Best Diary

Nausea is a 1938 novel by French author Jean-Paul Sartre presented as a series of letters and journal entries. It explores themes of absurdity, alienation, and the subjective experience of reality through the protagonist’s increasingly unsettling observations about his surroundings. The book's innov...

A Tale for the Time Being is Ruth Ozeki's 2013 novel that connects a Japanese teenager's diary with a Japanese-American writer who discovers it on a Canadian island after the 2011 tsunami. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the novel weaves together themes of quantum mechanics, Zen Buddhism, environm...

Nobuyoshi Araki is a contemporary Japanese photographer primarily known for his intensely personal photographic diaries. His work captures candid moments in Tokyo, often focusing on intimate portraits and exploring themes of urban life and desire. These images, frequently released as self-published...

Hjalmar Söderberg’s *Doctor Glas* is a 1905 Swedish novel presented entirely through letters and documents. The story examines the complex moral considerations surrounding Dr. Glas's actions after he assists his wife in ending her life. It’s notable for its realistic portrayal of psychological turmo...

The Adrian Mole Diaries is a series of comedic epistolary novels written by English author Sue Townsend, beginning with the publication of the first volume in 1982. The books chronicle the daily life, anxieties, and literary ambitions of Adrian Mole, an insecure and self-important teenager growing u...

Agota Kristof’s *The Notebook* is a stark Hungarian novel presented as a series of diary entries written by two orphaned brothers after World War II. The book’s notable power stems from its unflinching depiction of their brutal struggle for survival following the war's devastation. It offers a profo...

The Yellow Wallpaper is an American novel presented as diary entries detailing the deteriorating mental state of a young wife confined to her room by her physician husband. Written in 1892, it offers a stark portrayal of late 19th-century medical practices and their impact on women’s well-being. The...

Catherine, Called Birdy is a 1994 historical young adult novel by Karen Cushman written in an epistolary diary format. Set in 1290 England, the narrative follows the daily life of a 13-year-old knight's daughter named Catherine who creatively resists her father's attempts to arrange her marriage. Th...

E.M. Delafield’s *Diary of a Provincial Lady* offers a realistic portrayal of life in rural England during the early 20th century through a series of letters. The novel chronicles the experiences of a middle-class woman attempting to manage her household and navigate social expectations. Its sharp o...

The Diary of a Nobody is an epistolary novel by W.G. Grossmith detailing the unremarkable existence of Charles Pooter. Through a series of diary entries, it offers a satirical observation of Victorian middle-class aspirations and social anxieties. The work’s innovative use of form established a key...

Thornhill is a 2017 young adult novel by British author and illustrator Pam Smy. It combines diary entries written in 1982 by Mary, a lonely resident of the Thornhill Institute for Children, with wordless illustrated sequences following Ella, who moves near the abandoned building in 2017. The altern...

The Diary of a Provincial Lady is an epistolary novel by E.M. Delafield offering a sharp satirical look at British society in the 1930s. Told entirely through the diary entries of Miss Charlotte Mills, it chronicles her attempts to navigate everyday domestic life and social expectations within a sma...

Forever Princess is Meg Cabot's 2009 tenth Princess Diaries novel, notable for bringing Mia to high-school graduation and a decision about her future.

Forever Princess is a 2009 young adult novel by American author Meg Cabot, serving as the diary-based conclusion to the original Princess Diaries.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a 2007 semi-autobiographical novel by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Native American author. The story follows Junior (Arnold Spirit Jr.), a teenager from the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to transfer to an all-white public high sc...

Riddley Walker is a 1980 post-apocalyptic novel by Russell Hoban, narrated by a young man living in England long after a civilization-ending catastrophe. Hoban wrote the book in an invented, phonetically altered English whose broken vocabulary preserves distorted traces of technological history, rel...

The Last Straw is a 2009 comedic children's novel by American author Jeff Kinney, presented as a diary in the widely successful Wimpy Kid series.

The Proof is a novel published in 1988 by Hungarian-born Swiss writer Ágota Kristóf, forming the second installment of her wartime trilogy. Continuing the dark narrative established in The Notebook, the story shifts focus to follow one of the twin brothers as he navigates life in a totalitarian bord...

The Diaries of Adam and Eve is a humorous epistolary novella by American author Mark Twain that playfully reimagines the biblical Book of Genesis. The narrative is uniquely structured through the contrasting diary entries of the first man and woman, highlighting their differences in communication an...

Released in 2008 by British author Louise Rennison, this young adult novel is the twelfth and final diary entry in her acclaimed Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series.

Published in 2014 by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick, this contemporary novel is notable for adapting the Emmy-winning YouTube web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

The Third Lie is a 1991 novel by Hungarian-born Swiss author Agota Kristof, serving as the final installment of her literary trilogy following The Notebook and The Proof. The narrative diverges from the previous books by presenting the story through fragmented letters and diary entries, unraveling t...

The Kitchen Diaries is a 2005 cookbook by British food writer Nigel Slater structured as a month-by-month journal of his home cooking. Entries combine personal notes with seasonal recipes that emphasize straightforward preparation and everyday ingredients. The book reflects Slater's preference for i...

The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole is Sue Townsend's 1989 British comic diary novel, the third main Adrian Mole book.

"Goodbye, Vitamin" is a 2017 debut novel by American author Rachel Khong, written in a diary-format structure. The story follows Ruth Young, a woman in her thirties who returns to her family home in California after a broken engagement. Over the course of a year, she takes on the role of caregiver f...

I Capture the Castle is a 1948 novel by British author Dodie Smith, written in the form of journal entries by seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The protagonist lives with her eccentric family in a crumbling English castle, where her father, an author suffering from writer's block, struggles to...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 British novel by Mark Haddon, written as the first-person diary of a teenage boy on the autism spectrum. The narrative follows him as he investigates the mysterious death of a neighbor's dog, an endeavor that leads him to uncover broader fa...

"Sloppy Firsts" is a 2001 young adult novel written by Megan McCafferty, serving as the first installment in the Jessica Darling series. The narrative is structured as a series of diary entries written by the protagonist, a high school sophomore dealing with the sudden relocation of her best friend....

"Rose Under Fire" is a 2013 young adult historical fiction novel written by Elizabeth Wein, serving as a companion piece to her earlier novel "Code Name Verity." The story is primarily told through the diary entries and letters of Rose Justice, a young American pilot serving in the Air Transport Aux...