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wicked families, strange illnesses and other assorted interesting, odd and compelling issues
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Running with Scissors
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.77 avg rating — 402,341 ratings
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| 2 |
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The Glass Castle
by
Jeannette Walls (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 1,345,393 ratings
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| 3 |
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Me Talk Pretty One Day
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4.01 avg rating — 717,633 ratings
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| 4 |
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Girl, Interrupted
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3.94 avg rating — 274,338 ratings
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| 5 |
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Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1)
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4.15 avg rating — 655,049 ratings
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| 6 |
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Dry
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 98,050 ratings
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| 7 |
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Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
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4.12 avg rating — 287,955 ratings
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| 8 |
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Naked
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4.10 avg rating — 272,206 ratings
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| 9 |
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Look Me in the Eye
by
John Elder Robison (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 69,429 ratings
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| 10 |
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A Million Little Pieces
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3.69 avg rating — 262,420 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Liars' Club
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3.94 avg rating — 71,615 ratings
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| 12 |
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A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer, #1)
by
Dave Pelzer (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 458,199 ratings
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| 13 |
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Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
by
3.84 avg rating — 167,800 ratings
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| 14 |
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Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
by
Lauren Hough (Goodreads Author)
3.42 avg rating — 10,465 ratings
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| 15 |
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Prozac Nation
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3.64 avg rating — 63,724 ratings
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| 16 |
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The Diary of a Young Girl
by
4.20 avg rating — 4,135,427 ratings
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| 17 |
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Possible Side Effects
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 48,127 ratings
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| 18 |
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When You Are Engulfed in Flames
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4.08 avg rating — 216,633 ratings
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| 19 |
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Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
by
Jenny Lawson (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 199,990 ratings
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| 20 |
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I Am Not Myself These Days
by
Josh Kilmer-Purcell (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 14,742 ratings
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| 21 |
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Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood
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3.74 avg rating — 20,188 ratings
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| 22 |
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Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
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4.03 avg rating — 33,991 ratings
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| 23 |
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A Stolen Life
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3.97 avg rating — 144,275 ratings
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| 24 |
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1)
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4.27 avg rating — 228,013 ratings
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| 25 |
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
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3.69 avg rating — 183,266 ratings
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| 26 |
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Drinking: A Love Story
by
4.09 avg rating — 21,298 ratings
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| 27 |
|
Jesus Land: A Memoir
by
Julia Scheeres (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 19,512 ratings
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| 28 |
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A Piece of Cake
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4.25 avg rating — 38,274 ratings
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| 29 |
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Holidays on Ice
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3.89 avg rating — 130,077 ratings
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| 30 |
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My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
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3.79 avg rating — 111,635 ratings
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| 31 |
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As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
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4.04 avg rating — 7,972 ratings
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| 32 |
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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by
3.97 avg rating — 57,403 ratings
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| 33 |
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My Friend Leonard
by
3.88 avg rating — 46,439 ratings
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| 34 |
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Wishful Drinking
by
3.82 avg rating — 92,627 ratings
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| 35 |
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The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant
by
Dan Savage (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 8,743 ratings
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| 36 |
|
A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.75 avg rating — 29,986 ratings
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| 37 |
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Bossypants
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3.96 avg rating — 1,049,001 ratings
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| 38 |
|
Madness: A Bipolar Life
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4.04 avg rating — 14,748 ratings
