Books like

Books like Paula

12 books with a reading profile close to Paula by Isabel Allende. Inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.

1

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

by Jeanette Winterson

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

Jeanette Winterson’s memoir returns to her upbringing in a strict Pentecostal household in Northern England, expanding on the lived reality behind her debut novel.
2

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love

by Dani Shapiro

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

In 2016, Dani Shapiro submitted a DNA kit for analysis, expecting to confirm her Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.
3

Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?

by Roz Chast

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

Roz Chast uses a mix of cartoons, sketches, and personal photographs to document the final years of her aging parents, George and Elizabeth.
4

The End of Eddy

by Édouard Louis

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

Eddy Bellegueule grows up in a poor village in northern France, in a family where men are expected to be tough and unemployment and alcohol are common.
5

M Train

by Patti Smith

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

In this memoir, Patti Smith tracks her daily routines, centered on her singular habit of visiting the same Greenwich Village café to drink black coffee and write.
6

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder

by Salman Rushdie

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

In August 2022, thirty-three years after the fatwa against him, Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage at the Chautauqua Institution.
7

Truth & Beauty

by Ann Patchett

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

Ann Patchett narrates the decades-long friendship between herself and the writer Lucy Grealy, beginning at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
8

All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me

by Patrick Bringley

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

After the sudden death of his older brother, Patrick Bringley left his high-pressure job at The New Yorker to work as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
9

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

by Jeanette Winterson

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

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 inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

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 inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

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

Chronicles, Volume One

by Bob Dylan

Also inward-looking and contemplative · memoir, narrative

Bob Dylan sidesteps the traditional chronological life story to focus on three specific periods of his career: his 1961 arrival in Greenwich Village, the 1970 recording sessions for New Morning, and the 1989 production…

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.