Whoever may have told you that nonfiction is boring was either A) reading the wrong books or B) just plain wrong. Autobiographies and memoirs, for instance, are some of the most captivating reads—and we're here to set the record straight by recommending some of the best memoirs about and by women that will remind you that true stories are both addictive to read and extremely vital. They'll also remind you that women are undeniably resilient.
These stories are motivating, funny, powerful, sad, and evocative. From gripping celebrity memoirs by iconic role models to compelling books by authors from the LGBTQ+ community to other personal anecdotes of overcoming one's upbringing or adversity, these are stories you never knew you needed. Below, find the best memoirs by women authors of all time that you should add to your reading list, bedside table, and tote bag immediately.
The 2010 film in which Julia Roberts plays a 30-something woman who embarks on a whirlwind world tour after her divorce may seem like the stuff of deliciously dreamy fiction, but Eat Pray Love was actually based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 memoir of the same name. The real story is a powerful (and empowering) tale about the writer’s decision to leave behind what seemed from the outside like a perfect life to seek truer fulfillment in food, romance, and spirituality during a yearlong journey around the world.
Yes, that’s Alison Bechdel of the now-ubiquitous pop culture-assessing Bechdel test. Her 2006 memoir takes the form of a graphic novel, charting her upbringing in rural Pennsylvania as the daughter of a funeral director. Central to the book is the story of Bechdel’s journey toward coming out as a lesbian in her late teens, as well as an exploration of her complex relationship with her father, who remained closeted until his untimely death. A Broadway adaptation of the book won the Tony for Best Musical in 2015, and a movie version of the musical is reportedly now in the works.
A photo of Wangari Maathai should be next to the definition of "persistence" in dictionaries around the world. Here, the Nobel Prize winner, who died in 2011, recounts her life's story: Raised in rural Kenya, Maathai developed the transformative Green Belt Movement in 1977, empowering women and combating food instability in the country. Despite being jailed, beaten, and bruised, Maathai remained unbowed, making it a fitting title for her memoir.
In the final days of 2003, Joan Didion lost her husband, John Gregory Dunne, to a sudden heart attack. His death came in the wake of their only daughter’s serious health issues, which returned with a vengeance just a few months after Dunne’s death. This book is Didion’s description of the nearly unbearable work of simultaneously grieving her lifelong partner and caring for her daughter, whose own death in 2005 was later the subject of another incredibly moving book from Didion, 2011’s Blue Nights.
Calling all English majors: This is the memoir for you. Katharine Smyth manages to entangle her personal experience of grief with—wait for it—Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Smyth's memoir is an ode to her father and favorite writer, whose words brought her comfort and clarity in a time of loss.
True tales from the White House never get old—especially when told by someone as remarkable as Michelle Obama. Her memoir, Becoming, is a candid reflection of her journey to the White House, from a little girl on the South Side of Chicago to an accomplished lawyer, mother, and First Lady.
You know those fundamental childhood classroom experiences: raising baby chicks, being named line leader, scooting over to your best friend's desk when the teacher tells you to "find a partner" for a project? Tara Westover never had those. She was raised a survivalist, spending most of her childhood preparing for the end of the world. But at 17, when she first stepped into a classroom at Brigham Young University, everything changed. Her testament to that time is moving and beautiful.
Platonic friendships are rarely given the recognition and weight they deserve, often falling after romantic and familial relationships in society’s ranking of life’s most important ties. Dolly Alderton sets that straight in this memoir of her life up to age 30, meticulously and lovingly documenting the female friendships that have made up the most important relationships of her life so far.
Everyone knows a likable plot depends on perspective. Who's telling the story? Well, how about this point of view: A 20-something stenographer in the Obama White House details her life and career at 30,000 feet in the air, aboard Air Force One. If that sounds interesting, you'll want to check out Beck Dorey-Stein's From the Corner of the Oval, detailing her spur-of-the-moment decision to quit her five part-time jobs, buy a microphone, and become Barack Obama's shadow.
