I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love words. Books were my earliest companions, and journals came not long after. My mom still has a box of notebooks in the attic, full of coded names for crushes and angst-y songs I wrote to play on the guitar. Even now, when my mind is most crowded and chaotic, the best antidote is for me to write it all down, whether it’s a giant brain dump or an unhinged list or a stream-of-consciousness Substack post.
In college, I married my love of words to my love of the human mind by getting degrees in journalism and psychology. I didn’t have plans for how to turn those two fields into a career, but I didn’t need to do that in order to be fulfilled, because I’ve spent the last twenty years reading and writing and thinking and learning on my own.
Without any other forces weighing in when it comes to choosing a book, I often turn to memoirs. It makes all the sense in the world, because a memoir is someone using words to describe the way they have processed all or some of their life experiences. I’ve been doing the same thing in my journals for decades, even if I haven’t turned it into a book. I especially love reading about how people who have experienced real trauma and suffering have come out on the other side and how they now look back on those experiences.
It was interesting for me to realize that of these 25 memoirs I’m about to share, only a few are by celebrities. Most of them are by very ordinary people who decided to write about their lives.
I’ve already written about what makes a good memoir and shared some that I didn’t enjoy. But I’m never one to leave you hanging forever! Here are 25 memoirs I loved, ranked from #25 up to #1. (Note: This ranking is not exact; I mostly went by spontaneous feelings in the moment when considering the lower half. The upper half are pretty specifically ranked.)
Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne
The author is a clinically diagnosed sociopath, and this book is her reflections on her childhood and what her life is like now. It’s a fascinating look at sociopathy and how it manifests in a way that does not involve being a serial killer. I found it increased my compassion toward people with serious mental health diagnoses and also thought the author was extremely brave to write a book about her life. (I also enjoyed the Armchair Expert interview with her.)
The Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings
I listened to this book in one day last year while cleaning my house. I found myself becoming increasingly uncomfortable as she described the different church settings she was in as a child and young adult, because I would call them “adjacent” to churches I have been connected to in the past. My life could have gone very differently if I had grown up in a church like the ones she was at. Her story is painful and harrowing, but it’s an important look at high control groups and how even churches and communities that would call themselves evangelical Christians can be extremely unsafe places to be. (Tia Levings is very active on Substack.)
This might technically be a biography and not a memoir, but as one of the few ‘celebrity’ authors on my list, I wanted to include it. Hearing about her early life, how she met her husband and what life was like on the political scene was interesting. I also didn’t find the book overly political. I am guessing of my readers, you will be split between people who would be interested in reading this book and people who would never consider reading a book by someone who is a representative of an opposing political party. To the second group, I say—reading about people who are very different from you is a wonderful way to grow in curiosity and humility.
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
This is on most memoir lists, and for good reason. Walls has written a powerful book about growing up in a home with parents who weren’t purposefully trying to harm her, but who for a variety of reasons seemed unable to appropriately care for their children. What draws me to memoirs like this is getting to hear how someone with this kind of childhood became an adult willing and able to write a book about it.
The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir by Ruth Wariner
Ruth Wariner’s uncle was Ervil LaBaron, who you might have heard of if you’ve seen the documentary Daughters of the Cult. Ervil actually killed her father, Joel LeBaron—his brother, due to some conflict within their cult. After her father was killed, her mother remarried and her already chaotic life became even more dysfunctional. She moved around a lot and also found herself trying to care for some of her siblings.
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
This is probably one of the most famous recent memoirs. It was one of the first ones I read about someone who grew up in a high-control environment, and it was also the book that introduced me to Ruby Ridge and the impact that incident had on already mentally unstable individuals like Westover’s father.
Ghosted: An American Story by Nancy French
If you have felt like a political orphan over the past 10 years, this is the book for you. Nancy French is the wife of David French, a writer who I greatly appreciate, and she is a prolific writer herself. This mirrored many of my feelings about the political atmosphere within evangelicalism and helped me feel a little less crazy.
Acceptance: A Memoir by Emi Nietfeld
This is a somewhat “ordinary” memoir of a woman who grew up in what she realized later was an extremely dysfunctional family. It is the story of her growing up, processing the fact that her parents were not the people she wished they had been, and figuring out how to live her life.
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key
This is probably the funniest memoir on the list, although the topic itself is not funny. The author’s wife had an affair, and this memoir is his story of deciding to stay married to her and how they restored their marriage. It doesn’t sound like it would be funny, but the author has an incredible sense of humor and doesn’t take himself too seriously. For the first third of the book I was very uncomfortable, because I couldn’t imagine how it would end well. Keep pressing on if you feel the same way! (Interesting tidbit: The author lives in Savannah, and I went to college with one of the friends he mentions in the book and have seen another one of his friends for counseling!)
