For many centuries,books have been some magical place for readers that allows them to escape the world. Biographies help the reader to go through every single event, and all the remarkable and emotional chapters of someone’s life. This provides us the opportunity to know more about our heroes and inspiring leaders.
Here is a list of some biographies and memoirs that you should read once in your lifetime.
1.A Long Way Gone
It is a memoir in which a young boy is caught in the civil war in Sierra Leone. The story focuses on the life of a young child who gets recruited into war as a child soldier. It shows how dreadful the journey of a boy becomes. This story gives readers a close look at the act of child exploitation.
2.Dreams From My Father
This memoir by Barack Obama is very fascinating and inspiring. It shows the meaningful journey of Obama’s life. He discussed the struggles and issues he faced as the son of a black African father and a white American mother. It signifies the story of race and inheritance.
3.A Moveable Feast
If you are in love with Paris, you will find this memoir best for you. This must-read book portrays Paris in the most wonderful ways. There are approximately 20 chapters, which include both happy and sad themes. The retrospective perspective of this book shows the happiness of early age, which is to be doomed later.
4.Mao: The Unknown Story
This biography was written by Jung Chang. This book is all about the famous Mao Zedong the Red Emperor. The writer begins by referring to him as the killer of more than 70 million people and further discusses the ideologies, strategies, missions, and motivations used by Mao. This book shows the disgusting image of China’s biggest revolutionary, i.e, Mao Zedong.
5.Darkness Visible
Darkness Visible is a memoir of madness written by William Styron. The main theme of this book is depression and suicide. It shows how depression impacts the life of people and from where it comes. This book further elaborates on the consequences of wars on human psychology.
6.Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
This memoir mainly aims to build determination in the readers so that they can easily overcome the obstacles in their lives. It was written by Phillip Hoose, who wanted to write about the Claudette Colvin story, a brave activist to support African Americans. Colvin refused to give her seat to a white woman during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
7.A Walk In The Woods
This book by Bill Bryson is based on the journey of a man who wanted to hike on the Appalachian trails. Here, Bryson emphasized the difference between two worlds: the world full of civilized ones and the world of untamed wild creatures.
8.Churchill: A Life
There are many biographies on Churchill, but the best attempted one is of Martin Gilbert. This was written by the final authority of Winston Churchill. In this book, Gilbert has reflected the balanced depiction of his wisdom and strength. This biography gives a perfect tribute to the leader who led Britain to win World War II.
9.Barracoon
This book is written by Zora Neale Hurston, and is based on the last ‘ Black Cargo’. With in-depth research and valid details, this biography is a perfect tribute to the middle passage slave trade people. This biography will take you to the era when the slave trade was common.
10.Alexander Hamilton
This biography was written by Ron Chernow. This book became his big hit and is considered to be one of his genius creativity. It contains 800 pages that describe every moment of Alexander Hamilton. All of his roles in the revolutionary war and his personal affairs have been discussed in this book brilliantly.
11.Long Walk To Freedom
It is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela, who was the president of South Africa. It has a story based on the theme of freedom and struggle. Mandela shared his epic story of struggle, hope, and ultimate triumph. He described the long struggle of his people, who sacrificed their lives to get freedom.
12.Kitchen Confidential
This memoir is worth reading, as it gives an inside view of the restaurant industry. Anthony Bourdain shed a light on how it truly feels and what it actually needs to work in a restaurant. It contains lots of fun stuff and requires a good sense of humor in readers. This story is from the personal experience of Bourdain as a chef.
13.The Story Of My Life
The most powerful and inspiring book that you must read once in your lifetime. We all know about Helen Keller, but there are many hidden struggles and stories of her life that you should know about. Hellen Keller elaborates on her struggles as a blind and deaf child, and how she overcame them was a great achievement.
14.E=mc2: A Biography Of The World’s Most Famous Equation
This book by David Bodanis is the most entertaining book. It describes the applications and power of this famous formula E=mc2. It is a biography of Albert Einstein, which shows how unsure Einstein was about his achievements when the equation was developed. It has been beautifully written and illustrated by David.
15.Napoleon: A life
The most stellar book of all time. Andrew Roberts published his best literary work and reviewed the contemporary view of Napoleon Bonaparte. The story of a great soldier who won several wars with his brilliant strategies. This massive biography of Napoleon got epic reviews and ratings from readers.
16.The Bell Jar (Modern Classics)
The Bell Jar of Sylvia Plath is majorly based on her own life and her personal experiences. The story narrated in the book is universal and relevant every time. It discusses the difficulties faced by young women. It also includes the theme of feminism, inequality, and mental issues.
17.American Sniper
This is the autobiography of American Sniper, Chris Kyle. This memoir has an engaging story of the most brilliant Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military history. Chris Kyle had the most confirmed kills while serving as Navy SEAL in different combat tours of Iraq.
18.A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius
Dave Egger wrote this memoir to encourage the youth by narrating his experiences and story. Some parts of this memoir are fictional. The book follows the theme of age, responsibilities, and parenthood.
19.Man’s Search For Meaning
This book is based on the true incidents and experiences of Viktor Frankl while living in Nazi concentration camps during world war II. It has a core philosophy where a human’s deepest desire is to find the meaning of life and survive the hardships of life. He further gives spiritual lessons about survival and overcoming fear.
20.Endurance
Even if you are not an avid reader, you will love this book written by Alfred Lansing.
In this book, Lansing discusses the stories of Antarctica which are based on true events experienced by Sir Ernest Shackleton during his voyage to the Antarctic. It was the struggle of two years where 28 crew members of the Endurance ship drowned in the sea.
21.The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
This story is based on the theme of race, ethics, medicine, scientific discovery, and healing. This mixture of magical elements makes the story worth reading. A poor black tobacco farmer, Henrietta Lacks, was unknowingly used by doctors for the scientific discoveries and advancement of medicines.
22.A Song Of Nagasaki
A Song of Nagasaki is an emotional and true story of Takashi Nagai, who was a popular scientist, convert, and survivor of the Atomic bomb dropped during World War II. Paul Glynn described the incident of Takashi Nagai in the best possible way. The story shows the suffering faced by Takashi and his people. He gives a detailed description of things that happened at that time.
23.Touching The Void
This story is true and is based on the miraculous survival of a man who attempted to climb the Siula Grande summit in Peru. The story revolves around two climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. The adventurous journey and story of the survival of these two climbers are worth reading. Along with adventures, they faced uncertain situations which put them in dangerous situations.
24.Travels With Charley In Search Of America
This is an unforgettable road journey that any writer can ever describe. John Steinbeck discusses his experience of wandering all around after being lost many times. Even after having a map, they are consistently getting out of course. This metaphorically depicts that he feels alone and lost in his own country.
25.Savage Beauty
This memoir shows the life of the famous Edna St. Vincent Millay. Savage Beauty resembles the passionate and fearless woman of America. This piece of literature is a true paradigm of writing. Nancy Milford did in-depth research and interestingly used a mixture of feminists and playwrights.
Conclusion
Hence, these are some of the best collections of biographies and memoirs that you can read. These books will give you an unbiased view of any person and their stories. The authors have written the book in the most fascinating way.
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