LitQueuelitqueue

After

American Prometheus

Kai Bird2005

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same meditative register, still biography

1 more ↓

  • The Zookeeper's Wife

    Diane Ackerman2007

    The keepers of the Warsaw Zoo use their villa and animal cages to hide hundreds of Jewish people from the Nazis during World War II.

    meditative → tender, still biography

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

    Michel Foucault

    A philosophical history examines the shift from public torture to modern prison surveillance. It analyzes how power controls the body.

    meditative → clinical, still history

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    A history of the Soviet forced labor camp system based on survivor reports and the author's own imprisonment. It documents state-run repression.

    meditative → bleak, still history

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Tin Drum

    Günter Grass1963

    A boy in 1920s Danzig decides to stop growing at age three. He observes the rise of Nazism and the war while screaming and playing a toy drum.

    meditative → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

meditative → earnest, still biography

3 more ↓

  • Profiles in Courage

    John F. Kennedy1955

    Biographical sketches of eight United States Senators who risked their careers to follow their consciences.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin

    H.W. Brands

    A chronological biography of Benjamin Franklin. It follows his life from a printer's apprentice to a scientist and diplomat.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

    Sarah Vowell2015

    A historical account of the Marquis de Lafayette's role in the American Revolution and his 1824 return tour, told with modern commentary.

    meditative → wry, still biography

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

    Neil deGrasse Tyson2017

    A summary of the origin of the universe, the laws of physics, and the nature of space and time.

    meditative → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Steal Like an Artist

    Austin Kleon2012

    A series of short, illustrated principles for creative work. It focuses on remixing existing ideas and establishing productive daily habits.

    meditative → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Poke the Box

    Seth Godin2011

    A short manifesto encouraging readers to start projects and take initiative. It argues that the greatest risk is staying in place.

    meditative → earnest

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Frontier in American History

    Frederick Jackson Turner1920

    A series of essays arguing that the American character and democracy were shaped by the continuous expansion into the western wilderness.

    meditative → clinical, still history

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler1940

    This is a guide to active reading techniques for different genres. It outlines levels of reading from basic literacy to syntopical analysis.

    meditative → mysterious

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation

    John Ehle

    A historical account of the Cherokee Nation's political struggles and their forced removal from ancestral lands in the 1830s.

    meditative → elegiac, still biography

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Hitler: A Study in Tyranny – A Classic Biography: Authoritative and Readable, Abridged

    Alan Bullock

    A detailed biography of Adolf Hitler that focuses on his rise to power and his psychological control over the German state.

    meditative → clinical, still biography

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

    Dee Alexander Brown

    A chronological history of the displacement and systematic destruction of Native American tribes in the late 19th century.

    meditative → elegiac, still history

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1