LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Soul of America

Jon Meacham2018

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

Same earnest register, still history

1 more ↓

  • The Wright Brothers

    David McCullough2015

    A biography of Wilbur and Orville Wright focusing on their mechanical experiments and the first powered flight. It uses family letters and diaries.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Seeing Like a State

    James C. Scott1998

    An analysis of how large-scale state projects fail by ignoring local knowledge. It covers forestry, city planning, and forced villagization.

    earnest → analytical, still politics

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3

  • 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.

    earnest → clinical, still history

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → bleak, still history

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+3

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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → playful

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same earnest register

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • U.S. Constitution (Saddlewire) (Books of American Wisdom)

    Founding Fathers

    The 1787 document establishing the three branches of the United States government and the subsequent twenty-seven amendments.

    earnest → clinical, still history

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    earnest → mysterious

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

earnest → elegiac, still history

3 more ↓

  • Auschwitz

    Laurence Rees2005

    A chronological history of the camp's evolution from a Polish barracks to a site of mass industrial murder, based on archival research.

    earnest → clinical, still history

    pace0·prose0·bleak+3

  • By Hands Now Known

    Margaret A. Burnham2022

    An investigation into racial violence and legal failures in the Jim Crow South using previously unexamined archives.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3

  • The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845 - 1849

    Cecil Woodham-Smith

    A detailed record of the Irish Potato Famine, focusing on the failure of British government policy and the resulting mass starvation.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+3