• Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, about intentions and temptation
• Dracula, about living in the moment as a journey
• The Jungle Book, about grieving in the moment, letting emotions out
• Matthew Bruccoli in his introduction to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, about great writing being the product of both talent and tools
• Isabel Allende in the interview with Madeline Miller in the Book Club guide at the back of A Long Petal of the Sea, about writing similar to training for a sport
• The Lathe of Heaven, in a rare moment not about inaction and dystopia, instead about love.
• “If We Had a Lemon We’d Throw It and Call That the Sun,” beautiful and instrospective, cuz it’s poetry
• Mr. Dickens and His Carol with a hard and universal truth