Reading List: Memoirs

INTRODUCTION
As with all of the reading lists on this site, this is a living document, meaning I will add to it as I come across books I've omitted, and would love suggestions of any noncelebrity memoir you would highly recommend. As far as the categories, I've done my best--some books fall under multiple categories so I went with the most dominant/specific theme (i.e. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is primarily about Sedaris's childhood, but not entirely, and it's humorous as is Bryson's memoir). I've read many but not all of these, so please let me know if a book belongs under a different heading. If you're interested in travel memoirs, there's a extensive separate reading list posted.

ABUSE MEMOIRS

Please Stop Laughing at Me - Jodee Blanco
Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
Blackbird - Jennifer Lauck

A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Jesus Land  - Julia Scheeres
Lucky - Alice Sebold
The Glass Castle - Jeannete Walls

ANIMAL MEMOIRS

Marley and Me - John Grogan

Seabiscuit - Laura Hillenbrand

Dewey - Vicki Myron
Alex & Me - Irene Pepperberg

CHILDHOOD MEMOIRS
An American Childhood - Annie Dillard
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson
Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim - David Sedaris

GRIEF MEMOIRS
The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

HUMOROUS MEMOIRS

Close Encounters of the Third-grade Kind - Phillip Done
A Red State of Mind - Nancy French

Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

INTERNATIONAL MEMOIRS
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah
Wild Swans - Jung Chang
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba with Bryan Mealer
Child of the Jungle - Sabine Kuegler
Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah
Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi

NATURE MEMOIRS
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
Life in the Treetops - Margaret D. Lowman

RELIGIOUS & SPIRITUALITY MEMOIRS

Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
Angry Conversations with God - Susan Isaacs
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
Traveling Mercies - Anne Lamott
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
Shattered Dreams - Irene Spenser

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT MEMOIRS
Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin
The Know-It-All - AJ Jacobs
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
Living Oprah - Robyn Okrant
Julie and Julia - Julie Powell
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin

OTHER MEMOIRS
Minor Characters - Joyce Johnson

Reading List: Travel Narratives

INTRODUCTION
The following are travel narratives, with a few international memoirs mixed in. They are organized by continent. The books on this list I’ve either read, plan to read, or have been highly successful. Most are contemporary, but a few were written over 50 years ago (i.e. Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Freya Stark, Theodore Roosevelt). I've listed specific countries where appropriate if they're not evident from the title. I know this list is far from comprehensive, so recommendations would be appreciated.

NORTH AMERICA
I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson
The Lost Continent – Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods [Appalachian Trail] – Bill Bryson
Blue Highways - William Least Heat-Moon
Roads to Quoz - William Least Heat-Moon
A Walk Across America – Peter Jenkins
The Walk West - Peter & Barbara Jenkins
Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer
You Can Get Arrested for That – Rich Smith
Travels with Charley – John Steinbeck
The Call of the Weird – Louis Theroux

EUROPE
Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson
Notes From a Small Island [England] - Bill Bryson
A Year in Provence [France] - Peter Mayle
Toujours Provence [France] - Peter Mayle
Without Reservations [France, England, Italy] – Alice Steinbach
The Kingdom By the Sea [Great Britain] – Paul Theroux
A Motor-flight Through France – Edith Wharton

ASIA
Wrong About Japan - Peter Carey
Child of the Jungle [Indonesia] – Sabine Kuegler
Letters Home [Japan] – Todd Jay Leonard
Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah
Three Cups of Tea [Pakistan] – Greg Mortenson
Japanland - Karin Muller
The Valley of the Assassins and Other Persian Tales [Iraq/Iran] - Freya Stark

AUSTRALIA
In a Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson
The Road from Coorain (memoir) - Jill Ker Conway
The Sex Lives of Cannibals [South Pacific island] - J. Maarten Troost

AFRICA
Don't Look Behind You - Peter Allison
Whatever You Do, Don’t Run [Botswana] – Peter Allison
Bill Bryson's African Diary [Kenya] - Bill Bryson
In Morocco – Edith Wharton

SOUTH AMERICA
Road Fever - Tim Cahill
The Enchanted Isles [Galapagos Islands] - Herman Melville
Nothing to Declare – Mary Morris
Through the Brazilian Wilderness – Theodore Roosevelt

WORLD TRAVEL
Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine
Pecked to Death by Ducks – Tim Cahill
Around the World in 80 Dates - Jennifer Cox
Where the Hell Is Matt? - Matt Harding
The Ridiculous Race - Steve Hely & Vali Chandrasekaran
101 Places Not to See Before You Die - Catherine Price
Mark Twain on Travel – Mark Twain, Terry Mort, ed.

