LitQueuelitqueue

After

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

Adam Hochschild

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Jakarta Method

    Vincent Bevins2020

    A history of the US-backed mass killings of Indonesian leftists and how that strategy was exported globally during the Cold War.

    bleak → clinical, still history

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

    Michel Foucault

    A philosophical history examines the shift from public torture to modern prison surveillance. It analyzes how power controls the body.

    bleak → clinical, still history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    A history of the Soviet forced labor camp system based on survivor reports and the author's own imprisonment. It documents state-run repression.

    Same bleak register, still history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Orientalism

    Edward W. Said1978

    A scholarly critique of how Western academics and artists represent the Middle East to justify imperial power.

    bleak → clinical, still history

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The cat who blew the whistle

    Lilian Jackson Braun1994

    A journalist and his two Siamese cats investigate a missing railroad enthusiast and a bank scandal. It is a small-town mystery.

    bleak → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • Larceny and Old Lace

    Tamar Myers1996

    An antique shop owner investigates the murder of her aunt, who was strangled with a bell pull. She navigates the local collectibles market for clues.

    bleak → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

  • Year zero

    Reid, Robert2012

    Aliens discover that Earth's music is the best in the galaxy and they owe humanity trillions in copyright fines.

    bleak → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • American Kingpin

    Nick Bilton2017

    This account follows Ross Ulbricht as he builds the Silk Road dark web market and the federal agents who spend years tracking him down.

    bleak → propulsive, still true crime

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-2

  • The Sun and Her Flowers

    Rupi Kaur2017

    A collection of short, illustrated poems organized into five stages of growth. It covers themes of loss, trauma, and self-healing.

    bleak → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Pillow Thoughts

    Courtney Peppernell2016

    A collection of short poems and prose pieces organized by emotional state. It focuses on themes of heartbreak, healing, and loneliness.

    bleak → tender

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Frontier in American History

    Frederick Jackson Turner1920

    A series of essays arguing that the American character and democracy were shaped by the continuous expansion into the western wilderness.

    bleak → clinical, still history

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-3

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    bleak → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-3

  • How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler1940

    This is a guide to active reading techniques for different genres. It outlines levels of reading from basic literacy to syntopical analysis.

    bleak → mysterious

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2