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  1. Genres
  2. ›Memoir

Best Memoir Books

Personal memoirs and autobiographies

388 summaries

Showing 265–288 of 388

  1. Manchild in the Promised Land

    Claude Brown

    ★ 4.3 (8k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Claude Brown's memoir explores the harsh realities of 1940s and 50s Harlem, showing his journey from a street-hardened youth to a man who escaped the ghetto.

  2. Call Me Tuesday

    Leigh Byrne

    ★ 4.2 (8k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    An eight-year-old girl's world shatters when her mother, whom she adores, becomes a cruel tormentor, forcing her to confront the pain of loving the monster in her own home.

  3. Chosen by a Horse

    Susan Richards

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    A malnourished ex-racehorse with a generous heart teaches her rescuer to embrace life's joys despite its dangers, proving that an animal's love can mend even the deepest human wounds.

  4. How to Be Black

    Baratunde R. Thurston

    ★ 3.9 (7k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Baratunde Thurston’s satirical guide, 'How to Be Black,' humorously critiques racial stereotypes and media portrayals by offering 'expert' advice on navigating blackness in America, from being the 'black friend' to speaking for all black people.

  5. A Fortunate Life

    Albert B. Facey

    ★ 4.2 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Albert Facey's 'A Fortunate Life' tells of an ordinary man's journey from the West Australian frontier and Gallipoli trenches to family life, showing his honesty, compassion, and courage through adversity.

  6. Life Without Limits

    Nick Vujicic

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Born without limbs, Nick Vujicic shares how faith and purpose can lead to a full life, inspiring others to overcome their own limits.

  7. A Journal of the Plague Year

    Daniel Defoe

    ★ 3.6 (7k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    Amidst the desolation of 1665 London, a meticulous saddler chronicles the terrifying spread of the bubonic plague, detailing the city's descent into chaos, the grim statistics of death, and the desperate, often futile, attempts at survival.

  8. The Good Soldiers

    David Finkel

    ★ 4.2 (7k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Through the eyes of an optimistic infantry battalion, *The Good Soldiers* shows the brutal reality of the 2007 Iraq surge, revealing the permanent cost of war on the men who fought it.

  9. The Penguin Lessons

    Tom Michell

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    An ordinary English teacher's life in 1970s Argentina is transformed by an extraordinary friendship with a rescued, fish-loving penguin named Juan Salvador, who teaches him profound lessons about love, loyalty, and embracing the unexpected.

  10. Townie

    Andre Dubus III

    ★ 3.8 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    From the brutal, impoverished streets of a 1970s mill town, a young Andre Dubus III fought his way through a life of violence and boxing, ultimately finding salvation and a bridge to his literary father through the very act of writing.

  11. Wait Till Next Year

    Doris Kearns Goodwin

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In 1950s Brooklyn, a young Doris Kearns Goodwin navigates family joys, her mother's illness, and the agony of the Dodgers' departure, all through her childhood love of baseball.

  12. John

    Cynthia Lennon

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Cynthia Lennon's story reveals the truth of her life with John Lennon, exposing the love, pain, and cost of being the legendary Beatle's wife.

  13. The Seamstress

    Sara Tuvel Bernstein

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Defying her father, throwing ink at an anti-Semitic priest, and surviving Ravensbrück, Sara Tuvel Bernstein's memoir tells a story of rebellion and resilience during the Holocaust.

  14. We Bought a Zoo

    Benjamin Mee

    ★ 3.5 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    A grieving family risks everything to purchase a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside, embarking on a heartwarming and chaotic adventure of mending broken cages, taming wild animals, and healing their own hearts.

  15. In the Presence of My Enemies

    Gracia Burnham

    ★ 4.3 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Missionary Gracia Burnham recounts her year-long captivity by Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Philippine jungle, the loss of her husband in a rescue attempt, and the faith that sustained her.

  16. Donnie Brasco

    Joseph D. Pistone

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone goes deep into the 1970s mob as 'Donnie Brasco,' showing six years of deception, shifting loyalties, and the chilling reality of Mafia life.

  17. Among the Thugs

    Bill Buford

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    A prestigious editor plunges headfirst into the chaotic, beer-fueled world of England's soccer hooligans, documenting their violent tribalism and the sinister allure of their destructive camaraderie with unflinching personal engagement.

  18. In the Shadow of Man

    Jane Goodall

    ★ 4.3 (6k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Armed with an insatiable curiosity and a notebook, Jane Goodall plunges into the Tanzanian jungle to unveil the complex, often human-like, world of wild chimpanzees, forever changing our understanding of primate behavior and our place in the natural kingdom.

  19. Here Is New York

    E.B. White

    ★ 4.3 (6k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    E.B. White's 'Here Is New York' is a classic, witty, and personal tribute to New York City, capturing its spirit and lasting appeal through the eyes of a master essayist.

  20. The Railway Man

    Eric Lomax

    ★ 4.1 (6k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    A former POW, haunted by the brutal torture he endured on the Burma-Siam Railway during WWII, embarks on a remarkable journey of healing and reconciliation when he confronts one of his Japanese tormentors five decades later.

  21. Arctic Dreams

    Barry Lopez

    ★ 4.2 (6k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    In "Arctic Dreams," Barry Lopez combines natural history with deep thought to show how the Far North's stark, grand landscape shapes human imagination and desire.

  22. The Drowned and the Saved

    Primo Levi

    ★ 4.4 (6k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Primo Levi's memoir dissects the complex moral world of the Holocaust, exploring the shared humanity and moral compromises between victim and oppressor in Nazi extermination camps.

  23. The Tennis Partner

    Abraham Verghese

    ★ 3.9 (6k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In El Paso, a doctor with a failing marriage finds an unexpected connection on the tennis court with a recovering addict, only to face the return of his friend's past problems.

  24. The Cage

    Ruth Minsky Sender

    ★ 4.1 (6k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz, young Riva holds onto her mother's words of hope. She vows to survive the Holocaust and share her story, a powerful account of human endurance.

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