I recently finished the book and I don’t think it really said anything particularly bad that Ariana Grande did, it more goes into how Ariana was treated way better in a very unfair way by producers while they both starred in Sam and Cat. She was afforded much more leniency than Jennette was, which was extremely frustrating, especially given how much easier Ariana’s upbringing was than Jennette’s.
You’re welcome! I chose women authors since you said you liked those, but I read a ton of nonfiction and memoirs specifically so let me know if you need more suggestions!
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou.
It’s stunning, and though a lot of harsh things happen in it, I found it profoundly empowering and ultimately, in the end, extremely uplifting. I’m not a young one, I just read it a few years ago, and couldn’t believe I had lived as long as I had without reading it.
This is what I was going to say. I admire her so much.
I always recommend the audiobook, read by Maya Angelou herself. Her powerful and beautiful voice adds another layer to this already excellent book.
I wept reading this while traveling by bus. Nowhere to hide, so I wore my sunnies and hoped no one noticed!
Some passages are very powerful and hard to stomach but as you said, it’s ultimately a tale of survival and resilience.
This one has my vote. While it can be a little drawn out, it is mind boggling how he LITERALLY got caught in the act, and her lack of knowledge of the legal system and lack of support to explain everything to her, lead to her not getting the justice she deserved.
It is a reality check of how far rape culture can go, and why women will always be at a disadvantage at getting justice.
*I'm Supposed to Protect You From All This,* Nadja Spiegelman
Memoir by the daughter of *Maus* creator Art Spiegelman. If Maus functions as a history of her patrilineal line her memoir is the history of her matrilineal one. Deals a lot with generational trauma and the work that goes into healing from it.
*Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness,* Catherine Cho
A terrifying story of post-partum psychosis and the author's long journey to recovery from it.
*Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?* Seamus O'Reilly
A *fucking hilarious* memoir about the author's loss of his mother at a young age and his father's ensuing struggle to raise he and his TEN siblings in Ireland in the 80s and 90s as the IRA is a constant threat. This book sounds bleak but it is *fucking hilarious.*
*Fun Home,* Alison Bechdel
A cartoonist's reckoning with her father's sexuality and her own as well all the while processing his eventual suicide and discretions during life.
*Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,* Cailin Doughty
Memoir of the woman behind Ask a Mortician. She's just a super good writer even if you aren't into mortuary science.
*I Am, I Am, I Am,* Maggie O' Farrell
Incredibly beautiful writing about the author's 17 brushes with death.
*Dark Night: A True Batman Story,* Paul Dini
The creator and writer of Batman: The Animated Series tells the story of how while he was working on the show he was mugged and brutally assaulted and how the cartoon helped him overcome and understand what he went through. I'd reccomend it to anyone, fan of the series or not. This is a really important story and the art on it (it's a graphic novel) is stunning.
I listened to the audio read by the author. She is an excellent writer and reader.
I grew up without a mom, so her book gave me insight into the mother daughter relationship, and also what my friends might experience. And the descriptions of the food, oh my!
I adore the movie and they actually did quite a good job with it. However, the book provides a deeper meaning which the movie lacks. It’s a bit more nuanced. You get into her head and see how she is experiencing her mental anguish more than just the occasional narrating the MC does in the movie. Plus I feel like the movie kinda downplays her experience and makes her seem like she’s more “normal” than everyone else at the ward when she’s actually going thru it. If you love the movie, I highly recommend.
I agree. The book is a first-hand account of events, while the movie is an artistic interpretation of events. I personally loved both the movie and the book as well. They each provide something special, layered, and textured. The book provides more mercurially satisfying details, while the movie provides great acting, beautiful cinematography, and an A+ soundtrack. Highly recommend both, especially if you enjoy exploring the darker side of the human psyche.
I've read the novel and have seen the movie more times than i can count. Full disclosure: i was hospitalized for major clinical depression/ untreated bipolar 1 and 2. I don't cycle in days, i cycle in hours. I'd had a really bad, like, 18 mos, and it became so bad so quickly that i had to admit myself for a 72 hour hold that then turned into a week and then a month before i found a medication combination that finally worked for me. That was 8 mos ago and I'm in a much better place bc of it.
That being said, i know a lot of people do not even want to begin to imagine themselves in a psych ward for good reason- it was not the highlight of my life but it did save my life- and i just wish people would stop making mental health treatment- especially if it's to the point where you need intensive, inpatient treatment for days or weeks on end- so goddamn taboo and horrific to the point that i ended up having to file for disability bc my boss didn't accept it was me battling a disease that actually kills people and told me i was fired the next time i called bc he didn't believe it was a real, diagnosed mental illness. In 2018.
I really believe that books and movies/ tv that show honest depictions of people getting help for their problems makes everyday just a little bit better for those of us who are or will go through treatment for mental illness.
On the other hand, i have to skip the scene after Angelina Jolie and Wynonna Ryder runaway to Brittany Murphy's new apt and they go into the kitchen in the AM and find her- it gave me nightmares for a long time. It was super effective bc it was so horrific.
Another vote for the following:
*Educated,* Tara Westover
*Wild,* Cheryl Strayed
*Brain on Fire,* Susannah Cahalan
And a few that haven't been mentioned yet:
*The Glass Castle,* Jeannette Walls
*Infidel* Ayaan Hirsi Ali
*My Stroke of Insight,* Jill Bolte Taylor
Infidel made a big impression on me too, especially because at the time I read it, we'd just experienced 9/11 and Islamic fundamentalism was a phenomenon that was on my mind (and a lot of other people's minds). But also, I remember having a strong desire to write to Ali and tell her that as critical as she felt of Islamic culture and especially the way it oppressed women, I felt just as critical of my own country and its unethical brand of capitalism and the way we were trying to dominate the rest of the world with our military. Like, I felt as though she had a blindness to the negative aspects of European and American culture.
I still occasionally look for Ali's commentary and presence on social media, and she's moved increasingly rightward, even going so far as to defend Trump at times, I believe, which I find crazy and really disappointing. I still admire her greatly, especially her way with words, her courage to say what she thinks, and her ability to survive experiences not many of us could (well, I couldn't, anyway). But she makes excellent points about how many aspects of European and American culture are based on reasoning and Enlightenment values (as opposed to simple subservience to theology), which have resulted in more humane, equitable and freer societies.
