My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams

Huey Long

T. Harry Williams1969

A detailed account of the life and political career of the populist Louisiana governor and senator.

tender → earnest, still history

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

tender → clinical, still history

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

tender → bleak, still history

pace0·prose+1·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.

tender → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Flip This Zombie

Jesse Petersen2011

A married couple runs a zombie extermination and 'flipping' business. They treat the apocalypse as a series of domestic and financial hurdles.

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Royally Screwed

Emma Chase2016

A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Shopaholic & Baby

Sophie Kinsella2007

A woman with a shopping addiction navigates pregnancy while discovering her celebrity obstetrician is her husband's ex-girlfriend.

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

tender → 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.

tender → 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.

tender → earnest

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

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.

tender → meditative

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

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.

tender → mysterious

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

The Red Book: Liber Novus

C.G. Jung2009

A psychologist records his visions and internal dialogues in an illuminated manuscript created during a period of intense self-exploration.

tender → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

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.

tender → elegiac, still history

pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

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.

tender → clinical, still history

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

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.

tender → elegiac, still history

pace0·prose-1·bleak+2