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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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Why We Can't Sleep
Why We Can't Sleep
by Ada Calhoun
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The Autobiography of Mark Twain
The Autobiography of Mark Twain
by Mark Twain, Charles Neider
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The Olive Farm
The Olive Farm
by Carol Drinkwater
A Wing and a Prayer
A Wing and a Prayer
by Harry H. Crosby
Don't Panic
Don't Panic
by Neil Gaiman, David K. Dickson, M.J. Simpson, Guy Adams
Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
by Michael Coveney
Driving Miss Norma
Driving Miss Norma
by Tim Bauerschmidt, Ramie Liddle
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
by Philip Freeman
H Is for Hawk
H Is for Hawk
by Helen Macdonald
The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
by Alice B. Toklas, M. F. K. Fisher, Ruth Reichl
My Family and Other Animals
My Family and Other Animals
by Gerald Durrell
The Autobiography of Gucci Mane
The Autobiography of Gucci Mane
by Gucci Mane, Neil Martinez-Belkin
The Grandees
The Grandees
by Stephen Birmingham
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Walden
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
The Nature of Alexander
The Nature of Alexander
by Mary Renault
Full Service
Full Service
by Scotty Bowers, Lionel Friedberg
The Lord God Made Them All
The Lord God Made Them All
by James Herriot
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
by Carl Sandburg
All Wound Up
All Wound Up
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Crown & Sceptre
Crown & Sceptre
by Tracy Borman
Tell Me How It Ends
Tell Me How It Ends
by Valeria Luiselli
The Collapse of the Third Republic
The Collapse of the Third Republic
by William L. Shirer
Twelve Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave
by Solomon Northup
All Creatures Great and Small & All Things Bright and Beautiful
All Creatures Great and Small & All Things Bright and Beautiful
by James Herriot
Blood River
Blood River
by Tim Butcher
The Last Founding Father
The Last Founding Father
by Harlow Giles Unger
The Perfect Mile
The Perfect Mile
by Neal Bascomb
Long Quiet Highway
Long Quiet Highway
by Natalie Goldberg
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A Book of Bees
A Book of Bees
by Sue Hubbell, Sam Potthoff
The Water Is Wide
The Water Is Wide
by Pat Conroy
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
by George Crile
The Last Jew of Treblinka
The Last Jew of Treblinka
by Chil Rajchman
Close to the Knives
Close to the Knives
by David Wojnarowicz
Mommie Dearest
Mommie Dearest
by Christina Crawford
Revolutionaries
Revolutionaries
by Jack Rakove
Kick Kennedy
Kick Kennedy
by Barbara Leaming
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The Classic Palmer
The Classic Palmer
by John Feinstein, Walter Iooss Jr.
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Sherman's March
Sherman's March
by Burke Davis
A Country Year
A Country Year
by Sue Hubbell, Liddy Hubbell
A Warrior of the People
A Warrior of the People
by Joe Starita
Down the Highway
Down the Highway
by Howard Sounes
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
by Helen Castor
The Little Book of Saints
The Little Book of Saints
by Christine Barrely, Saskia Leblon, Laure Peraudin, Stephane Trieulet
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A Literate Passion
A Literate Passion
by Anais Nin, Henry Miller, Gunther Stuhlmann
Ali
Ali
by Jonathan Eig
Nam Sense
Nam Sense
by Arthur Wiknik Jr.
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The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, William Anderson
Playing for Keeps
Playing for Keeps
by David Halberstam
Diana Ross
Diana Ross
by J. Randy Taraborrelli
The Baby Boom
The Baby Boom
by P. J. O'Rourke
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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.