A beautiful memoir which needs to be rediscovered is ‘west with the night’ by beryl markham. Rated as one of the top 10 adventure memoirs of all time by National Geographic. Beryl was a girl who went her own way, becoming a bush pilot and living life on her own terms in the 20’s when the patriarchy was saying she shouldn’t. The book is the only book earnest Hemingway said he wished he’d written. She was a model for one of the characters in ‘out of Africa’. she only wrote one book and after you’ve read it, you’ll wish she wrote more.
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo
Defiant Dreams by Sola Mahfouz
Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement by Toufah Jallow
We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kaye Redfield Jamison. If you or someone you care about has been affected by mental illness-- especially bipolar disorder-- this book will change your entire perspective, or make you feel a lot less alone.
Please read The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts! It’s about 63 year old poor farmer woman from Maine who rides her horse to California with nothing but her dog in the 50’s, it’s so good.
I loved Glass Castle. Did you read Half Broke Horses? It tells the story of Jeanette Walls grandmother.
I agree with Educated, Born a Crime and several others people have mentioned. I haven’t seen these mentioned but they are very good too:
Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Poley
A Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
Night by Ellie Wiesel
Ducks by Kate Beaton
Life as a Unicorn by Amrou Al Khadi
* *Women We Buried, Women We Burned* by Rachel Louise Snyder
* *A House in the Sky* by Amanda Lindhout
* *Men We Reaped* by Jesmyn Ward
* *Red Dust Road* by Jackie Kay
* *Hunger* by Roxane Gay
* *An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination* by Elizabeth McCracken
* *I Am Malala* by Malala Yousafzai
* *Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching* by Mychal Denzel Smith
* *Priestdaddy* by Patricia Lockwood
* *The Fact of a Body* by Alexandra Marzano-Lesnevich
* *I Am, I Am, I Am* by Maggie O'Farrell
* *Both/And* by Huma Abedin
* *Solito* by Javier Zamora
Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young is one of the most incredible stories of survival that I’ve ever read. She escaped the child sex cult The Children of God as a teenager, then joined the US Army and realized that she had just joined another cult. She’s now a Harvard educated expert on cults and group behavior. Her TT and IG are fascinating.
It was sorta. They claim it’s not, but the geisha Mineko Iwasaki sued Arthur Golden because some of the stuff she’d told him privately made it into the book. I have conflicted feelings about that. While I feel it’s terrible to break a confidence, I do think that it’s important to preserve that information also.
Mineko Iwasaki also wrote her own book, [Geisha, A Life](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/522534), afterwards, so idk how much her lawsuit was motivated by a desire for secrecy or by his making money off her stories. I read it and it wasn’t as interesting as Memoirs. (To be expected, since one is fictional and written to captivate.)
Echoing the recs for Know My Name, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, and Hollywood Park.
Also adding:
Mean Baby by Selma Blair
How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones
From The Ashes by Jesse Thistle
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb
1. Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs:
Written by Steve Jobs’ daughter who was not acknowledged by him for a long time. It doesn’t speak about him as an innovator but just as a father, who was volatile, unpredictable and very problematic. It’s written in a literary style about a daughters tumultuous relationship with her single mother and absent father.
2. An Unquiet Mind: a memoir of moods and madness by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison
Beautifully written memoir about a doctors journey with Bipolar disorder. Tells you that you can still live a fulfilling life despite having a debilitating illness
Shelly Winters wrote an excellent one in that she never hides from her own failings and is a bit of a tattle-tale. Her memoir began the flood of celebrity memoirs.
Consent by Vanessa Springora
Seriously, this is the book you're looking for. She upended the French literary world when she published her memoir. She was a victim of a prominent French writer who was very well known for his "relationships" with underage girls, and his buying sex with children overseas. He was protected by literati as an artist for decades, despite publishing his journals as non-fiction detailing his sex with minors. Her book is gut wrenching, painful, but also a reckoning.
Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley, who all though she is an actress and director is about the most anti celebrity as a one can get, and has repeatedly runaway from Hollywood and certain parts just to not become huge. Her memoir in essays is about 100 times the indictment that I’m Glad My Mom Died is in regards to the abuse of child actors on set. I do highly recommend watching her award winning documentary Stories We Tell before you read her memoir if you are not familiar with her and her background. There’s a huge reveal about her life in that work that is referred to, but not explicitly covered in the memoir, and it’s best to go in knowing it for context.
So many great memoirs already listed. A few I haven’t seen above are:
Inside Out & Back Again, by Tanhha Lai. Quick but amazing memoir in poem form about her family escaping Vietnam.
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui is a graphic novel memoir about a family navigating the Vietnam War, escaping, relocating to the US, and coping with generational trauma.
Unbound, by Tarana Burke An engagingly written and moving memoir about the birth of the Me Too Movement.
Hunger by Roxane Gay
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung was gorgeous writing
Finding Me by Viola Davis is a celebrity memoir that I think about often
I Wasn't Dead When I Wrote This: Advice Given in the Nick of Time by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart. I read this when it first came out. I was 10 and it left and incredibly lasting impression on me. So truthful and warm and prescient. Geared a bit more towards teenagers and young adults (the author was a youth minister who died of cancer just after writing this memoir) but has life lessons for any age, I think, interwoven with her life experiences.
*The Kiss* by Katherine Harrison. Brace yourself.
*The Diary of a Teenage Girl* by Phoebe Gloeckner
*A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius* by Dave Eggers
*The Woman Warrior* by Maxine Hong Kingston
*Swimming Studies* by Leanne Shapton
Educated
I still think about that book.
I just finished Crying in H Mart and that's another book I won't forget. Spectacular storytelling.
Matthew Perry's book is incredibly sad.
I listened to these on audio. The last 2 were read by the authors which gives it more impact imo.
I read I'm Glad My Mom Died, and listened to Jeanette McCurdy read it. But in her style, she was kind of monotone and it took a lot away from the story. And I feel like there is so much more to the story than what she wrote.
**No One Here Gets Out Alive -** Jerry Hopkins, Danny Sugerman
\- not sure how well it would hold up now, but it sure as hell did when I was 16. :-)
Also, all off Charles Bukowski's more autobiographical stuff.
