11 must-read nonfiction books like Laughing at the Dark by Barbara Else

Cover of Laughing at the Dark by Barbara Else

Laughing at the Dark

By: Barbara Else

4.30

Format: 460 pages, Kindle Edition

From the best-selling and acclaimed author Barbara Else, Laughing at the Dark is a funny, moving me…

If you liked the nonfiction plot in Laughing at the Dark by Barbara Else , here is a list of 11 books like this:

Cover of Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton

1. Lola in the Mirror

By: Trent Dalton

4.41

Format: 448 pages, Kindle Edition

Bighearted, gritty, magical and moving, Lola in the Mirror is the irresistible new novel from inter… read more

Similar categories in Trent Dalton's Lola in the Mirror book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright

2. The Wren, the Wren

By: Anne Enright

3.55

Format: 278 pages, Hardcover

An incandescent novel about the inheritance of trauma, wonder, and love across three generations of… read more

Similar categories in Anne Enright's The Wren, the Wren book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

"It's not that I think about him constantly, he is my way of thinking. His mind is my compass, his eyes my only mirror."

-Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren

"We don’t walk down the same street as the person walking beside us. All we can do is tell the other person what we see. We can point at things and try to name them. If we do this well, our friend can…"

-Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren

"We don't walk down the same street as the person walking beside us. All we can do is tell the other person what we see. We can point at things and try to name them. If we do this well, our friend can…"

-Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren

Cover of Water by John Boyne

3. Water

By: John Boyne

4.33

Format: 176 pages, Hardcover

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the local… read more

Similar categories in John Boyne's Water book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder

4. Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life

By: Anna Funder

4.13

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

This is the story of the marriage behind some of the most famous literary works of the 20th century… read more

Similar categories in Anna Funder's Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of Pet by Catherine Chidgey

5. Pet

By: Catherine Chidgey

4.06

Format: 352 pages, Paperback

Like every other girl in her class, twelve-year-old Justine is drawn to her glamorous, charismatic … read more

Similar categories in Catherine Chidgey's Pet book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw

6. The Bookseller at the End of the World

By: Ruth Shaw

4.25

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A rich, immersive, funny and heartbreaking memoir of the charming bookseller who runs two tiny book… read more

Similar categories in Ruth Shaw's The Bookseller at the End of the World book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
"My mother, more than anyone, knew why I lived such a high-risk life. She gave me the freedom to run."

-Ruth Shaw, The Bookseller at the End of the World

Cover of Wavewalker: Breaking Free by Suzanne Heywood

7. Wavewalker: Breaking Free

By: Suzanne Heywood

4.27

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

‘A seven-year old girl on a seventy-foot yacht, for ten years, over fifty thousand miles of sailing… read more

Similar categories in Suzanne Heywood's Wavewalker: Breaking Free book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
"Do you want to hear a secret?' I asked him, leaning closer. 'I don't want to be different — I want to be normal. I don't want to be stuck out at sea away from my friends. I know Mum and Dad would lau…"

-Suzanne Heywood, Wavewalker: Breaking Free

Cover of A Bird in Winter by Louise Doughty

8. A Bird in Winter

By: Louise Doughty

3.68

Format: None pages, ebook

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, … read more

Similar categories in Louise Doughty's A Bird in Winter book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of There’s a Cure for This: A Memoir by Emma Espiner

9. There’s a Cure for This: A Memoir

By: Emma Espiner

4.31

Format: 202 pages, Kindle Edition

“I don’t know why medicine felt like coming home but, for some reason, it fits. I keep thinking abo… read more

Similar categories in Emma Espiner's There’s a Cure for This: A Memoir book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of Return to Blood (Hana Westerman Thriller, #2) by Michael  Bennett

10. Return to Blood (Hana Westerman Thriller, #2)

By: Michael Bennett

3.94

Format: 325 pages, Hardcover

From the author of Better the Blood, the gripping second novel in a crime series starring Māori det… read more

Similar categories in Michael Bennett's Return to Blood (Hana Westerman Thriller, #2) book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Lioness by Emily Perkins

11. Lioness

By: Emily Perkins

3.43

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

You know how we say we devoured a story, and also that we were consumed by it? Eating and being eat… read more

Similar categories in Emily Perkins's Lioness book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Did I Ever Tell You This? by Sam Neill

12. Did I Ever Tell You This?

By: Sam Neill

4.06

Format: 398 pages, Hardcover

In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tell… read more

Similar categories in Sam Neill's Did I Ever Tell You This? book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of Everything Is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro

13. Everything Is Beautiful and Everything Hurts

By: Josie Shapiro

4.21

Format: 288 pages, Paperback

The stunning debut novel by the winner of the Allen & Unwin Commercial Fiction Prize. If you loved … read more

Similar categories in Josie Shapiro's Everything Is Beautiful and Everything Hurts book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of One of Those Mothers by Megan Nicol Reed

14. One of Those Mothers

By: Megan Nicol Reed

3.66

Format: 296 pages, Kindle Edition

The residents of Point Heed keep nice houses and sign up as parent help at the local school. Occasi… read more

Similar categories in Megan Nicol Reed's One of Those Mothers book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey

15. The Axeman's Carnival

By: Catherine Chidgey

4.37

Format: 350 pages, Paperback

Everywhere, the birds: sparrows and skylarks and thrushes, starlings and bellbirds, fantails and pi… read more

Similar categories in Catherine Chidgey's The Axeman's Carnival book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Amma by Saraid de Silva

16. Amma

By: Saraid de Silva

4.45

Format: 282 pages, Paperback

Three generations. Three continents. Three sexualities. 1951. Singapore. Ten-year-old Josep… read more