ESSAY COLLECTIONS
Not So Funny When It Happened – Tim Cahill, ed.
The Risks of Sunbathing Topless - Kate Chynoweth, ed.
Bad Trips - Keath Fraser, ed.
By the Seat of My Pants – Don George, ed.
The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Klara Glowczewska, ed.
Sand in My Bra - Jennifer L. Leo, ed.
The Gift of Travel - Habegger, O'Reilly & O'Reilly, eds.
The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt - Mary Russell

ANNUAL COLLECTIONS
The Best Travel Writing
The Best American Travel Writing
The Best Women’s Travel Writing

Reading Lists: Young Adult Fiction (Introduction)

INTRODUCTION
Below are reading lists of popular and award-winning young adult books. I've sorted them by category, then listed books alphabetically first by author, then by title. I've also included the year of first publication. You'll note classic and contemporary novels are mixed together, with some classics listed under historical, though the period they were set in was contemporary at the time they were written. As a source I used my general knowledge, and selected books from the Newberry Medalists, top 100 YA titles on GoodReads.com, top 100 bestselling teen books on Amazon.com, and the top 100 bestselling children's books on BN.com as of January 3, 2010.

Interestingly, the majority of popular novels fall into the fantasy and science fiction, contemporary, or historical genres. There weren't many mystery or suspense novels which were more popular when I was a young adult (Christopher Pike, R.L. Stein, etc.) The science fiction/fantasy category was so overwhelming, that I broke it into sub categories: fantasy novels take place primarily in an alternate world, supernatural novels are set in our world but feature characters with supernatural powers (vampires, witches, werewolves), and science fiction novels are set in the future or in an alternate world inspired by science/technology. For series of four or more books, I generally just listed the series and not all the titles. Because the list became unwieldy and for easier reference, I’ve posted the categories separately.

If you note any errors or glaring omissions, please let me know.

*Newberry Medal recipient

Reading List: Young Adult Short Stories & Fairy Tales

FAIRY TALES, FABLES and SHORT STORIES
Fairy Tales (1835) - Hans Christian Andersen
Aesop's Fables (1484) - Annonymous
One Thousand and One Nights (1706) - Annonymous
Grimm's Fairy Tales (1812) - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
The Jungle Book (1894) / The Second Jungle Book (1895) - Rudyard Kipling
Just So Stories (1902) - Rudyard Kipling
Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) / The House at Pooh Corner (1928) - A.A. Milne
Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals (1697) - Charles Perrault
New Arabian Nights (1882) / More New Arabian Nights (1885) - Robert Louis Stevenson
Book of Enchantments (1996) - Patricia C. Wrede

Reading List: Young Adult Mystery & Suspense

MYSTERY
The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories series (190 books, 1927 - 2005) - Franklin W. Dixon (pseudonym for multiple ghost authors)
Harriet the Spy (1964) - Louise Fitzhugh
Paper Towns (2008) - John Green
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series (175 boos, 1930 - 2003) - Carolyn Keene (pseudonymn for multiple ghost authors)
A Series of Unfortunate Events series (13 books, 1999 - 2006) - Lemony Snicket
Encyclopedia Brown series (26 books, 1963 - 2009) - Donald J. Sobol

SUSPENSE
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973) - Lois Lowry
Killing Mr. Griffin (1978) - Lois Lowry
Summer of Fear (1976) - Lois Lowry
Remember Me (1989) - Christopher Pike
Fear Street series (117 books, 1989 - 2005) - R.L. Stein

Reading List: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

CONTEMPORARY NOVELS (Set after 1959)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007) - Sherman Alexie
Speak (2001) - Laurie Halse Anderson
Burger Wuss (1999) - M.T. Anderson
Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret (1970) - Judy Blume
Forever (1976) - Judy Blume
Superfudge (1980) - Judy Blume
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series (4 books, 2001 - 2007) - Ann Brashares
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999) - Stephen Chbosky
The House on Mango Street (1984) - Sandra Cisneros
*The Ramona series (1955-1999) - Beverly Cleary
*Walk Two Moons (1995) - Sharon Creech
Just Listen (2006) - Sarah Dessen
*My Side of the Mountain (1960) - Jean Craighead George
Looking for Alaska (2005) - John Green
The Outsiders (1967) - S.E. Hinton
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (4+ books, 2007 - ?) - Jeff Kinney
*From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968) - E.L. Konigsburg
To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) - Harper Lee
Monster (1999) - Walter Dean Myers
*The Black Pearl (1968) - Scott O'Dell
Bridge to Terabithia (1978) - Katherine Paterson
*The Great Gilly Hopkins (1979) - Katherine Paterson
*Jacob Have I Loved (1980) - Katherine Paterson
*Hatchett (1988) - Gary Paulsen
*The Westing Game (1978) - Ellen Raskin
Where the Red Fern Grows (1961) - Wilson Rawls
*Holes (1999) - Louis Sachar
Maniac McGee (1990) - Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl (2000) - Jerry Spinelli
*Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976) / Let the Circle Be Unbroken (1981) - Mildred D. Taylor
Homecoming (1981) / *Dicey's Song (1982) / A Solitary Blue (1983) - Cynthia Voigt
Izzy, Willy-Nilly (1986) - Cynthia Voigt
The Book Thief (2006) - Marcus Zusack

