03, 09, 10, 11, 14)

Chinua Achebe Africa, tradition, missionaries, marriage, brutality, choices, consequences

Novel

The Things They Carried (04, 09)

Tim O’Brien Vietnam War, soldiers, multiple perspectives, historical fiction, choices

Novel

A Thousand Acres (06, 14) Jane Smiley Family, sisters, heritage, jealousy, secrets, memories, reimagining of King Lear

Novel

A Thousand Splendid Suns (11, 13)

Khaled Hosseini Afghanistan, women, friendship, sacrifice, survival

Novel

To Kill a Mockingbird (08, 09, 11, 13, 15)

Harper Lee Small town, the South, family, childhood, coming of age, trial, discrimination

Novel

To the Lighthouse (77, 86, 88, 08)

Virginia Woolf Family, marriage, multiple perspectives Novel

Tom Jones (90, 00, 06, 08) Henry Fielding Morality, hypocrisy, love, obsession, rejection, humor

Novel

Tracks (05) Louise Erdrich Native Americans, pride, honor, heritage, future, multiple narrators

Novel

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (13) Betty Smith Adolescence, coming of age, sibling rivalry, poverty, dreams

Novel

The Trial (88, 89, 00, 11) Franz Kafka Accusations, trials, Russia, paranoia Novel

Trifles (00) Susan Glaspell Accusations, murder, marriage, mystery Novel

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (86)

Laurence Sterne Humor, satire, fictitious autobiography, birth, family, war

Novel

The Turn of the Screw (92, 94, 00, 02, 04, 08)

Henry James Horror, children, ghosts, suspense Novel

Twelfth Night (85, 94, 96, 11) William Shakespeare

Shipwreck, love triangle, gender roles Drama

Typical American (02, 03, 05) Gish Jen Immigration to America from China, assimilation, family, tradition

Novel

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (87, 09) Harriet Beecher Stowe

Slavery, the South, family, loyalty, race, religion

Novel

U.S.A. (trilogy) (09) John Dos Passos America, multiple perspectives, saga Novel

The Vicar of Wakefield (06) Oliver Goldsmith Religion, bankruptcy, abduction Novel

Victory (83) Joseph Conrad Philosophy, the South Seas, love, crime Novel

Volpone (83) Ben Jonson Italy, aristocracy, dying, greed, comedy Drama

Waiting for Godot (77, 85, 86, 89, 94, 01, 09, 12)

Samuel Beckett Search for meaning, wordplay, poetry Drama

The Warden (96) Anthony Trollope Society, religion, politics, moral dilemmas Novel

Washington Square (90) Henry James Money, wealth, power, family, responsibility Novel”

“The Wasteland” (81) T. S. Eliot Chaos, search for meaning, disillusionment Poem

Watch on the Rhine (87) Lillian Hellman America, Germany, World War II, politics Drama

The Way of the World (71) William Congreve Comedy, marriage, betrayals Drama

The Way We Live Now (06) Anthony Trollope Satire, society, family, hypocrisy, money Novel

We Were the Mulvaneys (07) Joyce Carol Oates Family, saga, memories, exile, secrets Novel

When the Emperor Was Divine (12)

Julie Otsuka Japanese-Americans, World War II, camps, multiple perspectives

Novel

Who Has Seen the Wind (11) W. O. Mitchell Canada, fathers and sons, childhood, small town

Novel

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (88, 94, 00, 04, 07, 1, 151)

Edward Albee Dark comedy, marriage, secrets Drama

Wide Sargasso Sea (89, 92, 05, 07, 08)

Jean Rhys Forced marriage, mental illness, based on Jane Eyre

Novel

The Wild Duck (78) Henrik Ibsen Family, lies, cruelty, secrets, self-delusion Drama

Winter in the Blood (95) James Welch Native American, heritage, ancestors, tragedy Novel

The Winter’s Tale (82, 89, 95, 06)

William Shakespeare

Rage, misunderstanding, mistakes, consequences, fathers and daughters, comedy

Drama

Wise Blood (82, 89, 95, 09, 10)

Flannery O’Connor Religion, Korean War, free will, redemption, comedy

Novel

The Woman Warrior (91, 08, 13)

Maxine Hong Kingston

Chinese-Americans, Immigration to American, assimilation, feminism, gender, race

Novel

The Women of Brewster Place (09, 10, 12, 14)

Gloria Naylor Women, family, diversity, motherhood, adversity

Drama

Wuthering Heights (71,77, 78, 79, 83, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 97, 99, 01, 06, 07, 08, 10, 12, 15)

Emily Bronte Love, obsession, wickedness, revenge, family, fathers and sons

Novel

The Zoo Story (82, 01) Edward Albee Loneliness, isolation, conversations, tragedy Drama

Zoot Suit (95) Luis Valdez Mexican-Americans, riots, accusations, race, police

Drama

Most Frequently Cited 1970-201527 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison21 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte19 Great Expectations by Charles Dickens17 Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad17 King Lear by William Shakespeare 16 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevski16 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte15 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 15 Moby Dick by Herman Melville14 Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce14 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne13 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zorah Neale Hurston13 The Awakening by Kate Chopin13 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller12 Billy Budd by Herman Melville12 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald11 Beloved by Toni Morrison11 Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko11 Light in August by William Faulkner11 Othello by William Shakespeare10 Antigone by Sophocles10 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner10 The Color Purple by Alice Walker10 The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams10 Native Son by Richard Wright10 Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison10 A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams 9 The Crucible by Arthur Miller 9 Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller 9 A Passage to India by E. M. Forster9 A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry8 All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy8 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

8 Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya8 Candide by Voltaire8 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck8 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy 8 The Jungle by Upton Sinclair8 Portrait of a Lady by Henry James8 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard 8 Sula by Toni Morrison8 Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy8 Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett 7 All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren7 Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton7 Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton7 Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad7 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert7 The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy7 Medea by Euripides7 The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare 7 Oedipus Rex by Sophocles 7 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen7 The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner7 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway7 The Tempest by William Shakespeare7 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 7 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee 6 Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton6 A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen6 An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen6 Equus by Peter Shaffer6 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley6 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift6 Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen 6 Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw6 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe6 Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf6 Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot 6 Obasan by Joy Kogawa6 The Piano Lesson by August Wilson6 The Turn of the Screw by Henry James5 Bleak House by Charles Dickens5 The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov5 Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe5 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin 5 Hamlet by William Shakespeare5 Macbeth by William Shakespeare 5 Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw5 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser5 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens5 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 5 Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys5 Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Shakespeare - All Plays Total = 82 Classical Greek & Roman Literature = 32

2 Anthony and Cleopatra 4 As You Like It 5 Hamlet 3 Henry IV, Parts I and II 1 Henry V 4 Julius Caesar 17 King Lear 5 Macbeth7 Merchant of Venice2 A Midsummer Night's Dream2 Much Ado About Nothing10 Othello1 Richard III 4 Romeo and Juliet7 The Tempest4 Twelfth Night 4 Winter’s Tale

1 The Aeneid by Virgil 10 Antigone by Sophocles1 The Eumenides by Aeschylus1 The Iliad by Homer1 Lysistrata by Aristophanes7 Medea by Euripides4 The Odyssey by Homer6 Oedipus Rex by Sophocles1 The Oresteia by Aeschylus