How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
This is the shortest memoir on the list, and it’s perfect for anyone who loves books. Reading has changed my life for the better, too.
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton
If you’ve read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, then you might remember the story of Anthony Ray Hinton, one of the death row inmates who Stevenson found was wrongfully convicted. Hinton was released from prison after almost 30 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Hearing him describe his time on death row is painful but forces an honest look at our current justice system.
Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton
This is a unique memoir about a woman who finds an infant hare during Covid and becomes unexpectedly attached to it. This is a slow and quiet book with so many compelling observations of animals and nature.
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Giuffre was one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and she committed suicide before this book was published. It is by far the most disturbing memoir on this list, because it contains graphic descriptions of the abuse that she experienced. Proceed with caution.
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show by Bethany Joy Lenz
I never watched One Tree Hill, but I still loved this memoir, mostly because of the way Lenz processed the time she spent in a cult while she was working on the television show. The last few chapters alone are worth the time spent reading the book. It’s also pretty funny!
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
This was all over the place earlier in 2026, so many of you might have already read it! This is the story of a very wealthy woman whose husband abruptly left her at the beginning of Covid. While many parts of her life are not at all relatable due to their very affluent lifestyle, I still found it a compelling read, because the emotions she writes about are common to everyone.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Where to put the memoirs of former slaves on this list? I struggled, because it felt wrong to put them at the bottom, but it also didn’t seem genuine to put them at the top, although they are both really good. This is a short read and one I think everyone should tackle, especially if they live in America.
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
I still remember the visceral reactions I had when my husband and I saw the movie based on this memoir in theaters. Solomon Northup was a free Black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. The white men in his life were mostly merciless, and what he experienced almost reads as too terrible to be true, but it was.
All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore
I cried at the end of this book. Much like the memoir by Nancy French, this book is for anyone who has felt like they don’t fit into concrete Christian denominational circles. Beth Moore reads the audiobook and that would be my recommendation for how to experience this book.
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
This is a memoir I think everyone should read because it is eye-opening as to what it’s like to be a single mother with a low-income job. Her perserverance in the face of so many obstacles is incredible, and it also shows how the American economy and government is ba mess when it comes to helping people who are legitimately doing the best they can. (There is also a great Netflix show based on the book!)
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams
This is a memoir of a person and also of Facebook, to a degree. You ride along with the author and her excitement at getting to work for Facebook in its early days, and then you get to experience her increasing disillusionment and horror at what is happening behind the scenes.
Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography by Rob Lowe
This is *literally* my all-time favorite celebrity memoir. Everything I said about Matthew McConaughey’s memoir, this book is the opposite. Rob Lowe has had an extensive career in television and film, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously and has somehow remained humble despite his achievements.
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
The author is a woman who struggled with her body and her weight for many years. It is a memoir about trying to figure out her relationship with food and with her body. It’s not for everyone, and the author herself is controversial in some circles, but as someone who has struggled with how I feel about my body, I found it powerful.
Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
It got hard to choose a favorite memoir as I ran down my list. But I still think about this one almost 10 years after I read it, so it had to be near the top. Miller was raped by a collegiate student athlete after attending a party, and this is the story of her dealing with not only the trauma but also the legal ramifications for the guy. It is a courageous story that had to be so difficult to write.
Wave: A Memoir by Sonali Deraniyagala
I listened to this memoir while I painted our bonus room last year and I think about it fairly often. The author was in Sri Lanka in 2004 when a tsunami hit. She lost her parents, her husband, and her two children, and barely escaped with her own life. It is a sobering account of how she dealt with unimaginable grief and loss.
Hollywood Park: A Memoir by Mikel Jollett
My favorite memoir ever is written by someone you probably haven’t heard of, but you might have heard of his band, Airborne Toxic Event. Jollett was born into the Synanon cult, but his mother eventually left the cult with him and his brother. Their life did not improve greatly even after leaving the cult, and this book is Jollett’s way of processing his life. His writing is wonderful and his ability to look at his life honestly is what puts this book at the top of my list. I’d recomend it to anyone!
Have you read any of these? Are there any really good memoirs you think could crack my top 25? Let me know!
I love this list, and I love listening to memoirs while my hands (or legs) are doing other things. Thanks for the recs!