Book Brief Library

Get inspired and find your next read with SuperSumary's growing library of bite-sized Book Briefs. Designed for easy browsing and discovery, each Book Brief provides a short, spoiler-free summary plus an at-a-glance snapshot of a book's mood, reviews and reception, reader profile, and other details to help you decide if a title is right for you. Explore Book Briefs alphabetically or by genre.

Looking for more comprehensive resources? Find chapter-by-chapter summaries and analyses on over 8,600 titles in our Study Guide Library, plus quick-read synopses of thousands of additional works in our Plot Summary Library

ALPHABETICAL

Patterns of Culture
Ruth Benedict

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1934

Patty Jane's House of Curl
Lorna Landvik

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999

Paula
Isabel Allende

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1994

Paul Bunyan Swings His Axe
Dell J. McCormick

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1936

Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire
Flora Fraser

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2003

Paul Revere's Ride
David Hackett Fischer

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1994

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
Andrea Lawlor

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

Pavilion of Women
Pearl S. Buck

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1946

Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America
Leslie Knope

Fiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 2011

Pawn of Prophecy
David Eddings

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2004

Pax
Sara Pennypacker

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016

Pax, Journey Home
Sara Pennypacker

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

Pay Attention, Carter Jones
Gary D. Schmidt

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019

Payback in Death (In Death, #57)
J.D. Robb

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

Payback (Masterminds, #3)
Gordon Korman

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017

Payback's a Witch
Lana Harper

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

Payback Time
Carl Deuker

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010

Pay It Forward
Catherine Ryan Hyde

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999

Payment in Blood
Elizabeth George

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1993

Peace Breaks Out
John Knowles

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1981

Peace in the Heart
Archibald Rutledge

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1930

Peace Like a River
Leif Enger

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001

Peace Of Wild Things
Wendell Berry

Nonfiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2018

Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto
Taiaiake Alfred

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1999

Peace Talks
Jim Butcher

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

Peach Blossom Spring
Melissa Fu

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

Peaches
Jodi Lynn Anderson

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005

Peak
Roland Smith

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2007

Pearl
Jo Knowles

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011

Pearl Buck in China
Hilary Spurling

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2010

Pearl Harbor (Pearl Harbor, #1)
Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2007

Pearl Harbor: Warning And Decision
Roberta Wohlstetter

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1962

Pearl of China
Anchee Min

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

Pearls of Lutra
Brian Jacques

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2004

Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen
Richard M. Wunderli

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1992

Pebble in the Sky
Isaac Asimov

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1991

Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Paulo Freire

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1968

Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned
Judd Winick

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2000

Pedro Paramo
Juan Rulfo

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1955

Pedro's Journal
Pam Conrad

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1992

Pee on Water
Rachel B. Glaser

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2010

Peeps
Scott Westerfeld

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005

Peer-e-Kamil/پیر کامل
Umera Ahmed

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004

Peer Gynt
Henrik Ibsen

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1867

Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944
Stephen E. Ambrose

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1988

Peggy
Rebecca Godfrey, Leslie Jamison

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

Pellucidar (Pellucidar, #2)
Edgar Rice Burroughs

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002

Penance
Eliza Clark

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

Pendragon: Arthur And His Britain
Joseph P. Clancy

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1972

Penmarric
Susan Howatch

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984

Penny from Heaven
Jennifer L. Holm

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006

Penpal
Dathan Auerbach

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

Pen Pal
J. T. Geissinger

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

Penrod
Booth Tarkington

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2007

Pensées
Blaise Pascal

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1670

Peony In Love
Lisa See

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2007

People Like Her
Ellery Lloyd

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

People of the Book
Geraldine Brooks

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

People of the City
Cyprian Ekwensi

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1963

People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil
M. Scott Peck

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1998

People of the Whale
Linda Hogan

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

Perceval, the Story of the Grail
Chrétien De Troyes

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1181

Perchance to Dream: Selected Stories
Charles Beaumont

Fiction | Anthology/Varied Collection | Adult | Published in 2015

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
Rick Riordan

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Middle Grade | Published in 2014

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes
John Rocco, Rick Riordan

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015

Percy Jackson: The Demigod Files
Rick Riordin

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Published in 2009

Perdido Street Station
China Mieville

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000

Perelandra
C. S. Lewis

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1943

Perestroika
Tony Kushner

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1993

Perestroika In Paris
Jane Smiley

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

Perfect
Natasha Friend

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004

Perfect Chemistry
Simone Elkeles

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

Perfect (Flawed, #2)
Cecelia Ahern

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2017

Perfect Game (Fred Bowen Sports Story Series)
Fred Bowen

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

Perfection
R.L. Mathewson

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

Perfect Little Children
Sophie Hannah

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

Perfectly Nice Neighbors
Kia Abdullah

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

Perfect Match
Jodi Picoult

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2003

Perfect on Paper
Sophie Gonzales

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2021

Perfect Peace
Daniel Black

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

Perfect Strangers
J.T. Geissinger

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

Perfect You
Lisa Fyfe, Elizabeth Scott

Fiction | Novel | Published in 2008

Perfume
Patrick Süskind

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1985

Perfume & Pain
Anna Dorn

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Süskind

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1985

Pericles
William Shakespeare

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1609

Pericles: Second Series (Arden Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1963

Peril
Bob Woodward, Robert Costa

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2021

Peril at End House
Agatha Christie

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001

Peril at End House (BBC Radio 4 adaptation)
Agatha Christie

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

Permanent Midnight
Jerry Stahl

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2005