“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” So wrote Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, and he’s got a point. Books allow us to walk in someone else’s shoes, thinking their thoughts and feeling their feelings in the most defining moments of their lives.
This unique power of books is amplified in memoirs, through which we gain insight into the personal growth and lessons learned of real people. So if you’re looking for a new memoir that will leave you moved and inspired, we recommend the five excellent reads below.
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Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
By Suleika Jaouad
A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” life—from the author of the Life, Interrupted column in the New York Times.
Listen to our “Book Bite” summary on the app
Let’s Talk About Hard Things
By Anna Sale
Diving into five of the most fraught conversation topics—death, sex, money, family, and identity—Sale moves between memoir, fascinating snapshots of a variety of Americans opening up about their lives, and expert opinions to show why having tough conversations is important and how to do them in a thoughtful and generous way.
Listen to our conversation with the author
Troubled: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs
By Kenneth R. Rosen
Based on three years of reporting and more than one hundred interviews with other clients, their parents, psychologists, and health-care professionals, Troubled combines harrowing storytelling with investigative journalism to expose the disturbing truth about the massively profitable, sometimes fatal, grossly unchecked redirection industry.
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Uncensored: My Life and Uncomfortable Conversations at the Intersection of Black and White America
By Zachary R. Wood
By sharing his troubled upbringing—from a difficult early childhood to the struggles of code-switching between his home and his elite private school—Zach Wood makes a compelling argument for a new way of interacting with others and presents a new outlook on society’s most difficult conversations. View on Amazon
Raising a Rare Girl: A Memoir
By Heather Lanier
Award-winning writer Heather Lanier’s memoir about raising a child with a rare syndrome, defying the tyranny of normal, and embracing parenthood as a spiritual practice that breaks us open in the best of ways.
Listen to our “Book Bite” summary on the app
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