LitQueuelitqueue

After

The First Step

Tao Wong

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Gabriels Rapture

    Sylvain Reynard2012

    A professor and his former student attempt to hide their relationship from university administration and jealous rivals.

    Same earnest register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

    A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

    earnest → tense

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Paradise Logic

    Sophie Kemp2025

    A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

    earnest → epic

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Mad Mabel

    Sally Hepworth2025

    An eighty-one-year-old woman with a history of killing people tries to hide her past when a curious young girl moves into the neighborhood.

    earnest → dark

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series)

    Tim S. Grover

    A personal trainer for elite athletes describes the mental discipline and aggressive mindset required to achieve professional dominance.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Through My Eyes

    Tim Tebow2011

    A college and professional quarterback recounts his football career and the role of his Christian faith in his public and private life.

    Same earnest register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership

    Bill Walsh

    The former San Francisco 49ers coach outlines his management principles. He focuses on process, standard of performance, and organizational detail.

    Same earnest register

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Paper Princess

    Erin Watt2016

    An orphaned girl is taken in by a wealthy family with five hostile sons. She must navigate high school bullying and mansion politics.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • Savage Prince

    Meghan March2018

    A powerful man in the New Orleans underworld becomes obsessed with a woman and pursues her despite the danger of his lifestyle.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Professional: Part 2 (The Game Maker, #1b)

    Kresley Cole

    A Russian enforcer continues his pursuit of a graduate student across Europe. The focus is on their sexual power dynamic and his mafia duties.

    earnest → tense

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles

    Thomas Hardy

    A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx1997

    Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Bright Side

    Kim Holden2014

    An optimistic college student moves to Minnesota for a fresh start while hiding a terminal diagnosis from her best friend.

    earnest → tender

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2