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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 Bell Jar
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
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The Lathe of Heaven
The Lathe of Heaven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Kafka on the Shore Novel
Kafka on the Shore Novel
by Haruki Murakami
More Than This
More Than This
by Patrick Ness
The Immortal Life of Henriette Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henriette Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch
by William S. Burroughs
Maurice
Maurice
by E.M. Forster
Swing Time
Swing Time
by Zadie Smith
Crazy Rich Asians
Crazy Rich Asians
by Kevin Kwan
Parade's End
Parade's End
by Ford Madox Ford
The Marriage Plot
The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Eleanor & Park
Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell
To Say Nothing of the Dog
To Say Nothing of the Dog
by Connie Willis
10 Blind Dates
10 Blind Dates
by Ashley Elston
Slightly Dangerous
Slightly Dangerous
by Mary Balogh
Mine Till Midnight
Mine Till Midnight
by Lisa Kleypas
The Bromance Book Club
The Bromance Book Club
by Lyssa Kay Adams
Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening
Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening
by Liz Clark
America Is Not the Heart
America Is Not the Heart
by Elaine Castillo
Year Zero
Year Zero
by Rob Reid
The Wheelman
The Wheelman
by Duane Swierczynski
Absalom, Absalom!
Absalom, Absalom!
by William Faulker
The Last Boy and Girl in the World
The Last Boy and Girl in the World
by Siobhan Vivian
The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides
by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Chocolate War
The Chocolate War
by Robert Cormier
Wild Game
Wild Game
by Adrienne Brodeur
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A Moveable Feast
A Moveable Feast
by Ernest Hemingway
Murder on the Ballarat Train
Murder on the Ballarat Train
by Kerry Greenwood
The Lincoln Lawyer
The Lincoln Lawyer
by Michael Connelly
The Great Zoo of China
The Great Zoo of China
by Matthew Reilly
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
by Jonathan Safran Foer
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The Magicians
The Magicians
by Lev Grossman
Out of Africa
Out of Africa
by Isak Dinesen
Death Prefers Blondes
Death Prefers Blondes
by Caleb Roehrig
Orphan Train
Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Cline
A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace
by John Knowles
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Let Me Sleep Until This Is Just a Dream
Let Me Sleep Until This Is Just a Dream
by Elissiv Stifoss-Hansen and May-Brit Akerholt
Blue Angel
Blue Angel
by Francine Prose
Night
Night
by Elie Wiesel
Me Talk Pretty One Day
Me Talk Pretty One Day
by David Sedaris
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Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
by Anne Tyler
A Darker Shade of Magic
A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. Schwab
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
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Daughter of Fortune
Daughter of Fortune
by Isabel Allende
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
by Oliver Sacks
Close Up
Close Up
by Amanda Quick
Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall
by Hilary Mantel
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters: A Novel
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters: A Novel
by Balli Kaur Jaswal
The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
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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.