Memoirs Worth Reading
the literary form of intimacy.
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with memoirs, but they are hands down my favorite type of non-fiction. I’d say the first two I can remember reading at a young age were The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Winterson. I liked both of these stories instantly for the vulnerability and universal themes of class, race, gender, education, and family. Even if I couldn’t relate to specific moments of the authors’ lives, some ideas stood true even in my own life.
Something is interesting about the memoir. I wonder if people feel voyeuristic reading about someone else’s life. And what does it say about the person who writes it? Who do they think they are….writing about their life and expecting people to read about it? But I also know that there is something more to them than that. When authors are sharing their experiences with things like mental health, immigration, their family upbringing, or battles with incarceration or addiction, this medium becomes a tool to archive memory and becomes a way for them to write themselves and their stories into history (or at the very least, into humanity). And by reading memoirs, maybe we as readers become better, empathetic people with a more compassionate lens to care for our communities, neighbors, families, and ourselves.
Those are just my thoughts. Maybe there is something more or less to them than that, but the real purpose of this post is to share just some of the memoirs I’ve enjoyed reading over time as well as some that I am hoping to read in the future!
Of course, you can find the full list of things I’ve read or am interested in reading on my Goodreads!
Memoirs I’ve Read
Go Ahead in the Rain by Hanif Abdurraqib
Is this a memoir? Technically a collection of love letters/essays, but don’t let this book fool you. Although this is a story about A Tribe Called Quest, and particularly about the group's two-star MCs, Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, you don’t have to be a fan of the group to read this one (although reading this book might make you a fan, if not of Tribe, then definitely of 90’s rap more largely). The bigger theme that I took away from this book is how deeply your own personal life can intertwine with the music you love. How music can be both a mirror and a window, how it can start in the streets but transcend culture and genre. Abdurraqib proves that writing (and therefore reading) about music can make you a better listener, and it will forever transform the way you listen to your favorite artists.
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
I can think of fewer things scarier than not having access to my mind, and visiting medical professional after medical professional only for them to misdiagnose me. In this memoir, Cahalan describes this experience and her misdiagnosis of “madness”. There were so many aspects of this story that are compelling: from her perseverance in holding on to her memory and indemnity, to her ability to document it in the beautiful way that she did.
What You Have Heard is True by Carolyn Forche
I think the best way for you to learn about this memoir (which is in my top 5 for sure) is to read this little blurb and then pick it up for yourself: “Carolyn Forché is twenty-seven when the mysterious stranger appears on her doorstep. The relative of a friend, he is a charming polymath with a mind as seemingly disordered as it is brilliant. She’s heard rumors from her friend about who he might be: a lone wolf, a communist, a CIA operative, a sharpshooter, a revolutionary, a small coffee farmer, but according to her, no one seemed to know for certain. He has driven from El Salvador to invite Forché to visit and learn about his country. Captivated for reasons she doesn’t fully understand, she accepts and becomes enmeshed in something beyond her comprehension.”
Crazy Brave Heart by Joy Harjo
I read this as an undergrad student and it has still stuck with me. This is Harjo’s story of how poetry and her imagination saved her life. Separated by the four main cardinal directions, we dive into Harjo’s upbringing with an abusive stepfather, her spiritual journey and relationship with the natural world, and her hardships with teen pregnancy. Harjo is the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States, and if you have been a fan of her poetry, then you must read this. She is both glaringly honest and intimate and her story is more than necessary.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
This is a memoir that tickles me. And reminds me just how much our futures can be out of our control. Hemingway details his time as an ex-pat in Paris meeting the likes of James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein - oh my! He is in his twenties, and consequently poor and naive and hungry. And it is at this intersection that he finds his vocation for writing. This version of Hemingway has no idea that he will go on to publish novels that are permanently a part of the literary canon. And that is what astonishes me the most about this story and stories like it. Our versions of ourselves today have no idea what is in store tomorrow let alone a few decades from now. But with persistence and hunger (and a few horse racing bets here and there) we might be able to see our risks pay off.
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
I came across Hinton’s story like many of you— through Bryan Stevenson’s work: Just Mercy. Through the Marshall Project, I have been following the ins and outs of our criminal “justice” system, but there is nothing like Hinton’s personal account of sitting on death row for a crime he did not commit. It is stories like these that make me wonder about the possibility of a higher power. That if a god does exist then how have we allowed for an infuriating injustice such as death row and rigged laws/officers to have such a chokehold on communities of color and poor people. And yet, that Hinton is free…..well is that proof of a god’s mercy? The point of this memoir isn’t about a theology debate, but more largely about how we are all needed in the fight to demand more for incarcerated individuals. We need better judges and sentencing laws. We need to abolish the death penalty. We need to see ourselves as directly tied to one another— and yes that includes the stranger— and fight for real justice as if our lives depended on it.
