Some true stories are told with so much shape and feeling that you forget you are reading non-fiction. Here are three that read like novels, and who each is for.
Educated, Tara Westover (2018)
A girl grows up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho and teaches herself enough to reach a university classroom. It is gripping, uncomfortable and hopeful. For readers who love a story about becoming yourself.
Born a Crime, Trevor Noah (2016)
Noah grows up in South Africa at the end of apartheid, where his very existence was against the law. The jokes are real, and so is the love for his mother. For readers who want true stories that move fast.
Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl (1946)
A short and serious book by a psychiatrist who survived Nazi concentration camps, about finding purpose under unbearable conditions. For an evening when you want something small and lasting. It deals with painful subjects, so read it when you feel steady.
Why memoir works
A good memoir gives you a voice, a place and a reason to turn the page, the same as a novel. The difference is the quiet knowledge that someone really lived it. If you would like more in this vein, tell the BookPal which of these you loved most.
