Top Ten Favorite Biographies/Memoirs

By now you should know that I'm a huge fan of books. Today I'm linking up here and since it's a freebie day, I want to share my top 10 favorite biographies/memoirs.  I love nonfiction, because it's usually very straightforward. Not to say that it can't be as gripping as fantasy, but I like to know what I'm getting myself into because when I start a book, I have a very short attention span.  If the book doesn't grab me within the first twenty pages, I'm probably never going to finish it! As a result of its relative predictability, nonfiction has become one of my favorite genres.

On with the list...these are in no particular order.

1) The Last Lecture
This book is about a man who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and since he only has a few months left to live, he writes a book to compile meaningful stories about his life so that when his children are older, they have a sense of their father's personality and character.  This book has so many great lessons about perseverance, hard work, and living life to the fullest.  I recommend it to everyone.  And if you've never seen his famous lecture which inspired the book, you can watch it here.  It's awesome.

2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
At first, I really ignored this book despite all the accolades it received because it dealt with...gulp...science.  Not my favorite subject. Cells? Cancer? Yuck.  However, this book was really much more than a science story.  It has history, suspense, and humor.  Above all, it tells the story of a family who has gone through so many challenges and yet survives.  I stayed up late one night to finish it and my tiredness the next day was totally worth it.

3) The Glass Castle.  
I feel like I've talked about my love for this book too many times so I will spare you.  Just go read it.

4) Tuesdays With Morrie
Mitch Albom has written a lot of great stories over the years, but this one was the first of his that I devoured and it has so much wisdom in it.

5) A Stolen Life
If you want to see why I included this book, you can read my recap post here.

6) Infidel
This is the story of a Somalian woman who somehow survives a horrible childhood and emerges as a powerful and wise woman. I read this back in my freshman year of college and I probably wouldn't have picked it up for fun. However, I'm really glad I read it because it taught me a lot about the power of the human spirit.

7) The Year of Magical Thinking
A book by Joan Didion about love and loss. It really made me look and life and death in a new way.

8) Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
Mindy is hilarious. See my recap post here at the bottom of the entry if you haven't already.

9) America's Queen
I used to be obsessed with Jackie Kennedy and this biography has a lot of great information about her wealthy upbringing, marriage, and her life before and after JFK.

10) The Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson
I really couldn't think of another book to put on this list, so instead I'm going to mention a book I am looking forward to reading.

Have a good day!