Best Memoir / Biography / Autobiography

NOTE: This list is for non-fiction only.
1001

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3.95 avg rating — 22,436 ratings
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1002

by
4.14 avg rating — 8,980 ratings
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1002

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3.96 avg rating — 565 ratings
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1002

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3.22 avg rating — 1,527 ratings
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1005

by
3.49 avg rating — 59,091 ratings
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1005

by
3.44 avg rating — 3,737 ratings
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1005

by
4.34 avg rating — 2,247 ratings
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1008

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,402 ratings
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1008

by
3.91 avg rating — 2,851 ratings
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1010

by
4.21 avg rating — 6,063 ratings
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1010

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4.02 avg rating — 862 ratings
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1012

by
3.94 avg rating — 906 ratings
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1012

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4.05 avg rating — 32,873 ratings
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1014

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,120 ratings
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1014

by
4.06 avg rating — 11,351 ratings
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1016

by
4.03 avg rating — 12,579 ratings
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1016

by
4.60 avg rating — 3,793 ratings
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1018

by
3.91 avg rating — 15,224 ratings
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1019

by
4.02 avg rating — 45,229 ratings
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1020

by
4.25 avg rating — 3,200 ratings
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1020

by
4.14 avg rating — 5,355 ratings
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1020

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,834 ratings
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1020

by
4.06 avg rating — 8,449 ratings
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1024

by
3.61 avg rating — 203 ratings
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1025

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,120 ratings
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1026

by
3.83 avg rating — 535 ratings
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1027

by
3.91 avg rating — 113,907 ratings
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1027

by
4.55 avg rating — 20,107 ratings
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1029

by
3.63 avg rating — 5,443 ratings
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1030

by
3.70 avg rating — 347 ratings
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1030

by
4.03 avg rating — 11,727 ratings
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1030

by
4.36 avg rating — 8,915 ratings
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1033

by
3.56 avg rating — 239 ratings
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1034

by
3.73 avg rating — 1,442 ratings
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1034

by
3.71 avg rating — 4,513 ratings
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1036

by
4.28 avg rating — 531 ratings
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1036

by
4.27 avg rating — 93 ratings
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1038

by
4.07 avg rating — 321 ratings
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1038

by
3.99 avg rating — 287 ratings
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1038

by
3.27 avg rating — 150 ratings
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1038

by
3.34 avg rating — 111 ratings
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1038

by
4.44 avg rating — 517 ratings
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1038

by
3.90 avg rating — 4,733 ratings
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1038

by
4.44 avg rating — 9 ratings
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1038

by
3.99 avg rating — 360 ratings
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1038

by
4.10 avg rating — 20 ratings
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1038

by
3.92 avg rating — 1,510 ratings
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1038

by
4.37 avg rating — 62 ratings
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1038

by
3.90 avg rating — 153 ratings
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1038

by
4.11 avg rating — 288 ratings
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1038

by
3.88 avg rating — 870 ratings
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1038

by
3.75 avg rating — 67 ratings
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1038

by
3.92 avg rating — 473 ratings
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1038

by
4.05 avg rating — 41 ratings
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1038

by
3.93 avg rating — 2,459 ratings
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1038

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,531 ratings
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1038

by
3.92 avg rating — 26 ratings
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1038

by
3.81 avg rating — 64,011 ratings
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1038

by
4.35 avg rating — 17 ratings
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1038

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,327 ratings
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1038

by
4.30 avg rating — 20 ratings
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1038

by
4.24 avg rating — 33 ratings
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1038

by
3.98 avg rating — 1,717 ratings
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1038

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 444 ratings
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1038

by
4.73 avg rating — 15 ratings
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1038

by
4.18 avg rating — 30,146 ratings
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1038

by
3.72 avg rating — 36 ratings
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1038

by
4.19 avg rating — 16 ratings
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1038

by
4.21 avg rating — 302 ratings
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1038

by
3.99 avg rating — 3,482 ratings
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1038

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10 ratings
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1038

by
4.10 avg rating — 644 ratings
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1038

by
3.82 avg rating — 80 ratings
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1038

by
4.39 avg rating — 295 ratings
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1038

by
3.93 avg rating — 1,127 ratings
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1038

by
4.37 avg rating — 12,537 ratings
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1038

by
4.63 avg rating — 19 ratings
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1038

by
4.46 avg rating — 13,076 ratings
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1038

by
3.97 avg rating — 72 ratings
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1038

by
4.71 avg rating — 7 ratings
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1038

by
4.16 avg rating — 925 ratings
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1038

by
3.97 avg rating — 92 ratings
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1038

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 12 ratings
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1038

by
4.07 avg rating — 117 ratings
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1038

by
4.61 avg rating — 23,246 ratings
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1038

by
3.99 avg rating — 353 ratings
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1038

by
4.01 avg rating — 333 ratings
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1038

by
4.44 avg rating — 186 ratings
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1038

by
4.52 avg rating — 6,700 ratings
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1038

by
4.46 avg rating — 68 ratings
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1038

by
4.89 avg rating — 9 ratings
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1092

by
4.23 avg rating — 1,540 ratings
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1092

by
4.52 avg rating — 21 ratings
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1092

