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The Biography & Memoir Top 100 — Best Biography & Memoir Books

The most powerful biographies and memoirs — lives that inspire, challenge, and stay with you forever.

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The Diary of a Young Girl
1
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank
1947
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Night
2
Night
Elie Wiesel
1960
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The Glass Castle
3
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
2005
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Angela's Ashes
4
Angela's Ashes
Frank McCourt
1996
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Educated
5
Educated
Tara Westover
2018
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Wild
6
Wild
Cheryl Strayed
2012
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
7
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
1969
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The Hiding Place
8
The Hiding Place
Corrie ten Boom
1971
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Becoming
10
Becoming
Michelle Obama
2018
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
12
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
1965
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Man's Search for Meaning
13
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
1946
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When Breath Becomes Air
14
When Breath Becomes Air
Paul Kalanithi
2016
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Know My Name
15
Know My Name
Chanel Miller
2019
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I'm Glad My Mom Died
16
I'm Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdy
2022
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Crying in H Mart
17
Crying in H Mart
Michelle Zauner
2021
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Just Kids
18
Just Kids
Patti Smith
2010
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H is for Hawk
19
H is for Hawk
Helen Macdonald
2014
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The Year of Magical Thinking
20
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
2005
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Kitchen Confidential
21
Kitchen Confidential
Anthony Bourdain
2000
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Yes Please
23
Yes Please
Amy Poehler
2014
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Greenlights
25
Greenlights
Matthew McConaughey
2020
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Finding Me
26
Finding Me
Viola Davis
2022
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Open
27
Open
Andre Agassi
2009
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Wild Swans
28
Wild Swans
Jung Chang
1991
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Dreams from My Father
29
Dreams from My Father
Barack Obama
1995
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Team of Rivals
30
Team of Rivals
Doris Kearns Goodwin
2005
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The Power Broker
31
The Power Broker
Robert Caro
1974
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Steve Jobs
32
Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson
2011
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Einstein
33
Einstein
Walter Isaacson
2007
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Elon Musk
34
Elon Musk
Walter Isaacson
2023
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Elon Musk
35
Elon Musk
Ashlee Vance
2015
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Shoe Dog
36
Shoe Dog
Phil Knight
2016
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A Beautiful Mind
37
A Beautiful Mind
Sylvia Nasar
1998
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
38
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
1845
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The Story of My Life
39
The Story of My Life
Helen Keller
1903
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Hunger
40
Hunger
Roxane Gay
2017
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The Liars Club
42
The Liars Club
Mary Karr
1995
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
43
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Anne Fadiman
1997
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The Color of Water
44
The Color of Water
James McBride
1995
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Hillbilly Elegy
45
Hillbilly Elegy
J.D. Vance
2016
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The Lost City of Z
46
The Lost City of Z
David Grann
2009
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Boys in the Boat
47
Boys in the Boat
Daniel James Brown
2013
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Unbroken
48
Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand
2010
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Seabiscuit
49
Seabiscuit
Laura Hillenbrand
2001
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Into the Wild
50
Into the Wild
Jon Krakauer
1996
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
51
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
2010
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Bad Blood
52
Bad Blood
John Carreyrou
2018
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Testament of Youth
53
Testament of Youth
Vera Brittain
1933
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Goodbye to All That
54
Goodbye to All That
Robert Graves
1929
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Seven Pillars of Wisdom
55
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
T.E. Lawrence
1926
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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
56
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jean-Dominique Bauby
1997
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
57
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Dave Eggers
2000
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Reading Lolita in Tehran
58
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Azar Nafisi
2003
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The Looming Tower
59
The Looming Tower
Lawrence Wright
2006
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This Boy's Life
60
This Boy's Life
Tobias Wolff
1989
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Tuesdays with Morrie
61
Tuesdays with Morrie
Mitch Albom
1997
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Between the World and Me
62
Between the World and Me
Ta-Nehisi Coates
2015
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Untamed
63
Untamed
Glennon Doyle
2020
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The Choice
64
The Choice
Edith Eger
2017
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
65
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Lori Gottlieb
2019
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The Fact of a Body
66
The Fact of a Body
Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
2017
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Catch and Kill
67
Catch and Kill
Ronan Farrow
2019
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Say Nothing
68
Say Nothing
Patrick Radden Keefe
2018
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Beautiful Boy
69
Beautiful Boy
David Sheff
2008
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The Indifferent Stars Above
70
The Indifferent Stars Above
Daniel James Brown
2009
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In the Kingdom of Ice
71
In the Kingdom of Ice
Hampton Sides
2014
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The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
72
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
1791
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My Own Story
73
My Own Story
Emmeline Pankhurst
1914
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Up from Slavery
74
Up from Slavery
Booker T. Washington
1901
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Spare
75
Spare
Prince Harry
2023
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Surrender
76
Surrender
Bono
2022
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The Storyteller
77
The Storyteller
Dave Grohl
2021
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Born a Crime
78
Born a Crime
Trevor Noah
2016
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The Warmth of Other Suns
79
The Warmth of Other Suns
Isabel Wilkerson
2010
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Blue Nights
80
Blue Nights
Joan Didion
2011
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A Child Called It
81
A Child Called It
Dave Pelzer
1995
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Bossypants
82
Bossypants
Tina Fey
2011
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The Unwinding
83
The Unwinding
George Packer
2013
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The Body Keeps the Score
84
The Body Keeps the Score
Bessel van der Kolk
2014
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Priestdaddy
85
Priestdaddy
Patricia Lockwood
2017
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Into Thin Air
86
Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer
1997
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In Cold Blood
87
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote
1966
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The Snowball
88
The Snowball
Alice Schroeder
2008
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Leonardo da Vinci
89
Leonardo da Vinci
Walter Isaacson
2017
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The Story of My Experiments with Truth
90
The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Mahatma Gandhi
1927
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Long Walk to Freedom
91
Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela
1994
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The Diary of Samuel Pepys
92
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
1825
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A Promised Land
93
A Promised Land
Barack Obama
2020
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My Brilliant Career
94
My Brilliant Career
Miles Franklin
1901
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Confessions
95
Confessions
St. Augustine
397
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The Executioner's Song
96
The Executioner's Song
Norman Mailer
1979
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Tweak
97
Tweak
Nic Sheff
2008
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This Is Me Loving the Real You
98
This Is Me Loving the Real You
Chrissy Metz
2018
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My Absolute Darling
99
My Absolute Darling
Gabriel Tallent
2017
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The Gift
100
The Gift
Edith Eger
2020
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