A Study in Scarlet marked the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become two of the most famous characters in popular fiction.

The Tale of Genji is considered to be the world's first full-length novel. It was written by a noblewoman named Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century. The work is a unique depiction of the lifestyles of high courtiers during the Heian period, written in archaic language and a poetic and confusing style that make it unreadable to the average Japanese without dedicated study.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly recounts Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke which left him almost entirely paralyzed. The entire book was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid. A transcriber repeatedly recited a French language frequency-ordered alphabet until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. An average word took approximately two minutes to "dictate".

When Lheureux calls in Bovary's debt, Emma pleads for money from several people, including Léon and Rodolphe, only to be turned down. In despair, she swallows arsenic and dies an agonizing death.

Miss Watson died two months earlier and freed Jim in her will.

Holden wears a new red hunting cap he bought in New York.

After an introduction addressing you directly, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler begins, but owing to a printer's error you only get the first signature, at which point you return to the bookstore, meet a woman, and select another book to read, only to have that one interrupted as well. If this sounds confusing, it is. If it also sounds amazing, it is.

The story is told by the six-year-old Scout (Jean Louise) Finch.

Ana utters the phrase "oh my" 72 times, often in juxtaposition to riding crops, sex at IHOP, and "firing up her Google" to send winky-face smileys to Christian.

Jay Gatsby is a young, mysterious millionaire with shady business connections who is later revealed to be a bootlegger.