If there is but one commonality between all of us, it’s the desire to share our lived experiences and hear others do the same—a bit of catching up over coffee, a heart-to-heart phone call that transcends the miles, a surprisingly sincere chat with a stranger on the bus. The greatest bios and memoirs mirror that vulnerability and connection, perhaps offering a new perspective on the world in the process. Exploring universal topics ranging from grief and trauma to love and redemption, these deeply personal stories get to the heart of what it means to be alive. Here are our picks for the 10 best bios and memoirs of 2025.
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As the first memoir from Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy, what more could you want? Mother Mary Comes to Me is just as moving and inspiring as her novels and other works of nonfiction, infused with the raw emotional weight that makes memoirs so special in audio. We get to hear firsthand, in her own voice, the experiences that made Roy the woman and the writer she is today, from her training as an architect to larger reflections on family, writing, and love. Born out of the complex memories and emotions surrounding her mother’s death, Roy’s memoir has proven itself to be one of the most emotional and impactful audiobooks of the year —Michael C.
Careless People is my hill to die on for this year's list. Sarah Wynn-Williams's riveting account of her time as Facebook's director of global public policy offers a rare glimpse into Silicon Valley's immature decision-making. This listen resonated deeply with me, exploring the unmet promises of the World Wide Web, the limits of good intentions, and the grim side of "lean in" culture. Through compelling narration and honesty, Wynn-Williams crafts a book that is part corporate tell-all, part cautionary tale about unchecked ambition. Its timeliness, depth, and personal impact solidify its position as one of the year's best, offering a unique perspective on tech's societal influence. —Rachael X.
I had the honor of being in the presence of Muhammad Ali a couple of times. Once from afar as I was leaving a Manhattan office tower, and then years later I struck gold at a gallery opening for a friend who had photographed him throughout his career. Ali had a powerful presence; at that point he wasn’t talking much due to his illness. He did just fine with deliberate gestures, a gentle smile around the corners of his mouth, and his eyes filled with admiration for his friend. Now, hear the man up close. Listen to how words so easily roll off his tongue. Learn about him through narration from Lonnie Ali, his loving wife, and from close friend John Ramsey in conversation with Billy Crystal, Rosie Perez, Will Smith, and many others whose lives he touched forever. They don’t make champions like The Champ anymore. —Yvonne D.
Those searching for a grimoire of writerly wisdom in Margaret Atwood’s memoir may be surprised to find something closer to an almanac of home economics, warnings about bear or moose maulings, and guidance for mild revenges—along with poems, aphorisms, and jokey asides. Naturally, she provides insights into her masterworks, but her curious mind seems primarily interested in turning over minutiae, looking for grubs to devour. Atwood also details her lasting love with her longtime partner, Canadian novelist Graeme Gibson, who died in 2019. She narrates all of her perceptive prose in a steady, mesmerizing cadence that drips with dry wit. Atwood claims to have been resistant to writing a “literary memoir,” but thankfully she relented and takes us along for the ride of a lifetime. This is the type of listen that I’ll return to on autumn nights with a warm drink in hand, dipping in to savor a quirky Ontario tale from 70 years ago or a sinister truth gleaned from her years of gimlet-eyed observations. This woman contains multitudes! —Jerry P.
It is my job to marvel at the beauty of subtle vocal inflections and other auditory cues, so it can be easy to fall prey to the notion that language is solely an acoustic phenomenon. Thankfully, Rachel Kolb’s illuminating memoir—an intricate examination of deafness that permanently expanded my perception of the English language—makes it impossible to overlook just how much nuance gets lost in translation when we fail to accommodate cross-sensory perspectives. While this memoir is exceptional in audio, enhanced by the sounds of Kolb signing alongside Anna Caputo’s precise performance, Articulate is essential storytelling however it is accessed. —Haley H.
Having followed the sordid Jeffrey Epstein saga for years, I thought I knew the story of Virginia Roberts Giuffre. I was wrong. Her devastating memoir, published six months after her tragic suicide, brings the world’s most famous sex-trafficking victim to life so vividly that you feel like you’re talking with her over tea. She felt that no victim should live in shame or hide the crime’s details, lest stigma and silence obstruct justice. The abuses of her short life—from her depraved father, Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell to famous alleged “clients” including Prince Andrew and a sadistic former prime minister—are captured in unvarnished honesty, but so too are Giuffre’s infectious love of her family, music, and sisterhood of survivors. Impeccably voiced by Thérèse Plummer (and Gabra Zackman, reading a note from collaborator Amy Wallace), this memoir will go down in the history books, but not before making you cry, rage, and marvel at the bravery, authenticity, and integrity within. —Kat J.
Elizabeth Gilbert first inspired us to journey toward ourselves in Eat, Pray, Love. In her latest memoir, she takes us down a rockier path toward self-actualization as she contends with the loss of her life partner, Rayya, and their individual struggles with addiction. Gilbert invites us along as she confronts and overcomes the rawest edges of herself: codependency, denial, people pleasing, and the unique pain of building a healthier relationship to love and sex after unimaginable heartbreak. All the Way to the River is a testament to the power of faith, connection, and determination, urging each of us to envision (through tear-soaked eyes) a better future for ourselves no matter the current circumstances. —RX
On July 21, 2024, President Biden bowed out of the presidential campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in. She had 107 days to mount a campaign, meet Americans from coast-to-coast, debate, raise money (those fundraising Zooms were epic), and convince voters to elect her on November 5. The morning of the election, I called a colleague and told her how emotional I felt. I couldn’t quite pinpoint if I was overwhelmingly happy that a Black woman was potentially going to call the White House home, or that she had gotten this far. Now, September 23, 2025, is just as significant for me, since it’s when I got to listen to Harris narrate her political memoir. I think it will be lodged somewhere in my psyche forever. How could it not? Kamala Harris has a place in history that will never be erased. No one can take that away. No. One. —YD
I confess that I continue to feel perpetually underread when it comes to the works of James Baldwin. Luckily, Nicholas Boggs's new deep dive, the first major biography of Baldwin in 30 years, has revived my desire to understand (and revisit) this pivotal thinker's many literary achievements. Boggs focuses on the loves—including family, intimates, and internal struggles—that anchored Baldwin's writing. I couldn't get enough and never wanted this audiobook to end. Ron Butler kept me enthralled (his Baldwin impression enamored me even more) through this rich examination of a complicated icon, while also helping me understand mid-20th-century America a little bit better. —JP
Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horwitz were a star literary couple, sharing two Pulitzer Prizes, two kids, multiple bestselling books, and a charming home on Martha’s Vineyard. That all changed in May 2019, when Horwitz suddenly collapsed and was soon pronounced dead. Brooks, who went on to publish her acclaimed novel Horse in 2022, tells the personal story of her grief in this profound memoir, which is all the more affecting in her own voice. Elegantly alternating between timelines and geographies—from America to remote Flinders Island, where the native Australian went to grieve—this deep and searching portrait of mourning across cultures is a stunning tribute to love and loss. —KJ
