Hello all, I am looking for an inspiring autobiography or memoir written by a woman. I loved Educated, ‘the woman I wanted to be’ and Glass Castle. If anyone has read anything of a similar vibe, I would be grateful for a recommendation! Thank you
by Much_Corner5162
13 Comments
I don’t read a lot of these so I’m sorry if this answer is cheesy but I loved Tina Feys book. She was funny and very relatable. I also find her to be a good woman and hard worker so it was good inspiration through school
*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers* by Loung Ung.
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings* by Maya Angelou.
*Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin, 1942-1945* by Ursula von Kardorff.
*Three Came Home* by Agnes Newton Keith.
*Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl* by Anne Frank.
Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz
The Sound of Gravel, Wild Game, Nowhere Girl and Normal Family are all really gripping memoirs about women dealing with difficult childhood experiences and rising above it to find peace.
In the Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez Lavado is about being the first Peruvian woman to summit Everest. Really good. Selena Gomez is making a movie of the book!
Underrated: *Slow Noodles* by Chantha Nguon.
Deserves the hype: *Becoming* by Michelle Obama.
Don’t Let’s Go To the Dogs Tonight and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, both by Alexandra Fuller.
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
Resilience is Futile by Julie S. Lalonde. It’s a memoir that covers an abusive relationship, which she fled at age 20, and was then stalked by him for a decade. It is an excellent read, and an in-depth look at how survivors are silenced and blamed for experiencing abuse. She’s a very engaging storyteller.
Love Lucy,
Thinking in Pictures,
Michelle Obama wrote a couple
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim.
And Julie Andrews’ duo: Home and Work.
If you liked Educated, try Church of Lies by Flora Jessop.
There is a series of memoirs by a woman named Catherine Gardiner about growing up in upstate New York in the 20th C. I have no idea how she got the contract to write a memoir, she is not famous or anything, but it is so engrossing. Each book is a different era of her life/era of history (1950s childhood, 1960s coming of age, 1970s wild student years etc).
More traditional memoir (in the sense it’s someone famous) would be Patti Smith Just Kids. It is fabulous, beautifully written and a great portrayal of NYC in the grunge years.
Finally Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood would be very similar to Educated – woman with unconventional childhood grows up to be a talented writer, uses her smarts to find success in the world. I think I prefer Priestdaddy to educated as it has a bit of humour in it.
Have you read ‘the survival of Jan little ‘