Books like

Books like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

12 books with a reading profile close to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; an easy read.

1

The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories

by Marina Keegan

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

The collection compiles fiction and non-fiction written by Marina Keegan before her death just days after graduating from Yale.
2

Beautiful Country

by Qian Julie Wang

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Qian Julie Wang was seven when she and her parents left China for New York in 1994, where her mother and father, a former professor and a professional, became undocumented workers.
3

Solutions and Other Problems

by Allie Brosh

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Allie Brosh uses crude digital illustrations and humorous vignettes to document her life after a long public absence.
4

Persepolis, Volume 1

by Marjane Satrapi

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel chronicles her childhood in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War.
5

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir, written in verse, chronicles her childhood across the 1960s and 1970s.
6

I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death

by Maggie O'Farrell

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

This memoir documents seventeen instances where Maggie O’Farrell narrowly escaped death.
7

I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

by Nora Ephron

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Nora Ephron examines the physical humiliations and domestic frustrations of aging, focusing on the specific maintenance required to camouflage a sagging neck.
8

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

by Ruth Reichl

memoir, narrative

Ruth Reichl’s memoir tracks her development from a child navigating her mother’s dangerous kitchen to a professional restaurant critic.
9

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas, Angie Thomas

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives a split existence between her impoverished neighborhood, Garden Heights, and her wealthy suburban prep school.
10

Ghost Boys

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible

Jerome is a twelve-year-old boy killed by a police officer who thinks his toy gun is real.
11

Travels with Charley: In Search of America

by John Steinbeck

memoir, narrative

In 1960, John Steinbeck drove a custom-built camper truck named Rocinante across nearly forty states to reconnect with the country he felt he no longer understood.
12

Tom Lake

by Ann Patchett

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, accessible

During the 2020 pandemic, Lara gathers with her three adult daughters on their family cherry orchard in Michigan.

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