Books like

Books like The Tender Bar: A Memoir

12 books with a reading profile close to The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer. Inward-looking; an easy read.

1

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

by Carrie Brownstein

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Carrie Brownstein chronicles her development from a fan in the Pacific Northwest underground music scene to the guitarist of Sleater-Kinney.
2

Just Kids

by Patti Smith

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Just Kids chronicles the relationship between Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, beginning with their chance meeting in Brooklyn in 1967.
3

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

by James McBride

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

James McBride alternates between his own upbringing in a Brooklyn housing project and the oral history of his mother, Ruth Jordan.
4

When All Is Said

by Anne Griffin

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

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.
5

Stitches: A Memoir

by David Small

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

David Small’s graphic memoir recounts his childhood in 1950s Detroit, living in a household defined by emotional withdrawal and medical negligence.
6

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood

by Alexandra Fuller

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Alexandra Fuller outlines her upbringing in 1970s and 80s Rhodesia, Malawi, and Zambia during a period of violent decolonization.
7

Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd

by Celeste Ng

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Set in 1970s Ohio, the narrative begins with the death of Lydia Lee, the favorite daughter of a mixed-race couple.
8

All Over But the Shoutin'

by Rick Bragg

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Rick Bragg recounts his transition from the poverty of the rural Alabama foothills to his career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The New York Times.
9

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life

by William Finnegan

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

William Finnegan chronicles his lifelong obsession with surfing, moving from his childhood in California and Hawaii to his global travels as an adult.
10

Truth & Beauty

by Ann Patchett

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Ann Patchett narrates the decades-long friendship between herself and the writer Lucy Grealy, beginning at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
11

Priestdaddy

by Patricia Lockwood

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

Patricia Lockwood, a poet, moves back with her husband into her parents' house in a Kansas City rectory.
12

Moab Is My Washpot

by Stephen Fry

Also inward-looking · memoir, narrative

In this memoir, Stephen Fry recounts his first twenty years, focusing on his turbulent education at various English boarding schools and his eventual imprisonment.

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