Books like

Books like Diaries

12 books with a reading profile close to Diaries by Christopher Isherwood, Katherine Bucknell. Inward-looking; a moderate read.

1

Into the Wild

by Jon Krakauer

biography, memoir

In 1992, Chris McCandless abandoned his possessions and middle-class expectations to live off the land in the Alaskan interior.
2

Mother Mary Comes to Me

by Arundhati Roy

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Arundhati Roy's 'Mother Mary Comes To Me' is a collection of essays and non-fiction pieces rather than a novel, despite the evocative title.
3

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

by Barack Obama

Also inward-looking · biography, memoir

Barack Obama reconstructs his personal history and identity as a biracial man in America through a narrative that spans Honolulu, Chicago, and Kenya.
4

Tropical classical

by Pico Iyer

memoir, literary

In this collection of essays, Pico Iyer examines the collision of Western cultural exports with the local realities of the post-colonial world.
5

H is for Hawk

by Helen Macdonald

Also inward-looking · biography, memoir

After her father’s sudden death, Helen Macdonald buys a captive goshawk named Mabel to cope with her grief.
6

Letters to Milena

by Franz Kafka

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Franz Kafka’s correspondence with Milena Jesenská begins as a professional exchange regarding the translation of his prose into Czech but quickly pivots into a private record of obsessive emotional attachment.
7

How to Say Babylon

by Safiya Sinclair

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Safiya Sinclair recounts her childhood in Jamaica under the rigid authority of her father, a strict Rastafarian musician who enforced a sequestered life to protect his daughters from "Babylon," his term for the corrupti…
8

Everything Sad Is Untrue

by Daniel Nayeri

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Khosrou, called Daniel, is a twelve-year-old Iranian refugee living in a small town in Oklahoma.
9

Animal

by Lisa Taddeo

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Joan, a woman living in Los Angeles, witnesses a man commit suicide in front of her during a tense restaurant confrontation.
10

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

by Mira Jacob

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

In this graphic memoir, Mira Jacob documents a series of difficult discussions with her young son, her husband, and her extended family.
11

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

by Jeanette Winterson

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Jeanette Winterson’s semi-autobiographical novel follows Jeanette, a young girl adopted into a strict Pentecostal household in Northern England.
12

Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice

by Cristina Rivera Garza

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

In 1990, Liliana Rivera Garza was murdered in Mexico City by an ex-boyfriend who refused to accept the end of their relationship.

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.