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  1. Genres
  2. ›Memoir

Best Memoir Books

Personal memoirs and autobiographies

388 summaries

Showing 337–360 of 388

  1. After Auschwitz

    Eva Schloss

    ★ 4.3 (3k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's stepsister, recounts her survival of Auschwitz and the lifelong effort to honor those lost, finding purpose in remembrance.

  2. A Language Older Than Words

    Derrick Jensen

    ★ 4.3 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Jensen's memoir explores the ancient roots of violence, from childhood abuse to societal structures, urging us to find a language of connection older than our destructive habits.

  3. Colors of the Mountain

    Da Chen

    ★ 4.0 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In a memoir of resilience and mischievous defiance, Da Chen navigates the brutal Cultural Revolution in rural China, transforming the scorn of his 'landlord' heritage into a quest for education and a hopeful future.

  4. Me

    Ricky Martin

    ★ 3.5 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    From the highs of Menudo and "Livin' la Vida Loca" to the personal journey of embracing his sexuality and fatherhood, Ricky Martin's memoir shows a superstar finding his voice amid global fame.

  5. True Hallucinations

    Terence McKenna

    ★ 4.2 (2k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Terence McKenna recounts his Amazonian journey with psychoactive plants, exploring the line between madness and enlightenment and questioning our ideas about time and consciousness.

  6. The War

    Marguerite Duras

    ★ 3.9 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In this raw memoir, Marguerite Duras reveals the Nazi occupation of Paris, showing the harrowing intimacy of survival, resistance, and personal sacrifice through nursing her emaciated husband back from Bergen-Belsen and her dangerous connection with a Gestapo officer.

  7. Purgatory

    Jeffrey Archer

    ★ 3.8 (2k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    From the squalor of a medium-security prison, disgraced politician FF8282 navigates the daily degradations and unexpected camaraderie of incarceration, offering a raw and often darkly humorous glimpse into the British penal system.

  8. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

    Janisse Ray

    ★ 4.0 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    From a childhood steeped in rural isolation and religious fundamentalism amidst a junkyard, Janisse Ray forged a passionate quest to resurrect the vanishing longleaf pine ecosystem, weaving together personal history and ecological elegy.

  9. Mean

    Myriam Gurba

    ★ 4.3 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Myriam Gurba's "Mean" is a funny and bold memoir where a queer, mixed-race Chicana uses sharp humor to fight sexual assault, racism, and misogyny, showing that meanness, when done well, is a powerful art.

  10. Fate Is the Hunter

    Ernest K. Gann

    ★ 4.5 (2k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Join a pilot's intense journey through the dangerous, early days of commercial aviation, as Ernest K. Gann reveals the triumphs and terrors of flying.

  11. The Good Body

    Eve Ensler

    ★ 3.7 (2k) average on Goodreads

    Eve Ensler explores her own body obsessions and societal pressures while celebrating women's diverse beauty and resilience worldwide.

  12. Letters from a Father to his Daughter

    Jawaharlal Nehru

    ★ 3.9 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In a series of personal letters, Jawaharlal Nehru explains Earth's history, humanity's beginnings, and civilization's growth to his ten-year-old daughter, Indira, turning global history into a captivating bedtime story.

  13. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

    Rebecca West

    ★ 4.2 (2k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Rebecca West travels through Yugoslavia before WWII, exploring its history, culture, and her own reflections to understand the Balkans' turbulent nature.

  14. The Ungrateful Refugee

    Dina Nayeri

    ★ 4.1 (2k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Dina Nayeri exposes the emotional and political burdens refugees face, combining her own escape from Iran with stories of others seeking asylum.

  15. Witness

    Karen Hesse

    ★ 4.4 (2k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    In 1924 Vermont, the Ku Klux Klan shatters a quiet town, forcing a Black girl, a Jewish girl, and their neighbors to face hatred and find strength in unexpected friendships.

  16. A Place to Stand

    Jimmy Santiago Baca

    ★ 4.2 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    From a maximum-security prison, Jimmy Santiago Baca builds hope and poetic strength, turning despair into an example of human endurance.

  17. Crossing Over

    John Edward

    ★ 3.9 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    John Edward's book demystifies the afterlife, guiding readers to connect with the Other Side, understand spiritual helpers, and use their own psychic abilities for a fearless journey.

  18. My Dog Skip

    Willie Morris

    ★ 4.0 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    In a sleepy 1940s Mississippi town, a shy boy's world is transformed by the arrival of Skip, a spirited fox terrier with an intelligent gaze and an insatiable appetite for adventure.

  19. Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    ★ 3.7 (2k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Robert Louis Stevenson and his donkey, Modestine, embark on an arduous twelve-day trek through France's rugged Cévennes mountains.

  20. Cross Creek

    Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

    ★ 4.1 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, in the wild beauty of a Florida orange grove, navigates runaway pigs and colorful neighbors, finding humor, hardship, and a deep bond with the land that shapes her.

  21. On the Rez

    Ian Frazier

    ★ 3.9 (2k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    Ian Frazier explores the realities of the Oglala Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation, showing a culture sustained by humor, resilience, and the past in the face of modern challenges.

  22. Lost on a Mountain in Maine

    Donn Fendler

    ★ 3.9 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Twelve-year-old Donn Fendler endures a terrifying two-week ordeal, battling starvation, delusion, and the unforgiving Maine wilderness after a momentary lapse separates him from his Boy Scout troop on Mount Katahdin.

  23. The Tracker

    Tom Brown Jr.

    ★ 4.2 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    Guided by an ancient Apache, a New Jersey boy becomes a master tracker, learning to read the earth's subtle whispers and confront the wilderness's most harrowing challenges, ultimately saving lives and rediscovering humanity's lost connection to nature.

  24. Lament for a Son

    Nicholas Wolterstorff

    ★ 4.5 (2k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    After his son Eric's sudden death, a philosopher turns his grief into a personal and moving lament, giving voice to the pain of loss and the strength of love.

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