18 books like In the Dream House

What to read after In the Dream House — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Borrowed Time Paul Monette · 1988 · ★ 4.4 · 342p · ≈ 11h · Moderate This "tender and lyrical" memoir (New York Times Book Review) remains one of the most compelling documents of the AIDS era-"searing, shattering, ultimately hope inspiring account of a great love story" (San Francisco Examiner). A National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and the winner of the PEN Center West literary award. Shares: LGBTQ biography and memoir, Gay, Biography & Memoir

The Chronology of Water Lidia Yuknavitch · 2011 · ★ 4.2 · 296p · ≈ 9h · Moderate This is not your mother's memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch expertly moves the reader through issues of gender, sexuality, violence, and the family from the point of view of a lifelong swimmer turned artist. In writing that explores the nature of memoir itself, her story traces the effect of extreme grief on a young woman's developing sexuality that some define as untraditional… Shares: American Women authors, Women authors, Biography & Memoir

Rebel Girl Kathleen Hanna · 2023 · ★ 4.4 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you wantKathleen Hanna’s band Bikini Kill embodied the punk scene of the 90s, and today her personal yet feminist lyrics on anthems like “Rebel Girl” and “Double Dare Ya” are… Shares: LGBTQ biography and memoir, Biography & Memoir

Proxima Five Missouri Vaun · 2018 · 266p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Geologist Dr. Leah Warren wakes after extended cryogenic hibernation to discover she’s crash-landed on a foreign planet. The sole survivor of her crew, she struggles to piece together what went wrong. Leah ventures from the ship in search of signs of life only to be captured by desert raiders. Keegan, a clan warrior, discovers Leah, weak and barely alive. Her kindness and affection for Leah seem… Shares: Lesbians, American literature

Autobiography and Questions of Gender Shirley Neuman · 2015 · 217p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Originally published in 1991. Addressing the ways in which the ideology of gender and its social construction determine autobiographical self-representations, the essays here consider several women’s works in the light of the social and historical conditions which enabled their production. Some examine diaries as a feminine form and ask about the ways in which thematic content such as childbirth… Shares: Women authors, American literature, Biography & Memoir

Gender Queer Maia Kobabe · 2019 · ★ 4.3 · 240p · ≈ 8h · Moderate In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of… Shares: LGBTQ biography and memoir, Biography & Memoir

Auto/Biography in the Americas Ricia A. Chansky · 2016 · 198p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Auto/Biography in the Americas: Relational Lives brings together scholars from disparate geographic regions, cultural perspectives, linguistic frameworks, and disciplinary backgrounds to explore what connects narrated lives in the Americas. By interweaving scholarship on Afro-diasporic subjectivities, gendered narratives, lives in translation, celebrity auto/biographies, and pedagogical… Shares: American literature, Biography & Memoir

The egg and I Betty MacDonald · 1945 · ★ 3.9 · 277p · ≈ 9h · Challenging When Betty MacDonald married a marine and moved to a small chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild. With no running water, no electricity, a house in need of constant repair, and days that ran from four in the morning to nine at night, the MacDonalds had barely a moment to put their feet up and relax. And then came… Shares: American Women authors, Biography & Memoir

Harrow the Ninth Tamsyn Muir · 2020 · ★ 4.3 · 512p · ≈ 17h · Moderate "She answered the Emperor's call. She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend. In victory, her world has turned to ash. After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate… Shares: Lesbians, Women authors

The Book of Luke Lovell Holder · 2025 · ★ 3.8 · 394p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Following the car accident that ended his football career and left his body scarred, 22-year-old Luke Griffin joins the cast of Endeavor, a new competition-based reality show that pits the tabloids’ darlings against one another in tasks of endurance and problem solving. At first, he thrives, effortlessly forming friendships and even a romantic relationship that he thinks will last a lifetime. But… Shares: Gay, American literature

Naked David Sedaris · 1997 · ★ 4.0 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Naked, published in 1997, is a collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris. The book details Sedaris’ life, from his unusual upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, to his booze-and-drug-ridden college years, to his Kerouacian wandering as a young adult. Shares: LGBTQ biography and memoir, Biography & Memoir

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou · 1969 · ★ 4.4 · 281p · ≈ 9h · Moderate She was born Marguerite, but her brother Bailey nicknamed her Maya ("mine"). As little children they were sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Their early world revolved around this remarkable woman and the Store she ran for the black community. White people were more than strangers - they were from another planet. And yet, even unseen they ruled. The Store was a microcosm… Shares: American Women authors, Biography & Memoir

Take the cannoli Sarah Vowell · 2000 · ★ 4.0 · 219p · ≈ 7h · Moderate "While tackling subjects such as identity, politics, religion, art, and history, these autobiographical tales are written with a biting humor, placing Vowell solidly in the tradition of Mark Twain and Dorothy Parker. Vowell searches the streets of Hoboken for traces of the town's favorite son, Frank Sinatra. She goes under cover of heavy makeup in an investigation of goth culture, blasts… Shares: Women authors, Biography & Memoir

The name of the mother Marie Maclean · 1994 · 280p · ≈ 9h · Moderate In this original and highly accomplished study, Marie Maclean studies the writings of social rebels and explores the relationship between their personal narratives and illegitimacy. The case studies which Maclean examines fall into four groups: those which stress alternative family structures and 'female genealogies'; those which pair female illegitimacy and revolution; those which question the… Shares: Women authors, Biography & Memoir

slouching towards bethlehem Joan Didion · 1967 · ★ 4.2 · 238p · ≈ 7h · Moderate American novelist Joan Didion's first volume of nonfiction essays, first published in 1968, consisting of twenty works that reflect the atmosphere in America during the 1960s, especially in California. Shares: Women authors, American literature

In her own words Wendy Slatkin · 2010 · 412p · ≈ 13h · Moderate In Her Own Words: A Primary Source Book of Autobiographical Texts by Women Artists in the 19th and 20th Centuries gives voice to sixteen influential women artists, providing students with a highly personal lens through which they can analyze and interpret each artist's visual works. The material progresses chronologically to better situate the artistic and literary works of the featured women… Shares: Women authors, Biography & Memoir

The Book of Longings Sue Monk Kidd · 2020 · ★ 4.2 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate “An extraordinary novel . . . a triumph of insight and storytelling.” —Associated Press“A true masterpiece.” —Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of WingsIn her mesmerizing… Shares: Women authors, American literature

Women's Life Writing And Imagined Communities Cynthia Huff · 2004 · 337p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Engaging Donna Haraway: Lives in the Natureculture Web explores the impact of major theorist, Donna Haraway, in such diverse areas as feminisms, Marxism, new materialism, science studies, posthumanism, animal studies, ecocriticism, digital media, and life narrative. The book shows how Haraway’s decades-long career as a major theoretical voice and provocateur of thinking about new and complex… Shares: Women authors, Biography & Memoir

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