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If you loved
Books like Hold still
A lyrical, startlingly revealing descent into a complicated Southern family's archives, blending haunting photographs with page-turning drama. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Hold still.
- haunting
- atmospheric
- shadowy
- intimate
- 01
The art of memoir
Mary Karr
An illuminating and cathartic exploration of how we shape our memories and how our memories shape us.
- 02
The chronology of water
Lidia Yuknavitch
A raw, untraditional plunge into grief, fluid sexuality, and the fierce current of survival.
- 03
All over but the shoutin'
Rick Bragg
A lyrical, fiercely loving tribute to a mother's sacrifice and the inescapable gravity of a Southern childhood.
- 04
Just Kids
Patti Smith · 2006
A tender, poetic elegy to a transformative friendship and the gritty, magical crucible of 1970s bohemian New York.
- 05
The Liars' Club
Mary Karr · 1995
A fiercely funny, unsentimental plunge into a chaotic Texas childhood where storytelling is the only survival skill.
- 06
Humans Of New York
Brandon Stanton
A kaleidoscopic window into the souls of strangers that makes a sprawling metropolis feel intimately human.
- 07
Priestdaddy
Patricia Lockwood
A wildly poetic, laugh-out-loud descent into the absurdities of a deeply eccentric Catholic upbringing.
- 08
Heavy
Kiese Laymon
An unflinching, beautifully rhythmic exploration of the physical and emotional weight of generational trauma and systemic racism.
- 09
Shrill
Lindy West
A hilarious, battle-tested manifesto for taking up space and refusing to apologize for it.
- 10
South and west
Joan Didion
A raw, sun-bleached glimpse into the unvarnished notebooks of a master observer tracing the fault lines of American culture.
- 11
M train
Patti Smith
A quiet, poetic meditation on art, loss, and the comforting rituals of daily life, best consumed with a cup of black coffee.
- 12
Pioneer girl
Laura Ingalls Wilder
A gritty, unvarnished look at the harsh realities of frontier life that strips away the romanticized veneer of a beloved childhood classic.