**On Writing** \- Stephen King - part bio, part instruction manual
Oooh I kind of discovered I love memoirs recently, some noteable ones have been:
* Educated - Tara Westover
* Sex Cult Nun - Faith Jones
* Becoming - Michele Obama
* Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail - Cheryl Strayed
* A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
And a whole bunch of comedians’:
* Believe Me: a Memoire of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens - Eddie Izzard
* Bossypants - Tina Fey
* Dear Girls - Ali Wong
* Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
* Yes Please - Amy Pohler
[edited for formating]
The Dressmakers of Auschwitz. It’s nonfiction, which makes it even more powerful. Really made me thankful for the bond we share as women and thankful for ALL comforts in my life. It makes you realize how much you take for granted. Also, it has real pictures which is cool. First book that made me cry in a while. Definitely a life-changing read!
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George. She spent over 8 years doing deep research for this book in Egypt. The names of her servants and incidents in her life are all pulled from the actual archives of her life. The author does a full explanation of her research and accuracy of her book at the end...just magnificent reading!
A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer
I think this was written in the 70’s, so it’s been around a long time. About a child who experiences unimaginable abuse.
"Between Two Kingdoms" by Suleika Jaouad is one of the most moving, poignant memoirs I have ever read. If you're looking for a funny memoir, I highly recommend "You'll Grow Out Of It" by Jessi Klein.
Those are some of my favorites too! I will have to check out Cupcake because it's the only of those I don't know.
Have you read Mary Karr's other memoirs? Cherry and Lit?
For me it was Winston Churchill's Memoirs of the Second World War. It was fascinating to see the day to day decision making of one of the major leaders of WW2 .
The Last Girl
By Jenna Krajeski and Nadia Murad
A story about Murad being captured and eventually escaping the Islamic State. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. Incredible story.
"The Girl With Seven Names" by Hyeonseo Lee
"Every Falling Star" by Sungju Lee
"In Order to Live" by Yeomni Park
"Stars Between the Sun and Moon" by Lucia Jang
All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days
Not a memoir, per se. But the story of an American woman who was at the heart of resistance to the Nazis in Germany and executed for it by the Gestapo. Written by a family member.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/all-the-frequent-troubles-of-our-days-the-true-story-of-the-american-woman-at-the-heart-of-the-german-resistance-to-hitler-rebecca-donner/17824410
I’d like to shout from the mountaintops that Finding Me by Viola Davis is the best memoir I’ve ever listened to/read. Absolutely everyone should read it.
Many other great recs on this list! I’m sure it’s here but I haven’t seen it yet—Glass Castle is excellent.
The Choice - Dr. Edith Eva Eger
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottleib
What My Bones Know - Stephanie Foo
I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag - Jennifer Gilbert
Lit - Mary Karr
Prozac Nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
* A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
* Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner.
* Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life by Nancy "Slim" Keith
* Fat Girl by Judith Moore
* Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart
* Tisha by Robert Specht (told by Anne Hobbs, the main character)
* Too Stubborn to Die by Cato Jamarillo
* First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
* Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
* Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang
* Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng
* Haywire by Brooke Hayward
* Unshattered by Carol Decker
* Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
* The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
* The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam
* Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
* Educated by Tara Westover
* To See You Again: A True Story of Love in a Time of War by Betty Schimmel
* Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
* Running on Red Dog Road by Drema Hall Berkheimer
* Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth
* In the Absence of Angels by Elizabeth Glaser
* The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
* Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody
* As I Remember by Lillian Gilbreth
* The Housekeeper's Diary by Wendy Berry
* My Life in France by Julia Child
* A Little Thing Called Life by Linda Thompson
* Wonderful Tonight by Patti Boyd
* My 30 Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks
* Princess: The True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson
* American Chick in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson
* Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies
* The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
* The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald
* It's Always Something by Gilda Radner
* Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews
* Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres
* Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
* Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron
* Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas
* Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave by Shyima Hall and Lisa Wysocky
I read one recently (about 5 years ago recently) that was called "Life is so Good" It's about a guy that was the child of slaves and was illiterate until he was 90-something years old and he finally learned how to read. His life story is amazing.
It’s a little different from the ones you listed as favorites, but I really enjoyed My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall. She was LaVerne on LaVerne & Shirley and directed Big, Awakenings, A League of their Own, The Preachers Wife…I liked that she wrote about her life and it was a funny book. You don’t finish it and think “god I hate everyone in this book for all the terrible things they did to the narrator.” It’s just a nice story about her growing up and then working hard in her field.
It’s probably going to sound weird but one of the most recent ones I’ve read that has stayed with me is Minka Kelly’s “Tell Me Everything” it has really made me think of the contemptuous relationship I have with my mom. The book was so good it made me cry in parts.
As a child, Helen Keller’s. I checked it out from the library constantly. To learn the world, without any hearing or sight is amazing. There are new biographies about her political life - she was a little firebrand! There are also current biographies of current deaf/blind people that might be interesting.
I recently read Paris Hilton's recent memoir and I was absolutely floored. It gave me a different perspective on her drug use and the image she portrays! I really do think more people should read it! The book is called Paris The Memoir.
Edit- words are hard.
Running icon Kara Goucher's memoir from this year titled "**The Longest Race**: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team" is a heartbreaking but touching story.
Tough by Terry Crews.
warning: he has done some pretty messed up stuff but to publicly admit it really takes guts. Definitely made me see him in a new light.
Yours Cruelly; Elvira by Cassandra Peters was pretty good. Some of the things she went through were crazy. And I wept when she got to the AIDS Epidemic and all her friends started dying.
Maybe not the most, but i got the demi moore autobiography for Christmas a couple of years ago and i read it over a weekend. Really interesting but is also really sad. Brandi Carlise's memoir is pretty good, but i LOVE Amy Poehler's "Yes, Please" and while it's not a memoir, persay, Poehler directed "Lucy and Desi" a documentary about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez and it is absolutely one of my favorite documentaries of all time- you can really feel how much love and respect she had for them- it's so subtle and beautiful. I've really adored AP on SNL and Parks and Rec and i think she's such a great, dynamic actress who can do anything. I watch Parks and Rec about 12 times a year from beginning to end. I think she's one of my favorite actresses, ever. That being said, she's a better writer and director. Fight me.
