Best Memoir Books

Patti Smith's memoir of her friendship and love with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in New York City from 1967 to his death from AIDS in 1989, written as a promise to a dying friend.

David Goggins continues his life story beyond Can't Hurt Me, exploring how he pushed further into the darkest corners of his mind to unlock the next level of human potential.

Sportswriter Mitch Albom reconnects with his dying professor Morrie Schwartz for a series of life lessons delivered in the shadow of death.

Matthew McConaughey's memoir drawn from 35 years of diary entries — a personal philosophy built from the experiences, mistakes, and epiphanies of an unconventional life.

Michael Lewis's memoir of his years as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, capturing the greed and absurdity of Wall Street's most explosive decade.

Esther Greenwood, a brilliant college student in 1950s New York, descends into mental illness and attempted suicide in Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical masterpiece.

Jeannette Walls recounts her extraordinary childhood, raised by brilliant but dysfunctional nomadic parents who flouted convention and neglected their children's basic needs.

Joan Didion's unflinching account of the year following her husband John Gregory Dunne's sudden death while their daughter lay critically ill in the hospital.

Roxane Gay writes about her body — fat, surveilled, weaponized against her — and the sexual violence that shaped her relationship with it, with unflinching honesty and structural precision.

The founder of Bridgewater Associates shares the operating principles that guided his life and built one of the world's most successful hedge funds.

Glennon Doyle recounts how falling in love with soccer player Abby Wambach led her to question every choice she had made and learn to trust her own inner knowing.

Matthew Perry chronicles his rise to fame on Friends and his decades-long battle with alcohol and opioid addiction in a memoir marked by self-lacerating honesty.

A collective autobiography of twentieth-century France, told through the pronoun 'one' rather than 'I,' assembling a life from photographs, memories, and the shared experience of an entire generation.

After the collapse of her marriage and her mother's death, Cheryl Strayed impulsively hiked 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone — unprepared, grieving, and ultimately transformed.

Will Smith's memoir traces his journey from West Philadelphia to global superstardom while exploring the fears, failures, and family dynamics that shaped him.

Gretchen Rubin spends a year methodically testing happiness-boosting strategies in twelve monthly themes — from decluttering to friendship to spirituality — and reporting what actually works.

Prince Harry's account of his life inside the British royal family, his grief at his mother's death, his marriage to Meghan Markle, and the decision to step back from royal duties.

The private philosophical notebook of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius — written for himself, never intended for publication — containing his Stoic practice across twelve books of thought.

Beloved writer Anne Lamott offers funny, compassionate advice on the writing life — from dealing with the blank page to navigating publication — grounded in her personal experience as a novelist and teacher.

David Chang's memoir and cookbook tells the story of how a Korean-American chef opened a ramen shop with almost no money and built one of the most influential restaurant empires in American culinary history.

George Orwell's first book: a memoir of destitution — months spent penniless in Paris, working as a plongeur in restaurant kitchens, and then weeks tramping between workhouses in England — written with the observational precision that would define everything that followed.