LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Night Child

Anna Quinn2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Sea, the Sea

    Iris Murdoch1978

    A retired theater director writes a memoir in a house by the sea while becoming obsessed with a past lover he finds in the village.

    earnest → sardonic, still psychological fiction

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Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → sardonic, still unreliable narrator

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • No Archive Will Restore You

    Julietta Singh2018

    The author examines the history of her own body through the lens of race, desire, and pain. It is a collection of fragments and academic theory.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Till There Was You

    Marie Force2019

    A man returns to his island home to recover from a tragedy. He finds comfort and a new relationship with a woman he has known for years.

    earnest → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Paradise Valley

    Robyn Carr2009

    A disfigured Marine returns to Virgin River to heal while a newcomer with a criminal past tries to find a place in the community.

    earnest → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Driven

    K. Bromberg2013

    A woman working for a charity meets a volatile race car driver. They navigate a sexual relationship complicated by their respective past traumas.

    earnest → tense

    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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·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.

    Same earnest register

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Wilderness

    Samantha Harvey2009

    An architect with Alzheimer's attempts to reconstruct his life story. The narrative fragments as his memory and sense of time dissolve.

    earnest → elegiac, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Study for Obedience

    Sarah Bernstein2023

    A woman moves to a remote northern country to care for her brother. The local community grows hostile as she observes them.

    earnest → cold, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

    An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Lighthouse

    Alison Moore2012

    A recently separated man takes a walking tour of Germany while reflecting on his childhood abandonment and his failing marriage.

    earnest → bleak, still psychological fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Animal Farm

    George Orwell1945

    Farm animals overthrow their human owner to run the farm themselves. The pigs gradually seize control and establish a new hierarchy.

    earnest → sardonic

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Diary of a Young Girl

    Anne Frank2001

    A Jewish teenager records her daily life and thoughts while hiding from the Nazis in a secret annex in Amsterdam.

    Same earnest register

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1