If you loved “All the Way to the River,” try one of these moving memoirs next.

Nearly 20 years ago, the term “eat pray love” became shorthand for self-discovery, thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling-novel-turned-cultural-phenomenon. Now, Gilbert is back with All the Way to the River, a universally resonant new memoir that asks, “What if your most beautiful love story turned into your biggest nightmare?”

Releasing on Sept. 9, this is the story of Gilbert’s relationship with Rayya Elias, her best friend, creative soulmate, and, ultimately, the great love of her life. What begins as an unlikely friendship becomes a powerful, complicated bond that challenges everything Gilbert thought she knew about herself. With unflinching honesty, she explores the beauty and brutality of loving someone through their darkest moments, and the awakening that can follow even the deepest heartbreak.

If you love transformative nonfiction, emotional memoirs, and self-improvement, borrow Gilbert’s latest or try one of these read-alikes with similar vibes on the Libby app.

All the Way to the River read-alikes

My Glory Was I Had Such Friends by Amy Silverstein
🎧 Audiobook

In this moving memoir about the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit, Amy Silverstein tells the story of the extraordinary group of women who supported her as she waited on the precipice for a life-saving heart transplant.

Reading the Waves by Lidia Yuknavitch
🎧 Audiobook

A frank and revealing memoir of a writer who draws from her own creativity to heal. By turns candid and lyrical, stoic and forgiving, blunt and evocative, Yuknavitch reframes memory to show how crucial this process can be to gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves.

The House by the Sea by May Sarton

In this intimate journal, Sarton chronicles her move to a secluded house by the sea in Maine, where solitude, nature, and companionship with her animals awaken a renewed sense of peace and creativity. Through quiet moments, she discovers that even in isolation, the wellspring of artistic inspiration is constantly renewing itself.

Come, Sweet Day by Julianne Donaldson

In this raw and redemptive memoir, bestselling romance author Julianne Donaldson—known for Edenbrooke and Blackmoore—opens up about the painful realities behind her fiction: battling cancer, enduring a bitter divorce, facing mental illness, and losing her voice as a writer. Through deeply personal reflections and scraps of hope gathered over years, she shares how faith and storytelling helped her reclaim her strength and remind women everywhere that healing is possible.

Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley
🎧 Audiobook

Disarmingly witty and poignant, Sloane Crosley's memoir explores multiple kinds of loss following the death of her closest friend. Upending the "grief memoir," this is the category-defying story of the struggle to hold on to the past without being consumed by it. A modern elegy, it rises precisely to console and challenge our notions of mourning during these grief-stricken times.

*Title availability may vary.

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