Similar categories in Saraid de Silva's Amma book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Grand: Becoming My Mother's Daughter by Noelle McCarthy

17. Grand: Becoming My Mother's Daughter

By: Noelle McCarthy

4.13

Format: 269 pages, Paperback

"I’ll be grand, girl, I’ve great faith." – Mammy, just before she died Funny, charismatic and ge… read more

Similar categories in Noelle McCarthy's Grand: Becoming My Mother's Daughter book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of The Bone Tree by Airana Ngarewa

18. The Bone Tree

By: Airana Ngarewa

3.71

Format: 251 pages, Paperback

After the death of both parents, Kauri and Black must find a way to survive in a world that doesn't… read more

Similar categories in Airana Ngarewa's The Bone Tree book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Eddy, Eddy by Kate De Goldi

19. Eddy, Eddy

By: Kate De Goldi

3.96

Format: None pages, Paperback

Eddy, Eddy is a coming of age story, a love story, an earthquake story and a story of finding your … read more

Similar categories in Kate De Goldi's Eddy, Eddy book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of The Dinner Party by Rebecca   Heath

20. The Dinner Party

By: Rebecca Heath

3.60

Format: 385 pages, Kindle Edition

Four Couples. It's Summer 1979 in the idyllic suburban neighbourhood of Ridgefield, during a scorc… read more

Similar categories in Rebecca Heath's The Dinner Party book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of The Deck by Fiona Farrell

21. The Deck

By: Fiona Farrell

3.95

Format: 304 pages, Kindle Edition

What is the point of inventing stories when reality eclipses imagination? A little way off in the f… read more

Similar categories in Fiona Farrell's The Deck book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Bird Life by Anna Smaill

22. Bird Life

By: Anna Smaill

3.52

Format: 304 pages, Paperback

The second novel by Booker Prize-longlisted author Anna Smaill. A lyrical and ambitious exploration… read more

Similar categories in Anna Smaill's Bird Life book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour

23. The Last Secret Agent

By: Pippa Latour

4.55

Format: None pages, Kindle Edition

The extraordinary untold story of Pippa Latour, who parachuted into occupied France in 1944 as an u… read more

Similar categories in Pippa Latour's The Last Secret Agent book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • memoir
Cover of Untouchable Girls: The Topp Twins' Story by Jools Topp

24. Untouchable Girls: The Topp Twins' Story

By: Jools Topp

4.45

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

The iconic Kiwi duo - comedians, country music stars, yodellers, lesbians - in their own words. … read more

Similar categories in Jools Topp's Untouchable Girls: The Topp Twins' Story book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of The Call by Gavin Strawhan

25. The Call

By: Gavin Strawhan

3.84

Format: None pages, Kindle Edition

Winner of the Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize 2023A brilliant debut crime novel centred on a 501 deport… read more

Similar categories in Gavin Strawhan's The Call book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Dice by Claire Baylis

26. Dice

By: Claire Baylis

3.86

Format: 375 pages, Paperback

A compelling courtroom drama, Dice is an incredibly timely exploration of how sexual violence is vi… read more

Similar categories in Claire Baylis's Dice book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of Excommunicated: A multigenerational story of leaving the Exclusive Bretheren by Craig Hoyle

27. Excommunicated: A multigenerational story of leaving the Exclusive Bretheren

By: Craig Hoyle

4.12

Format: 336 pages, Paperback

After coming out as gay, Craig Hoyle was excommunicated from the New Zealand Exclusive Brethren and… read more

Similar categories in Craig Hoyle's Excommunicated: A multigenerational story of leaving the Exclusive Bretheren book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of Laughing at the Dark by Barbara Else

28. Laughing at the Dark

By: Barbara Else

4.30

Format: 460 pages, Kindle Edition

From the best-selling and acclaimed author Barbara Else, Laughing at the Dark is a funny, moving me… read more

Similar categories in Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of Landed by Sue McCauley

29. Landed

By: Sue McCauley

3.86

Format: 296 pages, Paperback

From the author of Other Halves (1982) which won both the Wattie Book of the Year Award and the New… read more

Similar categories in Sue McCauley's Landed book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

Cover of On Call: Stories from my life as a surgeon, a daughter and a mother by Ineke Meredith

30. On Call: Stories from my life as a surgeon, a daughter and a mother

By: Ineke Meredith

4.23

Format: 304 pages, Paperback

Stories of life, death and bravery by a Kiwi female general surgeon. The world of surgery is str… read more

Similar categories in Ineke Meredith's On Call: Stories from my life as a surgeon, a daughter and a mother book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

  • nonfiction
  • biography
  • memoir
Cover of Ash by Louise Wallace

31. Ash

By: Louise Wallace

4.35

Format: 160 pages, Paperback

Thea lives under a mountain – one that’s ready to blow. A vet at a mid-sized rural practice, she… read more

Similar categories in Louise Wallace's Ash book and Barbara Else's Laughing at the Dark

10 Best biography books like Laughing at the Dark by Barbara Else

Transform Your Habits

Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life

Anna Funder

4.13

Transform Your Habits

The Bookseller at the End of the World

Ruth Shaw

4.25

Transform Your Habits

Wavewalker: Breaking Free

Suzanne Heywood

4.27

Transform Your Habits

There’s a Cure for This: A Memoir

Emma Espiner

4.31

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17 Top fiction books like The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey

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Lola in the Mirror

Trent Dalton

4.41

Transform Your Habits

How to Loiter in a Turf War

Coco Solid

4.23

Transform Your Habits

Return to Blood (Hana Westerman Thriller, #2)

Michael Bennett

3.94

Transform Your Habits

Lioness

Emily Perkins

3.43

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