Reading Lists: Young Adult Historical Fiction

HISTORICAL NOVELS (Set prior to 1959)
Little Women (1868) / Little Men (1871) / Jo's Boys (1886) - Louisa May Alcott
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (2006 - 2009) - M.T. Anderson
*The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1992) - Avi
A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003) / Rebel Angels (2006) / The Sweet Far Thing (2007) - Libby Bray
*Caddie Woodlawn (1936) - Carol Ryrie Brink
A Little Princess (1905) - Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden (1911) - Frances Hodgson Burnett
*My Brother Sam Is Dead (1975) - James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
What Katy Did series (5 books, 1872 - 1890) - Susan Coolidge
*Lord of the Flies (1954) - William Golding
Captain's Corageous (1897) – Rudyard Kipling
Kim (1901) - Rudyard Kipling
A Separate Peace (1959) - John Knowles
Pippi Longstocking (1945) / Pippi Goes on Board (1946) / Pippi in the South Seas (1948) - Astrid Lindgren
*Sarah, Plain and Tall (1985) / Skylark (1994) / Caleb's Story (2001) - Patricia MacLachlan
The Children of the New Forest (1847) - Frederick Marryat
Bloody Jack series (7 books, 2002 - 2009) - L.A. Meyer
The Anne of Green Gables Novels (8 books, 1908 - 1921) - L.M. Montgomery
Pollyanna (1913) / Pollyanna Grows Up (1915) - Eleanor H. Porter
Fire from Heaven (1969) / The Persian Boy (1972) - Mary Renault
The King Must Die (1958) / The Bull from the Sea (1962) - Mary Renault
Catcher in the Rye (1951) - JD Salinger
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) – Betty Smith
*The Bronze Bow (1962) - Elizabeth Speare
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1958) - Elizabeth George Speare
Kidnapped (1886) - Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island (1883) – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) / Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) / Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894) / Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896) – Mark Twain
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) - Mark Twain
The Prince and the Pauper (1882) - Mark Twain
The Boxcar Children series (19 books, 1924 - 1974) - Gertrude Chandler Warner
*Little House series (11 books, 1932 - 1974) – Laura Ingalls Wilder

Reading List: Young Adult Animal Novels

ANIMAL NOVELS
Watership Down (1972) - Richard Adams
*Sounder (1970) - William H. Armstrong
*Mr. Popper's Penguins (1939) - Richard and Florence Atwater
Paddington Bear series (1958 - 2008) - Michael Bond
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) - Beverly Cleary
*Because of Winn-Dixie (2001) - Kate DiCamillo
The Magician's Elephant (2009) - Kate DiCamillo
The Tale of Desperaux (2003) - Kate DiCamillo
The Tiger Rising (2001) - Kate DiCamillo
*Old Yeller (1957) - Fred Gipson
The Wind in the Willows (1908) - Kenneth Grahame
Redwall series (20+ books, 1987 - ?) - Brian Jacques
*Hoot (2003) - Carl Hiaasen
*Rabbit Hill (1945) - Robert Lawson
*The Dr. Dolittle books (12 books, 1920-1952) - Hugh Lofting
The Call of the Wild (1903) - Jack London
White Fang (1906) – Jack London
*Shiloh (1992) - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
*Rascal (1964) - Sterling North
*Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH (1972) - Robert C. O'Brien
*Island of the Blue Dolphins (1960) - Scott O'Dell
My Friend Flicka (1941) / Thunderhead (1943) / Green Grass of Wyoming (1946) - Mary O'Hara
*The Cricket in Times Square (1961) - George Selden
Black Beauty (1877) - Anna Sewell
*Charlotte’s Web (1953) - E.B. White
Stuart Little (1945) - E.B. White
Trumpet of the Swan (1970) - E.B. White

