Some the books on this list are helpful how-to-write books, while others are memoirs or true stories. All are recommended to help you learn about the art and craft of memoir writing. Enjoy!
Adams, Kathleen The Write Way to Wellness
Allende, Isabel Paula
Allison, Dorothy Bastard Out of Carolina (a novel adapted from true life)
Angelou, Maya I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings & other works
Ball, Edward Slaves in the Family
Arenas, Reinaldo Before Night Falls
Baker, Russell Growing Up
Balakian, Peter Black Dog of Fate
Barron’s 1001 Pitfalls in English Grammar
Barrington, Judith Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art; Lifesaving
Bateson, Catherine Composing a Life; Through a Daughter’s Eye
Bragg, Rick All Over But the Shoutin’; Ava’s Man
Brande, Dorothea Becoming a Writer
Brautigan, Ianthe You Can’t Catch Death
Brittain, Vera Testament of Youth
Cameron, Julia The Artist’s Way
Chandler, Marilyn A Healing Art: Regeneration Through Autobiography
Chernin, Kim My Mother’s House & other works
Conroy, Frank Stop Time
Conway, Jill Kerr When Memory Speaks
The Road from Coorain and other books
Day, Dorothy The Long Loneliness
DeBeauvoir, Simone Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter first of a three part autobio
De Caro, Frank A Boy Named Phyllis
De Salvo, Louise Writing as a Way of Healing
De Silver, Albert Beamish Boy
Diski, Jenny Skating to Antarctica
Eggers, David A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Elbow Peter Writing with Power; Writing Without Teachers
Fox, John Poetic Medicine
Fremont, Helen After Long Silence
Gebler, Carlo My Father and I
Gates, Henry Louis Colored People
Gilmore, Mikal Shot in the Heart
Goldberg, Natalie Writing Down the Bones (and other books)
Thunder & Lightning—newest book
Gordon, Mary Shadow Man
Gornick, Vivian Fierce Attachments
Gunther, John Death Be Not Proud
Hale, Constance Sin and Syntax
Harrison, Catherine The Kiss
Heilbrun, Carolyn Writing a Woman’s Life
Herron, Rachael A Life in Stitches
Hoffman, Eva Lost in Translation
Jamison, Kay An Unquiet Mind
Jung, Carl Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Kamenetz, Rodger Terra Infirma: A Memoir of My Mother’s Life in Mine
Karlen, Barbro And the Wolves Howled
Karr, Mary The Liar’s Club; Cherry; Lit
L’Engle, Madeleine The Summer of the Great-Grandmother
Lamott, Anne Traveling Mercies; Bird by Bird
Lauck, Jennifer Blackbird; Still Waters
Lawrence, T. E. Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Ledoux, Denis Turning Memories into Memoirs
Lessard, Suzanne The Architect of Desire
Lyden, Jacki Daughter of the Queen of Sheba
MacDonald, Michael All Souls: A Family Story from Southie
Mason, Bobbie Ann Clear Springs
Mairs, Nancy Remembering the Bone House
Marafioti, Oksana American Gypsy
Maynard, Isabelle China Dreams: Growing Up Jewish in Tientsin
Maynard, Joyce At Home in the World
McBride, James The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
McCarthy, Mary Memories of a Catholic Girlhood
McCourt, Frank Angela’s Ashes; Tis
McCourt, Malachy Monk Swimming
Singing my Him Song
Mead, Margaret Blackberry Winter
Merton, Thomas Seven Story Mountain; Diaries and Journals
Neruda, Pablo Memoirs
Newman, Janis Cooke The Russian Word for Snow
Norris, Kathleen Dakota: A Spiritual Geography; Cloister Walk
Novotny, Dawn Ragdoll Redeemed
O’Faolin, Nuala Are You Somebody?
Pennebaker, James Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions
Perel, Solomon Europa, Europa
Rainer, Tristine Your Life as Story; The New Diary
Reichl, Ruth Tender at the Bone
Rhodes, Richard A Hole in the World
Roessle, Denise Second-Chance Mother
Ryan, Terry The Prizewinner of Defiance Ohio
Santos, John Phillip Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation
Sarton, May Journal of a Solitude; Plant Dreaming Deep & other books
Scott-Maxwell, Florida The Measure of my Days
See, Carolyn Dreaming
Sharples, Madeline Leaving the Hall Light One
Stegner, Wallace Wolf Willow
Strayed, Cheryl Wild
Strunk & White The Elements of Style
Ueland, Brenda If You Want to Write
Vincent, Eleanor Swimming with Maya
Walls, Jeannette Glass Castle
Weisel, Elie The Night Trilogy
Welty, Eudora One Writer’s Beginnings
Williams, Terry Tempest Leap; Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Wolff, Geoffrey The Duke of Deception
Wolff, Tobias This Boy’s Life
Woolf, Virginia Moments of Being; Letters
Thanks for the book list. I’ve only read a few, but have heard of many of them. If I were asked what book meant a great deal to me (and that I would add to the list!), I’d have to say it was A Girl Named Zippy; Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana, by Haven Kimmel. I bought it when it was first released and I’m not exaggerating when I say it changed my life! While reading it, besides the fact that I enjoyed it very much, I kept picturing myself writing my memoir…..and that’s something I hadn’t thought of before then.