The 25 best memoirs and biographies
The 25 highest-ranked memoirs and biographies in our ranking of 2,819, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 290 memoirs and biographies in all. How we rank
- 1
Between the World and Me95.3Must-Read ScoreBetween the World and Me
It's short enough to read in an evening and stays with you for years.
- 2
Educated: A Memoir93.1Must-Read ScoreEducated: A Memoir
It's an astonishing true story, but what makes it great is Tara's honesty about what it cost her: every step toward an education was a step away from the family she loved.
- 3
When Breath Becomes Air91.4Must-Read ScoreWhen Breath Becomes Air
It's a short, luminous book about mortality that somehow leaves readers feeling more alive.
- 4
I'm Glad My Mom Died91.3Must-Read ScoreI'm Glad My Mom Died
The title is shocking, but the book is the opposite of cheap: it's funny, brutally honest and full of hard-won wisdom about family, control and recovery.
- 5
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York91.2Must-Read ScoreThe Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
It won the Pulitzer Prize and is on the Modern Library's list of the best nonfiction ever written.
- 6The Passage of Power90.5Must-Read Score
The Passage of Power
It won the National Book Critics Circle Award, was a National Book Award finalist, reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and is on the New York Times' list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.
- 7
King: A Life90.2Must-Read ScoreKing: A Life
It brings King down from the monument and back to life as a real person: funny, doubting, exhausted, flawed and extraordinarily brave.
- 8
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer90.1Must-Read ScoreAmerican Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
It's a gripping portrait of a genius haunted by what he made, and of how America turned on him.
- 9
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea89.6Must-Read ScoreNothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
It's the best book ever written about ordinary life in North Korea, because it focuses on people, not politics.
- 10
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets89.3Must-Read ScoreSecondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets
No other book lets you hear an entire society thinking aloud.
- 11
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood88.8Must-Read ScoreBorn a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
It's laugh-out-loud funny and genuinely moving, often on the same page, and it explains apartheid more vividly than any history book.
- 12Master of the Senate88.8Must-Read Score
Master of the Senate
It won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
- 13
Things in Nature Merely Grow88.0Must-Read ScoreThings in Nature Merely Grow
It's among the most honest books ever written about grief, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Memoir.
- 14
Becoming87.9Must-Read ScoreBecoming
It's warm, candid and funny, more about family, identity and finding your voice than about politics, and readers of all political views have embraced it.
- 15
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft87.2Must-Read ScoreOn Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
It's on the Guardian's list of the best books of the century and is one of the most popular books on writing ever published.
- 16Greenlights86.8Must-Read Score
Greenlights
It was a #1 New York Times bestseller and has spent more than 300 weeks on the lists since it came out in 2020.
- 17
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice86.7Must-Read ScoreNobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
It's a harrowing, important first-hand account of how powerful people abused and covered up, and a testament to one survivor's courage in refusing to stay silent.
- 18
Parting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-6386.6Must-Read ScoreParting the Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63
It's widely considered the greatest history of the civil rights movement ever written, and it won the Pulitzer Prize.
- 19
A Bright Shining Lie86.5Must-Read ScoreA Bright Shining Lie
It's widely considered the greatest book about the Vietnam War, winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
- 20The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X86.4Must-Read Score
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
It won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the National Book Award.
- 21
The Glass Castle86.3Must-Read ScoreThe Glass Castle
It's an astonishing story told without self-pity, full of love for parents who failed her again and again, and it's one of the most beloved memoirs of the century.
- 22
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood86.1Must-Read ScorePersepolis: The Story of a Childhood
It's a classic of the graphic-memoir form, funny and devastating, and it makes a huge historical upheaval intimate through a child's eyes.
- 23
Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice86.0Must-Read ScoreLiliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice
It's both a heartbreaking elegy and a powerful investigation into how society failed to see the violence against Liliana.
- 24Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space85.7Must-Read Score
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
It's gripping, heartbreaking and meticulously researched, the definitive account of a disaster that could have been prevented.
- 25
Angela's Ashes85.7Must-Read ScoreAngela's Ashes
It's a miracle of a memoir: harrowing poverty told with such humor and wonder that you laugh on nearly every page.