2023 Reading Schedule Builder

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Genres › Memoir

Walden
Henry David Thoreau
48 days
1854 • Not just a reference for pithy thinkpieces on smartphones, Thoreau's sojourn by Walden Pond is an early social experiment seeking self-reliance, self-fulfillment, and happiness.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
16 days
1845 • One of the most influential pieces of literature in the abolitionist movement, former slave and famous orator Frederick Douglass retells his life as a slave.
The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth
14 days
1850 • The remarkable story of Sojourner Truth, from her slavery in rural New York to her work as a traveling preacher, social reformer, and counselor of former slaves.
Twelve Years a Slave
Solomon Northup
30 days
1853 • The narrative of Solomon Northup, a black man born free in New York before the Civil War who was tricked, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in the south.
My Prisons
Silvio Pellico
20 days
1832 • Italian writer and poet Silvio Pellico recounts his harrowing years of imprisonment after being arrested - and nearly sentenced to death - for his revolutionary actions against Austrian despotism.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
Thomas De Quincey
12 days
1821 • A captivating account of addiction - describing both the pleasures and pains of opium - in which dreams, visions, memory, and pain are all interwoven.
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
89 days
1885 • An autobiography focusing on Grant's military career during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Published posthumously by Mark Twain.
The Education of Henry Adams
Henry Adams
66 days
1918 • Born into a family including two past Presidents, Henry Adams recounts his history - and that of the country - through success, failure, and war.
Confessions of St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
39 days
400 • In this theological landmark, Augustine describes his sinful youth and conversion to Christianity, alongside spiritual meditations and insights. One of the first Western autobiographies.
South!
Ernest Shackleton
46 days
1919 • The story of Shackleton's harrowing 1915 expedition to Antarctica in which 28 men fight to survive after being marooned on an ice flow.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
25 days
1789 • The unforgettable autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, recounting his enslavement in West Africa, forced voyage to America, and struggle for freedom.
Sea and Sardinia
D.H. Lawrence
25 days
1921 • Lawrence recounts his trip through Sicily to the interior of Sardinia alongside his wife.
Twenty Years at Hull House
Jane Addams
35 days
1910 • The memoir of social worker, sociologist, philosopher and reformer Jane Addams focusing on the settlement house she created in Chicago.
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
Mary Wollstonecraft
17 days
1796 • A travel memoir and record of Wollstonecraft’s strained relationship with Gilbert Imlay, as well as the last publication of her life.
A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
Mary Rowlandson
7 days
1682 • In the midst of King Philip's War in colonial Massachusetts, Native Americans capture Mary Rowlandson. She experiences eleven weeks with them until being released to her family.
Ten Days in a Mad-House
Nellie Bly
10 days
1887 • The result of an undercover investigation into the brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island.
The Worst Journey in the World
Apsley Cherry-Garrard
67 days
1922 • A record of the ill-fated Scott expedition to the South Pole from 1910-1913.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs
29 days
1861 • Jacobs shares her experiences as a slave, describing the particular horrors of being an enslaved woman, in an appeal to abolish slavery.
A Voice from Harper's Ferry
Osborne Perry Anderson
7 days
1859 • A firsthand account of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry - a turning point in the fight against slavery - by the only surviving black combatant.
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