1984 (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
What if freedom was a thoughtcrime—and your own mind betrayed you? In a suffocating world of perpetual war and omnipresent surveillance, Winston Smith dares to keep a forbidden diary, cling to forbidden love, and whisper the ultimate rebellion: 2 + 2 = 4. But as the Thought Police close in and reality itself bends to the Party’s will, one question chills the bone: If even your memories can be rewritten, what becomes of truth—and does defiance doom you, or make you human?
- Originally Published: June 8, 1949
- Publisher: Penguin Books, 2008
- Genre: Science fiction, Dystopian Fiction, Social science fiction, Political fiction
- Pages: 1231
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-0241969694
- Access: Members
Animal Farm
What if freedom became just another cage? When the oppressed animals of Manor Farm overthrow their human masters, they vow to create a world of equality—only to watch their revolution devoured by cunning pigs who rewrite history and enforce tyranny with iron hooves. But as ideals crumble and loyal comrades vanish, one chilling truth echoes: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others… How far would you go to believe the lie?
- Originally Published: August 1945
- Genre: Novella, Political Satire
- Pages: 101
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 9780451526342
- Access: Members
Anna Karenina
What if the greatest love of your life could destroy everything you hold dear? In Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, a radiant aristocrat defies the suffocating rules of Russian high society, torn between a love that ignites her soul and the gilded cage of duty—but as whispers of scandal unravel her world and a parallel search for meaning unfolds in the shadows, can liberation ever outweigh the cost of burning it all down… or is the heart’s truth the most dangerous lie of all?
- Originally Published: 1873
- Publisher: Penguin Books, 2002
- Genre: Novel
- Pages: 880
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-0140449174
- Access: Members
Brave New World
What if your deepest desires were manufactured—and your free will, a flaw to be erased? In Brave New World, a society thrives on engineered harmony, its citizens numbed by pleasure and oblivious to the chains of their perfection—until one man dares to question the void behind the smiles. But as his rebellion unearths the rot beneath utopia’s gleaming surface, will awakening to the truth save humanity… or doom it to collapse? Is a world without pain worth living in if it means losing your soul—or have we already surrendered ours?
- Originally Published: 1932
- Publisher: Vintage Classics, 2004
- Genre: Novel, Science fiction, Dystopian Fiction
- Pages: 229
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-0099477464
- Access: Members
Hard Times
What if the cost of building a perfect society is the crushing of every fragile, human heart? In Hard Times, a rigid industrialist enforces a world of cold facts and suffocated dreams—until his own children, starved of compassion and wonder, begin to crack under the weight of his soulless logic. But when rebellion sparks in the unlikeliest corners, can a single flame of hope survive a storm of greed… or will the machinery of progress grind even love to dust?
- Originally Published: August 12, 1854
- Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1985
- Genre: Novel
- Pages: 328
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-0140430424
- Access: Members
Jude the Obscure
What if the price of defying society’s chains is your own destruction? In Thomas Hardy’s searing novel, Jude Fawley—a stonemason with a scholar’s heart—battles cruel class barriers and a forbidden love that ignites and consumes. But as every dream crumbles under the weight of prejudice and desire, one question remains: Can the human spirit endure when the world conspires to extinguish its light?
- Originally Published: 1895
- Publisher : Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1993
- Genre: Novel
- Pages: 376
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN-13: 978-1853262616
- Access: Members
Mrs Dalloway
What if the echoes of a single day could unravel the fragile tapestry of your existence? In Mrs Dalloway, Clarissa Dalloway, a society hostess cloaked in poise, navigates a whirlwind of hidden regrets and fleeting connections as she prepares a party that masks decades of silent yearning. Yet when the shadows of war, lost chances, and a tormented stranger’s fate pierce her polished world, will the chime of midnight bring liberation—or unravel the threads binding her to life itself? What truths lie buried beneath the roses and champagne… and who will survive their blooming?
- Originally Published: May 14, 1925
- Publisher: Vintage Classics Library, 2016
- Genre: Novel, Psychological Fiction
- Pages: 172
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-1784871697
- Access: Members
On Earth as It Is on Television
What if aliens descended upon Earth—only to vanish overnight, leaving humanity more bewildered than invaded? In Emily Jane’s On Earth as It Is on Television, a suburban dad unravels under his family’s chaos, a disillusioned heiress questions her place in the cosmos, and a man reborn from decades of silence chases a cryptic cat toward the unknown. As bacon-loving UFOs and TV-obsessed children blur the line between absurdity and existential dread, one truth emerges: the universe is stranger than we imagined… and the cats might know why. Will their fractured lives collide before the aliens’ secret reshapes reality—or will humanity’s greatest revelation vanish like a forgotten sitcom rerun?
