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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 Solace of Open Spaces
The Solace of Open Spaces
by Gretel Ehrlich
Ready Player One
Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
My Life in a Cat House
My Life in a Cat House
by Gwen Cooper
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Frantumaglia
Frantumaglia
by Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein
Six Degrees
Six Degrees
by Mark Lynas
Emma: A Modern Retelling
Emma: A Modern Retelling
by Alexander McCall Smith
Kiyo's Story
Kiyo's Story
by Kiyo Sato
The Female Eunuch
The Female Eunuch
by Germaine Greer
J M Barrie and the Lost Boys
J M Barrie and the Lost Boys
by Andrew Birkin
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
by Joanne Fluke
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt
The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt
by Andrea Bobotis
Upstairs at the White House
Upstairs at the White House
by J. B. West, Mary Lynn Kotz
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Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism
Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism
by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman
The Wolf Wants In
The Wolf Wants In
by Laura McHugh
Who Fears Death
Who Fears Death
by Nnedi Okorafor
The Water Is Wide
The Water Is Wide
by Pat Conroy
Portnoy's Complaint
Portnoy's Complaint
by Philip Roth
Black Swan Green
Black Swan Green
by David Mitchell
Good Blonde & Others
Good Blonde & Others
by Jack Kerouac
Travels with Charley: In Search of America
Travels with Charley: In Search of America
by John Steinbeck
Skin
Skin
by Dorothy Allison
We Few
We Few
by Nick Brokhausen
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
by John Green & David Levithan
The World According to Breslin
The World According to Breslin
by Jimmy Breslin
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Alive
Alive
by Piers Paul Read
With Love from Karen
With Love from Karen
by Marie Killilea
What We Keep
What We Keep
by Elizabeth Berg
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
by Kim Michele Richardson
At Eighty-Two
At Eighty-Two
by May Sarton
Voyagers of the Titanic
Voyagers of the Titanic
by Richard Davenport-Hines
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Among Schoolchildren
Among Schoolchildren
by Tracy Kidder
It's Kind of a Funny Story
It's Kind of a Funny Story
by Ned Vizzini
The Nickel Boys
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
At the Highest Levels
At the Highest Levels
by Michael Beschloss, Strobe Talbott
Good and Mad
Good and Mad
by Rebecca Traister
The BFG
The BFG
by Roald Dahl
The Urban Sketcher
The Urban Sketcher
by Marc Taro Holmes
A Corner in Glory Land
A Corner in Glory Land
by Janie DeVos
2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke
The Last Madam
The Last Madam
by Chris Wiltz
Hatchet
Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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And Both Were Young
And Both Were Young
by Madeleine L'Engle
The Girl on the Train
The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
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Chickenhawk
Chickenhawk
by Robert Mason
Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby
by Ira Levin
Into the Darkest Corner
Into the Darkest Corner
by Elizabeth Haynes
Closing Time
Closing Time
by Lacey Fosburgh
Guidebook to Murder
Guidebook to Murder
by Lynn Cahoon
The Dog Who Came to Stay
The Dog Who Came to Stay
by Hal Borland
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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.