The top 100 memoir books of all time on Audible | Audible.com

The top 100 memoir books of all time on Audible | Audible.com

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The top 100 memoir books of all time

From raucously funny to downright heartbreaking, these outstanding memoirs pack a serious punch.

The Audible Editors

October 18, 2023

The top 100 memoir books of all time

All genres considered, the memoir is among the most difficult and complex for a writer to pull off. After all, giving voice to your own lived experience and recounting deeply painful or uncomfortable memories in a way that still engages and entertains is a remarkable feat.

That's just one triumph accomplished by these stellar memoirs, listens capable of connecting deeply with a diverse audience. These autobiographies, often narrated by the authors themselves, shine with raw, unfiltered emotion sure to resonate with any listener. But don't just take our word for it—queue up any one of these listens, and you'll hear exactly what we mean. Here are our picks for the 100 best memoir audiobooks, ever.

There’s a mesmerizing warmth in Lulu Miller's voice as she sweeps listeners into a world of love and natural science, intertwining historical biography with a deeply personal tale of heartache.

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Acclaimed writer and social commentator Roxane Gay gets vulnerable in this examination of existing amid fatphobia, intimately reflecting on shame, self-care, and society, and inspiring radical empathy.

Told in verse, Jacqueline Woodson reflects on growing up Black in the'60s and 70s. Even as she struggled to read as a child, her love of stories nurtured her growing awareness of the Civil Rights Movement.

In this utterly innovative memoir, Carmen Maria Machado employs harrowing poetic language to host a larger conversation on relationships, sexuality, and societal expectations.

In this exquisite author-narrated memoir, horror maestro Stephen King talks about his life and his craft, sharing his own experiences, advice for aspiring wordsmiths, thoughts on language and creativity, and more.

This memoir of growing up in California as the child of Chinese immigrants revolutionized the genre, blending history, folklore, fantasy, and autobiography; Mulan’s Ming-Na gives it the exceptional audio rendition it so deserves.

For two years, Azar Nafisi met secretly with a group of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran to read forbidden Western classics. In the midst of state sponsored censorship and arbitrary raids, they risked everything for literature.

In this stirring author-narrated listen, Jeannette Walls illustrates her early life spent wandering across the country, forced to care for herself and her siblings amidst the dysfunction of her nomadic American family.

Beginning in the backwoods of Idaho where the author’s survivalist father denied his family education, social interaction, and medical attention, Educated is a moving saga of survival amid the formidable.

The humorist raises her megaphone for women everywhere who want to be heard, discussing everything from fat positivity to how she became the accidental poster child for battling internet trolls.

Among the most heartbreaking accounts of the Holocaust, this glimpse into the life of a Jewish teen in hiding from the Nazis is simply unforgettable. Actress Selma Blair brings a fittingly gentle cadence.

Sarah M. Broom recounts growing up in “the Yellow House,” a single-story that was destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Bahni Turpin narrates this gorgeously rendered tribute to home and family.

This recollection of a childhood marred by alcoholism and poverty never sacrifices humor or heart, soaring instead on the author’s lilting brogue and genial delivery.

In this life-changing memoir with a self-dev edge, Glennon Doyle shares how she finally learned to listen to her formerly silenced inner voice—and how you can too.

Ms. Pat is the patron saint of coping through laughter, proven by this memoir recalling growing up and staying afloat as a teen mother of two in a troubled Atlanta neighborhood.

Endless beauty and anguish is tucked away in Qian Julie Wang's touching memoir about the harsh ironies of growing up as an undocumented Chinese immigrant in America.

In any other voice, Mary Karr's stories of a chaotic, sometimes violent childhood may be too haunting to hear. But told with the author’s wicked sense of humor, they instead shimmer as a reclamation of trauma.

Once a child soldier in a war-torn country, Ishmael Beah shares his haunting first-person account of being picked up by a government army and trained to be a killer at just 13 years old, and how he eventually escaped that hell.

Growing up under the wing of her Cuban-Colombian family, Daisy Hernández set out to forge her own identity as a queer woman and feminist activist. A reporter for the The New York Times, she also discusses the role of race in the newsroom.

Join Elizabeth Gilbert on her globe-spanning journey of discovery, following a succession of earth-shattering life changes that included divorce and depression in a memoir that’s part travelogue, part open self-reflection.