- Originally Published: June 2023
- Publisher: Hyperion Avenue, 2023
- Genre: Novel, Sci-Fi
- Pages: 352
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-1368092999
- Access: Members
One Hundred Years of Solitude
- What if your family’s destiny was written in a language only the dead can read? In the fever-dream town of Macondo, the Buendía clan chases love, power, and forbidden knowledge across generations, their lives spiraling through miracles and curses—golden fish, prophecies in ice, and a child born with the tail of a pig. But as the ghosts of their past grow louder and the walls between reality and myth crumble, one question haunts their bloodline: Can a soul ever outrun its fate, or are we all prisoners of the stories we inherit?
- Originally Published: 1967
- Publisher : Penguin Books, 2024
- Pages: 422
- Genre: Novel, Magical Realism, Family saga, Epic Fiction
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN-13: 978-0241968581
- Access: Members
Pride & Prejudice
What if your first impression doomed your chance at true love? In Jane Austen’s timeless duel of wit and will, Elizabeth Bennet navigates a world where marriage is survival and a single misstep could ruin her family’s future. But when sparks of passion clash with cold reality, will pride and prejudice seal their fates—or can love rewrite a story written in judgment?
- Originally Published: 1813
- Publisher : Wordsworth Classics, 1993
- Pages: 325
- Genre: Fiction, Romance novel, Satire, Regency romance, Novel of manners
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN-13: 978-1853260001
- Access: Members
The Brothers Karamazov
What if the truth could damn your soul as easily as save it? In this searing masterpiece, three brothers—a reckless sensualist, a tormented intellectual, and a devout novice—are ensnared in their father’s murder, a crime that unravels their fragile bonds and forces them to confront faith, freedom, and the darkest corners of human desire. As secrets fester and motives blur, Dostoyevsky whispers: If God is dead, is every sin justified—or does redemption lie in the wreckage of our choices?
- Originally Published: November 1880
- Publisher: Penguin Classic, 2003
- Genre: Novel
- Pages: 1056
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 978-0679410034
- Access: Prime Membership
The Great Gatsby
What if you could rewrite your past—but the future refuses to forget? In the glittering chaos of the Jazz Age, Jay Gatsby builds an empire of champagne and illusion to win back a love frozen in time. But as his mansion overflows with strangers chasing their own mirages, the green light across the bay flickers—a haunting reminder that dreams, like money, can’t buy back what’s already been lost… How much of yourself would you burn to keep a lie alive—and when the smoke clears, will anyone recognize what’s left?
- Originally Published: 1925
- Publisher : Vintage Classics, 2010
- Genre: Novel, Tragedy
- Pages: 148
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN-13: 9780099541530
- Access: Members
The Idiot
What if true innocence could destroy you in a world ruled by lies? In Dostoyevsky’s haunting masterpiece, Prince Myshkin—a soul of uncorrupted virtue—returns to a cutthroat Russian aristocracy where his boundless compassion becomes both a beacon and a curse. As he navigates a labyrinth of obsession, betrayal, and fragile alliances, the lines between sanctity and madness blur. But in a society drunk on greed and deception, can purity outlast the storm of human frailty—or will it ignite its own destruction?
- Originally Published: 1869
- Publisher : Everyman’s Library, 2002
- Pages: 632
- Genre: Novel
- Book Type: Hardcopy/Hardcover
- ISBN-13: 978-1857152548
- Access: Prime Membership
The Master and Margarita
What if the Devil himself threw a party in Moscow—and you were invited? In a city gripped by Soviet repression, a mysterious professor and his demonic entourage unleash chaos, exposing the hypocrisy of a regime that denies both God and the supernatural. Meanwhile, a tortured writer and his fearless lover, Margarita, bargain with hell itself to reclaim a banned masterpiece… but in a world where truth is treason, can love and art outwit the devil—or will they burn brighter in the flames?
- Originally Published: 1967
- Publisher : Vintage Classics, 2024
- Pages: 448
- Genre: Romance novel, Satire, Fantasy
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN-13: 978-0099540946
- Access: Members
Things Fall Apart
What if the very traditions that forged your identity could crumble in the blink of an eye? In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, a warrior clinging to pride in a world shifting beneath his feet, battles to uphold his legacy as colonial shadows encroach on his homeland. But when culture collides with change and defiance dances with despair, will his fire consume him—or light the way for those left behind? Some truths refuse to be buried… and some falls rewrite history.
- Originally Published: 1958
- Publisher: Penguin Books, 1994
- Genre: Novel
- Pages: 209
- Book Type: Hardcopy
- ISBN: 9780385474542
- Access: Members
