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Favorite memoirs/autobiographies
True life stories that kept you riveted.
Tags: autobiography, memoir, memoirs, and non-fiction

1
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
by Jeannette Walls 36 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 3552
vote
2
Angela's Ashes
Angela's Ashes
by Frank McCourt 30 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 2970
vote
3
Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Running with Scissors: A Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs 22 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 2150
vote
4
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everyth...
by Elizabeth Gilbert 17 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 1668
vote
5
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby 14 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 1392
vote
6
Dry: A Memoir
Dry: A Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs 12 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 1165
vote
7
The Complete Persepolis
The Complete Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi 10 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 974
vote
8
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
by Barbara Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp 10 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 960
vote
9
Girl, Interrupted
Girl, Interrupted
by Susanna Kaysen 10 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 907
vote
10
Into the Wild
Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer 9 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 872
vote
11
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Crit...
by Ruth Reichl 8 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 782
vote
12
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinar...
by Anthony Bourdain 8 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 779
vote
13
My Life in France
My Life in France
by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme 8 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 751
vote
14
Night
Night
by Elie Wiesel 7 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 694
vote
15
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table
by Ruth Reichl 7 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 679
vote
16
Prozac Nation
Prozac Nation
by Elizabeth Wurtzel 7 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 671
vote
17
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
by Barbara Ehrenreich 7 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 653
vote
18
The Last Lecture
The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow (Goodreads author) 6 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 578
vote
19
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
by Steve Martin 6 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 577
vote
20
Lucky
Lucky
by Alice Sebold 6 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 561
vote
21
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny ...
by Julie Powell 6 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 552
vote
22
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex...
by Malcolm X, Alex Haley 5 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 485
vote
23
Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table
Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the ...
by Ruth Reichl 5 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 465
vote
24
Autobiography of a Face
Autobiography of a Face
by Lucy Grealy 5 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 458
vote
25
Chronicles: Volume One
Chronicles: Volume One
by Bob Dylan 5 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 447
vote
26
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Me...
by Bill Bryson 5 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 443
vote
27
A Moveable Feast
A Moveable Feast
by Ernest Hemingway 5 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 425
vote
28
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Boy: Tales of Childhood
by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator) 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 397
vote
29
Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father
by Barack Obama 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 387
vote
30
This Boy's Life: A Memoir
This Boy's Life: A Memoir
by Tobias Wolff 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 375
vote
31
An American Childhood
An American Childhood
by Annie Dillard 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 374
vote
32
A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle
A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle
by Liza Campbell 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 366
vote
33
Name All the Animals: A Memoir
Name All the Animals: A Memoir
by Alison Smith 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 348
vote
34
My Life
My Life
by Bill Clinton 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 339
vote
35
Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog
Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's...
by John Grogan 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 337
vote
36
A Piece of Cake: A Memoir
A Piece of Cake: A Memoir
by Cupcake Brown 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 324
vote
37
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Beco...
by A.J. Jacobs 4 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 322
vote
38
Three Weeks with My Brother
Three Weeks with My Brother
by Nicholas Sparks, Micah Sparks 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 296
vote
39
Letting Go: An Ordinary Woman's Extraordinary Journey of Healing & Transformation
Letting Go: An Ordinary Woman's Extraordinary J...
by Nancy A. Kaiser (Goodreads author) 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 281
vote
40
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
by Daniel Mendelsohn 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 275
vote
41
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent
Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Mu...
by Anthony Rapp 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 254
vote
42
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African ...
by Alexandra Fuller 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 247
vote
43
Infidel
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 3 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 223
vote
44
Thoughts from Walden Pond
Thoughts from Walden Pond
by Henry David Thoreau 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 197
vote
45
Little Women
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 196
vote
46
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 195
vote
47
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night S...
by Chelsea Handler 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 194
vote
48
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
by Michael Patrick MacDonald (Goodreads author) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 190
vote
49
Naked
Naked
by David Sedaris 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 188
vote
50
Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13
Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13
by Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 177
vote
51
Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake
Sweet Charlotte's Seventh Mistake
by Cori Crooks (Goodreads author) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 176
vote
52
Moab Is My Washpot
Moab Is My Washpot
by Stephen Fry 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 173
vote
53
Big Russ and Me: Father and Son--Lessons of Life
Big Russ and Me: Father and Son--Lessons of Life
by Tim Russert 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 171
vote
54
Love Among the Butterflies: The Secret Life of a Victorian Lady
Love Among the Butterflies: The Secret Life of ...
by Margaret Fountaine 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 170
vote
55
Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam
Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage throu...
by Andrew X. Pham 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 169
vote
55
A Three Dog Life
A Three Dog Life
by Abigail Thomas 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 169
vote
57
The Price of Freedom: Political philosophy from Thoreau's journals
The Price of Freedom: Political philosophy from...
by Henry David Thoreau, David M. Gross (Goodreads author) (editor) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 164
vote
58
Wait Till Next Year
Wait Till Next Year
by Doris Kearns Goodwin 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 159
vote
59
BUTTERFLIES+LATE LOVES: The Further Travels and Adventures of a Victorian Lady
BUTTERFLIES+LATE LOVES: The Further Travels and...
by Margaret Fountaine 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 155
vote
60
Let Me Go: My Mother and the SS
Let Me Go: My Mother and the SS
by Helga Schneider 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 154
vote
61
My Life and Hard Times
My Life and Hard Times
by James Thurber 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 153
vote
62
The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Bar...
by Harry Bernstein 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 152
vote
63
Bat Boy: Coming of Age with the New York Yankees
Bat Boy: Coming of Age with the New York Yankees
by Matthew Mcgough (Goodreads author) 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 151
vote
64
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive ...
by Jennifer Traig 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 148
vote
65
A Writer's Diary
A Writer's Diary
by Virginia Woolf 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 147
vote
66
Poison: A History and a Family Memoir
Poison: A History and a Family Memoir
by Gail Bell 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 145
vote
66
Paris to the Moon
Paris to the Moon
by Adam Gopnik 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 145
vote
68
Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865
Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters...
by Ulysses S. Grant 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 144
vote
68
The Chelsea Whistle
The Chelsea Whistle
by Michelle Tea 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 144
vote
68
What Falls Away: A Memoir
What Falls Away: A Memoir
by Mia Farrow 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 144
vote
71
Breakfast with Tiffany: An Uncle's Memoir
Breakfast with Tiffany: An Uncle's Memoir
by Edwin John Wintle 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 143
vote
71
Cider with Rosie
Cider with Rosie
by Laurie Lee 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 143
vote
73
String Too Short to Be Saved
String Too Short to Be Saved
by Donald Hall 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 142
vote
74
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equat...
by J. Maarten Troost 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 131
vote
75
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
by Julie Andrews Edwards 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 129
vote
76
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble...
by A.J. Jacobs 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 128
vote
76
In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War
In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War
by Tobias Wolff 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 128
vote
78
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a P...
by Elissa Wall, Lisa Pulitzer 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 127
vote
79
Coming of Age in Mississippi
Coming of Age in Mississippi
by Anne Moody 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 126
vote
80
Summer at Tiffany
Summer at Tiffany
by Marjorie Hart 2 people voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 125
vote
81
Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity--and My Journey to Freedom in America
Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Y...
by Francis Bok 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
No Child Left Behind? The True Story of a Teacher's Quest
No Child Left Behind? The True Story of a Teach...
by Elizabeth Blake (Goodreads author) 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Manic: A Memoir
Manic: A Memoir
by Terri Cheney 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Mean Little Deaf Queer: A Memoir
Mean Little Deaf Queer: A Memoir
by Terry Galloway 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
by Ann Patchett 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Paradise, Piece by Piece
Paradise, Piece by Piece
by Molly Peacock 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, ...
by Mitch Albom 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama
Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dala...
by Dalai Lama XIV 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
By Myself and Then Some
By Myself and Then Some
by Lauren Bacall 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life
The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from...
by Robert Goolrick 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
81
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian ...
by فیروزه جزایری دوما / Firoozeh Jazayeri Dumas 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 100
vote
92
Speak, Memory
Speak, Memory
by Vladimir Nabokov 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
92
Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story
Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story
by Paul Monette 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
92
The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer
The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer
by Renee Fleming 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
92
Going Solo
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator) 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
92
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning ...
by Bill Bryson 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
92
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life
by Lance Armstrong 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
92
Me : Stories of My Life
Me : Stories of My Life
by Katharine Hepburn 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 99
vote
99
Enemies of Promise
Enemies of Promise
by Cyril Connolly 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 98
vote
99
Survival in Auschwitz
Survival in Auschwitz
by Primo Levi 1 person voted »
didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing
score: 98
vote
List started by: Kathleen (votes)
Lists are re-scored approximately every 500 seconds



