Joseph Piercy’s "Life Lessons from Literature" is an insightful and thought-provoking exploration of timeless wisdom found in classic literature. Piercy masterfully examines how the profound themes and moral lessons embedded in literary works can offer guidance and inspiration for navigating modern life. His writing is both accessible and engaging, providing readers with a thoughtful analysis of various literary masterpieces and their relevance to personal growth and ethical living. "Life Lessons from Literature" is a compelling read for book lovers and those seeking philosophical reflections on life's challenges and triumphs. It’s a treasure trove of wisdom that bridges the gap between literature and everyday life.

For me, my main incentive in reading non-fiction is to learn and to find use in what I learn. But unfortunately, it struck me that few people would find this book useful. I know literature students like to read things like the Cliff Notes series where it explains the themes etc that are in classic works of literature. But because the tome tries to cover so many novels, the detail on each is way to brief to be useful for this purpose.

And similarly, It's not particularly good at conveying the life lessons referred to compared with actually reading the novels yourself and being open to what they can teach you.

That said, this book is very well written, and the team behind the content excel at writing concise synopses, never seeming to go over 4 sentences long.

Out of the 100 novels discussed in the book, I had either read or was already aware of about two thirds of them.

The book divides the classical novels detailed into a handful of categories, but you could argue that some of the novels could fall into more than one category.

I enjoyed reading it, The author's opinions were clearly laid out, and there was no jargon to worry about.

Deftly Organised..
An examination of some of the works hailed as some of the greatest in history. The author selects one hundred books, one hundred works of classic literature from the whole world over, and asks why they are so and what lessons are to be learnt from them, what wisdom can be extracted. Well written and informative, deftly organised and compiled. A perfect read for a bibliophile - or indeed anyone who enjoys some philosophical debate.

"Life Lessons from Literature" is an essential read for all bibliophiles, offering a concise and highly accessible bucket list of must-read books. These literary treasures not only provide profound insights but also impart fundamental truths, enriching our understanding of the world and expanding our minds. This book serves as a valuable guide, inviting readers to embark on a journey through the pages of transformative literature that imparts timeless life lessons.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Some interesting interpretations of books and some of the comments made me look at familiar titles in a new way but for the most part there weren't enough newer books, or female authors.

This book was an interesting read that is including a lot of books I have read and loved.
Some of the books that are mention are Lolita, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, 1984 and The Great Gatsby.

If you are thinking of getting a coffee table book then this is a must buy.

While this was an interesting premise for a book I was a bit disappointed that it contained all the usual suspects as I was hoping it would have featured some more current reads.

However the book was nicely presented and would make a nice gift for book lovers

This seemingly lighthearted book attempts a brave challenge - to boil down 100 classic works of literature into a paragraph of plot and a simple life lesson. And it achieves this ambition admirably. With a readable and engaging style, Joseph Piercy introduces each book with a precis of the plot and one lesson for life that can be drawn from it - from staying true to one's own moral code (Jane Eyre) to accepting the challenges of life (Don Quixote).. The range of books covered is impressive and readers are bound to find new favourites to explore.

This is a useful reference for classic world literature. It gives a brief summary of themes and an overview of the novel and possibly will prompt me to read some of the books I haven’t already read.

Life lessons from literature is a love letter to stories that have shaped entire generations.

Exploring themes such as love this book takes a deep dive into different lessons that classic books teach us about different topics.

I absolutely adored this. A perfect read for every classic books lover, this was written so tenderly.

This was great to read as it provided me with new books that I want to read with lots of great information too

I had a fun time with this, it’s a good way of introducing people to books that they may want to read and would make a great gift for someone who’s getting into reading, or already enjoys reading.

I liked that there was the life lesson and then a sort of explanation of how it fits with the plot of the books, it felt like it was in depth enough without being dull.

This book has some insightful information about each book. It includes an interesting selection of texts, many of which I'd never heard of before, along with a few well-known favourites.