Clemantine Wamariya is a survivor. Following the Rwandan genocide, she and her sister spent six years as refugees migrating through seven different African countries, never knowing if their parents in Rwanda were even alive. Eventually, she and her sister were granted refuge in the United States, where Clemantine stumbled into a life of privilege. Taken in by a family, she attended private school and eventually Yale University. Even so, she struggled to rationalize the life she'd been given with the life she'd run away from. This is the story of that struggle.
She's the actress who brought you some of the most iconic movies of all time, like Gidget and Not Without My Daughter, but Sally Field's memoir really bares it all. She discusses her struggle with self-esteem, the controlling relationship she had with Burt Reynolds, and even her own childhood experience of sexual assault. The memoir, seven years in the making, is an honest, occasionally chilling look at the life of one of Hollywood's most timeless actors.
Inheritance tells the story of Dani Shapiro, who learns that the man she called Dad for 50 years isn't her biological father after taking a genealogy test. And the family secrets just keep on coming from there. Shapiro's novel is a poignant examination of identity and what happens when one's wholeness and understanding of who they are is completely uprooted.
Chanel Miller was originally known only by the pseudonym Emily Doe in her infamous 2016 sexual assault case against Brock Turner, after which her incredibly powerful victim impact statement was released and quickly went viral. In 2019, however, Miller revealed her identity, releasing this memoir about her courageous journey to build a life separate from that traumatic experience.
If the saying "laugh to keep from crying" is true, then it's no wonder that Tiffany Haddish became a comedian. Her biography recounts plenty of opportunities for a reasonable person to break down in tears, from Haddish's experience in foster care to her encounter with sexual abuse. But instead, the comedian finds a reason to smile and to make others laugh with her. It's a painful story, but told with pure hilarity. Haddish truly is a unicorn.
Maid is both a moving personal story of resilience and a broader exploration of the often untold story of what it means to be poor in America. The memoir follows Stephanie Land, a single mother, as she went from cleaning houses and moving in and out of homeless shelters and other temporary housing to, eventually, earning her college degree and finding stable work as a journalist. As a bonus, her important story has since been brought to life on screen, in a critically acclaimed Netflix series starring Margaret Qualley.
Natural disasters can do serious damage, but so can disasters caused by human error. Cinelle Barnes has experience with both. Her memoir, Monsoon Mansion, takes place in the Philippines and details her lavish lifestyle in the Mansion Royale. But when a monsoon hits, her beloved home deteriorates, her wealthy father bails, and she's left to be raised by an abusive stepfather and a mother in denial. Somehow, Cinelle survives.
No matter what role she plays, Jenifer Lewis exudes confidence. You don't go from Kinloch, Missouri, to Hollywood without that. But her telling memoir, The Mother of Black Hollywood, reveals how life for the Black-ish actress is more complicated than it looks. She opens up about her battle with bipolar disorder and her recovery from sexual addiction—proving that even some of the greatest divas have to overcome a lot.
This is not your mother's autobiography. Author and neuroscientist Judith Grisel takes a no-holds-barred approach to the topic of addiction, tackling the subject through a mix of science, her own experiences, and a little bit of humor. Grisel is determined to help readers better understand the way addicts think and, in turn, to hopefully find a solution to the epidemic of drug abuse.
Black turtleneck and glasses. You could describe Steve Jobs by just those four words, and everyone would know who you were talking about. But for Lisa Brennan-Jobs, her father was never that simple. Small Fry details the complicated relationship between the tech mogul and his eldest daughter, and how Silicon Valley shaped her life.
Government policies can seem abstract, especially if you don't think they affect you personally. Tomorrow Will be Different gives readers the dose of empathy they need to understand them. Sarah McBride was the first transgender person to speak at a national convention in 2016. Through heartbreaking personal stories, McBride sheds light on the constant struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. Bonus: Her foreword was written by Joe Biden.
