Ten of My Favourite Memoir of All Time

There is nothing more satisfying than curling up on the couch or in bed with a great book, am I right? That…and Netflix or Stan, or Britbox or Amazon Prime are some of my favourite ways to not only escape, but to delve into the lives of others and enjoy a bit of escapism.

It has taken me a minute, but I’ve found out why I love memoir so much.

Every single person on this Earth has their own unique flavour, or way of seeing things and making meanings about their lives.

Time and time again, you will read about the same old tropes - the three d’s; death, divorce, disease, or someone's journey to find themselves, but the way that each person experiences these things can be wildly differently. Taking the ride with that person makes for compelling reading as you unpeel the layers, the joys, the tears and finally the life messages we are implored to take away.

Often people write about their troubles because they have found a way out of them or they want people to know that there not alone. Some are written as a reflection of a long and interesting life. Anne Glennconner’s memoir is one of my absolute favourites in this regard; we get to find out what life was like as a Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret and also all the juicy bits, it turns out that the Royals are like us and also not like us!

So here is my list of incredible memoirs I've read (I’m hesitant to say all-time favourites because that list is still expanding.)

1.  Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer to Near Death, to True Healing by Anita Moorjani

2. The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger

3. Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

4. Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner

5. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity and Love by Dani Shapiro

6. Hunger by Roxane Gay

7. Joe Cinque’s Consolation by Helen Garner

8. Becoming by Michelle Obama

9. Educated by Tara Westover

10. Land’s Edge by Tim Winton

Some of these books break into some pretty heavy themes; but all give an honest, unaltered view of their lives, the choices that some have made and the outcomes of these choices.

Enjoy and let me know how you liked them.