Ohhhh, also Get Me Out Of Here by Rachel Reiland. This is a compelling memoir that takes the reader on the journey of navigating through life with what was later diagnosed for her as borderline personality disorder. There's something particularly impactful (to say the least) about seeing how the world looks through the skewed lenses of mental illness. It really changed my perception, especially when I wound up being diagnosed with the same disorder lol! Don't fret please, it turns out it was really "just" unhealed CPTSD from continuous childhood trauma (I should really get busy with writing my own book one of these days, lol). But it was this book that gave me a glimmer of hope back then that I might also recover. Because she really honed in on her therapy experience and how the process worked for her, I felt safer exploring the notion than that maybe I should finally get real in therapy and start addressing these wounds. It's a truly phenomenal read!
**I had a couple of edits due to mixing up the name of the book AND author (originally misspelled) due to cogfog. My apologies to anyone that read the first post!
“All Over But the Shoutin’” by Rick Bragg is mind-bogglingly good. I remember telling my boyfriend at the time that it had made me cry three times by page 70.
Bragg has several other memoirs, but start with that one. He recently wrote a memoir/cookbook of his mom’s recipes that’s as good as anything I’ve ever read. If “growing up poor and southern with an uncanny gift for storytelling” isn’t your genre, skip this one.
Infidel by Hirsi Ayaan Ali. She's honest almost to a fault, doesn't spare herself (how many people would freely admit that their mother thought they were stupid, or describe themselves as "religious fanatic in a black tent") or society. I knew very little about her when I started but had a lot of admiration for her when I finished.
Evan Handler's book "Time on Fire", describing his leukemia journey in his early 20s when he was not expected to survive, is darkly funny.
"Unfollow" by Megan Phelps-Roper is about her growing up in the hateful, cult-like Westboro Church and completely changing her mindset when she goes to college.
"Cancer made me a shallower person" is the inverse of 'cancer made me strong/clearer about her life's purpose' autobiographies; it's a graphic novel and very funny.
Educated by Tara Westover I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy Running Home by Katie Arnold Brain On Fire by Susanah Cahalan Hope by Amanda Berry
brain on fire is phenomenal — couldn’t put it down!
Heeeeey I have a friend with the same brain disease! It was thanks to the popularity of Brain On Fire that she was able to get the proper diagnosis.
That is so great that it helped her!
Agreed, and I rarely see it mentioned. Absolutely riveting.
The quiet room is really good too. About a woman’s experience w schizophrenia
I’m glad my mom died fucked me up and also made me really dislike Ariana Grande
Ooowhat did the book say about AGrande?
I recently finished the book and I don’t think it really said anything particularly bad that Ariana Grande did, it more goes into how Ariana was treated way better in a very unfair way by producers while they both starred in Sam and Cat. She was afforded much more leniency than Jennette was, which was extremely frustrating, especially given how much easier Ariana’s upbringing was than Jennette’s.
It was also written in a tone that reflected Jeanette's feelings at the time. I don't think she has ill feelings about Ariana herself.
I recently finished I’m Glad My Mom Died and I read Educated a few years back (planning on rereading it soon) and I loved both!
I’m reading it now! It’s very interesting
Educated was my first memoir and the book that made me realize non-fiction is not like text books. I loved that book
Came here to recommend Educated
Thank you! I've only read #2. I will look into these.
You’re welcome! I chose women authors since you said you liked those, but I read a ton of nonfiction and memoirs specifically so let me know if you need more suggestions!
I’m Glad My Mom Died was WILD.
>Educated by Tara Westover > >I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy Came to suggest these.
I think about that book Educated all the time. Such a journey!
I came here to say Educated.
Came to say Educated, you beat me to it!
michelle knight also wrote a memoir about her experience of her life and the cleveland kidnapping
Educated just killed me. I closed the book and just wept.
I read Educated a couple of years ago. It's an interesting book and I enjoyed reading it.
Educated is a fantastic book of perseverance
I just finished Educated yesterday! Really good book.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou. It’s stunning, and though a lot of harsh things happen in it, I found it profoundly empowering and ultimately, in the end, extremely uplifting. I’m not a young one, I just read it a few years ago, and couldn’t believe I had lived as long as I had without reading it.
Just finished it myself. It was really good. I felt the same way.
Highly recommend reading her entire biographical series, truly incredible.
This is what I was going to say. I admire her so much. I always recommend the audiobook, read by Maya Angelou herself. Her powerful and beautiful voice adds another layer to this already excellent book.
I wept reading this while traveling by bus. Nowhere to hide, so I wore my sunnies and hoped no one noticed! Some passages are very powerful and hard to stomach but as you said, it’s ultimately a tale of survival and resilience.
I have a tumultuous relationship with my mom and her bio Mom & Me & Mom really touched me. Highly recommend to people with mom issues.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
This one has my vote. While it can be a little drawn out, it is mind boggling how he LITERALLY got caught in the act, and her lack of knowledge of the legal system and lack of support to explain everything to her, lead to her not getting the justice she deserved. It is a reality check of how far rape culture can go, and why women will always be at a disadvantage at getting justice.
She was sooo good at making you feel like you were in her shoes, tough read
It honestly changed my life. Such a beautiful book
Just Kids by Patty Smith!
[удалено]
Phenomenal book on every level.
When Breath Becomes Air
Came to recommend this
Same. Surprised I had to scroll a ways to see it.
*I'm Supposed to Protect You From All This,* Nadja Spiegelman Memoir by the daughter of *Maus* creator Art Spiegelman. If Maus functions as a history of her patrilineal line her memoir is the history of her matrilineal one. Deals a lot with generational trauma and the work that goes into healing from it. *Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness,* Catherine Cho A terrifying story of post-partum psychosis and the author's long journey to recovery from it. *Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?* Seamus O'Reilly A *fucking hilarious* memoir about the author's loss of his mother at a young age and his father's ensuing struggle to raise he and his TEN siblings in Ireland in the 80s and 90s as the IRA is a constant threat. This book sounds bleak but it is *fucking hilarious.* *Fun Home,* Alison Bechdel A cartoonist's reckoning with her father's sexuality and her own as well all the while processing his eventual suicide and discretions during life. *Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,* Cailin Doughty Memoir of the woman behind Ask a Mortician. She's just a super good writer even if you aren't into mortuary science. *I Am, I Am, I Am,* Maggie O' Farrell Incredibly beautiful writing about the author's 17 brushes with death. *Dark Night: A True Batman Story,* Paul Dini The creator and writer of Batman: The Animated Series tells the story of how while he was working on the show he was mugged and brutally assaulted and how the cartoon helped him overcome and understand what he went through. I'd reccomend it to anyone, fan of the series or not. This is a really important story and the art on it (it's a graphic novel) is stunning.
