Books like Stray
12 books with a reading profile close to Stray by Stephanie Danler. Inward-looking; a moderate read.
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1
How to Say Babylon
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…
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2
Mother Mary Comes to Me
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.
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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.
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4
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.
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5
Just Kids
by Patti Smith
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
Just Kids chronicles the relationship between Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, beginning with their chance meeting in Brooklyn in 1967.
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6
The End of Eddy
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
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.
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7
When All Is Said
by Anne Griffin
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
Maurice Hannigan, an elderly Irish farmer, sits in a pub in a small town one evening and orders five drinks, one for each person who has been important in his life.
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8
Stitches: A Memoir
by David Small
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
David Small’s graphic memoir recounts his childhood in 1950s Detroit, living in a household defined by emotional withdrawal and medical negligence.
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9
Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd
by Celeste Ng
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
Set in 1970s Ohio, the narrative begins with the death of Lydia Lee, the favorite daughter of a mixed-race couple.
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10
Truth & Beauty
by Ann Patchett
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
Ann Patchett narrates the decades-long friendship between herself and the writer Lucy Grealy, beginning at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
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11
This Boy's Life
by Tobias Wolff
Also inward-looking · memoir, literary
Tobias Wolff’s memoir recounts his nomadic upbringing in the 1950s as he travels across the United States with his divorced mother to escape an abusive boyfriend.
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12
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
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.
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