Looking for some interesting nonfiction reading for your summer reading category? Try a memoir or biography! Access a suggested list here, or read on for some of our favorites:
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Michelle, the Japanese Breakfast indie pop star presents a full-length account of her viral New Yorker essay to share poignant reflections on her experiences of growing up Korean-American, becoming a professional musician and caring for her terminally ill mother.
“It felt like the world had divided into two different types of people, those who had felt pain and those who had yet to.”
― Crying in H Mart
More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys
The 15-time Grammy Award-winning music artist traces her journey from self-censorship to full expression, describing her complicated
relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that
characterized her early career and her struggles with gender expectations.
“Growth requires movement. And often, the only way forward is through an exit door.” Alicia Keys, More Myself
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
The former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author shares a chillingly personal memoir about the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather.
“I have always loved the feel of books, the way they give a literal weight to words and make of them a sacred object.”
― Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir
Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran
In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself
despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, and teenage rebellion, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents.
“My father loved the library because it was a safe haven for him – no missed cultural cues, no bigoted insults from his coworkers, no glaring reminders of what was lost. All patrons of the library were pilgrims to the oracle all seeking the sake thing: knowledge. And in their pursuits of the same thing, they were all equals.”
― Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In
Red Comet: The Short and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
A new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable
literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman
behind the long-held myths about her life and art.
“What other woman would dare to draw blood with a kiss?” ―
A Delayed Life: The True Story of the Librarian of Auschwitz by Dita Kraus
Dita Kraus grew up in Prague in an intellectual, middle-class Jewish family. She went to school, played with her friends, and never thought of herself as being different—until the advent of the Holocaust. Torn from her home, Dita was sent to Auschwitz with her family. Dita’s
powerful memoir sheds light on an incredible life—one that is delayed no longer.
“No longer do I wait till…till the war ends, till we are liberated, till I marry, till the child is born, till we have more money, till the school year ends, till peace comes…I need not delay anymore; I have caught up with my life.” ― Dita Kraus, A Delayed Life