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| 39 |
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Driving with Dead People
by
3.86 avg rating — 5,935 ratings
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| 40 |
|
Manic: A Memoir
by
Terri Cheney (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 12,184 ratings
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| 41 |
|
Educated
by
Tara Westover (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 1,820,162 ratings
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| 42 |
|
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood
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3.58 avg rating — 4,777 ratings
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| 43 |
|
Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain
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3.83 avg rating — 41,640 ratings
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| 44 |
|
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by
Alison Bechdel (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 200,091 ratings
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| 45 |
|
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by
Kay Redfield Jamison (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 85,110 ratings
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| 46 |
|
Lucky
by
3.77 avg rating — 101,649 ratings
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| 47 |
|
Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog
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4.14 avg rating — 476,314 ratings
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| 48 |
|
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed - A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings
by
4.18 avg rating — 30,502 ratings
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| 49 |
|
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamist Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
by
3.95 avg rating — 31,517 ratings
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| 50 |
|
This Childhood of Mine: A Memoir of My Last Summer with My Mentally Ill Mother and Alcoholic Father
by
Laura Meer Barkley (Goodreads Author)
4.30 avg rating — 43 ratings
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| 51 |
|
They Cage the Animals at Night: The True Story of an Abandoned Child's Struggle for Emotional Survival
by
4.35 avg rating — 10,237 ratings
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| 52 |
|
Orange Is the New Black
by
Piper Kerman (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 205,580 ratings
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| 53 |
|
North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both
by
Cea Sunrise Person (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 18,378 ratings
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| 54 |
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The Kiss
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3.57 avg rating — 6,574 ratings
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| 55 |
|
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
by
Susannah Cahalan (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 235,782 ratings
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| 56 |
|
The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family
by
Dan Savage (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 6,867 ratings
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| 57 |
|
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
by
4.14 avg rating — 110,821 ratings
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| 58 |
|
Finding the Rainbow
by
Rachel McGrath (Goodreads Author)
4.46 avg rating — 125 ratings
score: 900,
and
9 people voted
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| 59 |
|
Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited
by
Elyse Schein (Goodreads Author)
3.68 avg rating — 3,989 ratings
score: 874,
and
9 people voted
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| 60 |
|
Slash
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 30,375 ratings
score: 865,
and
9 people voted
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| 61 |
|
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
by
4.27 avg rating — 215,866 ratings
score: 855,
and
9 people voted
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| 62 |
|
Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity
by
Kerry Cohen (Goodreads Author)
3.68 avg rating — 11,984 ratings
score: 853,
and
9 people voted
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| 63 |
|
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
by
Allie Brosh (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 215,109 ratings
score: 851,
and
9 people voted
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| 64 |
|
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
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3.99 avg rating — 31,297 ratings
score: 849,
and
9 people voted
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| 65 |
|
Beautiful Affliction
by
Lene Fogelberg (Goodreads Author)
3.86 avg rating — 1,945 ratings
score: 800,
and
8 people voted
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| 65 |
|
Uprooted: Family Trauma, Unknown Origins, and the Secretive History of Artificial Insemination
by
4.27 avg rating — 166 ratings
score: 800,
and
8 people voted
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| 67 |
|
How to... Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale
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3.79 avg rating — 14,001 ratings
score: 757,
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8 people voted
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| 68 |
|
Breaking Night
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4.22 avg rating — 21,880 ratings
score: 748,
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8 people voted
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| 69 |
|
Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl's Autobiography, #1)
by
4.07 avg rating — 73,114 ratings
score: 746,
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8 people voted
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| 70 |
|
My Lobotomy: A Memoir
by
3.77 avg rating — 15,003 ratings
score: 741,
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8 people voted
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| 71 |
|
Furiously Happy
by
Jenny Lawson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 173,620 ratings
score: 732,
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8 people voted
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| 72 |
|
The Basketball Diaries
by
3.99 avg rating — 31,609 ratings
score: 635,
and
7 people voted
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| 73 |
|
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
by
Mitch Albom (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 1,178,698 ratings
score: 627,
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7 people voted
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| 74 |
|
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1)
by
3.78 avg rating — 243,708 ratings
score: 615,
and
7 people voted
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| 75 |
|
Everything I Never Wanted to Be: A Memoir of Alcoholism and Addiction, Faith and Family, Hope and Humor
by
Dina Kucera (Goodreads Author)
3.75 avg rating — 2,275 ratings
score: 599,
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6 people voted
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| 75 |
|
The Chronology of Water
by
Lidia Yuknavitch (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 16,286 ratings
score: 599,
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6 people voted
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| 77 |
|
Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods—My Mother's, My Father's, and Mine
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3.57 avg rating — 504 ratings
score: 598,
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6 people voted
