BVBook Verdict

If you liked

Books like The autocrat of the breakfast-table

Loved The autocrat of the breakfast-table by Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes? Here are 10 books with a similar appeal — drawn mostly from essays, ranked by how confidently we'd recommend them next.

10 books · ranked

  1. 1

    Slouching Towards Bethlehem

    Joan Didion · 1968 · Essays

    Sharp, cool essays on 1960s America; the book that set the standard for the personal essay.

  2. 2

    The Fire Next Time

    James Baldwin · 1963 · Essays

    Two searing essays on race, faith and America; as urgent now as when they were written.

  3. 3

    Wolfert's roost and other papers

    Washington Irving · 1854 · Essays

    Contains five pieces that might be called short stories: "Mountjoy," a first-person story that originally was to have been developed into a novel entitled "Rosalie"; "The Widow's Ordeal," a story of j

  4. 4

    A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

    Henry David Thoreau · 1849 · Essays

    Thoreau's first book excels at depicting nature around his trip in words.

  5. 5

    Excursions

    Henry David Thoreau · 1840 · Essays

    "Excursions presents texts of nine essays, including some of Thoreau's most engaging and popular works, newly edited and based on the most authoritative versions of each. These essays represent Thorea

  6. 6

    Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow

    Jerome Klapka Jérôme · 1880 · Essays

    Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. The essays cover a range of topics from "On Being in Love" to "On Furnished Apartments" to "On Getting on in the

  7. 7

    Domestic manners of the Americans

    Frances Milton Trollope · 1832 · Essays

    When Fanny Trollope set sail for America in 1827 with hopes of joining a Utopian community of emancipated slaves, she took with her three of her children and a young French artist, leaving behind her

  8. 8

    The Life of the Fields

    Richard Jefferies · 1884 · Essays

    This book is a reprint of the following stories printed in the following publications: Time, Longman's Magazine, The Graphic, The Standard, The Magazine of Art, The Gentleman's Magazine, The St. James

  9. 9

    The writings of Henry David Thoreau

    Henry David Thoreau · 1884 · Essays

    Naturalist, philosopher, champion of self-reliance and moral independence, Henry David Thoreau remains not only one of our most influential writers but also one of our most contemporary. The Writings

  10. 10

    The Open Air

    Richard Jefferies · 1885 · Essays

    Papers originally contributed to various English periodicals. Saint Guido.--Golden-brown.--Wild flowers.--Sunny Brighton.--The pine wood.--Nature on the roof.--One of the new voters.--The modern Thame

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