A memoir is a collection of memories that an individual writes about, and that would include moments or events, both public or private, that took place in the subject’s/person’s life. Whereas an autobiography focuses on the chronology of the writer’s entire life , a memoir covers one specific aspect of the writer’s life.
If you are looking to put your own story to paper and need some guidance, you can check out the online class- Journaling and Memoir Writing offered through Universal Class using your Livingston Library card.
Reading memoirs gives you the chance to jump into another life and live someone else’s story, at least for a little while.
Here are some compelling memoirs available as ebooks or audiobooks– the stories here are engrossing, heartbreaking, eye opening and at times, hilarious.
- Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
- Hitch-22A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
- Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward
- Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson
- A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz & Nicholas de Lange
- Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
- Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
-Archana, Adult Services & Acquisitions Librarian