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,571 ratings
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1092

by
4.54 avg rating — 41 ratings
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1092

by
4.16 avg rating — 426 ratings
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1092

by
4.05 avg rating — 22 ratings
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1092

by
3.88 avg rating — 310 ratings
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1092

by
4.43 avg rating — 819 ratings
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1092

by
4.23 avg rating — 22 ratings
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5,755 books · 6,280 voters · list created July 13th, 2008 by Heather (votes) .
1026 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Heather 928 books
164 friends
Kate 5033 books
1530 friends
Nikhil P. 7824 books
198 friends
Russellino 506 books
2 friends
Chriss 297 books
417 friends
Jennifer 10599 books
46 friends
Tracy H. 1067 books
40 friends
Asli 285 books
23 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 76 (76 new)


message 1: by Raelle (new)

Raelle Koota PATRON SAINT OF USED CARS AND SECOND CHANCES
by MARK MILLHONE

Beautiful, honest memoir that appeals to both men and women which is so rare. It is very funny, but have your kleenex near by and the phone numbers of family members handy to tell them you love them and value them


message 2: by Ryann (last edited Oct 02, 2009 01:06PM) (new)

Ryann FYI: "What is the What" is not a memoir. Nor is "Sarah's Key." Both are great books, but they're fiction.


message 3: by Julie (new)

Julie add:Time To Be In Earnest: A Fragment Of Autobiography|3831], P. D. James

This is fabulous. six stars


message 4: by Pia (new)

Pia Never forget Anne Frank.


message 5: by Jaliyah (new)

Jaliyah this was a good book..going to read more like this !


message 6: by Kelsey (new)

Kelsey The Lovely Bones isn't a memoir or biography.


message 7: by Xenophon (new)

Xenophon Hendrix Hannibal by Thomas Harris and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller are both fiction, and I removed them.


message 8: by Sue (new)

Sue Wow, I'm seeing a lot of fiction on this list.


message 9: by Linda (new)

Linda Sue T wrote: "Wow, I'm seeing a lot of fiction on this list."

Can we get them removed? One of the reasons I came to look at this list was to find good biographies to add to my TBR list, so I want to be sure I'm not reading a book I think is a biography then discover it was fiction.


message 10: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Linda wrote: "Sue T wrote: "Wow, I'm seeing a lot of fiction on this list."

Can we get them removed? One of the reasons I came to look at this list was to find good biographies to add to my TBR list, so I want ..."


Please don't remove them - even those are fiction-biography books, this list is still gorgeous.


message 11: by Elle (new)


message 12: by Darbi (new)

Darbi Simmons Thank you so much for creating this list Heather! I have been looking for 'Oh the Glory of it all." for years but I couldn't remember the name, thought I knew I would recognize the cover. I found it on your list and now I can read it again! Your awesome!


message 13: by Janet (new)

Janet "Good Grief" is fiction.


message 14: by Janet (new)

Janet "The Friday Night Knitting Club" is fiction. Why do people put fiction titles on non-fiction lists??


message 15: by Guy (new)

Guy Here's a real fun wild and crazy memoir about the movie biz and about finding true love...please vote for this cover - Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot :)


message 16: by John (new)

John Scott Khaled Hosseini's Books (Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns) are Fiction.


message 17: by Sadi (new)

Sadi Without moving from the first page there are at least three fiction novels on this.


message 18: by Missy J (new)

Missy J "Eat, Pray, Love" ranks higher up than "First they killed my father"?

The world is ending...


message 19: by Atticus (new)

Atticus No one even mentioned A Playboy Virgin's Manifesto by Atticus Rockefellar. Oh, the humanity!

http://www.amazon.com/Playboy-Virgins...


message 20: by Ben (last edited Sep 14, 2012 12:25PM) (new)

Ben The following are fiction:

#113 A Thousand Splendid Suns
#128 Memoirs of a Geisha

Shall I delete? Any others that need to go?


message 21: by Ben (new)

Ben I added a list description:

NOTE: This list is for non-fiction only.

