The House of My Mother

A House in the Sky

Amanda Lindhout2013

A freelance journalist is kidnapped by insurgents in Somalia. She documents her fifteen months in captivity and the abuse she suffered.

Same tense register, still memoir

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The Argonauts

Maggie Nelson2015

A memoir of the author's relationship with her partner and her pregnancy. It mixes personal narrative with academic theory on gender and family.

tense → meditative, still memoir

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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.

tense → bleak, still memoir

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The Education of Henry Adams

Henry Adams

A man writes a sardonic third-person account of his life and his failure to adapt to the technological shifts of the late 19th century.

tense → sardonic, still memoir

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All Creatures Great and Small

James Herriot1972

A young veterinarian begins his practice in the Yorkshire Dales during the 1930s. He treats livestock and pets while meeting local farmers.

tense → warm, still memoir

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Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Amy Chua2011

A mother details her strict, high-pressure approach to raising her two daughters. It tracks the conflict that arises as they reach adolescence.

tense → sardonic, still memoir

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Untamed

Glennon Doyle2020

A woman recounts leaving her marriage and rebuilding her life after falling in love with another woman. It is a series of personal manifestos.

tense → earnest, still memoir

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House to House: An Epic Memoir of War

David Bellavia

An American infantry sergeant provides a room-by-room account of the Second Battle of Fallujah. It focuses on close-quarters urban combat.

Same tense register, still memoir

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Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor

Clinton Romesha

A Medal of Honor recipient provides a tactical account of the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh at Combat Outpost Keating.

tense → propulsive, still memoir

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Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds

Rusty Bradley

A Special Forces officer recounts the 2006 battle for Sperwan Ghar. The focus is on tactical decisions during a multi-day engagement.

tense → propulsive, still memoir

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Braiding Sweetgrass

Robin Wall Kimmerer2013

A botanist and member of the Potawatomi Nation weaves together indigenous legends and scientific study. It focuses on ecological interconnectedness.

tense → meditative, still memoir

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A river runs through it

Norman Maclean1976

A man recalls his youth in 1920s Montana. He and his brother bond with their father through the technical details of fly fishing.

tense → elegiac, still memoir

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A Writer's Diary

Virginia Woolf1953

Selected entries from twenty-seven years of the author's personal journals. The text focuses on her creative process and daily writing habits.

tense → meditative, still memoir

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Wasted

Marya Hornbacher1998

A detailed memoir of the author's decade-long struggle with anorexia and bulimia. It documents hospitalizations and the physical decay of the body.

pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

A House in the Sky

Amanda Lindhout2013

A freelance journalist is kidnapped in Somalia and held for fifteen months. The memoir details her captivity and the conditions she endured.

Same tense register, still memoir

pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

A River in Darkness

Masaji Ishikawa2018

A man describes his thirty-six years living in North Korea after moving there from Japan. He recounts extreme poverty and his eventual escape.

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