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The Beautiful Mystery, published in 2012, is the eighth book in former Canadian journalist Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series. The Gamache series is known for its recurring cast of characters, psychological depth, and long-term story arcs. Gamache is a longtime member of Québec’s provincial police force, most often known by its French name, the Sûreté du Québec. Gamache’s struggles with police corruption form the main plot of several books, including A Fatal Grace and... Read The Beautiful Mystery Summary

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“The Bet” is one of over 500 short stories by Russian literary giant Anton Chekov. Published in 1889, the story addresses related and intertwined themes of life and death, theoretical versus empirical knowledge, and confinement versus freedom.Considered a master of short fiction and, along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, a founder of Modernist theater, Chekov is one of the late-19th-century writers who have reached 21st-century readers and audiences most powerfully and widely. “The Bet”... Read The Bet Summary

Published in 1939, The Big Sleep by novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler is a murder mystery widely regarded as one of the greatest hard-boiled detective stories of the 20th century. The work introduces Philip Marlowe, a fictional private eye with a jaundiced view of humanity but a strong sense of fairness, who appears in seven other novels by Chandler. Hired by a super-rich family to negotiate with a blackmailer, Marlowe encounters murder, mayhem, and a... Read The Big Sleep Summary

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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a historical novel by American author Kim Michele Richardson. Published in 2019, the book takes place in the Kentucky hills during the Great Depression in 1936. In its depiction of prejudice and community in 1930s Kentucky, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek touches upon themes including the distrust of authority, the random and dangerous nature of prejudice, the power of community, and the importance of caring.Content Warning: The... Read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Summary

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The Chrysalids is a young-adult science fiction novel, written by John Wyndham and first published in 1955. Wyndham was a renowned science fiction author of the post-World War II era, and many of his works are thus inspired by a potential nuclear apocalypse. The Chrysalids was well-received by critics and is considered one of Wyndham’s best novels. It was adapted into a BBC radio play in 1982 and a play in 1999.This guide utilizes the... Read The Chrysalids Summary

The Corrections is a 2001 novel by Jonathan Franzen that won the National Book Award. Franzen is the author of several essay collections and novels, including the novels Freedom, Purity, and Crossroads. He has received many awards for his work, including the Whiting Award in 1988 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996.The main action of the novel takes place during the turn of the 21st century, a time of great financial prosperity in the United... Read The Corrections Summary

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