Hopefully, this will stop the tide of fiction.


message 22: by Jean (new)

Jean Perry The Agony and the Ecstacy is fiction.


message 23: by Julie (new)

Julie Too bad one can only have 100 books on a list. I've read so many more great ones than are on my list.


message 24: by Julie (new)

Julie Not really sure if I'd classify Torey Hayden's books as memoirs but they all are great.


message 25: by William (new)

William Pfefferkorn how can i print out a list of just the title and author


message 26: by I-love-reading (new)

I-love-reading A million little pieces was later proved to be fiction


message 27: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy A number of the books on the list are fiction, for example, Winds of War


message 28: by Xenophon (new)

Xenophon Hendrix Morgan wrote: "a thousand splendid suns is fiction..." Deleted.


message 29: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy Memory Keeper's daughter is fiction


message 30: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy Also Brick Lane and Pope Joan are novels as well. Laura Ingallss Wilder's books are generally classified as fiction


message 31: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy one more. A tree grows in Brookly is fiction as well.


message 32: by Cherie (new)

Cherie Magnus How can we search for specific titles on this list?


message 33: by John (last edited May 21, 2014 11:30AM) (new)

John Scott I call "stupid" or "a--hole" on every single one of the people putting fiction on this list.


message 34: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Three cups of tea is fiction.


message 35: by Xenophon (new)

Xenophon Hendrix Lesley wrote: "Three cups of tea is fiction."

It's marketed as a memoir.


message 36: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Amazon has added: 'From Viking Press
In regards to the 60 Minutes episode that aired April 17, 2011: "Greg Mortenson’s work as a humanitarian in Afghanistan and Pakistan has provided tens of thousands of children with an education. 60 Minutes is a serious news organization and in the wake of their report, Viking plans to carefully review the materials with the author."'


message 37: by Xenophon (new)

Xenophon Hendrix If we start judging memoirs and biographies on their truthfulness, it will open a huge can of worms, and so far as I know, librarians haven't been given any guidance on the issue.


message 38: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman this list could use a minimum number of ratings - like 1000 - to avoid author spam.


message 39: by Sue (new)

Sue "The Shack" is NOT memoir


message 40: by Devorah (new)


message 41: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy Winds of War and the Bell Jar are both fiction


message 42: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy She's Come Undone, Great Expectations and Uncle Tom's Cabin are all fiction.


message 43: by Keston (new)

Keston Ott-Dahl Saving Delaney

Laugh, Cry and be INSPIRED by this amazing little warrior!


message 44: by Donna (last edited Jun 13, 2016 11:39AM) (new)

Donna Davis Removed for being children's fiction: Little House on the Prairie

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

NONE of the "Little House" series is autobiography. When confronted by a journalist about the scene in one of the books in which a family member is chased by ravenous wolves, which of course is not something wolves do to humans, LIW replied with great dignity that she had not intended to write history; she intended to write stories for children.

This author does have an actual memoir, but it doesn't, at least in my opinion, hold the charm and interest level that her children's series commands.

Oh wow...I'm going to find that whole series here, aren't I? Removed from #124, see above, Farmer Boy:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

..and less than 1 minute later, I find the entire series in one boxed set; I wasn't so clairvoyant as to see it coming, but expected to find it one title at a time...and likely I still will. Anyway, gone from #194:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

From #466 On the Banks of Plum Creek:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
Also from page 5, The Long Winter:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

P.6 Little Town on the Prairie
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

Also from p6 Those Happy Golden Years

and The First Four Years
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

p. 10, By the Shores of Silver Lake:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

#744, removed for being fictional, Great Expectations:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...


message 45: by Donna (last edited Jul 01, 2016 07:56PM) (new)

Donna Davis #221, removed for being fictional, Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Travel book removed from #209:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Removed:
The Winds of War, fiction:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

and Good Grief, also fiction:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...


message 46: by Cheryl (new)

Cheryl The ones by McCullough on Truman and John Adams are not memoirs. They are extremely well researched biographies. A memoir is a non -fiction book written from personal experience. Or a written account of one's memory of certain events or people. One could write a memoir of a person to whom one is or was very close as a spouse, or child. I agree - a lot of fiction on this list as well!


message 47: by Donna (last edited Aug 16, 2016 03:46PM) (new)

Donna Davis Cheryl wrote: "The ones by McCullough on Truman and John Adams are not memoirs. They are extremely well researched biographies. A memoir is a non -fiction book written from personal experience. Or a written accou..."

Take another look at the title of the listopia. Memoir, biography, autobiography. McCullough is dull as dirt, imho, but his books are clearly within the parameters of the listmaker.

If you see fiction and want me to pull it, give me titles and tell me what page each is on, and I'll be happy to do it. I have a little time right now and will check the list to see what jumps out at me.


message 48: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Humorous guinea pig book is not a memoir:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Removed from #319.


message 49: by C.E. (new)

C.E. Cannery Can someone help me find the name of this memoir I read once? (I was expecting to find it on this list)
It was a memoir by an Iranian?-I think- woman who was imprisoned and coerced into marrying her prison guard for a while and now lives in Canada. I wanted to show my mum it, but I can't remember the name of it. I recall it had a picture of a woman looking off a building on the front cover. If anyone can help that'd be awesome. Thanks.


message 50: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Jean wrote: "please add my book. country life. true story in my own words. full of shocks? & surprises! please share it. click here new on kindle--https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_......"

This constitutes spam, and is inappropriate for a Goodreads listopia discussion. I have flagged the comment.


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