Reading List: Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

FANTASY NOVELS
The Chronicles of Prydain (5 books, 1964-1973) - Lloyd Alexander
The Oz Books (14 books, 1900 - 1920) – L. Frank Baum
The Enchanted Wood (1939) / The Magic Faraway Tree (1943) / The Folk of the Faraway Tree (1946) - Enid Blyton
The Adventures of the Wishing Chair (1937) / The Wishing Chair Again (1950) / More Wishing Chair Tales (1997) - Enid Blyton
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) / Through the Looking Glass (1871) - Lewis Carroll
Artemis Fowl series (6+ books, 2001 - ?) - Eoin Colfer
*The Dark Is Rising Sequence (5 books, 1966-1977) - Susan Cooper
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) / Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972) - Roald Dahl
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006) - Kate DiCamillo
Ranger's Apprentice series (9+ books, 2004 - ?) - John Flanagan
The Inkworld Trilogy: Inkheart (2003) / Inkspell (2005) / Inkdeath (2008) - Cornelia Funke
Coraline (2002) - Neil Gaiman
*The Graveyard Book (2008) - Neil Gaiman
The Princess Bride (1973) - William Goldman
The Goose Girl (2003) - Shannon Hale
*Princess Academy (2005) - Shannon Hale
Howl's Moving Castle (1986) / Castle in the Air (1990) / House of Many Ways (2008) - Diana Wynne Jones
The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) - Norton Juster
*Ella Enchanted (1998) - Gail Carson Levine
The Chronicles of Narnia (7 books, 1950 - 1956) - C.S. Lewis
*Afternoon of the Elves (1990) - Janet Taylor Lisle
The Abhorsen series (4 books, 1995 - 2006) - Garth Nix
The Borrowers series (4 books, 1952 - 1961) - Mary Norton
The Song of the Lioness series (4 books, 1983 - 1988) - Tamora Pierce
Inheritance Cycle: Eragon (2002) / Eldest (2005) / Brisingr (2008) - Christopher Paolini
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (1995) / The Subtle Knife (1997) / The Amber Spyglass (2000) - Phillip Pullman
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series (5+ books, 2005 - ?) - Rick Riordan
Harry Potter series (7 books, 1997-2007) - J.K. Rowling
The Little Prince (1943) - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Everlost (2009) - Neal Shusterman
The Mysterious Benedict Society series (3+ books, 2007 - ?) - Trenton Lee Stewart
The Hobbit (1937) - J.R.R. Tolkein
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (4 books, 1985 - 1990) - Patricia C. Wrede

SUPERNATURAL NOVELS
Thirsty (1998) - M.T. Anderson
Tuck Everlasting (1975) - Natalie Babbit
House of Night Series (6 books, 2007 - ?) - P.C. Cast
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2007) / City of Ashes (2008) / City of Glass (2009) - Cassandra Clare
Twilight (2005) / New Moon (2006) / Eclipse (2007) / Breaking Dawn (2008) - Stephenie Meyer
Matilda (1988) - Roald Dahl
Vampire Academy series (4+ books, 2007 - ?) - Richelle Mead
Shiver (2009) - Maggie Stiefvater
Beautiful Creatures (2009) - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Peeps (2005) / The Last Days (2006) - Scott Westerfeld

SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS
Feed (2002) - M.T. Anderson
Ender's Game (1985) - Orson Scott Card
The Hunger Games Trilogy: The Hunger Games (2008) / Catching Fire (2009) / Mockingjay (2010) - Suzanne Collins
The City of Ember (2003) - Jeanne DuPrau
*House of the Scorpion (2002) - Nancy Farmer
*A Wrinkle in Time series (5 books, 1962 - 1989) - Madeleine L'Engle
*The Giver (1993) / Gathering Blue (2000) / The Messenger (2004) - Lois Lowry
Maximum Ride series (5+ books, 2005 - ?) - James Patterson
House of Stairs (1991) - William Sleator
When You Reach Me (2009) - Rebecca Stead
Uglies (2005) / Pretties (2005) / Specials (2006) / Extras (2007) - Scott Westerfeld

52 Books a Year Challenge

OVERVIEW
The title pretty much says it all--your goal is to read a book a week, or 52 books in a year. This is something I've done the last few years myself.

WHAT TO DO
Finish 52 books this year. I found it easier to aim for four books per month than a book a week, and usually was reading two or three books at a time. You might want to alternate fiction and nonfiction, focus on a specific genre each month, or try to read four different types of books each month (for instance a mystery, a classic, a memoir, and a humor book). If there's a genre you've never read, ask a friend who loves that genre for recommendations (for instance, if you've never read science fiction/fantasy, ask a friend who loves those books which author they recommend). If you start a book and don't like it, put it aside and try something else. Don't force yourself to finish a book you don't enjoy.

Find a regular time to read that works for you. If you work, it may be during your lunch hour. If you commute, try audio books (they count). I have a colleague who picks a book he loves to read only while walking on the treadmill--it makes his workout fly by and motivates him to exercise. If you have kids, it may be a chapter during naptime, or before you go to sleep after the kids are in bed. You could choose an appropriate novel to read to your kids, a chapter each night. If your kids are older, you may even want to implement a family reading hour where each member of the family reads their own book.

Keep a notebook or a spreadsheet to track your progress listing the author, title, the date you finished, a brief note on what you thought, and your personal rating. You may also want to include copyright year, ISBN, and genre. You'll be surprised by how much you can read when you make a conscious effort, and you'll probably cut back on TV (especially when you find a book you can't put down).