Fun Collections

Poe invented it in 1841. Collins built it into a novel in 1868. Conan Doyle made it immortal. Read in order, you can watch the detective genre being invented in real time. Listen free on HearCandy.

The Gothic Tradition Where horror began — and why it still haunts us. From Walpole’s haunted castle (1764) to Leroux’s Phantom (1910), these nine novels trace the complete arc of Gothic literature. Listen free on HearCandy. The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole The first Gothic novel (1764). A haunted castle, mysterious deaths, a tyrannical prince.…

Novels and novellas under five hours — nothing wasted. These nine works are among the most concentrated literary achievements in any language. A Christmas Carol in one sitting. The Metamorphosis before dinner. Listen free on HearCandy.

Women Writing Women A century of women writers rendering female experience with precision and ferocity, 1811–1920. Each of these novels was, in its time, either scandalous or groundbreaking — several were both. Listen free on HearCandy. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen Austen’s first published novel. Two sisters navigate love, money, and society with wildly different…