I enjoyed this book. The premise of it is to introduce the reader to 100 books that they may want to read. They are broken down into several key themes which the author introduces before including the books in that chapter. Some of the 100 books are known classics (Pride & Prejudice, Midnight’s Children, Catch 22, etc) while others are less well known.

The author has chosen well in the books written about & there are a few I am interested in reading, based upon his suggestions. I really enjoyed how each book is surmised, particularly liking the life lesson one can take from the book. I’ve seen other reviews wishing that the descriptions of each book were longer, but for me they were just right. The author has written these descriptions in a logical, interesting, accessible way. The descriptions are not highbrow like some other books of this type you might read. I would recommend this book.

Thank you to the author, publishers & NetGalley for this arc.

Life Lessons from Literature by Joseph Piercy looks at a list of 100 classic works of literature and asks what are the lessons we can learn from each. The list is broken down into five broad categories- love and relationships, people and society, oppression and conflict , psychology and identity and history and memory and includes books from authors like Charles Dickens, James Baldwin, Margaret Atwood , Vladimir Nabokov and Salman Rushdie, and while many of the books discussed will be familiar to readers, I also found several that I now want to read.
This is an interesting idea in principle, and I could see this as a book to dip in and out of, but I have to say I found the treatment of the books to be very superficial, there was no real depth to the analysis , and the majority of the discussion for each book was a plot synopsis which was a little disappointing,
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Joseph Piercy selects over a 100 classic literary pieces of fiction which he posits offer the possibility of learning life lessons, where stories may differ, particularly as it covers global literature, but the points of learning can be universal. He structures his work around the themes of Love and Relationships, People and Society, Oppression and Conflict, Psychology and Identity, and History and Memory. The specifics of a piece of fiction here is necessarily concise and simplified, necessary since this is a relatively short piece of work, this has its advantages, such as the range of fiction covered, but its problems too. However, it may be that a book here may snag the interest of the reader, who if looking for more indepth information, can opt to seek it out from other sources available.

Literary fiction covered includes Jane Eyre, where the life lessons identified are 'In matters of the heart people often fail to see what is best for them. Money cannot buy happiness, and vengeance does not conquer torment and pain.', this is followed by a brief look at what the book is about. Other works covered include The Bell Jar, David Copperfield, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Brave New World, Remains of the Day, and Lord of the Flies. American fiction includes Beloved, The Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Great Gatsby. Others books include Anna Karenina, Les Miserables, Love in the Time of Cholera, Lolita, The God of Small Things, and Midnight's Children.

I can see this book being used to arouse sufficient curiosity to want to read one of the novels identified, and there may be a myriad of reasons as to why a a specific choice is made. This may include the following, I can see some readers seeing this as useful push to motivate reading a book they may have previously seen as too high brow, knew nothing of previously, and for identifying fiction for specific life lessons they are interested in. Of course, I am but touching the tip of the iceberg here, and provided the caveats are heeded, I think this book could serve many a purpose for readers, including building on their normal reading repetoire. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This is a very simple book divided into 5 chapters, each with a different theme, where the author summarizes some of the greatest works of literature and draws life lessons from each one.

The summaries and life lessons are not deep, but they're okay. Some of the summaries piqued my interest in a few of the books I haven't read and I added them to my TBR.

Overall, an okay book about some of the things we can learn about literary masterpieces. I see that this could help people decide if they want to read some of these classics or not, and that can be useful.

I felt that this book was rather superficial, both in its summaries of some of the masterpieces of world literature and in the "lesson" the author deduces from it.

Mi é sembrato che questo libro fosse piuttosto superficiale, sia per i riassunti di alcuni capolavori della letteratura mondiale, sia per la "lezione" che ne deduce l'autore.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

This was an enjoyable, if simplistic, romp through literature. I had read many of the books discussed so I probably am not the intended audience. Would be useful for a student or someone who wants recommendations on what literature to read. It also gives an assessment of the difficulty of some of the novels named.