Books like

Books like A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

12 books with a reading profile close to A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.

  1. 1 The Complete Persepolis

    The Complete Persepolis

    by Marjane Satrapi

    Also contemplative · history, memoir

    Marjane Satrapi chronicles her upbringing in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent Iran-Iraq War.

  2. 2 Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

    Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

    by Trevor Noah

    Also contemplative · history, memoir

    In this memoir, Trevor Noah recounts his upbringing in South Africa under apartheid and the subsequent transition to democracy.

  3. 3 The Diary of a Young Girl

    The Diary of a Young Girl

    by Anne Frank

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · history, memoir

    Between 1942 and 1944, Anne Frank lived in a hidden attic annex in occupied Amsterdam to escape Nazi persecution.

  4. 4 Half Broke Horses

    Half Broke Horses

    by Jeannette Walls

    history, memoir

    Jeannette Walls reconstructs the life of her maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, in this oral history styled as a novel.

  5. 5 The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

    The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

    by Edith Hahn Beer

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · history, memoir

    In 1942, Edith Hahn, a Jewish law student from Vienna, escaped deportation by assuming the identity of a Christian woman named Grete Denner.

  6. 6 Black Like Me

    Black Like Me

    by John Howard Griffin

    history, memoir

    In 1959, white journalist John Howard Griffin underwent medical treatments, including skin-darkening medication and ultraviolet light exposure, to pass as a Black man in the segregated American South.

  7. 7 From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

    From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

    by Caitlin Doughty

    history, memoir

    Caitlin Doughty documents her visits to several countries to observe how diverse cultures handle their dead.

  8. 8 Not My Father's Son

    Not My Father's Son

    by Alan Cumming

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

    Alan Cumming recounts a pivotal summer in 2010 when he filmed a genealogy program while preparing for a play.

  9. 9 When You Are Engulfed in Flames

    When You Are Engulfed in Flames

    by David Sedaris

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

    David Sedaris chronicles the mundane indignities and peculiar fixations of his middle age through a collection of observational essays.

  10. 10 Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo

    Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo

    by Christiane V. Felscherinow

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

    Christiane Felscherinow narrates her descent into heroin addiction in 1970s West Berlin, beginning with her experimentation with hashish and pills at age twelve.

  11. 11 Solito

    Solito

    by Javier Zamora

    Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

    Nine-year-old Javier Zamora departs his small town in El Salvador to reunite with his parents in the United States, traveling three thousand miles without his family.

  12. 12 Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

    Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

    by Jon Krakauer

    history, memoir

    Jon Krakauer chronicles the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, during which eight climbers died in a single storm.

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.

papr turns your books into a reading persona, chapter insights you can listen to, and a quiet way to find people who think like you. Free to join.

Get papr — it's free
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play