Through the art form of a one-woman show, Delanna Studi retells a resonant journey she took alongside her father—walking the hundreds of miles that comprised the Trail of Tears.

With great tenderness, Esmeralda Santiago crafts a cross-cultural coming-of-age story, recalling life as the oldest of 11 children from Macún, Puerto Rico, to Brooklyn, NY.

Sean Strub's revelatory memoir captures an uncertain time in LGBTQIA+ history, when the AIDS epidemic swept the nation, and the nation wanted to sweep it under the rug.

Kiese Laymon's performance, like his gorgeous lyrical writing, bares his heart and soul to the listener in this fearless, provocative glimpse at family, weight, and identity.

Simply put, Chanel Miller’s story is a powerhouse. In her brave exploration of trauma. the author brilliantly illuminates the night of her assault, its aftermath, the tumultuous legal process, and the pursuit of healing.

Audie winner Brittany Pressley does a flawless job of bridging the anecdotal and psychological aspects of this taboo-shattering chronicle charting a psychotherapist’s personal journey through therapy.

Before reaching 20, Cupcake Brown had suffered several lifetimes’ worth of hardships, including abuse, addiction, and homelessness. Her story of survival demands to be heard.

A full cast shines in the clever conversational format of Mira Jacob’s affectionate memoir centered on navigating tough topics (like American identity and interracial families) with her inquisitive six-year-old son.

In this stellar collection, Samantha Irby tackles subjects savory and unsavory alike, wielding her status as a deeply imperfect yet accomplished woman to great comedic effect.

Author James McBride dives into his family history in this lyrical dedication to his mother and pensive consideration of coming-of-age as a mixed race, poor child in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Margo Jefferson's highly acclaimed, blazing memoir is an enlightening, sharply crafted analysis of race, sex, and identity in all its complexities and contradictions.

With her trademark style of cool observation, Joan Didion takes listeners on a poignant journey through a year of loss, heartbreak, love, grief, and resilience.

This collection of stories blends memoir and investigative reporting to expose ingrained and pervasive societal messages that deeply affect young women, giving listeners permission to break free from restrictive narratives.

Jeanette Winterson first wrote about a young girl adopted by Pentecostal parents in her noted semi-autobiographical. Shedding all fiction, this memoir openly discusses her painful past and her search for love and belonging.

Featuring audio-exclusive live recordings, this collection of essays zeroes in on the life of legendary humorist David Sedaris as he unearths memories from his childhood in North Carolina and the successes of adulthood alike.

The irreverent poet detours into memoir with this look at her eccentric father, who, amongst other escapades, found a loophole to become a married Catholic priest, lounged in his boxers, and loved action movies and electric guitars.

With no-holds-barred honesty, Phuc Tran paints a smart, authentic, funny portrait of a life spent trying to both stand out and fit in as a Vietnamese immigrant growing up in small-town Pennsylvania.

Witty, poignant, and funny, groundbreaking copywriter Yvonne Durant invites listeners into secret spaces of celebrity, culture, and bygone New York, all unforgettably brought to life by narrator Allyson Johnson.

As Nike founder Phil Knight attests, the path to building an internationally renowned business is far from linear. His memoir is a grounded portrayal of the realities of entrepreneurship, warts and all.

Reconstructing her experiences using recordings from real therapy sessions, Stephanie Foo takes a highly journalistic approach to dissecting her CPTSD diagnosis in this vulnerable memoir.

Though he's best known for his work in YA, John Green's quirky, compelling essay collection offers personal, hopeful take on humanity's cultural fascinations, from velociraptors to Diet Dr Pepper.

With insight and heart, journalist Stephanie Land describes years spent as a single mother just scraping by, taking low-paying domestic work under wealthy employers to make ends meet.

Narrated by the inimitable Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife), Malala Yousafzai’s inspiring, courageous memoir reflects on the events leading up to and following her attempted assassination by Taliban gunmen at age 15.

Written and performed by Ashley C. Ford, this debut memoir musing on the complexities of a childhood spent longing for her incarcerated father is raw, beautifully written, and astonishingly tender.