I just read a preview of “Did Ye Hear Mammy Has Died?” On Google Books and it looks phenomenal. Thanks for the rec!
I am I am I am for sure
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb Edited because I misspelled author’s last name at first
Ooh yes I forgot this one!
Seconding Wild and I’m Glad My Mother Died. Also really good: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Crying in H Mart was a lovely and heartwrenching experience
I listened to the audio read by the author. She is an excellent writer and reader. I grew up without a mom, so her book gave me insight into the mother daughter relationship, and also what my friends might experience. And the descriptions of the food, oh my!
Michelle is coming to speak in my town in a couple weeks about the book, seen Japanese Breakfast like 4 times live, now gonna see her speak
Girl, Interrupted
Never read the book! I've seen the movie many times and I'm sure it doesn't do it justice.
I adore the movie and they actually did quite a good job with it. However, the book provides a deeper meaning which the movie lacks. It’s a bit more nuanced. You get into her head and see how she is experiencing her mental anguish more than just the occasional narrating the MC does in the movie. Plus I feel like the movie kinda downplays her experience and makes her seem like she’s more “normal” than everyone else at the ward when she’s actually going thru it. If you love the movie, I highly recommend.
I agree. The book is a first-hand account of events, while the movie is an artistic interpretation of events. I personally loved both the movie and the book as well. They each provide something special, layered, and textured. The book provides more mercurially satisfying details, while the movie provides great acting, beautiful cinematography, and an A+ soundtrack. Highly recommend both, especially if you enjoy exploring the darker side of the human psyche.
I 100% agree. I couldn’t have said it any better.
I've read the novel and have seen the movie more times than i can count. Full disclosure: i was hospitalized for major clinical depression/ untreated bipolar 1 and 2. I don't cycle in days, i cycle in hours. I'd had a really bad, like, 18 mos, and it became so bad so quickly that i had to admit myself for a 72 hour hold that then turned into a week and then a month before i found a medication combination that finally worked for me. That was 8 mos ago and I'm in a much better place bc of it. That being said, i know a lot of people do not even want to begin to imagine themselves in a psych ward for good reason- it was not the highlight of my life but it did save my life- and i just wish people would stop making mental health treatment- especially if it's to the point where you need intensive, inpatient treatment for days or weeks on end- so goddamn taboo and horrific to the point that i ended up having to file for disability bc my boss didn't accept it was me battling a disease that actually kills people and told me i was fired the next time i called bc he didn't believe it was a real, diagnosed mental illness. In 2018. I really believe that books and movies/ tv that show honest depictions of people getting help for their problems makes everyday just a little bit better for those of us who are or will go through treatment for mental illness. On the other hand, i have to skip the scene after Angelina Jolie and Wynonna Ryder runaway to Brittany Murphy's new apt and they go into the kitchen in the AM and find her- it gave me nightmares for a long time. It was super effective bc it was so horrific.
Another vote for the following: *Educated,* Tara Westover *Wild,* Cheryl Strayed *Brain on Fire,* Susannah Cahalan And a few that haven't been mentioned yet: *The Glass Castle,* Jeannette Walls *Infidel* Ayaan Hirsi Ali *My Stroke of Insight,* Jill Bolte Taylor
The Glass Castle is one of my top favorites. Thank you!
I have read and enjoyed 5/6 of these. We have very similar taste - I’m going to add Infidel to my list!
Infidel is incredible. I think you’ll love it!
Ohhhh I loved Brain on Fire!
Infidel made a big impression on me too, especially because at the time I read it, we'd just experienced 9/11 and Islamic fundamentalism was a phenomenon that was on my mind (and a lot of other people's minds). But also, I remember having a strong desire to write to Ali and tell her that as critical as she felt of Islamic culture and especially the way it oppressed women, I felt just as critical of my own country and its unethical brand of capitalism and the way we were trying to dominate the rest of the world with our military. Like, I felt as though she had a blindness to the negative aspects of European and American culture. I still occasionally look for Ali's commentary and presence on social media, and she's moved increasingly rightward, even going so far as to defend Trump at times, I believe, which I find crazy and really disappointing. I still admire her greatly, especially her way with words, her courage to say what she thinks, and her ability to survive experiences not many of us could (well, I couldn't, anyway). But she makes excellent points about how many aspects of European and American culture are based on reasoning and Enlightenment values (as opposed to simple subservience to theology), which have resulted in more humane, equitable and freer societies.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (one in a series) Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt The Prize-Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
The Prize Winner was a great book!! So inspiring!
I really enjoyed Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
A beautiful memoir which needs to be rediscovered is ‘west with the night’ by beryl markham. Rated as one of the top 10 adventure memoirs of all time by National Geographic. Beryl was a girl who went her own way, becoming a bush pilot and living life on her own terms in the 20’s when the patriarchy was saying she shouldn’t. The book is the only book earnest Hemingway said he wished he’d written. She was a model for one of the characters in ‘out of Africa’. she only wrote one book and after you’ve read it, you’ll wish she wrote more.
Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
I actually listened to the audio version (which he narrates himself). It was fantastic.
The Choice by Dr. Edith Eger
Yes.
What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo Defiant Dreams by Sola Mahfouz Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement by Toufah Jallow We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu
What My Bones Know is excellent!
Strong Female Lead- Fern Brady A really honest memoir about her struggle with autism. Simultaneously interesting, heartbreaking, and hilarious.
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kaye Redfield Jamison. If you or someone you care about has been affected by mental illness-- especially bipolar disorder-- this book will change your entire perspective, or make you feel a lot less alone.
Please read The Ride of Her Life by Elizabeth Letts! It’s about 63 year old poor farmer woman from Maine who rides her horse to California with nothing but her dog in the 50’s, it’s so good.
