Books like

Books like Dear Theo

12 books with a reading profile close to Dear Theo by Vincent van Gogh. Deep and inward-looking; a moderate read.

1

Call Us What We Carry

by Amanda Gorman

Also inward-looking · inspirational, literary

In this collection, Amanda Gorman documents the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and American history.
2

Upstream: Selected Essays

by Mary Oliver

Also inward-looking · inspirational, literary

In this collection, Mary Oliver documents her observations of the natural world, specifically focusing on the flora and fauna of Provincetown and the Massachusetts coast.
3

What Is the What

by Dave Eggers

Also deep · biography, literary

Based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, this narrative documents the survival of a Sudanese refugee during the Second Sudanese Civil War.
4

Loving Frank

by Nancy Horan

Also inward-looking · biography, literary

This historical novel depicts the scandalous love affair between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
5

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

by Barack Obama

Also inward-looking · biography, literary

Barack Obama reconstructs his personal history and identity as a biracial man in America through a narrative that spans Honolulu, Chicago, and Kenya.
6

The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster

by Sarah Krasnostein

Also inward-looking · biography, literary

Sarah Krasnostein profiles Sandra Pankhurst, a woman whose daily work involves sanitizing the aftermath of homicides, suicides, and chronic hoarding.
7

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

by Jeff Hobbs

Also inward-looking · biography, literary

Jeff Hobbs chronicles the life of his Yale roommate, Robert Peace, a gifted student from Newark, New Jersey, who navigated the tensions between an elite Ivy League education and his neighborhood roots.
8

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

by Fredrik Backman

Also inward-looking · inspirational, literary

An aging mathematician sits on a park bench that exists inside his mind, struggling to retain his memories as dementia begins to erase his world.
9

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death

by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Also deep and inward-looking · inspirational, literary

In December 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor-in-chief of French Elle, suffered a massive stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome.
10

The Narnian

by Alan Jacobs

biography, literary

Alan Jacobs traces the intellectual and spiritual development of C.S.
11

Manuscript Found in Accra

by Paulo Coelho

Also inward-looking · inspirational, literary

In the year 1099, the people of Jerusalem gather in the city's square on the eve of an invasion by crusaders, and a wise Greek called the Copt invites them to share their thoughts.
12

Sea Prayer

by Khaled Hosseini

Also inward-looking · inspirational, literary

Written as a letter from a father to his sleeping son, this short narrative poem describes a family waiting on a dark beach to board a boat.

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