This tender retrospective on grief and childhood amidst the din of the Troubles is imbued with so much love and life you can almost hear it breathing.

Michelle Zauner's candid and evocative exploration of grief, food, culture, and identity is all the more exceptional thanks to her delicate performance.

Wielding a poet’s radiant intonation, the legendary Maya Angelou recounts the story of her life, crafting a dazzling portrait of triumph over adversity.

In a love story for the ages, actor Tembi Locke lovingly recalls her marriage to an Italian chef and her path toward healing after his death.

The anguish, fear, and frustration in Ta-Nehisi Coates’s voice is palpable in this epistolary memoir on Black identity in America, making for a resonant listening experience.

This volume of memoirs by Scottish veterinarian James Herriot makes for heartwarming listening, with sweet escapades and life-affirming anecdotes all set a small Yorkshire village.

With emotional clarity and unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's frank eyewitness account of what happened amidst the deadliest season in the history of Everest is a singular achievement.

Undeniably powerful, this cutting account of life with schizoaffective disorder dispels misconceptions and provides nuanced insight into a condition long misunderstood.

This unforgettable memoir guarantees you’ll never think about gender the same way again. With humor and honesty, Jacob Tobia reflects on the trauma and healing of their "coming-of-gender" story.

An account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity, this riveting saga follows the author’s sudden unraveling, her family’s unwavering support, and the life-saving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.

In 1992, a six-year-old was murdered. Years later, law student Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich tries to understand the convicted murderer’s mind in order to make sense of a trauma from her own childhood.

Jenny Lawson proves that laughing at the absurdities that accompany struggles can be empowering, bringing levity to the dialogue on mental illness with musings on taxidermy and medication alike.

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Dr. Paul Kalanithi found himself reckoning with what it meant to live a meaningful life when he didn't have a future to work towards.

In her absolute stunner of a memoir, Imani Perry details her experience living with systemic lupus and the agonies of navigating a culture oft-incompatible with invisible disabilities.

Dedicated to mastering Italian, Jhumpa Lahiri moved to Rome and kept a journal exclusively in the language. Savor the fruit of her effort—a gorgeous meditation on love, identity, and language.

The activist and creator of the "Me Too" movement opens up about her experiences with abuse, trauma, and vulnerability in this heart-wrenching memoir about healing through empathy.

With her disarming voice and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron crafts a candid, hilarious look at getting older and facing down the trials of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself.

An exceptional blend of grief memoir and nature writing, H Is for Hawk is falconer Helen Macdonald's account of the unexpected outlet that offered immense comfort during a time of unfathomable loss.

The beloved writer writes about the houses she has lived in—from Chicago neighborhoods to her ancestral home in Mexico—and the elusive abode she’s always longed to take root in and truly call her own.

Maggie Nelson made waves with this genre-bending memoir about her relationship with genderfluid artist Harry Dodge, her pregnancy, and raising a child in a joyful family that defies conventional institutions.

Mortician and death positive activist Caitlin Doughty crafts an illuminating and compassionate account of her early experiences working at a crematorium, laying bare the realities of a cadaver's final journey.

Narrating his own story, lifelong surfer William Finnegan takes listeners with him as he journeys across continents in search of the best waves and encounters both natural beauty and human failings.

Told from the perspective of his younger self, Javier Zamora’s memoir is a moving account of his perilous solo journey from El Salvador to the United States, driven by his nuanced narration.

Graced with sensitivity and warmth, Marlo Mack's memoir on raising a transgender child is a thoughtful exploration of family, identity, and unconditional love and acceptance.

In this breathtaking listen, Cheryl Strayed vividly describes the grueling physical and emotional challenges endured on the 1100-mile solo hike she set out on to escape loss.

With raw, complicated candor, Ariel Levy tells her deeply human story about having an affair, separating from her alcoholic wife, and experiencing the grief of miscarriage.

Cleve Jones's activist background dazzles in his narration of his beautiful memoir detailing everything from his internship with Harvey Milk to the creation of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Sonali Deraniygala recounts surviving the unthinkable—a tsunami that claimed the lives of her husband, parents, and children—and moving forward in honor of everyone she had lost.

Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel shares a heart-wrenching account of his time detained at Auschwitz as a young teen, recalling atrocities with a crystalline starkness that is gutting and deeply necessary.

