Memoirs by Fierce Women Writers
By Louise Julig
By Louise Julig
I love a good memoir, and some of my favorites have been written by some fierce-ass women. Here's a list to get you started, but check back periodically because I'll keep adding as I read more books.
In 2023, any earnings from my shop will be donated to the Strong Hearted Native Women's Coalition in San Diego County.
Louise Julig (she/her/hers) is a creative nonfiction writer living in Southern California who writes Be Your Own Hero, a newsletter about being brave in small moments. Find her essays, performances and upcoming events at www.louisejulig.com.
Negative Space
Lilly Dancyger
$16.95 $15.76A memoir of discovery based on the author's decades-long exploration of her artist-father's past in hopes of finding new ways to connect with his memory and legacy as an adult.
Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason
Gina Frangello
$27.00This searing memoir unflinchingly examines the author's life as her marriage implodes, while at the same time situating herself in the greater context of women's place in contemporary society. Beautifully written and riveting.
My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive
Julissa Arce
$17.99Julissa Arce documents what it's like to grow up undocumented and ambitious, both longing and afraid to be seen. Her story exposes the arbitrary boundaries we draw in American culture around who is deemed worthy.
Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life
Darcey Steinke
$26.00More than a menopause memoir, Flash Count Diary is a searing cultural critique of the flawed narratives we've been fed about living through "the change," illustrated by the narrator's personal experiences and quest to commune with the oldest living member of the only other mammal that experiences menopause: a killer whale named Granny.
Infidel
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
$18.00 $16.74Aayan Hirsi Ali's clear, urgent prose takes the reader on a journey from growing up in the restrictive Somali culture subject to genital mutilation, through Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and eventually to the Netherlands where she became an outspoken political figure, her voice gaining clarity and urgency along the way.
Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear
Eva Holland
$24.95Nerve is Eva Holland's quest to wrestle with her lifelong fears through both reportage and reflection. Seamlessly blending her personal experiences with fascinating science, Nerve will take you on a journey through fear and back.
At Home in the World
Joyce Maynard
$21.00 $19.53Joyce Maynard was vilified when she broke her silence about the relationship she had with J.D. Salinger when she was a teenager. But At Home In the World is a clear-eyed perspective from a quarter century afterward that claims her right to tell her story and show that she has a voice beyond the girl Salinger abandoned. Still worth reading today.
Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale
Jen Trynin
$21.99Jen Trynin's memoir of becoming almost famous as a contemporary of Alanis Morissette is clear-eyed and eye-opening. It'll also make you nostalgic for the early '90s.
And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready
Meaghan O'Connell
$16.99Meaghan O'Connell unexpectedly finds herself pregnant, but can't find the kind of honest book about impending motherhood she wants, so she wrote it herself. Unafraid to ask "when am I ever going to want sex again," and grapple with postpartum depression, And Now We Have Everything is for any past or potentially pregnant person who's ever been unsure about one of the biggest roles you can ever take on.
Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy
Eilene Zimmerman
$27.00Eilene Zimmerman's reported memoir pieces together the story of her lawyer ex-husband's secret descent into drug abuse while exposing the not-often-told story of upper class, white-collar addiction. Riveting and compelling
Cherry
Mary Karr
$18.00 $16.74The lesser-known middle memoir by the author of The Liar's Club and Lit, Cherry covers the coming of age of one of the fiercest memoirists in the canon.
The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath
Leslie Jamison
$18.99 $17.66In an interview with the Guardian, Jamison calls this "a big book: critical, reported, personal, all sorts of things," and it's an apt description. A memoir, yes, but also cultural criticism and reportage. She could have easily left out all the personal bits about her own recovery journey, but it wouldn't have been nearly the book that The Recovering is.
Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
Nadia Bolz-Weber
$15.99 $14.87Pastrix is the story of nontraditional Lutheran minister Nadia Bolz-Weber's journey from her fundamentalist upbringing through addiction and stand-up comedy to ministry as a "deeply faithful, deeply flawed" pastor.
In the Dream House: A Memoir
Carmen Maria Machado
$16.00 $14.88Carmen Maria Machado's swirling, experimental forms lead the reader through this memoir of relationship abuse survival and emotional redemption.
The Rules Do Not Apply: A Memoir
Ariel Levy
$17.00 $15.81One of my favorite memoirs ever. Beautifully written narrative of what it feels like when life just doesn't end up the way you thought it would. Expanded from the award-winning essay, Thanksgiving in Mongolia.
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist
Judith Heumann and Kristen Joiner
$16.00 $14.88Heumann contracted polio as a toddler and grew up disabled in the '50s to then go on to become a leading disability rights advocate. This book was a real eye-opener as to what people with disabilities have had to fight for since then. A quick, engaging read.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Alison Bechdel
$18.99 $17.66The now-classic graphic memoir that went on to become a hit broadway show. Bechdel explores the relationship with her troubled, closeted father after his suicide while reflecting on her own lesbian coming of age.
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
Mira Jacob
$20.00 $18.60In this graphic memoir, Jacob explores the messy bonds of family through the lens of growing up as a child of Indian immigrants in New Mexico in the 80s and being the mother of a biracial child in New York City in the 2010s. Includes portions of her (awkward, hilarious) experiences as a bisexual woman.
Louise Julig (she/her/hers) is a creative nonfiction writer living in Southern California who writes Be Your Own Hero, a newsletter about being brave in small moments. Find her essays, performances and upcoming events at www.louisejulig.com.