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| 78 |
|
A Drink With Shane MacGowan
by
3.86 avg rating — 1,220 ratings
score: 574,
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6 people voted
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| 79 |
|
Foreskin's Lament
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3.88 avg rating — 6,276 ratings
score: 568,
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6 people voted
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| 80 |
|
My Sister from the Black Lagoon: A Novel of My Life
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3.29 avg rating — 537 ratings
score: 553,
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6 people voted
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| 81 |
|
A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life
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3.99 avg rating — 59,914 ratings
score: 525,
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6 people voted
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| 82 |
|
Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent Into Crystal Meth Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland
by
Chris Thrall (Goodreads Author)
3.60 avg rating — 775 ratings
score: 500,
and
5 people voted
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| 82 |
|
On Learning to Heal: or, What Medicine Doesn't Know (Critical Global Health: Evidence, Efficacy, Ethnography)
by
4.27 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 500,
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5 people voted
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| 82 |
|
Separate Things: A Memoir
by
Ashley Marie Berry (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 90 ratings
score: 500,
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5 people voted
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| 85 |
|
Triggered: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
by
Fletcher Wortmann (Goodreads Author)
3.51 avg rating — 1,454 ratings
score: 499,
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5 people voted
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| 86 |
|
The Sunset Strip Diaries
by
Amy Asbury (Goodreads Author)
3.79 avg rating — 648 ratings
score: 492,
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5 people voted
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| 87 |
|
Drugs are Nice: A Post-Punk Memoir
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3.98 avg rating — 1,182 ratings
score: 491,
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5 people voted
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| 87 |
|
With Angel's Wings
by
Stephanie A. Collins (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 487 ratings
score: 491,
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5 people voted
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| 89 |
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Oh the Glory of It All
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3.62 avg rating — 5,671 ratings
score: 490,
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5 people voted
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| 90 |
|
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
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3.78 avg rating — 41,410 ratings
score: 488,
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5 people voted
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| 91 |
|
Ten Days in a Mad-House
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3.86 avg rating — 23,663 ratings
score: 486,
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5 people voted
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| 91 |
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Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl
by
Stacy Pershall (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 3,898 ratings
score: 486,
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5 people voted
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| 93 |
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Favorite Wife: Escape from Polygamy
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3.93 avg rating — 5,328 ratings
score: 481,
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| 94 |
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Autobiography of a Face
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3.97 avg rating — 29,864 ratings
score: 479,
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| 95 |
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Fat Girl: A True Story
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3.32 avg rating — 4,027 ratings
score: 471,
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| 96 |
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Scar Tissue
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4.10 avg rating — 100,684 ratings
score: 470,
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5 people voted
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| 97 |
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The Pigman & Me (The Pigman, #3)
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3.75 avg rating — 1,022 ratings
score: 467,
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5 people voted
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| 98 |
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
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4.22 avg rating — 107,126 ratings
score: 465,
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| 99 |
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Please Stop Laughing at Me... One Woman's Inspirational Story
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3.83 avg rating — 13,427 ratings
score: 464,
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5 people voted
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| 100 |
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The Last Time I Wore a Dress
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3.89 avg rating — 2,708 ratings
score: 463,
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Tags:
autobiographies, autobiography, biographies, biography, childhood, disabilities, disease, family, humor, humorist, humorists, humour, illness, insanity, memoir, memoirs, non-fiction, trauma
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Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)
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message 1:
by
Amber
(new)
Jan 23, 2013 10:35AM
Removed "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" by Tom Franklin because it is fiction.
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flag
Removing a few fiction books from this list:Reverb by J. Cafesin
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Heavy Duty People by Iain Parke
Heavy Duty Trouble by Iain Parke
Val wrote: "At Your Own Risk"Val, you can add these books yourself by voting for them. At the top of the page under the list title you will see a tab "add books to this list" and you can add your votes there.
A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard are both fiction, although the first is an excellent book
I'm amazed by the number of these books that I have read. I went through a memoir phase, and clearly leaded toward strange and twisted ones.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb are both fiction
So like. Thank you list maker. I love what I call "extreme memoir," which seems two be what you call "strange and twisted." This gives me so reasons to push the "to read" button.
White Oleander by Janet Fitch is a novel, not a memoir.
Removed "Into the Wild" #38. It is a biography - not a memoir. Also removed White Oleander #89 because it's fiction.
Someone changed the title of the list, so I reverted it back to the original.
Does anyone know best and strangest nonfiction books in general? Not just memoirsHow would I search for that?
I'm new to this whole searching function (after all these years! lol)
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Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
