Memoir

As a literary genre, a memoir (from the French: mémoire from the Latin memoria, meaning "memory", or a reminiscence), forms a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable in modern parlance. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir.

Memoirs are structured differently from formal autobiographies which tend to encompass the writer's entire life span, focusing on the development of his/her personality. The chronological scope of memoir is determined by the work's context and is
...more

Ungrateful Immigrant Daughter: A Memoir From the Child of a Mail-Order Bride
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia
Receipts from the Bookshop: A Bookseller's Year in an English Seaside Town
Never Say Die
An Unexpected Life: A Memoir
Actually, Nevermind
Breakfast for Dinner
I Think My Therapist Hates Me: A Memoir
Mexikid Dreams: A Graphic Memoir
Becoming the Ocean
A Bigger Life
In the Realm of the Last Man
I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie: A Memoir
Autumn: The Story of a Season
  • Under the Naga Tail by Mae Bunseng Taing
    Under the Naga Tail: A True Story of Survival, Bravery, and Escape from the Cambodian Genocide
    by

    Release date: Feb 07, 2023
    We’re giving away 100 copies of James Taing’s book, Under the Naga Tail. Enter today!
    View Details »

    Format: Kindle book

    Giveaway ends in: a

    Availability: 100 copies available, 423 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Oct 09 - Oct 23, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Between Two Jungles by Jim  Woodman
    Between Two Jungles: A True Story of Survival, Secrets and a Lost City
    by

    Release date: Aug 26, 2026
    Two jungles. One chaotic childhood. One Honduran rainforest. A true story of survival, secrets, and a lost city. Untold for 50 years.
    View Details »

    Format: Kindle book

    Giveaway ends in: a

    Availability: 100 copies available, 834 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Sep 24 - Oct 23, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Of Heartwood and Woundwood by Jean Zimmerman
    Of Heartwood and Woundwood: An Unlikely Arborist's Path to Courage and Joy
    by

    Release date: Nov 17, 2026
    A lush literary memoir about a professional arborist who, facing an ALS diagnosis, turns to the resilience and wisdom of trees to find her way.
    View Details »

    Format: Print book

    Giveaway ends in: a

    Availability: 10 copies available, 1889 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Oct 09 - Oct 23, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
    I'm Glad My Mom Died
    In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood
    This Is Me: A Reckoning
    Famesick
    Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
    Raising Hare: A Memoir
    Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
    Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
    Crying in H Mart
    The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
    The Woman in Me
    Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
    All That's Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir
    Ungrateful Immigrant Daughter: A Memoir From the Child of a Mail-Order Bride
    Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth GilbertA Walk in the Woods by Bill  BrysonBlood River by Tim ButcherThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferInto the Wild by Jon Krakauer
    Best Traveling Vicariously
    2,244 books — 2,058 voters
    The Glass Castle by Jeannette WallsThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankAn Accidental Philanthropist by Winsome Dunn McIntoshAngela's Ashes by Frank McCourtFrom the Other Side of Maybe by P M Draper
    Favorite Memoirs/Autobiographies
    2,331 books — 2,860 voters

    Steve Jobs by Walter IsaacsonUnbroken by Laura HillenbrandEinstein by Walter IsaacsonInto the Wild by Jon KrakauerJohn Adams by David McCullough
    Best Biographies
    1,850 books — 3,294 voters
    The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankNight by Elie WieselInto Thin Air by Jon KrakauerInto the Wild by Jon KrakauerFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
    Must Read Non-Fiction
    5,494 books — 5,296 voters

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeePride and Prejudice by Jane AustenJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankThe Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
    Best Woman-Authored Books
    9,158 books — 7,214 voters
    The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëA Room of One’s Own by Virginia WoolfThe Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
    Best Feminist Books
    3,070 books — 4,496 voters

    Educated
    I'm Glad My Mom Died
    The Glass Castle
    Crying in H Mart
    Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
    Becoming
    When Breath Becomes Air
    Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
    Bossypants
    The Diary of a Young Girl
    Night
    Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
    The Year of Magical Thinking
    Know My Name

    Related News

      Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers’ Most Anticipated Books feature is...
    Jaycee Dugard
    “ I learned in therapy the word "No" is a complete sentence. ...more ”
    ― Jaycee Dugard, A Stolen Life

    Aaron Lauritsen
    “ There is strange comfort in knowing that no matter what happens today, the Sun will rise again tomorrow. ”
    ― Aaron Lauritsen, 100 Days Drive: The Great North American Road Trip

    More quotes...
    We Love All Genres Welcome to We Love All Genre! We are a community of passionate readers who refuse to be boxed i…more
    91 members, last active 17 days ago
    LOVE BOOK AND COFFEE CAFE RADIO Welcome to LOVE BOOK AND COFFEE CAFE RADIO, an international community for readers, book lovers,…more
    7 members, last active 2 days ago
    Underground Knowledge — A discussion group This global discussion group has been designed to encourage debates about important and underrep…more
    26,387 members, last active an hour ago
    The History Book Club "Interested in history - then you have found the right group". The History Book Club i…more
    26,594 members, last active 6 hours ago

    Tags

    Tags contributing to this page include: memoir and memoirs