2025’s memoir shelf is fully stacked with raw and impactful titles — and we still have a month to go! This year, we have been graced with powerful works from literary legends, debut authors, survivors of trauma, and, yes, even music icons. Read on to discover 15 must-read memoirs you should add to your TBR list before the clock strikes midnight on 2025.
Trigger Warning: The mention of sexual abuse, rape, bullying, antisemitism, the Holocaust, bigotry, genocide, racism, and grief may be triggering to some readers. Please exercise personal care when reading.
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
In Arundhati Roy’s first memoir piece, she reflects on the life of her mother, feminist trailblazer Mary Roy, and how she inspired her not just as a woman but also as a writer. Mary Roy was an educator, activist, and a formidable figure for women’s rights in India, who also greatly impacted her daughter’s life, personally and professionally. Writing after Mary Roy’s death in 2022, Arundhati weaves together a lyrical and heart-aching love letter to her mother, their complex and layered relationship, and a meditation on grief that many readers will find solace in.
Firstborn Girls by Bernice L. McFadden
Eldest daughters, this book is for you. Bernice L. McFadden returns to the literary world with Firstborn Girls, an intimate and deeply moving memoir about uncovering familial secrets, inheriting generational trauma, and exploring the unwavering bond between mothers and their daughters. This emotive piece traces all the way back to the harrowing beginning of Bernice’s life to the release of her debut novel, Sugar — and weaves in stories from her female ancestors throughout, beginning with her great-grandmother, Louisa Vicey Wilson, who was enslaved four times and whose descendants survived the Jim Crow era and navigated the tumultuous landscape after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Firstborn Girls is a portrait of lives interwoven by familial ties, and will have all readers reflecting on their own family wisdom, secrets, and trauma.
Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney
Filled with theatrical storytelling, vulnerability, and joyful reclamation of self-identity, Dylan Mulvaney’s Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer is a must-read for everyone, not just those who fell in love with her “Days of Girlhood” series on TikTok. Dylan’s diary-like honesty, laugh-out-loud humor, and bravery to frankly discuss the vitriol and trans hate she has faced from bigots on social media make an unforgettable and important story that you will not want to put down. Paper Doll is part coming-of-age story, part love letter to the queer experience, and will turn the meaning of “late bloomer” on its head — in the best way possible.
Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything by Alyson Stoner
Alyson Stoner was a certified Disney Channel darling — especially for Gen Z readers who grew up watching them on everything from the Camp Rock films to Phineas & Ferb. Now, in their debut memoir, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, Alyson pulls back the curtain on their years as a child star, laughs at the chaos, and invites readers to do the same. This book chronicles their journey through child stardom, mental health crises, and their exploration of their sexuality. This refreshing and raw narrative will feel like a therapy session — but much funnier.
Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai
In her highly anticipated follow-up to I Am Malala, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai reveals a never-before-seen or heard side of herself in Finding My Way. This dynamic and authentic memoir follows Malala through her years as an outsider in high school, her formative yet wild college years, and her life as a resilient young adult who has made peace with her past. Throughout this book, Malala discusses messy yet honest moments, such as experiencing academic failure and anxiety, heartbreak, overcoming loneliness, and finding true friendship as well as true love, which will certainly remind readers that our role models are just as human as you and me.
How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast
Biting, brilliant, and deeply personal: Molly Jong-Fast’s memoir about “losing” her mother, Erica Jong, the infamous feminist trailblazer and author of the groundbreaking novel, Fear of Flying, to Alzheimer’s, is a true tour de force. How to Lose Your Mother reveals, in all its messy and brutally honest glory, exactly how it feels to grow up with a feminist icon as your mother — and how to navigate a disease suddenly taking her away. It’s the perfect read for anyone who has had a complicated yet intricate relationship with their mother.
Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
This literary legend returns to our bookshelves with this unconventional take on a memoir. Margaret Atwood’s Book of Lives is not entirely chronological, nor confessional as a typical memoir would be. Instead, it is a philosophical, poetic, and at times odd retelling of all of the lives she has led. In Book of Lives, Atwood takes readers on the journey of a lifetime, as she shares with us fragments of her rugged, nomadic childhood, bohemian parties, and run-ins with poets and Hollywood stars that all feel as if they’ve stepped out of one of Atwood’s novels, into our minds.