people who voted on this list (132)

Reiko
Reiko
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Letty
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1 friend
Amirbabak
Amirbabak
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Rebecca
Rebecca
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Juliegsorensen
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Cassandra
Cassandra
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Amanda
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post a comment »
comments (showing 1-6 of 6) (6 new)

dateDown_arrow    newest »

message 1: by Lobstergirl (new)
Jun 10, 2009 08:46PM

1910836 Um, "1984" is not a memoir.


message 2: by Courtney * Stark Lover* (new)
Jun 25, 2009 09:27AM

2127718 HEY, ME AND MY BFF, SAMANTHA, ARE ABOUT TO POST AN AMAZING STORY. SO IF YOU’RE INTO VAMPIRES, ROMANCE, MYSTEREY, AND ACTION ROLELD INTO ONE. CHECK IT OUT. YOU’LL BE ABLE TO FIND IT UNDER MY PROFILE SOON. I’LL UPDATE YOU ALL WHEN IT’S OFFICALLY POSTED. I’D LOVE FO EVERYONE TO READ IT. IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE ACCESSING IT WHEN IT’S POSTED SEND ME A FRIENDS REQUEST AND READ ON! I SWEAR IT WILL BE GREAT! ONLY TWO CHAPTERS ARE DONE SO READ BEOFRE MORE IS POSTED! I WILL POST THE TWO CHAPTERS ON THIS WEBSITE IN A COUPLE OF DAYS! PLEASE SUPPORT US AND CHECK IT OUT! REVIEW IT AND COMMENT! IT’LL BE UP SOON. ENJOY!


message 3: by Jessie (new)
Jul 02, 2009 06:48AM

881413 Lobstergirl wrote: "Um, "1984" is not a memoir."

Really? But it's so realistic! :)

I just removed it.


message 4: by Jana (new)
Aug 08, 2009 05:05PM

Nophoto-u-25x33 Jessie wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Um, "1984" is not a memoir."

Really? But it's so realistic! :)

I just removed it."




message 5: by Jana (new)
Aug 08, 2009 05:07PM

Nophoto-u-25x33 Jana wrote: but it is proof that time machines existed)"Jessie wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Um, "1984" is not a memoir."

Really? But it's so realistic! :)

I just removed it."






message 6: by Janna (new)
Aug 17, 2009 09:23AM

1232584 Little Women is not a memoir.


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