Former New York Times reporter Karoline Kan tells the story of three generations of women in Beijing, all willing and ready to defy the odds. Kan's grandmother survived the Great Famine, and her mother knowingly ignored the One-Child Policy when she gave birth to Karoline. Now, it's up to Kan herself to reach for the dreams society told her she could never achieve.
Kathleen, the birth name of author Keele Burgin, which she uses to identify herself in her memoir, lived a life of fear: of her father, her religion, and even how she dressed. Wholly Unraveled is her memoir detailing one Catholic cult escapee's journey to a life of normalcy, self-worth, and belonging.
Reese Witherspoon earned an Oscar nomination for her lead role in the 2014 film adaptation of Strayed’s bestselling 2012 memoir—obviously, a major credit to the source material. It follows the writer’s decision to hike the storied Pacific Crest Trail solo in her 20s following her mother’s death, her divorce, and heroin addiction, ultimately resulting in a powerful physical and emotional journey of self-discovery and healing.
Sarah M. Broom won a National Book Award for this 2019 memoir, an ode to the concept of home, which details her family’s long history in pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans and the issues of class, race, and inequality that have long shaped the city.
So often, stories of surviving cancer end with the doctor’s pronouncement of remission, but that’s not where the story actually ends for the survivors themselves. Suleika Jaouad details the difficult process of rebuilding her life and finding her place in the world after spending years in hospital beds being treated for leukemia—a process that she began by traveling the country, meeting with fellow cancer survivors, grieving relatives, and others grappling with the chasm between sickness and health.
Chloé Cooper Jones, who has the rare congenital condition sacral agenesis, spent much of her life learning to deal with ableist remarks, attitudes, and policies by retreating into herself and her work. But after having a child and becoming a mother, she found herself emboldened to reclaim the spaces she’d never felt permitted to enter, setting up a whirlwind journey that she mapped out in this powerful 2022 memoir.
The title of Jessica Hoppe’s 2024 memoir refers to her status as the first in many generations to break the cycle of addiction and get sober. While looking back over that difficult journey, she also dives into the generational quality of addiction and how addiction specifically impacts communities of color like her own.
After years spent in sex work, Charlotte Shane is something of an expert on intimacy, desire, and the general ins and outs of heterosexual relationships. Her deep dive into her own history in that area is cast through a feminist lens, with a thorough exploration of the pervasive misogyny that looms over many women’s pursuit of intimacy with men.
Nearly 30 years after her older sister was killed by an abusive ex-boyfriend in 1990, Cristina Rivera Garza traveled to Mexico to unravel the case. She documented that months-long journey in this Pulitzer Prize-winning true-crime book, piecing together the evidence to paint a loving, long-unseen picture of her sister.
Ketanji Brown Jackson made history in 2022 as the first Black woman ever to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. This 2024 memoir is the incredible story of how she got there, from growing up in the South as the daughter of educators to breaking barriers as a Black woman and mother in the high-powered field of law.
The nickname in the title of this 2023 memoir was one Hardin earned while serving time in jail after being convicted of 32 felonies. The book starts well before that—as Hardin hid her growing opioid addiction under the outward guise of a perfect suburban soccer mom—and also stretches long after, as she continues to grapple with her demons even after getting clean, getting out of jail, and starting a new life as a ghostwriter.
Cathy Park Hong defines “minor feelings” as those that crop up when you’re faced with lies about your own racial identity and lived reality. That dissonance is at the core of her 2020 book of essays, which documents her own upbringing as the daughter of Korean immigrants and her musings on the current state of race in America.
Daniella Mestyanek Young grew up in the Children of God cult, in which physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were the norm. She escaped as a teenager, excelled in college, and proceeded to join the military—only to find, as she describes here, that the patriarchal confines that defined her upbringing aren’t unique only to outright cults.
Deborah Jackson Taffa was born on the California Yuma reservation and grew up in Navajo territory in New Mexico, where she was encouraged to assimilate into American culture outside of the reservation. In this gripping memoir, she revisits not only her upbringing but also the long history of the mistreatment of Native populations at the hands of the American government and its promise of so-called assimilation.
