Best Memoir / Biography / Autobiography

NOTE: This list is for non-fiction only.
794

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,451 ratings
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794

by
4.65 avg rating — 168 ratings
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803

by
3.88 avg rating — 686 ratings
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803

by
3.73 avg rating — 1,251 ratings
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803

by
4.03 avg rating — 2,195 ratings
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803

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,233 ratings
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803

by
3.92 avg rating — 336 ratings
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803

by
4.27 avg rating — 5,698 ratings
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803

by
4.08 avg rating — 391 ratings
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810

by
4.07 avg rating — 2,405 ratings
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810

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,624 ratings
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810

by
4.21 avg rating — 24 ratings
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810

by
4.06 avg rating — 506 ratings
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810

by
4.12 avg rating — 259,437 ratings
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815

by
3.98 avg rating — 5,772 ratings
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815

by
4.14 avg rating — 37 ratings
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815

by
4.28 avg rating — 38,563 ratings
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815

by
4.03 avg rating — 390 ratings
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815

by
4.25 avg rating — 4,949 ratings
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820

by
3.63 avg rating — 2,035 ratings
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820

by
4.16 avg rating — 12,585 ratings
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820

by
4.04 avg rating — 2,710 ratings
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820

by
4.47 avg rating — 43,973 ratings
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824

by
4.19 avg rating — 29,822 ratings
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824

by
4.28 avg rating — 327,408 ratings
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824

by
3.85 avg rating — 78,360 ratings
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827

by
3.62 avg rating — 18,490 ratings
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827

by
4.35 avg rating — 10,198 ratings
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829

by
3.97 avg rating — 3,691 ratings
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829

by
3.66 avg rating — 26,557 ratings
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829

by
4.20 avg rating — 15,913 ratings
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829

by
3.80 avg rating — 1,036 ratings
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829

by
4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings
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829

by
4.48 avg rating — 572 ratings
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829

by
3.53 avg rating — 40,314 ratings
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836

by
3.58 avg rating — 7,975 ratings
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836

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,048 ratings
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838

by
3.98 avg rating — 282 ratings
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839

by
3.80 avg rating — 1,678 ratings
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839

by
3.93 avg rating — 3,405 ratings
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839

by
3.94 avg rating — 46,781 ratings
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839

by
4.39 avg rating — 8,714 ratings
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839

by
4.12 avg rating — 72,378 ratings
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844

by
4.01 avg rating — 15,720 ratings
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844

by
3.29 avg rating — 134,812 ratings
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844

by
4.30 avg rating — 28,015 ratings
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847

by
3.90 avg rating — 3,300 ratings
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847

by
3.87 avg rating — 196,596 ratings
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847

by
4.29 avg rating — 3,487 ratings
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847

by
4.07 avg rating — 3,833 ratings
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847

by
4.52 avg rating — 144 ratings
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847

by
3.61 avg rating — 7,383 ratings
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853

by
3.82 avg rating — 12,085 ratings
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853

by
4.05 avg rating — 9,221 ratings
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853

by
3.81 avg rating — 47,103 ratings
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856

by
4.06 avg rating — 124,019 ratings
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856

by
4.14 avg rating — 18,263 ratings
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858

by
3.91 avg rating — 3,890 ratings
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859

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8,784 ratings
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859

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,259 ratings
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859

by
4.16 avg rating — 13,301 ratings
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859

by
4.30 avg rating — 128 ratings
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863

by
3.75 avg rating — 1,023 ratings
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863

by
3.76 avg rating — 29 ratings
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863

by
3.85 avg rating — 14,285 ratings
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866

by
4.22 avg rating — 874 ratings
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867

by
4.07 avg rating — 11,652 ratings
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868

by
3.54 avg rating — 8,048 ratings
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868

by
4.49 avg rating — 25,362 ratings
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868

by
3.81 avg rating — 55,666 ratings
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871

by
4.33 avg rating — 15,808 ratings
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872

by
4.09 avg rating — 13,950 ratings
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872

by
3.81 avg rating — 10,535 ratings
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872

by
4.16 avg rating — 25 ratings
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872

by
3.74 avg rating — 79,387 ratings
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872

by
3.87 avg rating — 57,877 ratings
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877

by
4.06 avg rating — 10,168 ratings
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877

by
3.88 avg rating — 10,187 ratings
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879

by
4.20 avg rating — 8,732 ratings
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879

by
3.77 avg rating — 10,464 ratings
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879

by
4.50 avg rating — 24 ratings
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879

by
2.94 avg rating — 4,897 ratings
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879

by
4.01 avg rating — 5,147 ratings
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879

by
4.14 avg rating — 24,375 ratings
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885

by
3.70 avg rating — 339 ratings
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885

by
3.44 avg rating — 6,324 ratings
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887

by
3.57 avg rating — 68 ratings
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888

by
4.05 avg rating — 7,679 ratings
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888

by
4.43 avg rating — 46,986 ratings
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888

by
4.13 avg rating — 9,850 ratings
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891

by
3.81 avg rating — 5,004 ratings
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891

by
4.29 avg rating — 10,828 ratings
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891

by
4.44 avg rating — 105,372 ratings
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894

by
4.18 avg rating — 9,793 ratings
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894

by
4.46 avg rating — 13 ratings
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896

by
3.98 avg rating — 400 ratings
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896

by
4.05 avg rating — 162 ratings
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896

by
4.19 avg rating — 19,978 ratings
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896

by
4.24 avg rating — 6,141 ratings
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900

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,227 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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