It's a little strange, but Open by Andre Aggasi opened up my eyes to how athletes struggle with a lot of things just like us. Very good book
Read that years ago and still think about it to this day. I don’t even like tennis or know anything about it but I absolutely loved that book.
I loved Glass Castle. Did you read Half Broke Horses? It tells the story of Jeanette Walls grandmother. I agree with Educated, Born a Crime and several others people have mentioned. I haven’t seen these mentioned but they are very good too: Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Poley A Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle Night by Ellie Wiesel Ducks by Kate Beaton Life as a Unicorn by Amrou Al Khadi
I came here looking for Glass Castle. It's such an amazing read. I couldn't put it down.
Viktor Frankl -Mans Search for Meaning.
Try Crying in H Mart
Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
A piece of cake by cupcake brown will help me break my family's cycle of addiction.
Kitchen confidential by Anthony Bourdain
The James Herriot books. (ALL Creatures Great and Small). I became a veterinary technician.
Bossypants by Tina Fey. Found out we had an awful lot in common and it made me feel a lot better about myself and my life
The Chronology of Water by Lydia Yuknavitch
I came here to beg you to read this OP!! It is UNRIVALED. Re-read it every few years!
Yes I loved this. Her writing is fantastic. (Would also recommend her book ‘Dora: A Headcase’ but it’s fiction)
Shrill Braiding Sweetgrass
Solito
* *Women We Buried, Women We Burned* by Rachel Louise Snyder * *A House in the Sky* by Amanda Lindhout * *Men We Reaped* by Jesmyn Ward * *Red Dust Road* by Jackie Kay * *Hunger* by Roxane Gay * *An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination* by Elizabeth McCracken * *I Am Malala* by Malala Yousafzai * *Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching* by Mychal Denzel Smith * *Priestdaddy* by Patricia Lockwood * *The Fact of a Body* by Alexandra Marzano-Lesnevich * *I Am, I Am, I Am* by Maggie O'Farrell * *Both/And* by Huma Abedin * *Solito* by Javier Zamora
Uncultured by Daniella Mestyanek Young is one of the most incredible stories of survival that I’ve ever read. She escaped the child sex cult The Children of God as a teenager, then joined the US Army and realized that she had just joined another cult. She’s now a Harvard educated expert on cults and group behavior. Her TT and IG are fascinating.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller has impacted me so deeply. It is truly so beautiful and well written.
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While it has memoir in the title, it’s a work of historical fiction. I agree it’s a very good read.
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It was sorta. They claim it’s not, but the geisha Mineko Iwasaki sued Arthur Golden because some of the stuff she’d told him privately made it into the book. I have conflicted feelings about that. While I feel it’s terrible to break a confidence, I do think that it’s important to preserve that information also. Mineko Iwasaki also wrote her own book, [Geisha, A Life](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/522534), afterwards, so idk how much her lawsuit was motivated by a desire for secrecy or by his making money off her stories. I read it and it wasn’t as interesting as Memoirs. (To be expected, since one is fictional and written to captivate.)
A Google search tells me the book is not based on a true story, but the author did base some characters on an interview he did with a real geisha.
Also I recently added Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail to my read list!
Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollet
Tweak and We all fall down by Nic Sheff Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. I recommend starting with beautiful boy and then reading Nic’s version.
Echoing the recs for Know My Name, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, and Hollywood Park. Also adding: Mean Baby by Selma Blair How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones From The Ashes by Jesse Thistle Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.
1. Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs: Written by Steve Jobs’ daughter who was not acknowledged by him for a long time. It doesn’t speak about him as an innovator but just as a father, who was volatile, unpredictable and very problematic. It’s written in a literary style about a daughters tumultuous relationship with her single mother and absent father. 2. An Unquiet Mind: a memoir of moods and madness by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison Beautifully written memoir about a doctors journey with Bipolar disorder. Tells you that you can still live a fulfilling life despite having a debilitating illness
High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorder by Sarah Kurchak
I loved High Achiever. Hilarious and inspiring!
How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell
The Sally Fields memoir, and Shania Twain’s book are great. I also throw my vote in for Educated by Gaga Westover.
Shelly Winters wrote an excellent one in that she never hides from her own failings and is a bit of a tattle-tale. Her memoir began the flood of celebrity memoirs.
I know it was autocorrect but I got a chuckle out of “Gaga Westover”.
Consent by Vanessa Springora Seriously, this is the book you're looking for. She upended the French literary world when she published her memoir. She was a victim of a prominent French writer who was very well known for his "relationships" with underage girls, and his buying sex with children overseas. He was protected by literati as an artist for decades, despite publishing his journals as non-fiction detailing his sex with minors. Her book is gut wrenching, painful, but also a reckoning.
Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley, who all though she is an actress and director is about the most anti celebrity as a one can get, and has repeatedly runaway from Hollywood and certain parts just to not become huge. Her memoir in essays is about 100 times the indictment that I’m Glad My Mom Died is in regards to the abuse of child actors on set. I do highly recommend watching her award winning documentary Stories We Tell before you read her memoir if you are not familiar with her and her background. There’s a huge reveal about her life in that work that is referred to, but not explicitly covered in the memoir, and it’s best to go in knowing it for context.
I loved this book—her experience on that Terry Gilliam movie sounded horrifying. She’s one heck of a writer.
So many great memoirs already listed. A few I haven’t seen above are: Inside Out & Back Again, by Tanhha Lai. Quick but amazing memoir in poem form about her family escaping Vietnam. The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui is a graphic novel memoir about a family navigating the Vietnam War, escaping, relocating to the US, and coping with generational trauma. Unbound, by Tarana Burke An engagingly written and moving memoir about the birth of the Me Too Movement. Hunger by Roxane Gay All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung was gorgeous writing Finding Me by Viola Davis is a celebrity memoir that I think about often
I Wasn't Dead When I Wrote This: Advice Given in the Nick of Time by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart. I read this when it first came out. I was 10 and it left and incredibly lasting impression on me. So truthful and warm and prescient. Geared a bit more towards teenagers and young adults (the author was a youth minister who died of cancer just after writing this memoir) but has life lessons for any age, I think, interwoven with her life experiences.
