LitQueuelitqueue

After

Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life

Susan Forward1989

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same earnest register, still self-help

1 more ↓

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Righteous Mind

    Jonathan Haidt2012

    A social psychologist examines the intuitive origins of human morality. He explains how these instincts drive political and religious divides.

    earnest → analytical, still psychology

    pace0·prose+2·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.

    earnest → dreamlike, still psychology

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace0·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Atomic Habits

    James Clear2018

    This guide provides a system for building small daily routines and breaking bad ones. It focuses on the science of incremental behavior change.

    Same earnest register, still self-help

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • It Starts with Us

    Colleen Hoover2022

    A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.

    Same earnest register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Surrounded by Idiots

    Thomas Erikson2014

    A guide to a four-color personality model designed to help readers categorize and communicate with different behavioral types in the workplace.

    earnest → wry, still self-help

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Sun and Her Flowers

    Rupi Kaur2017

    A collection of short, illustrated poems organized into five stages of growth. It covers themes of loss, trauma, and self-healing.

    Same earnest register

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • Pillow Thoughts

    Courtney Peppernell2016

    A collection of short poems and prose pieces organized by emotional state. It focuses on themes of heartbreak, healing, and loneliness.

    earnest → tender

    pace+2·prose-1·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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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

  • 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-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.

    earnest → mysterious

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

earnest → elegiac, still psychology

3 more ↓

  • The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide

    Robert Jay Lifton

    A psychological study of how physicians in the Third Reich rationalized their participation in the Holocaust. It uses interviews with survivors.

    earnest → clinical, still psychology

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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+2

  • 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+2