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
This is another one that might not technically be a memoir and may run more towards essay collection, but either way…..this book is beautiful. Hong weaves together her personal upbringing along with intellectual analysis on culture, history, and American consciousness to unpack the phenomena of “minor feelings”….which are anything but minor. Given the rise of violence towards the Asian American community understanding the history behind “minor feelings” is more than necessary. But more than anything this memoir should also inspire you to lean in and voraciously learn about the diverse and vibrant Asian community in the U.S and the Asian diaspora/cutlture more broadly. It’s not monolithic.
Low Country by J. Nicole Jones
Have you ever read a memoir that read like folklore? The way Jones seamlessly goes between past and present in this debut story is artful, to say the least. Between wild weather and even wilder men, this is a story of fortunes changing over time….and in turn what that does to a family in the process. She is also the writer behind a viral article “Why's everyone so down on the memoir?”
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Out of every memoir listed here, this one takes the cake for most innovative. The style in which this memoir is written is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Most of the book is written in these small vignettes or snippets and somewhere in the middle there is a choose your own adventure. It is a breathtaking story of Machado’s relationship with an abusive same-sex partner. This memoir breaks new ground in dissecting and criticizing the way our language and our legal system leave out domestic violence survivors who come from same-sex relationships. Somehow…some way….we’ve decided that women are incapable of abuse. But this stigma causes real harm and erasure. This is also a story of healing and personal exploration. One of my favorites for sure.
For a long time, we only knew Chanel Miller as Jane Doe. But in this memoir, she takes her power back and names herself. This is a riveting account of Miller picking up the pieces and reflecting on her experience going to trial and trying to build a life for herself after reading countless stories about her life online. She critiques our society’s culture around shaming and blaming women for the trauma that happens to them, the normalization of rape culture, and our hacked criminal justice system. It is difficult to read but it is necessary.
The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty
A memoir told through food! What more could you ask for? As Twitty tells us the story of his childhood, he braids history lessons of African and African American culture and recipes in every chapter. These three strands can be traced across Black kitchens around the world. When you finish this and are hungry for more, I highly recommend the Netflix documentary High on the Hog, where Twitty makes an appearance! Fun fact, Twitty spoke at my university for our annual Farm To Table dinner. In his lecture, he talked a lot about Ghana and at the time, I had no idea that a few months later I’d be spending the summer there!
See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valerie Kaur
I’ll give you this blurb from Kaur’s own website because my words wouldn't do it justice. This memoir is beyond powerful: “SEE NO STRANGER is a practical guide to changing the world, a synthesis of wisdom, a chronicle of personal and communal history – all joined together by a story of awakening. Revolutionary love is medicine for our times. It just might be our best chance for our collective future.” I love how Kaur uses an interdisciplinary approach to tell her story- drawing on the lessons from religious practices, to filmmaking, and legal analysis- her mind is just incredible.
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
No matter where you stand on his politics, Obama is a gifted storyteller and writer. His deep reflections on leadership, fatherhood, running a campaign, his duty as president, husband, and compass….these stories are what make him relatable. I loved his musings on what it was like to be on a campaign and meeting people across the country as much as I loved his meetings with foreign leaders. I struggled to make sense of his commitment to bipartisanship and his unbreakable faith in democracy. But through his reflections on the financial crisis that rocked the world, I learned just how different our world would have looked had Obama not won the 2008 presidency. I can’t wait for the next volume!
Obama did her thing with this memoir! Becoming is a passionate story of Michelle’s journey- from her childhood in the Southside of Chicago to being a lawyer in her own right. Her story is unbelievably personal and yet relatable in so many ways for other women who are chartering out their own paths.
The Education of An Idealist by Samantha Power
If there is anyone whose career I want to emulate then it is with no doubt that I choose Samantha Power. I was first introduced to her work by A Problem From Hell and her human rights work at the Carr Center. Of course, I followed her career throughout the Obama administration. Fun fact, when she was teaching at Harvard I wrote her a letter and she wrote me one back!!! I am rooting for her as she serves in her role as USAID Administrator under the Biden Administration.
This memoir is a testimony. Akin to the Glass Castle, this memoir details Westover’s childhood as she overcomes unique obstacles and hardships, and is unequivocally saved by education. Her story sounds unreal, but the tension that lies in loving her family and needing to break away is something that many of us might be able to relate to. I enjoyed this so much, but have tissues on standby.
This is actually a graphic autobiography so I am cheating by putting this on the least lol, that like many of you, I had to read in high school. But it has stuck with me after all this time because it is a perspective that is rarely heard in the U.S: a child growing up during the Islamic revolution. The entire collection is in black and white images and yet the story is colorful- it is political and yet personal, and one of the most original things I’ve ever read.
Memoirs I Want to Read
Beautiful Things: A Memoir by Hunter Biden
Eat a Peach by David Chang
Persist by Elizabeth Warren
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha by Trethewey
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of my son Micheal Brown by Lezley McSpadden
The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir by Sherry Turkle
Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi
The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House by Ben Rhodes
Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice by Yusef Salaam
We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann