Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
Best Strange and Twisted Memoirs
wicked families, strange illnesses and other assorted interesting, odd and compelling issues
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
|
Running with Scissors
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.77 avg rating — 401,376 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 2 |
|
The Glass Castle
by
Jeannette Walls (Goodreads Author)
4.32 avg rating — 1,335,243 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 3 |
|
Me Talk Pretty One Day
by
4.01 avg rating — 715,667 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 4 |
|
Girl, Interrupted
by
3.94 avg rating — 271,514 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 5 |
|
Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1)
by
4.15 avg rating — 652,981 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 6 |
|
Dry
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 97,833 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
by
4.11 avg rating — 287,229 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 8 |
|
Naked
by
4.10 avg rating — 271,633 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 9 |
|
Look Me in the Eye
by
John Elder Robison (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 69,276 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 10 |
|
A Million Little Pieces
by
3.69 avg rating — 261,671 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 11 |
|
The Liars' Club
by
3.94 avg rating — 71,347 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 12 |
|
A Child Called "It" (Dave Pelzer, #1)
by
Dave Pelzer (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 456,549 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 13 |
|
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
by
3.84 avg rating — 167,544 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 14 |
|
Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
by
Lauren Hough (Goodreads Author)
3.42 avg rating — 10,447 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 15 |
|
Prozac Nation
by
3.64 avg rating — 63,574 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 16 |
|
The Diary of a Young Girl
by
4.20 avg rating — 4,103,275 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 17 |
|
Possible Side Effects
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 48,096 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 18 |
|
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
by
4.08 avg rating — 216,094 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 19 |
|
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
by
Jenny Lawson (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 199,254 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 20 |
|
I Am Not Myself These Days
by
Josh Kilmer-Purcell (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 14,710 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 21 |
|
Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood
by
3.74 avg rating — 20,123 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 22 |
|
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1)
by
4.27 avg rating — 226,349 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 23 |
|
Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
by
4.03 avg rating — 33,903 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 24 |
|
A Stolen Life
by
3.97 avg rating — 142,794 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 25 |
|
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by
3.69 avg rating — 182,980 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 26 |
|
Drinking: A Love Story
by
4.09 avg rating — 21,212 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 27 |
|
Jesus Land: A Memoir
by
Julia Scheeres (Goodreads Author)
3.97 avg rating — 19,466 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 28 |
|
A Piece of Cake
by
4.25 avg rating — 38,016 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 29 |
|
Holidays on Ice
by
3.89 avg rating — 129,822 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 30 |
|
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
by
3.79 avg rating — 111,473 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 31 |
|
As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
by
4.04 avg rating — 7,934 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 32 |
|
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by
3.97 avg rating — 57,075 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 33 |
|
My Friend Leonard
by
3.88 avg rating — 46,337 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 34 |
|
Wishful Drinking
by
3.82 avg rating — 91,838 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 35 |
|
The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant
by
Dan Savage (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 8,741 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 36 |
|
A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.75 avg rating — 29,946 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 37 |
|
Bossypants
by
3.96 avg rating — 1,045,213 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 38 |
|
Madness: A Bipolar Life
by
4.03 avg rating — 14,705 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 39 |
|
Driving with Dead People
by
3.86 avg rating — 5,926 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 40 |
|
Manic: A Memoir
by
Terri Cheney (Goodreads Author)
3.82 avg rating — 12,085 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 41 |
|
Educated
by
Tara Westover (Goodreads Author)
4.47 avg rating — 1,794,989 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 42 |
|
Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood
by
3.58 avg rating — 4,756 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 43 |
|
Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain
by
3.83 avg rating — 41,599 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 44 |
|
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by
Alison Bechdel (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 198,548 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 45 |
|
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by
Kay Redfield Jamison (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 84,611 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 46 |
|
Lucky
by
3.77 avg rating — 101,534 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 47 |
|
Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog
by
4.14 avg rating — 475,860 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 48 |
|
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed - A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings
by
4.18 avg rating — 30,283 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 49 |
|
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamist Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
by
3.95 avg rating — 31,333 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 50 |
|
This Childhood of Mine: A Memoir of My Last Summer with My Mentally Ill Mother and Alcoholic Father
by
Laura Meer Barkley (Goodreads Author)
4.32 avg rating — 40 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 51 |
|
They Cage the Animals at Night: The True Story of an Abandoned Child's Struggle for Emotional Survival
by
4.35 avg rating — 10,198 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 52 |
|
Orange Is the New Black
by
Piper Kerman (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 205,188 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 53 |
|
North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both
by
Cea Sunrise Person (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 17,851 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 54 |
|
The Kiss
by
3.57 avg rating — 6,543 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 55 |
|
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
by
Susannah Cahalan (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 234,486 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 56 |
|
The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family
by
Dan Savage (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 6,871 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 57 |
|
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
by
4.14 avg rating — 109,854 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 58 |
|
Finding the Rainbow
by
Rachel McGrath (Goodreads Author)
4.46 avg rating — 122 ratings
score: 900,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 58 |
|
Uprooted: Family Trauma, Unknown Origins, and the Secretive History of Artificial Insemination
by
4.18 avg rating — 142 ratings
score: 900,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 60 |
|
Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited
by
Elyse Schein (Goodreads Author)
3.67 avg rating — 3,969 ratings
score: 874,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 61 |
|
Slash
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 30,212 ratings
score: 865,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 62 |
|
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
by
4.27 avg rating — 214,560 ratings
score: 855,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 63 |
|
Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity
by
Kerry Cohen (Goodreads Author)
3.67 avg rating — 11,968 ratings
score: 853,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 64 |
|
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
by
Allie Brosh (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 214,563 ratings
score: 851,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 65 |
|
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
by
3.99 avg rating — 31,110 ratings
score: 849,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 66 |
|
Beautiful Affliction
by
Lene Fogelberg (Goodreads Author)
3.86 avg rating — 1,943 ratings
score: 800,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 67 |
|
How to... Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale
by
3.79 avg rating — 13,962 ratings
score: 757,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 68 |
|
Breaking Night
by
4.22 avg rating — 21,818 ratings
score: 748,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 69 |
|
Boy: Tales of Childhood (Roald Dahl's Autobiography, #1)
by
4.07 avg rating — 72,675 ratings
score: 744,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 70 |
|
My Lobotomy: A Memoir
by
3.77 avg rating — 14,629 ratings
score: 741,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 71 |
|
Furiously Happy
by
Jenny Lawson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 172,167 ratings
score: 732,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 72 |
|
The Basketball Diaries
by
3.99 avg rating — 31,545 ratings
score: 635,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 73 |
|
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
by
Mitch Albom (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 1,166,325 ratings
score: 627,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1)
by
3.78 avg rating — 242,536 ratings
score: 615,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 75 |
|
Everything I Never Wanted to Be: A Memoir of Alcoholism and Addiction, Faith and Family, Hope and Humor
by
Dina Kucera (Goodreads Author)
3.75 avg rating — 2,274 ratings
score: 599,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 75 |
|
The Chronology of Water
by
Lidia Yuknavitch (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 15,975 ratings
score: 599,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 77 |
|
Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods—My Mother's, My Father's, and Mine
by
