Best Biographies and Memoirs
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Looking for good biographies and memoirs? This is my list of the best biographies and memoirs of all-time. If you only have time to read one or two books, I recommend looking at the Top Biographies and Memoirs section below.
Further down the page, you’ll find more biography and memoir recommendations. Picking the best books in any category is really tough, but selecting the best biographies is essentially impossible. There are so many amazing stories and incredible people. Many of these books are fantastic as well.
I try to carefully curate all of my reading lists and you can be sure that any biography and memoir on this page is worth your time. Enjoy!
The Top Biographies and Memoirs
When Breath Becomes Air
by Paul Kalanithi
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Read my summary of this book »
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
Print | Audiobook
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)
by Richard P. Feynman
Print | Audiobook
Red Notice
by Bill Browder
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Daniel James Brown
Print | eBook | Audiobook
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
Print | eBook | Audiobook
More Biography Book Recommendations
Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson
Print | eBook | Audiobook
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On the Move: A Life
by Oliver Sacks
Print | eBook | Audiobook
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Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder
Print | Audiobook
Just Kids
by Patti Smith
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
by Benjamin Franklin
Print | Audiobook
Night
by Elie Wiesel
Print | Audiobook
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley
by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Print
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie
by Andrew Carnegie
Print | Audiobook
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
by Fredrick Douglass
Print | Audiobook
My Personal Best: Life Lessons from an All-American Journey
by John Wooden
Print
Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
by Mason Currey
Print | Audiobook
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
Print | Audiobook
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand
Print | Audiobook
Not Fade Away
by Laurence Shames and Peter Barton
Print
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The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story
by Michael Lewis
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism
by Naoki Higashida
Print | eBook | Audiobook
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Bossy Pants
by Tina Fey
Print | Audiobook
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
by Michael Lewis
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
by Michael Lewis
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by Laura Hillenbrand
Print | eBook | Audiobook
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by David Grann
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Kon-Tiki
by Thor Heyerdahl
Print | eBook