As a teenager, Darnell Moore was targeted by a group of local boys who, blinded by hate, tried to set him alight—a harrowing encounter that became the spark for a courageous life spent in pursuit of justice.

When journalist Ishmael Reed interviewed Malcolm X in 1960, he lost his job—but gained so much more. In this blend of bio and memoir, Reed crafts a revelatory look at himself and the civil rights icon.

Geochemist and geobiologist Hope Jahren unearths stories from her career with this luminous debut probing her journeys in and out of the lab, the value of collaboration, and the wondrous lives of plants.

The acclaimed author trades fiction for memoir with this love letter to locally-sourced food, chronicling her family's life in rural Appalachia and their appreciation for farm-forward food production.

Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent three decades on death row despite his innocence, never lost hope that he would one day again live as a free man. His extraordinary memoir recounts his fight for justice.

Jo Harjo's gift for language cannot be overstated. The Poet Laureate's profound memoir spans the journey from an abusive childhood to national renown, grounded in her Muscogee Nation heritage.

Tove Ditlevsen's memoir in three parts—aptly titled Childhood, Youth, and Dependency—is nothing short of a masterpiece. An incisive look at sex, addiction, relationships, and art, this literary listen soars.

Comprised of 15 first-person accounts from Korean adoptees, this memoir in interview unveils the trauma of a childhood upended and reset in an unfamiliar world.

In this bright memoir, the author of The Joy Luck Club delicately traces the ins and outs of her family history, the origins of artistry, and the creative process.

After treatment for cancer left Lucy Grealy with a significant portion of her jaw removed, she found herself in the push-and-pull of the pursuit of self-acceptance and desire for perfection.

Galvanizing in its heart and fervor, Bryan Stevenson's account of founding the Equal Justice Initiative rings out as a clarion call to defend the most vulnerable with compassion.

Hisham Matar's staggering Pulitzer-winning memoir reflects on a journey home to Libya to attempt to piece together what happened to his long-vanished father, a prominent critic of the Gaddafi regime.

An account of the road to sobriety that's quirky and moving, this memoir of addiction, recovery, and survival against circumstance is Burroughs at his hilarious and heartbreaking best.

In this memoir of poverty and race in the rural South, Jesmyn Ward captures the despair of unending pain while honoring the life of each young Black man she knew and lost to systemic injustice.

Dion Graham's riveting narration interprets Dave Eggers's harrowing tale of his parents's deaths and his subsequent adventures when he finds himself the guardian of his younger brother.

Detailing a love of medicine, motorcycles, and men, this revealing chronicle of a stunning life comes from a physician first famed for writings on the mysteries of the brain.

Literary great and trailblazing activist James Baldwin empowers through deep vulnerability in this timeless collection speaking to race, sexuality, and classism.

Best known for her revolutionary fictional chronicles of the female experience, Edna O’Brien turns inward in this earnest account of her own defiant womanhood.

Irish novelist Maggie O'Farrell tells her incredible life story through the lens of many near-death experiences, leaving the listener remarkably aware of what it means to be alive.

The revelations in this addiction memoir may not seem unique, but the fact that the seasoned journalist deployed his reporting skills to interrogate untrusted memories makes it a landmark in the genre.

In this deeply intimate and reflective collection of essays, acclaimed author Ann Patchett meditates on complicated friendships, the meaning of family, and the struggles and triumphs of her craft.

From growing up in a cult to homophobia and homelessness, Lauren Hough has seen the underbelly of American life firsthand. This exceptionally crafted listen shines with razor-sharp wit and clarity.

Brian Broome tells a singular coming-of-age tale that explores Black manhood and queerness in the Rust Belt, narrating his soul-bearing stories with an unforgettable confidence.

The Nobel Prize winner dug into six decades of her diaries to produce this intimate, earnest, and humble interrogation of identity.

Narrated by the hilariously clever author herself, this tongue-in-cheek work is the quintessential guide on how to exist as a woman in the 21st century.

The rock and culture critic narrates the sad love story about the death of his wife when they were both young with tenderness and surprising moments of joy.

Twisting in its exploration of family, legacy, and art, this Audible Original—which features exclusive archival audio of artistic giants—is an evocative act of catharsis.

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