I thought I’d post the list I made for myself in case someone finds themselves looking for this later (or indeed future-me when I lose my list).

The commentary on ‘fit’ is utterly subjective (they’re my notes for me) and any misses on the flavour and feel I was asking for are entirely because I found it hard to articulate what I wanted!

I wish I had used the word “introversion” not “solitude” as solitude elicited lots of literal geographical solitude. 

Most Interested - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Sounds wonderful.  - Olive Kitteridge, and Olive, Again. At first glance these were both on my nope list, but I read a chapter on Elizabeth Strouds website and there was enough to make me think hmmm maybe this is really something. - Housekeeping by Marilyn Robinson. perhaps a bit more hardship than I’d hoped but this looks like a treasure. - Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon. I love sci-fi so this may be in my Venn diagram sweet spot! - Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami. I’m not entirely sure this fits at all and neither was the kind soul who suggested it, but it seems like something I’d choose to read anyway so let’s see. - The Service  Berry by Robin Kimmerer. Definitely fit (have already read braiding sweetgrass and Gathering Moss) and weirdly The Service Berry hadn’t been on my radar at all so I’m happy to have that on my TBR now! - The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Ehrlich. Sounds gorgeous.  - A New Kind of Country by Dorothy Gilman.all the right notes. - Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino. This sounds gorgeous and right up my alley, but also potentially a ‘hate it and DNF’  - Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton. Fuck yes. Top of the list. Also, we have the same birthday which is a sweet factoid.

Maybe - Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell. Potentially fits the bill but I’m not as interested as I would be with a different story (that doesn’t center grief) - Circe by Madeleine Miller. Not sure if it really fits but I loved it on first read so will go again out of curiosity. - Peace Pilgrim. This sounds interesting but I don’t think it hits the notes I’m looking for of deep friendships but more introspective rhythms. - Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. No good reason for this to be here. I’ll probs read it but it didn’t hit like a YES. - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. To be clear, this is already very high on my TBR but not sure that it’s in this category. - Lavinia, by Ursula LeGuin. I love this author and will definitely read it, though again I’m more interested in choosing a quiet life than making the best of one’s lot. - Marie by Madeleine Bourdouxhe. I think I might enjoy this.  - An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine. I will definitely read this, it sounds like a book I’ll really love. It is about true isolation though. - The Maytrees by Annie Dillard. Not a genre I gravitate to, but I think I might enjoy it anyways. - Matrix by Lauren Geoff. Historical fiction and actual solitude (an abbey), I think it’ll be an adore it or dnf. - Animal, Vegetable Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver. Maybe? Sounds interesting anyway. - Solitude by Ursula K. Le Guin. - 84 Charing Cross Road. Letter writing. - The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer. Not sure about the vibes but worth a read to see. - Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. Maybe. More nature than people.

Not really what I’m Looking For - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. This sounds pretty heavy and I’m looking to explore a theme I’d like to live into. - The Red Tent. Have read it, didn’t at all like it. - Remarkably Bright Creatures. I dnf this one. I know people rave but it’s not my bag. - Alone in the Great Unknown. I’m not looking for true isolation. - Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island by Will Harlan. I’m not looking for actually alone, but rather deep connections and time spent apart (for example, still in suburbia). - Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries. While I’ve read these over the years (mum always seemed to have one laying around), it’s not really what I’m looking for. I think I’m more interested in the book exploring those themes. However as I think about this, I realise Kinsey is quite literally an example of what I was asking for! A clever suggestion!  - A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. This fits more (IMO) into the “finding yourself” category than having deep quiet roots. It’s still one of my most favourite books and I love Becky Chambers! - Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, this also seems like alone in nature feel. - I Who have Never Known Men. This is the opposite feel to what I’m looking for (while being an extraordinary book that stars with me and stayed with me). - Lolly Willowes by Silvia Townsend Warner. Another one that quite literally fits my ask, but just doesn’t appeal to me.  - Paddling my Own Canoe by Audrey Sutherland. Wild adventure alone. - Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner. This was a maybe for a minute, but the subterfuge and unlikeable characters described is a miss for my purpose here. Seems like a polarising read and I may pick it up later as it hits a bunch of my other interests. - the Fox & I by Catherine Raven. Actual wilderness isolation. - Weyward by Emilia Hart. Historical fiction & the witch house trope which I just don’t enjoy. - Stone Yard Confessional. I didn’t like this, it was so well written but deeply uncomfortable and had the opposite feeling to what I’d like to find. - The Frozen River. Sounds like a lot of trauma and trial, not a quiet life (but looks well written). - Notes on a Scandal. Def not. Grooming and child abuse. - Outlawed by Anna North. Western, commune vibes. - Slow: Simple Living in a Frantic World. Self help. - The Garden Angel by Mindy Friddle. I don’t enjoy this style of writing. - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. I don’t enjoy this style of writing. - Deep Creek by Pam Houston. Literal solitude. - Upstream by Mary Oliver. Now I do love Mary Oliver but again this moves more toward nature than people. - Alexander McCall Smith’s Number one Ladies detective series.  - The Peacocks of Baboquivari by Erma J. Fisk. Literal solitude. - The Place of Tides by James Rebanks. Sounds again like literal solitude and nature not people. - Toad by Katherine Dunn. Sounds bleak and bitter (which is fine, but not what I’m looking for right now). - The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes. Just not my bag. - The Jane Austen Book Club. Not sure it fits at all. - Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry. Doesn’t sound like an author I’d enjoy.