We Survived the Night by Julian Brave NoiseCat
In Tsq’escen journalist and activist Julian Brave NoiseCat’s We Survived the Night, NoiseCat intertwines his own story with the overarching, larger fight for Indigenous justice across North America. This raw yet lyrical memoir details everything from surviving foster care and overcoming family loss to leading key climate and land-back movements. A nod to ancestral endurance and surviving not just genocide and systemic erasure, but also the quieter, understated everyday devastations — this is a memoir that powerfully commands your attention and deserves it, too.
Do Not Cry When I Die by Renee Salt, with Kate Thompson
At 94 years old, Holocaust survivor Renee Salt decided it was the right time to tell her full story. Co-written with Kate Thompson, Do Not Cry When I Die chronicles Renee’s six-year journey through World War II’s deadliest days. She and her mother, Sala, were forcibly imprisoned in ghettos and in concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, before being liberated in April 1945. This harrowing yet hopeful memoir explores how the unbreakable love between Renee and her mother, paired with Sala’s undying courage to protect her child in their darkest days, is what truly saved her life.
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Nobody’s Girl is one of this year’s highly anticipated releases — and for good reason. As one of the most visible figures and survivors in the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell case, Virginia Roberts Giuffre spent the years leading up to her untimely death fiercely fighting for justice for victims of sexual abuse. In Nobody’s Girl, the late Giuffre details her childhood trauma, grooming, and the abuse she suffered at the hands of powerful men. Packed with resilience, resistance, and clarity, Virginia reclaims her story for the first time in print, and it is crucial to listen.
Star of the Show: My Life on Stage by Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton is a true country music icon and American treasure. Star of the Show: My Life on Stage is Dolly’s final book in her photographic trilogy of memoirs (following Songteller, a book about her songwriting, and Behind the Seams, a book documenting her iconic, dazzling fashion), and is just as glittery, shimmering, and heartfelt as any of her stage shows. It’s packed with never-before-seen photographs from legendary performances, backstage anecdotes, and her personal philosophy behind staying grounded and guided after six decades of success. Filled with her trademark humour, wit, and wisdom, Star of the Show is a must-have for the ultimate Dolly fan.
Bread of Angels by Patti Smith
Patti Smith returns with her most intimate memoir yet. Bread of Angels takes readers right back to the very beginning: her childhood in post-World War II America, and her teen years, where her early brushes with romance and artists such as Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan begin. From there, we have a front row seat to Smith’s early creative genius, how that preliminary spark led to her landmark albums such as Easter and Horses, and where she is today. Filled with meditations on aging, grief, and gratitude, Bread of Angels is one memoir you cannot miss — especially if Just Kids is one of your favorite books.
The Uncool by Cameron Crowe
The Uncool is the quintessential book for fans of the 2000 coming-of-age classic, Almost Famous. This electrifying memoir from Cameron Crowe — yes, the director of Almost Famous — finally tells his personal story that inspired the iconic film. The Uncool follows Cameron’s days as a teenage music journalist, grappling with imposter syndrome and insecurities, and touring with Led Zeppelin in their glory days. Packed with behind-the-scenes insight from run-ins with music greats, such as David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen, and reflections on staying grounded and vulnerable in a world where being such a thing is “uncool,” this memoir is the ultimate pick for any music lover.
Fahrenheit-182 by Mark Hoppus, with Dan Ozzi
Punk never died, it just grew up. Fahrenheit-182 follows seminal punk band blink-182 frontman, Mark Hoppus, as he opens up about his battle with cancer, how becoming a father has led to a musical and personal evolution, growing up as a latchkey kid in the ’80s, and discovering punk rock. And, most importantly, Fahrenheit-182 reassures readers not to sweat the small things. Co-written with music journalist Dan Ozzi and packed with heart, honesty, and classic snarky humor that will make any blink-182 fan laugh out loud.
Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run by Paul McCartney
You’ve heard the story of The Beatles, but have you heard the story of Wings? Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run tells the story of Wings, a band founded by Beatle Paul McCartney, which came to define an entire generation and made a splash on the ‘70s music scene. This memoir finally puts the long-sprawling oral history of the iconic band into print. Complete with behind-the-scenes features, 150 crisp photographs of the band (including many that have never been seen before), interviews, and so much more, this unconventional, genre-defying memoir is essential for any McCartney fan.
From soul-baring, revelatory narratives about mother-daughter relationships to underheard, electrifying origin stories about our favorite musicians, and everything in between, this year has gifted us a wealth of stories to last a lifetime — or, at least until next year.
On the hunt for more nonfiction recommendations? Check out more must-read nonfiction releases right here.
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