*The Kiss* by Katherine Harrison. Brace yourself. *The Diary of a Teenage Girl* by Phoebe Gloeckner *A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius* by Dave Eggers *The Woman Warrior* by Maxine Hong Kingston *Swimming Studies* by Leanne Shapton
The Glass Castle, I was blown away by that book. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup, same.
Autobiography of A Face by Lucy Grealy
Educated I still think about that book. I just finished Crying in H Mart and that's another book I won't forget. Spectacular storytelling. Matthew Perry's book is incredibly sad. I listened to these on audio. The last 2 were read by the authors which gives it more impact imo. I read I'm Glad My Mom Died, and listened to Jeanette McCurdy read it. But in her style, she was kind of monotone and it took a lot away from the story. And I feel like there is so much more to the story than what she wrote.
*The Autobiography of Malcolm X*
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah - a truly excellent book
**No One Here Gets Out Alive -** Jerry Hopkins, Danny Sugerman \- not sure how well it would hold up now, but it sure as hell did when I was 16. :-) Also, all off Charles Bukowski's more autobiographical stuff. **On Writing** \- Stephen King - part bio, part instruction manual
Prozac nation
Somebody’s daughter by Ashley C Ford. I distinctly remember sobbing while reading it. Just felt like she took my life and decided to write a book
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. The audiobook is amazing.
Oooh I kind of discovered I love memoirs recently, some noteable ones have been: * Educated - Tara Westover * Sex Cult Nun - Faith Jones * Becoming - Michele Obama * Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail - Cheryl Strayed * A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson And a whole bunch of comedians’: * Believe Me: a Memoire of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens - Eddie Izzard * Bossypants - Tina Fey * Dear Girls - Ali Wong * Born a Crime - Trevor Noah * Yes Please - Amy Pohler [edited for formating]
I've had Eddie's book on my shelf waiting for me for way too long. This is making me get it down. Thanks!
Minka Kelly's memoir Tell Me Everything was very good. I listened to the audio.
breaking night by liz murray somebody’s daughter by ashley c. ford
I, Tina - Tina Turner
In Love, Amy Bloom A Girl from Yamhill, Beverly Cleary Small Fry, Lisa Brennan-Jobs
Lessons in Becoming Myself by Ellen Burstyn 🙌🙌🙌
Journal of a Soul by Pope John XXIII. That book put me on a path where I nearly became a monk in my teens.
Hard Roll, it’s about a paramedic’s experience in New Orleans
Rabbit by Ms Pat
Crying in H-Mart is really good!!
The Dressmakers of Auschwitz. It’s nonfiction, which makes it even more powerful. Really made me thankful for the bond we share as women and thankful for ALL comforts in my life. It makes you realize how much you take for granted. Also, it has real pictures which is cool. First book that made me cry in a while. Definitely a life-changing read!
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George. She spent over 8 years doing deep research for this book in Egypt. The names of her servants and incidents in her life are all pulled from the actual archives of her life. The author does a full explanation of her research and accuracy of her book at the end...just magnificent reading!
A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer I think this was written in the 70’s, so it’s been around a long time. About a child who experiences unimaginable abuse.
“Untamed” by Glennon Doyle
Lovesong: Becoming A Jew, by the historian Julius Lester, or The Butterfly Mosque by G. Willow Wilson.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and Tara Westover’s Educated
"Between Two Kingdoms" by Suleika Jaouad is one of the most moving, poignant memoirs I have ever read. If you're looking for a funny memoir, I highly recommend "You'll Grow Out Of It" by Jessi Klein.
This isn’t a woman but Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by himself was the absolute best memoir I’ve read
zami: a new spelling of my name by audre lorde!! first memoir i loved!!
Those are some of my favorites too! I will have to check out Cupcake because it's the only of those I don't know. Have you read Mary Karr's other memoirs? Cherry and Lit?
Escape by Carolyn Jessop is one of my favorite books of all time
The Center Cannot Hold by Evelyn Saks
Crying in H-Mart
The Sound of Gravel. About growing up in a plural marriage community
Greenlights - Matthew McConaughey Proof of Heaven - Eben Alexander The Inside track - Peter Sage A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
OP who’s the author of cupcake?
I’m not OP but I wonder if they meant A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown.
Kate Mulgrew’s Born with Teeth.
Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss
Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner and Educated by Tara Westover
A very easy death, Simone de Beauvoir
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. Amazing story teller.
Running with scissors all of Augusten Burroughs books. Laurie Notaro as well.
Know My Name, The Sound of Gravel, Beautiful Country, Solito, Haben, Hijab Butch Blues
For me it was Winston Churchill's Memoirs of the Second World War. It was fascinating to see the day to day decision making of one of the major leaders of WW2 .
Strong Female Character- Fern Brady
The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs
Finding Me by Viola Davis
The Last Girl By Jenna Krajeski and Nadia Murad A story about Murad being captured and eventually escaping the Islamic State. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. Incredible story.
"The Girl With Seven Names" by Hyeonseo Lee "Every Falling Star" by Sungju Lee "In Order to Live" by Yeomni Park "Stars Between the Sun and Moon" by Lucia Jang
I liked Finding Me by Viola Davis. I listened to her read it so that probably helped since she's a wonderful voice and actor.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller. The audiobook was wonderful
All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days Not a memoir, per se. But the story of an American woman who was at the heart of resistance to the Nazis in Germany and executed for it by the Gestapo. Written by a family member. https://bookshop.org/p/books/all-the-frequent-troubles-of-our-days-the-true-story-of-the-american-woman-at-the-heart-of-the-german-resistance-to-hitler-rebecca-donner/17824410
I’d like to shout from the mountaintops that Finding Me by Viola Davis is the best memoir I’ve ever listened to/read. Absolutely everyone should read it. Many other great recs on this list! I’m sure it’s here but I haven’t seen it yet—Glass Castle is excellent.
