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The Best Biographies and Memoirs

For some readers, real life is much more compelling than fiction, and real people are far more interesting than any character an author could dream up. If you're one of those readers, then biographies, autobiographies and memoirs are for you. 

The types of true stories are endless—there are romantic memoirs and tragic memoirs. There are short, essay-length memoirs that give you just a taste of an author’s writing. Perhaps you’re interested in a travel memoir that will make you feel as though you’ve walked the same steps as the writer, or you’re an American history buff looking for a bucket list of biographies on every American president. You could read a first-hand account from a former slave who became a dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln, or immerse yourself in Ruth Gruber’s own account of how she helped 1000 refugees find asylum. 

From biographies of politicians, business leaders, artists and celebrities, to memoirs that tell unforgettable true stories with unflinching honesty, these are the books that let you fully step into someone else's shoes.

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The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
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A Warrior of the People
A Warrior of the People
by Joe Starita
Bob Dylan—All the Songs
Bob Dylan—All the Songs
by Philippe Margotin, Jean-Michel Guesdon
A Wing and a Prayer
A Wing and a Prayer
by Harry H. Crosby
Driving Miss Norma
Driving Miss Norma
by Tim Bauerschmidt, Ramie Liddle
The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
by Alice B. Toklas, M. F. K. Fisher, Ruth Reichl
The Narnian
The Narnian
by Alan Jacobs
The Last Founding Father
The Last Founding Father
by Harlow Giles Unger
The Classic Palmer
The Classic Palmer
by John Feinstein, Walter Iooss Jr.
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Closing Time
Closing Time
by Lacey Fosburgh
In Our Hearts We Were Giants
In Our Hearts We Were Giants
by Yehuda Koren, Eilat Negev
A Country Year
A Country Year
by Sue Hubbell, Liddy Hubbell
Why We Can't Sleep
Why We Can't Sleep
by Ada Calhoun
Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
by Michael Coveney
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
by Philip Freeman
H Is for Hawk
H Is for Hawk
by Helen Macdonald
My Family and Other Animals
My Family and Other Animals
by Gerald Durrell
The World's Largest Man
The World's Largest Man
by Harrison Scott Key
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The Autobiography of Gucci Mane
The Autobiography of Gucci Mane
by Gucci Mane, Neil Martinez-Belkin
The Right People
The Right People
by Stephen Birmingham
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The Apprentice
The Apprentice
by Jacques Pepin
Walden
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
Full Service
Full Service
by Scotty Bowers, Lionel Friedberg
Are You My Mother?
Are You My Mother?
by Alison Bechdel
The Lord God Made Them All
The Lord God Made Them All
by James Herriot
The Final Curtsey
The Final Curtsey
by Margaret Rhodes
Nam Sense
Nam Sense
by Arthur Wiknik Jr.
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Crown & Sceptre
Crown & Sceptre
by Tracy Borman
Tell Me How It Ends
Tell Me How It Ends
by Valeria Luiselli
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, William Anderson
The Outsider
The Outsider
by Colin Wilson
Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi
by Mark Twain
As Always, Julia
As Always, Julia
by Joan Reardon
Washington
Washington
by James Thomas Flexner
Ten Days in a Mad-House
Ten Days in a Mad-House
by Nellie Bly
Papa Hemingway
Papa Hemingway
by A. E. Hotchner
All Creatures Great and Small & All Things Bright and Beautiful
All Creatures Great and Small & All Things Bright and Beautiful
by James Herriot
China to Me
China to Me
by Emily Hahn
The Perfect Mile
The Perfect Mile
by Neal Bascomb
A Book of Bees
A Book of Bees
by Sue Hubbell, Sam Potthoff
The Water Is Wide
The Water Is Wide
by Pat Conroy
The Last Madam
The Last Madam
by Chris Wiltz
All the Gallant Men
All the Gallant Men
by Donald Stratton, Ken Gire
Flush
Flush
by Virginia Woolf
The Garden of the Gods
The Garden of the Gods
by Gerald Durrell
The Crosswicks Journals
The Crosswicks Journals
by Madeleine L'Engle
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
by Rhoda Janzen
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Rust
Rust
by Eliese Colette Goldbach
Among The Janeites
Among The Janeites
by Deborah Yaffe
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Song of the Vikings
Song of the Vikings
by Nancy Marie Brown
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Every list has different criteria, but the most sold autobiographies that rank on all of them are Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and InheritanceThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A memoir is a narrative written in the author’s perspective that details an important part of their life or a personal observation. While autobiographies are detailed accounts of a person’s life from beginning to end, memoirs are more narrative in tone and don’t have such a rigid structure, nor do they need to talk about a person’s entire life.