List

Best Biography Memoir Books

A tight biography memoir shortlist - built for quick decisions, not endless scrolling.

Last refreshed 2026-02-27. We keep tuning this list as new titles land and reader interest shifts.

1. Truth & Beauty
Ann Patchett
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
2. The Professor and the Madman
Simon Winchester
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
4. The Pilgrimage
Paulo Coelho, Julia Sanches
The Pilgrimage: Paperback – September 2, 2008
5. Beyond Belief
Jenna Miscavige Hill, Lisa Pulitzer
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
6. Yes Please
Amy Poehler
Yes Please: Paperback – Illustrated, September 1, 2015
7. The Residence
Kate Andersen Brower
The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House
8. Open Book
Jessica Simpson
Open Book: Paperback – March 23, 2021
9. The Happiness Project, Tenth Anniversary Edition
Gretchen Rubin
The Happiness Project, Tenth Anniversary Edition: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
10. Finding Chika
Mitch Albom
Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family
11. The Day the World Came to Town Updated Edition
Jim DeFede
The Day the World Came to Town Updated Edition: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
12. The Midwife
Jennifer Worth
The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times
13. The Tender Bar
J. R. Moehringer, J.R. Moehringer
The Tender Bar: A Memoir
14. Wild
Cheryl Strayed
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)
15. This Is Going to Hurt
Adam Kay
This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Medical Resident
16. The Hare with Amber Eyes (Illustrated Edition)
Edmund de Waal
The Hare with Amber Eyes (Illustrated Edition): A Hidden Inheritance
17. American Prometheus
Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
18. In a Sunburned Country
Bill Bryson
In a Sunburned Country: Paperback – International Edition, June 12, 2001
19. Orange Is the New Black
Piper Kerman
Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison
20. Born a Crime
Trevor Noah
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
21. If You Ask Me
Betty White
If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won't)
22. Broken Horses
Brandi Carlile
Broken Horses: A Memoir
23. A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius
Dave Eggers
A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius: A Memoir Based on a True Story
24. A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway
A Moveable Feast: Digital – Import, June 1, 2002

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