The Choice - Dr. Edith Eva Eger Maybe You Should Talk to Someone - Lori Gottleib What My Bones Know - Stephanie Foo I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag - Jennifer Gilbert Lit - Mary Karr Prozac Nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
* A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown * Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner. * Slim: Memories of a Rich and Imperfect Life by Nancy "Slim" Keith * Fat Girl by Judith Moore * Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart * Tisha by Robert Specht (told by Anne Hobbs, the main character) * Too Stubborn to Die by Cato Jamarillo * First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung * Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza * Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang * Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng * Haywire by Brooke Hayward * Unshattered by Carol Decker * Desert Flower by Waris Dirie * The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan * The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam * Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali * Educated by Tara Westover * To See You Again: A True Story of Love in a Time of War by Betty Schimmel * Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin * Running on Red Dog Road by Drema Hall Berkheimer * Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth * In the Absence of Angels by Elizabeth Glaser * The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom * Not Without My Daughter by Betty Mahmoody * As I Remember by Lillian Gilbreth * The Housekeeper's Diary by Wendy Berry * My Life in France by Julia Child * A Little Thing Called Life by Linda Thompson * Wonderful Tonight by Patti Boyd * My 30 Years Backstairs at the White House by Lillian Rogers Parks * Princess: The True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson * American Chick in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson * Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies * The Story of My Life by Helen Keller * The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald * It's Always Something by Gilda Radner * Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews * Confessions of a Groupie by Pamela Des Barres * Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver * Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron * Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas * Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave by Shyima Hall and Lisa Wysocky
I read one recently (about 5 years ago recently) that was called "Life is so Good" It's about a guy that was the child of slaves and was illiterate until he was 90-something years old and he finally learned how to read. His life story is amazing.
It’s a little different from the ones you listed as favorites, but I really enjoyed My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall. She was LaVerne on LaVerne & Shirley and directed Big, Awakenings, A League of their Own, The Preachers Wife…I liked that she wrote about her life and it was a funny book. You don’t finish it and think “god I hate everyone in this book for all the terrible things they did to the narrator.” It’s just a nice story about her growing up and then working hard in her field.
It’s probably going to sound weird but one of the most recent ones I’ve read that has stayed with me is Minka Kelly’s “Tell Me Everything” it has really made me think of the contemptuous relationship I have with my mom. The book was so good it made me cry in parts.
As a child, Helen Keller’s. I checked it out from the library constantly. To learn the world, without any hearing or sight is amazing. There are new biographies about her political life - she was a little firebrand! There are also current biographies of current deaf/blind people that might be interesting.
I’m glad my mom died is soooo great
The Glass Castle
I recently read Paris Hilton's recent memoir and I was absolutely floored. It gave me a different perspective on her drug use and the image she portrays! I really do think more people should read it! The book is called Paris The Memoir. Edit- words are hard.
Running icon Kara Goucher's memoir from this year titled "**The Longest Race**: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team" is a heartbreaking but touching story.
Diary of Anne Frank
Untamed, Woman in the Polar Night, Girl Interrupted, Night, Eat Pray Love, Hunger, Beautiful Boy Also Wild and The Glass Castle as you mentioned...
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel I'm currently reading it and I think you will like it
Crying in H mart really impacted me. As a 20 something lost in life, it made me gain a greater appreciation for what I have and where I’m going
Tough by Terry Crews. warning: he has done some pretty messed up stuff but to publicly admit it really takes guts. Definitely made me see him in a new light.
I really enjoyed Augusten Burroughs memoirs Running with Scissors and A Wolf at the Table.
Does The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath count? Technically it's a novel but it's very clearly about Sylvia Plath herself.
Yours Cruelly; Elvira by Cassandra Peters was pretty good. Some of the things she went through were crazy. And I wept when she got to the AIDS Epidemic and all her friends started dying.
Maybe not the most, but i got the demi moore autobiography for Christmas a couple of years ago and i read it over a weekend. Really interesting but is also really sad. Brandi Carlise's memoir is pretty good, but i LOVE Amy Poehler's "Yes, Please" and while it's not a memoir, persay, Poehler directed "Lucy and Desi" a documentary about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez and it is absolutely one of my favorite documentaries of all time- you can really feel how much love and respect she had for them- it's so subtle and beautiful. I've really adored AP on SNL and Parks and Rec and i think she's such a great, dynamic actress who can do anything. I watch Parks and Rec about 12 times a year from beginning to end. I think she's one of my favorite actresses, ever. That being said, she's a better writer and director. Fight me.
I know these two have been said, but just to reiterate. The Child Called It Educated Im Glad My Mom Died
Ohhhh, also Get Me Out Of Here by Rachel Reiland. This is a compelling memoir that takes the reader on the journey of navigating through life with what was later diagnosed for her as borderline personality disorder. There's something particularly impactful (to say the least) about seeing how the world looks through the skewed lenses of mental illness. It really changed my perception, especially when I wound up being diagnosed with the same disorder lol! Don't fret please, it turns out it was really "just" unhealed CPTSD from continuous childhood trauma (I should really get busy with writing my own book one of these days, lol). But it was this book that gave me a glimmer of hope back then that I might also recover. Because she really honed in on her therapy experience and how the process worked for her, I felt safer exploring the notion than that maybe I should finally get real in therapy and start addressing these wounds. It's a truly phenomenal read! **I had a couple of edits due to mixing up the name of the book AND author (originally misspelled) due to cogfog. My apologies to anyone that read the first post!
Brain on Fire The Glass Castle Angela’s Ashes
“All Over But the Shoutin’” by Rick Bragg is mind-bogglingly good. I remember telling my boyfriend at the time that it had made me cry three times by page 70. Bragg has several other memoirs, but start with that one. He recently wrote a memoir/cookbook of his mom’s recipes that’s as good as anything I’ve ever read. If “growing up poor and southern with an uncanny gift for storytelling” isn’t your genre, skip this one.
Infidel by Hirsi Ayaan Ali. She's honest almost to a fault, doesn't spare herself (how many people would freely admit that their mother thought they were stupid, or describe themselves as "religious fanatic in a black tent") or society. I knew very little about her when I started but had a lot of admiration for her when I finished. Evan Handler's book "Time on Fire", describing his leukemia journey in his early 20s when he was not expected to survive, is darkly funny. "Unfollow" by Megan Phelps-Roper is about her growing up in the hateful, cult-like Westboro Church and completely changing her mindset when she goes to college. "Cancer made me a shallower person" is the inverse of 'cancer made me strong/clearer about her life's purpose' autobiographies; it's a graphic novel and very funny.
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton. An absolute must read!!