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Must Read Memoirs
19
items Nothing brings me greater joy than a margarita, chips and queso and some HOT gossip. But realistically, I cannot do this all the time. So, I get my fix in book form. The best memoirs feel like you are getting the craziest story about that one girl yo...
Sections
4
Cults & Extreme Beliefs
Celebrity
True Crime
Guilty Pleasures
Cults & Extreme Beliefs
Highly recommend checking Libby for your next book, all you need is a library card and many libraries let you sign up for a digital card without ever leaving your home! If you do plan to buy, support a bookstore, we need more :)
#1 Must read best book I've ever read. It is so much more than “a girl that defied the odds to earn her PhD” no offence but YAWN how boring does that sound? Well I would say its more of a survivor's tale of her life in a “Waco -Ruby Ridge” -esque family plagued with violence, gaslighting and danger that will leave you screaming HOW IS THIS REAL?? Sometimes ...
Educated - Tara Westover
This book is another #1 for me, much like Educated by Tara Westover, this book contains violence (including CSA and SA) and can be tough for folks to read. However, I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day. Daniella compares how her experience...
Uncultured: A Memoir - Daniella Mestyanek Young
When her mom leaves the cult forcing her and her sister to be sent to live with her, everything changes for Guinevere, but not necessarily for the better. This actually reminded me of the Sopranos in the sense that you are experiencing this cult in i...
When the World Didn't End: A Memoir - Guinevere Turner
If you watched the show and were curious, this is the one. Skip all the others from all the other siblings, this is the only one you need. If you are looking for a bare it all - tell all - all the deepest darkest secrets, you are not going to find it...
Counting the Cost Jill Duggar
This one pissed me off from chapter one! So many times my jaw is just on the floor in complete confusion. It reminds me of the Duggar family in a lot of ways but worse…definitely worse.
Breaking Free: Escaping Polygamy & FLDS Cult - Rachel Jeffs
I was inspired to read this after reading Paris Hilton's memoir. For those that do not know, her parents sent her to several Trouble Teen programs in an effort to curb what they felt was out of control behavior (to each their own on that opinion.) I ...
Stolen: A Memoir - Elizabeth Gilpin
This book is a lot. As you can tell, I'm no stranger to the cults and extreme beliefs genre, but this one is written almost like a day-in-the life. You follow her through it all (and it feels like) as it happens. This was the one that made me take a ...
Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God - Faith Jones
Celebrity
Highly recommend checking Libby for your next book, all you need is a library card and many libraries let you sign up for a digital card without ever leaving your home! If you do plan to buy, support a bookstore, we need more :)
My recommendation for those dipping their feet into the memoir genre. Jennette's voice is undeniable throughout; finding a way to weave humor into even the darkest parts of her story. She gives us the real honest truth of what its like to be a child ...
I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy
Overdue for a good cry? Go ahead and sit down and grab a box of tissues before finishing this book. What should've been an inspiring story of what fighting addiction looks like, has a whole different feel in light of recent events.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry
Holly is actually hilarious. I listened to this one as an audiobook that she narrated and the impressions she does for Heff and the other bunnies are too funny. Growing up in the 2000s, Playboy bunnies were everywhere (Raise your hand if you too got ...
Down the Rabbit Hole: Adventures of a Playboy Bunny - Holly Madison
More than a party girl, Paris brings us back in time to her teen years and how her world changed when her acts of rebellion convinced her parents to ship her off into the troubled teen industry. I recommend this read not just for those interested in ...
Paris: The Memoir - Paris Hilton
If you were a girl in the late 90s/early 2000s she was THE It girl. She was everywhere, a lot of that against her own desires by the insane media circus that followed her every move. Britney takes us through all of it how she experienced it.
The Woman in Me - Britney Spears
True Crime
Highly recommend checking Libby for your next book, all you need is a library card and many libraries let you sign up for a digital card without ever leaving your home! If you do plan to buy, support a bookstore, we need more :)
A step in between True Crime and Memoir, this will break your heart the whole time.
I Cried to Dream Again: Trafficking Memoir - Sara Kruzan
I cried. I cried so many times. I will not say this was a quick read, even though it is on the shorter side. I had to put it down a lot and come back to it. I am pretty much always reading dark topics but there was something about this one in particu...
Know My Name: A Memoir - Chanel Miller
I remember the day she was found. I was still pretty young and this was EVERYWHERE. Like many my age, my mom was obsessed with Nancy Grace and Court TV and alllll that so I heard all about this. But hearing it from Jaycee herself, is an entirely diff...
A Stolen Life: A Memoir - Jaycee Dugard
Just like Jaycee Dugard, Elizabeth Smart was another case that was everywhere in my house growing up. Her story is honestly terrifying. Being so close to home and still unable to be found…ugh this one frustrates me if I think about it too much. That ...
My Story - Elizabeth Smart
There are quite a few stories out right now of the dark side of social media celebrity - I mean come on, it seems like every streaming service has at least one new show out about an influencer crime or scandal. I have absolutely been binging every si...
The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom By Shari Franke
Guilty Pleasures
Highly recommend checking Libby for your next book, all you need is a library card and many libraries let you sign up for a digital card without ever leaving your home! If you do plan to buy, support a bookstore, we need more :)
One of the greatest people you have in your life is that bestie in your 20s who is a perpetual hot mess but is the most loyal ride-or-die. Reading this felt like being at happy hour recapping the latest dating drama with this exact friend. It's unapo...
He's Making You Crazy: How to Get the Guy, Get Even, and Get Over It by Kristen Doute
I love all of Stassi's books. They are in no way high literature, but they are true to who she is and I find that inspiring. Sometimes, we lose ourselves in the overwhelm that is daily life. So, it is nice to look to someone who is so comfortable wit...
You Can't Have It All: The Basic B*tch Guide to Taking the Pressure Off by Stassi Schroeder