LitQueuelitqueue

After

Nineteen Minutes

Jodi Picoult2006

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still unreliable narrator

1 more ↓

  • Swimming Home

    Deborah Levy2011

    A family on holiday in the French Riviera finds a stranger floating in their pool. Her presence forces their hidden resentments to the surface.

    Same tense register, still psychological fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Tin Drum

    Günter Grass1963

    A boy in 1920s Danzig decides to stop growing at age three. He observes the rise of Nazism and the war while screaming and playing a toy drum.

    tense → sardonic, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • No Archive Will Restore You

    Julietta Singh2018

    The author examines the history of her own body through the lens of race, desire, and pain. It is a collection of fragments and academic theory.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Tao Te Ching

    Lao Tzu1842

    A collection of 81 short poetic verses outlining the principles of the Tao. It focuses on balance, inaction, and the flow of the natural world.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • On Dublin Street

    Samantha Young2012

    An American woman in Scotland enters a sex-only arrangement with her roommate's brother to avoid emotional intimacy. It is a contemporary romance.

    tense → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Night Pleasures

    Sherrilyn Kenyon2002

    An immortal warrior and a skeptical accountant are handcuffed together while being hunted by supernatural predators.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Honeysuckle Summer

    Sherryl Woods2010

    A woman with severe anxiety and agoraphobia after an abusive marriage finds support from a local deputy. He helps her re-enter the world.

    tense → warm

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

    Neil deGrasse Tyson2017

    A summary of the origin of the universe, the laws of physics, and the nature of space and time.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Steal Like an Artist

    Austin Kleon2012

    A series of short, illustrated principles for creative work. It focuses on remixing existing ideas and establishing productive daily habits.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Poke the Box

    Seth Godin2011

    A short manifesto encouraging readers to start projects and take initiative. It argues that the greatest risk is staying in place.

    tense → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Boneland

    Alan Garner2012

    An adult Colin searches for his lost sister while an ancient shaman performs rituals in the same landscape. The two timelines mirror one another.

    tense → elegiac, still psychological fiction

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • The Prophet

    Kahlil Gibran1900

    A prophet waiting for a ship home delivers twenty-six sermons to a crowd. He speaks on topics like love, work, and death.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Tao Te Ching

    Lao Tzu1842

    A collection of 81 short poetic verses outlining the principles of the Tao. It focuses on balance, inaction, and the flow of the natural world.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • A Child Called "It"

    Dave Pelzer1987

    A memoir of the author's childhood survival against severe physical and psychological abuse by his mother in California.

    tense → bleak

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Twelve Years a Slave

    Solomon Northup1853

    A memoir by a free Black man from New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. He details twelve years of labor on Louisiana plantations.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Hiroshima

    John Hersey

    The book follows six people in Hiroshima during and after the atomic bombing. It records their movements and physical symptoms.

    tense → clinical

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1