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Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Alison Bechdel

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Road from Coorain

    Jill Ker Conway1989

    A girl grows up on an isolated sheep station in the Australian outback. The narrative follows her education and eventual departure for the city.

    wry → elegiac, still coming of age

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Argonauts

    Maggie Nelson2015

    A memoir of the author's relationship with her partner and her pregnancy. It mixes personal narrative with academic theory on gender and family.

    wry → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Salt Grows Heavy

    Cassandra Khaw2023

    A mermaid and a plague doctor flee a ruined kingdom and discover a village of ageless children. It is a dark reimagining of a fairy tale.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Tao Te Ching

    Lao Tzu1842

    A collection of 81 short poetic verses outlining the principles of the Tao. It focuses on balance, inaction, and the flow of the natural world.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • To Sir Phillip, With Love

    Julia Quinn2003

    Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.

    wry → warm

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Everything Beautiful in Its Time

    Jenna Bush Hager2020

    The author reflects on the lives and deaths of her grandparents, including a former President and First Lady. It is a series of personal essays.

    wry → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Love Comes Softly

    Janette Oke1979

    A widow on the 19th-century frontier enters a marriage of convenience with a widower to survive the winter and care for his daughter.

    wry → tender

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

    wry → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    wry → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    wry → earnest

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Prophet

    Kahlil Gibran1900

    A prophet waiting for a ship home delivers twenty-six sermons to a crowd. He speaks on topics like love, work, and death.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Tao Te Ching

    Lao Tzu1842

    A collection of 81 short poetic verses outlining the principles of the Tao. It focuses on balance, inaction, and the flow of the natural world.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Art of Happiness

    Dalai Lama XIV1998

    The Dalai Lama discusses his philosophy on mental discipline and suffering through interviews with a psychiatrist. It is a guide to secular ethics.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Child Called "It"

    Dave Pelzer1987

    A memoir of the author's childhood survival against severe physical and psychological abuse by his mother in California.

    wry → bleak

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak+2

  • Twelve Years a Slave

    Solomon Northup1853

    A memoir by a free Black man from New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. He details twelve years of labor on Louisiana plantations.

    wry → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Hiroshima

    John Hersey

    The book follows six people in Hiroshima during and after the atomic bombing. It records their movements and physical symptoms.

    wry → clinical

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2