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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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Pretty Girls
Pretty Girls
by Karin Slaughter
Supper Club
Supper Club
by Lara Williams
Before I Let You Go
Before I Let You Go
by Kelly Rimmer
The Business of Fancydancing
The Business of Fancydancing
by Sherman Alexie
James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach
by Roald Dahl
The Wives
The Wives
by Tarryn Fisher
Dating by the Book
Dating by the Book
by Mary Ann Marlowe
The Long Flight Home
The Long Flight Home
by Alan Hlad
Some Choose Darkness
Some Choose Darkness
by Charlie Donlea
The Abolitionist's Daughter
The Abolitionist's Daughter
by Diane C. McPhail
The Couple Next Door
The Couple Next Door
by Shari Lapena
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Excellent Women
Excellent Women
by Barbara Pym
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Everything I Never Told You
Everything I Never Told You
by Celeste Ng
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
by Sherman Alexie
The Face in the Frost
The Face in the Frost
by John Bellairs
Lord of the Rings
Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Daughters of the Lake
Daughters of the Lake
by Wendy Webb
The Little Prince
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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Beach Music
Beach Music
by Pat Conroy
The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett
The Hole
The Hole
by Hye-young Pyun
Double Indemnity
Double Indemnity
by James M. Cain
Nives
Nives
by Sacha Naspini
The Promise
The Promise
by Damon Galgut
Dead Dead Girls
Dead Dead Girls
by Nekesa Afia
The Decagon House Murders
The Decagon House Murders
by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong
Truly Devious
Truly Devious
by Maureen Johnson
A Long Fatal Love Chase
A Long Fatal Love Chase
by Louisa May Alcott
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None
by Agatha Christie
Purple Hibiscus
Purple Hibiscus
by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
The Big Sleep
The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
by N.K. Jemisin
Future Home of the Living God
Future Home of the Living God
by Louise Erdrich
Blindness
Blindness
by José Saramago
My Losing Season
My Losing Season
by Pat Conroy
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Re Jane
Re Jane
by Patricia Park
A Merciful Death
A Merciful Death
by Kendra Elliot
The Shining
The Shining
by Stephen King
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When Dimple Met Rishi
When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon
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Forever
Forever
by Pete Hamill
The Way of Shadows
The Way of Shadows
by Brent Weeks
The Name of the Wind
The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
by Edgar Allan Poe
Catcher in the Rye
Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
Read These Banned Books
Read These Banned Books
by American Library Association (ALA)
Gender Queer
Gender Queer
by Maia Kobabe
To Win a Prince
To Win a Prince
by Toni Shiloh
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The Riverwoman's Dragon
The Riverwoman's Dragon
by Candace Robb
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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.