I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a bookworm. Being able to read books is an incredible part of life. Books help you escape reality. Books inspire you… especially, memoirs. Memoirs, the life story of another individual, can inspire you to become a better person. Memoirs can help you find your inner strength, and memoirs can help you survive dark times. There are certain memoirs that do just that. These are the memoirs that everyone should read.
Number Eight: Girl In The Dark: A Memoir by Anna Lyndsey. Girl In The Dark by Anna Lyndsey provides readers with strength, strength they need to survive the most difficult of times. Anna Lyndsey (her pen name) is a young British woman who discovers that she has a severe sensitivity to light. Her symptoms first began when she experienced burning skin while sitting in front of a computer screen. Then the symptoms became more intense. Lyndsey now spends her days in the dark. Her house is like a prison. However, Lyndsey does not let her illness destroy her. Instead, she illustrates her impenetrable strength. Lyndsey is still living her life in the best way possible, and her inspirational memoir contains the message that anyone has the strength to survive life’s challenges. This is a memoir to read.
Number Seven: The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. I first encountered Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior in a women’s autobiography class in college. Kingston’s multiple life stories, spanning many periods of time, focus on herself, her mother, and Chinese culture. Kingston provides readers with the need to be the best possible version of themselves. As you read Kingston’s memoir, you’ll encounter many of Kingston’s life struggles, especially in terms of being Chinese-American. However, Kingston becomes the best possible version of herself no matter her struggles. Kingston stays true to herself and you can too. This inspirational memoir needs to be read.
Number Six: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is evidently praised by those in the literary world. Angelou illustrates her early life in this work. Through struggles with racism and trauma, Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings provides her readers with perseverance. Angelou survived the most difficult of times by never giving up. Instead, she persevered. After reading Angelou’s work, readers gain perseverance to conquer any obstacle preventing them from living a happy life. Everyone should read this inspirational memoir.
Number Five: There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me by Brooke Shields. Many people are familiar with Brooke Shields the actor, and Brooke Shields the model. However, Brooke Shields is also an author, and her memoir There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me, is so inspirational. Shields gives readers the message “you are not alone,” to any individual who has, or had a complicated relationship with their mother. Shields illustrates that relationships are not easy, mothers struggle, mothers aren’t perfect, but a mother-daughter relationship will always survive. Shields helps readers become a better mother, and a better daughter. Her memoir is a must read and you will finish the book with so much love in your heart.
Number Four: Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Wild by Cheryl Strayed is best known because of the movie Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon. But, this memoir is surely a must read. Strayed provides readers with courage. The courage to change your life, the courage to make it on your own, the courage to test your strength, and the courage to confront your demons. After reading Strayed’s memoir, readers receive the help they need to develop their own courage. They know that they have the courage to change their life, the courage to make it on their own, the courage to test their strength, and the courage to confront their demons.
Number Three: Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Similar to Strayed’s Wild, many individuals are familiar with Girl, Interrupted because of the movie starring Winona Ryder. However, everyone must read Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Kaysen not only touches those with borderline personality disorder, but those who may be labeled as different. Kaysen documents the struggles she encountered while in a psychiatric hospital, and the progression of her mental illness. Most importantly, Kaysen shows readers that it does get better, whether you struggle with a mental illness or not, things get better. Kaysen also displays her strength and passes it on to readers who may be struggling. Girl, Interrupted inspires readers and helps them find strength and comfort during difficult times.
Number Two: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai. Malala Yousafzai’s memoir, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Tailban, is one of my favorite memoirs. This memoir is highly inspirational and everyone around the world should read it. Yousafzai provides readers with immense courage, the desire to become a better person, and the desire to change the world, as she describes her life before and after the shooting. Once you begin reading I Am Malala, you will not be able to put it down.
Number One: Better: How I Let Go of Control, Held On to Hope, and Found Joy in My Darkest Hour by Amy Robach. This inspirational memoir was just released but I know that everyone should read it. Amy Robach is an inspirational person, she definitely inspires me. Individuals followed the “Good Morning America” anchor’s journey, and battle with breast cancer, since her diagnosis in October 2013. Her strength, her hope, and her positivity during dark times inspires many. Robach’s outlook on her diagnosis spoke not only to those battling breast cancer, but those battling life-altering situations. This is what Better: How I Let Go of Control, Held On to Hope, and Found Joy in My Darkest Hour is about. Robach shows readers that you must rid yourself of fear (no matter how difficult), accept that things change, and replace your fear with strength, hope, and positivity. Robach shows readers that even in dark times, you can find a way to live a happy life. I am certainly reading Robach’s work and I know that it will bring me the strength, hope, and positivity I need in my life. Everyone should read this.
