Books like

Books like Letters to Milena

12 books with a reading profile close to Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka. Deep and inward-looking; a moderate read.

1

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…
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

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.
4

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

by Vincent van Gogh

Also deep and inward-looking · memoir, literary

This collection compiles the private correspondence sent by Vincent van Gogh, primarily to his brother Theo, between 1872 and his death in 1890.
5

Men We Reaped: A Memoir

by Jesmyn Ward

Also deep and inward-looking · memoir, literary

Jesmyn Ward chronicles the lives and deaths of five young Black men from her community in DeLisle, Mississippi, including her own brother.
6

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

by Cathy Park Hong

Also deep and inward-looking · memoir, literary

Cathy Park Hong uses her personal history as a Korean American poet to define "minor feelings," the dissonant internal state that occurs when American optimism clashes with the reality of structural racism.
7

My Body

by Emily Ratajkowski

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

In this collection of personal essays, Emily Ratajkowski examines the commodification of female beauty through her career as a high-fashion model and actress.
8

Heart Berries

by Terese Marie Mailhot

Also inward-looking · memoir, literary

Terese Marie Mailhot writes a series of essays documenting her time in a mental health facility following a post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II diagnosis.
9

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.
10

Heavy

by Kiese Laymon

Also deep and inward-looking · memoir, literary

In this memoir, Kiese Laymon addresses his mother to recount a childhood in Jackson, Mississippi, shaped by academic rigor and physical discipline.
11

Happening

by Annie Ernaux

Also deep and inward-looking · memoir, literary

In 1963, when abortion remained illegal in France, Annie Ernaux, then a university student, discovered she was pregnant.
12

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness

by William Styron

Also deep and inward-looking · memoir, literary

In this memoir, William Styron documents his descent into a paralyzing clinical depression that began during a trip to Paris in 1985.

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