3.56 avg rating — 502 ratings
score: 598,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 78 |
|
A Drink With Shane MacGowan
by
3.86 avg rating — 1,218 ratings
score: 574,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 79 |
|
Foreskin's Lament
by
3.88 avg rating — 6,253 ratings
score: 568,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 80 |
|
My Sister from the Black Lagoon: A Novel of My Life
by
3.29 avg rating — 536 ratings
score: 553,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 81 |
|
A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life
by
3.99 avg rating — 59,554 ratings
score: 525,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 82 |
|
Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent Into Crystal Meth Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland
by
Chris Thrall (Goodreads Author)
3.60 avg rating — 771 ratings
score: 500,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 82 |
|
On Learning to Heal: or, What Medicine Doesn't Know (Critical Global Health: Evidence, Efficacy, Ethnography)
by
4.27 avg rating — 11 ratings
score: 500,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 82 |
|
Separate Things: A Memoir
by
Ashley Marie Berry (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 88 ratings
score: 500,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 85 |
|
Triggered: A Memoir of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
by
Fletcher Wortmann (Goodreads Author)
3.50 avg rating — 1,456 ratings
score: 499,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 86 |
|
The Sunset Strip Diaries
by
Amy Asbury (Goodreads Author)
3.79 avg rating — 647 ratings
score: 492,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 87 |
|
Drugs are Nice: A Post-Punk Memoir
by
3.98 avg rating — 1,176 ratings
score: 491,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 87 |
|
With Angel's Wings
by
Stephanie A. Collins (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 486 ratings
score: 491,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 89 |
|
Oh the Glory of It All
by
3.62 avg rating — 5,666 ratings
score: 490,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 90 |
|
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
by
3.77 avg rating — 41,138 ratings
score: 488,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 91 |
|
Ten Days in a Mad-House
by
3.86 avg rating — 23,261 ratings
score: 486,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 91 |
|
Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl
by
Stacy Pershall (Goodreads Author)
3.91 avg rating — 3,890 ratings
score: 486,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 93 |
|
Favorite Wife: Escape from Polygamy
by
3.93 avg rating — 5,295 ratings
score: 481,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 94 |
|
Autobiography of a Face
by
3.97 avg rating — 29,724 ratings
score: 479,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 95 |
|
Fat Girl: A True Story
by
3.32 avg rating — 4,024 ratings
score: 471,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 96 |
|
Scar Tissue
by
4.11 avg rating — 99,895 ratings
score: 470,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 97 |
|
The Pigman & Me (The Pigman, #3)
by
3.75 avg rating — 1,023 ratings
score: 467,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 98 |
|
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
by
4.22 avg rating — 105,711 ratings
score: 465,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 99 |
|
Please Stop Laughing at Me... One Woman's Inspirational Story
by
3.83 avg rating — 13,415 ratings
score: 464,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 100 |
|
The Last Time I Wore a Dress
by
3.89 avg rating — 2,705 ratings
score: 463,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
Tags:
autobiographies, autobiography, biographies, biography, childhood, disabilities, disease, family, humor, humorist, humorists, humour, illness, insanity, memoir, memoirs, non-fiction, trauma
Rosie
731 books
140 friends
140 friends
Lynne
8670 books
66 friends
66 friends
Tamar
43 books
2 friends
2 friends
Cindy
116 books
9 friends
9 friends
Amber
1008 books
260 friends
260 friends
Tracy H.
1067 books
40 friends
40 friends
Paula
269 books
683 friends
683 friends
Cookiesue9x
773 books
65 friends
65 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Amber
(new)
Jan 23, 2013 10:35AM
Removed "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" by Tom Franklin because it is fiction.
reply
|
flag
Removing a few fiction books from this list:Reverb by J. Cafesin
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Heavy Duty People by Iain Parke
Heavy Duty Trouble by Iain Parke
Val wrote: "At Your Own Risk"Val, you can add these books yourself by voting for them. At the top of the page under the list title you will see a tab "add books to this list" and you can add your votes there.
A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard are both fiction, although the first is an excellent book
I'm amazed by the number of these books that I have read. I went through a memoir phase, and clearly leaded toward strange and twisted ones.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb are both fiction
So like. Thank you list maker. I love what I call "extreme memoir," which seems two be what you call "strange and twisted." This gives me so reasons to push the "to read" button.
White Oleander by Janet Fitch is a novel, not a memoir.
Removed "Into the Wild" #38. It is a biography - not a memoir. Also removed White Oleander #89 because it's fiction.
Someone changed the title of the list, so I reverted it back to the original.
Does anyone know best and strangest nonfiction books in general? Not just memoirsHow would I search for that?
I'm new to this whole searching function (after all these years! lol)
Related News
Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
