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
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Unread: A Memoir of Learning (and Loving) to Read on TikTok
On Morrison
The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg―and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema
The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family
Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself
The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs
Rebel of the Regency: The Scandalous Saga of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain’s Queen Without a Crown
Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth
Unspeakable Things: Silence, Shame, and the Stories We Choose to Believe
Our Diaries, Ourselves: How Diarists Chronicle Their Lives and Document Our World
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
Homeschooled: A Memoir
One Aladdin Two Lamps
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy
The Flower Bearers: A Memoir
  • Missing Me by Ayana Lage
    Missing Me: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis and the Long Road Back
    by

    Release date: Mar 17, 2026
    We're giving away 20 hardcover copies of 'Missing Me' by Ayana Lage. Enter today for a chance to win! ...more
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    Format: Print book

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    Availability: 20 copies available, 2277 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Feb 07 - Mar 07, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Taking Care by Emilie Clothier  Harting
    Taking Care: A Daughter's Memoir
    by

    Release date: Aug 15, 2025
    This literary memoir on the death of a parent at a young age spans a lifetime. I'm giving away 100 kindle copies. ...more
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    Format: Kindle book

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    Availability: 100 copies available, 612 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Feb 07 - Mar 07, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Big Dump by John Luedke
    Big Dump: A Memoir of Addiction, Weight Loss, and Finding Sobriety at Rock Bottom
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    Release date: Jan 01, 2026
    Enter to win a raw, unfiltered memoir of addiction, rock bottom, and rebuilding a life through discipline and honesty.
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    Availability: 100 copies available, 445 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Feb 20 - Mar 07, 2026

    Countries available: U.S.

  • I'm Glad My Mom Died
    Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
    Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
    A Hymn to Life: Shame has to Change Sides
    The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
    Crying in H Mart
    A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
    The Woman in Me
    107 Days
    Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
    Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
    Awake
    Spare
    That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You: A Funny, Awkward, and Deeply Human Collection of Stories About Love, Anxiety, and Self-Acceptance
    Homeschooled: A Memoir
    The Glass Castle by Jeannette WallsThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankAngela's Ashes by Frank McCourtNight by Elie WieselEat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
    Favorite Memoirs/Autobiographies
    2,135 books — 1,981 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
    5,291 books — 4,510 voters

    The New Jim Crow by Michelle AlexanderBetween the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi CoatesThe Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm XBury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee BrownThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
    Books White People Need to Read
    1,360 books — 1,600 voters
    The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankThe Glass Castle by Jeannette WallsNight by Elie WieselAngela's Ashes by Frank McCourtEat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
    Best Memoir / Biography / Autobiography
    5,938 books — 6,473 voters

    John Adams by David McCulloughThe Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer1776 by David McCulloughTeam of Rivals by Doris Kearns GoodwinThe Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
    Best History Books
    3,795 books — 3,817 voters
    Steve Jobs by Walter IsaacsonUnbroken by Laura HillenbrandEinstein by Walter IsaacsonInto the Wild by Jon KrakauerJohn Adams by David McCullough
    Best Biographies
    1,690 books — 2,968 voters

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

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