Memoirs reflect the scope of what life has to offer – the good and the bad parts. They share personal stories, reveal hidden truths, and convey aspects of life that us readers might not have been previously aware of. In other words, they are intimate looks into the complex tapestry that is the human experience.
In my opinion, memoir is one of the most underrated genres on the market. Their stories aren’t always pretty, but they are extremely insightful. The five books below provide excellent examples of this insight. I guarantee that you won’t be able to put them down!
1. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
What do you do when your mother has died, taking her culture with her? How do you reconnect with her, with the food she made and the language she spoke, when she’s no longer with you? How do you overcome such a loss? Unfortunately, Michelle Zauner had to face such questions after her mother passed away.
Zauner examines her childhood as an interracial child trying to connect with her mother’s Korean culture. She takes readers through integral childhood memories to express how devastating her loss was. If you’re anything like me, you’ll shed more than one tear while reading this book. It’s personal and heartbreaking – without a doubt, one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read.
2. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Restaurants are everywhere. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has never eaten at a restaurant. So what is it like to work in restaurants? What actually goes on behind the scenes, when the kitchen doors are closed? Well, in this book, Anthony Bourdain spills his experience in the restaurant industry, and it is wild.
Known as a food enthusiast with sardonic wit, Bourdain doesn’t hold back from sharing what restaurants are really like. He walks you through where to go on what day, what food to avoid, and who is really making the food you eat. He outlines his journey as a chef and reveals key information for fellow chefs and consumers alike, all while adding his usual repartee. His restaurant war stories are chaotic and nothing short of fascinating.
3. Being Lolita by Alisson Wood
The media loves to use the trope of high school student falling for their teacher, but what does it look like in real life? Is it as romantic as TV wants us to believe? Is it a true horror story made for a documentary? Well, this book dishes all of the details on the author’s tumultuous relationship with her teacher. Let’s just say that the fictional stories don’t even scratch the surface.
What does it mean to be preyed on? Alisson Wood will tell you. She isn’t afraid to hold things back, no matter how uncomfortable they were. The book focuses on how predatory relationships are twisted and romanticized. The dynamic between a teacher and student can suddenly turn co-dependent and wildly inappropriate – completely corrupted from how it should be. Although the book is disturbing, itt crafts a fascinating look into Wood’s past that educates, sympathizes, and heals.
4. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises in media today. But it wasn’t always like that – it started out as a small sci-fi film. Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leia, relays her filming experiences and, most notably, her ‘”relationship” with co-star Harrison Ford.
Fisher’s self-deprecating wit and charming memories give readers a look into her life before Star Wars dominated pop culture. She is unabashedly vulnerable and honest about her feelings, refusing to hide the good and bad aspects of her experience as Leia. For any fan of Star Wars, this memoir is a must-read, a it truly allows you to reevaluate the original trilogy through Carrie Fisher’s eyes.
5. In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Love is like life – a perpetual balance between positives and negatives. Love can be wonderful, but if it is taken too far, it will devolve into an unhealthy state. There is a strange perception that queer relationships are exempt from toxicity – but Carmen Maria Machado argues against that. After all, anyone can distort love into something harmful.
In The Dream House follows Machado’s relationship with an emotionally abusive woman. Machado’s writing is clear and poetic, lending a glimpse into a painful part of her past. She seeks to demonstrate that queer relationships aren’t inherently healthier than heterosexual relationships. Humans are complex, and they bring that complexity into every aspect of life.
In other words…
Memoirs capture experiences that we are readers might not have ever encountered, let alone understood. They expose what we want to keep hidden and highlight what we could learn. To me, they are valuable artistic contributions that should receive the recognition they deserve. These five memoirs were the most illuminating for me, and I hope that you find them as fascinating as I did.
