“What are the best Biography and Memoir books released in 2020?” We looked at 160 of the top Biography and Memoir books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 37 books, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Biography and Memoir” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 100+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Our other Best Of 2020 Articles:

• The Best Art, Photography, And Coffee Table Books
• The Best AudioBooks
• The Best Biography And Memoir Books
• The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
• The Best Cookbooks
• The Best Fiction Books
• The Best Books (All Categories)
• The Best History Books
• The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
• The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
• The Best Nonfiction Books
• The Best Poetry Books
• The Best Science And Nature Books
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
• The Best Young Adult Books

Previous Years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

All titles have been added to a Bookshop list as well!

Happy Scrolling!

Top 37 Best Biography and Memoir Books From 2020

37.) Conditional Citizens: On Belonging In America written byLaila Lalami

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NPR

What does it mean to be American? In this starkly illuminating and impassioned book, Pulitzer Prize­­-finalist Laila Lalami recounts her unlikely journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S. citizen, using it as a starting point for her exploration of the rights, liberties, and protections that are tradi

36.) Counterpoint: A Memoir Of Bach And Mourning written byPhilip Kennicott

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NPR

As his mother was dying, Philip Kennicott began to listen to the music of Bach obsessively. It was the only music that didn’t seem trivial or irrelevant, and it enabled him to both experience her death and remove himself from it. For him, Bach’s music held the elements of both joy and despair, life

35.) Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking written byBill Buford

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• NPR

A hilariously self-deprecating, highly obsessive account of the author’s adventures, in the world of French haute cuisine, for anyone whose ever found joy in cooking and eating food with their family–from the author of the best-selling, widely acclaimed Heat. A New York Times Book Review Editors’ C

34.) Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss written byJenna Bush Hager

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Popsugar

Jenna Bush Hager, the former first daughter and granddaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and coanchor of the Today show, shares moving, funny stories about her beloved grandparents and the wisdom they passed on that has shaped her life.To the world, George and Barbara Bush were America’s

33.) Greenlights written byMatthew McConaughey

Lists It Appears On:

• Popsugar
• Worldly Gentleman

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – From the Academy Award(R)-winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction “Unflinchingly honest and remarkably candid, Matthew McConaughey’s book invites us to g

32.) Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family written byRobert Kolker

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• NPR

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease. Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dre

31.) Hollywood Park: A Memoir written byMikel Jollett

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Amazon

**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** “A Gen-X This Boy’s Life…Music and his fierce brilliance boost Jollett; a visceral urge to leave his background behind propels him to excel… In the end, Jollett shakes off the past to become the captain of his own soul. Hollywood Park is a triumph. –O,

30.) Inferno written byCatherine Cho

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• The Guardian

Inferno is a disturbing and masterfully told memoir, but it’s also an important one that pushes back against powerful taboos. . . –The New York Times Book Review Explosive –Good Morning America Sublime –Bookpage (starred review) When Catherine Cho and her husband set off from London to introduce

29.) Motherwell written byDeborah Orr

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• The Guardian

The final work from the award winning and inspirational journalist, Motherwell interrogates the psychological inheritance that we receive from our parents and how close family ties can prevent us from achieving cherished goals.

28.) My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir written byJenn Shapland

Lists It Appears On:

• NYPL
• NPR

How do you tell the real story of someone misremembered–an icon and idol–alongside your own? Jenn Shapland’s celebrated debut is both question and answer: an immersive, surprising exploration of one of America’s most beloved writers, alongside a genre-defying examination of identity, queerness, me

27.) Once I Was You: A Memoir Of Love And Hate In A Torn America written byMaria Hinojosa

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NPR

“Anyone striving to understand and improve this country should read her story.” –Gloria Steinem, author of My Life on the Road The Emmy Award-winning journalist and anchor of NPR’s Latino USA tells the story of immigration in America through her family’s experiences and decades of reporting, painti

26.) Open Book written byJessica Simpson

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Popsugar

The #1 New York Times BestsellerJessica reveals for the first time her inner monologue and most intimate struggles. Guided by the journals she’s kept since age fifteen, and brimming with her unique humor and down-to-earth humanity, Open Book is as inspiring as it is entertaining.This was supposed to

25.) Recollections of My Nonexistence written byRebecca Solnit

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• Booklist 2

An electric portrait of the artist as a young woman that asks how a writer finds her voice in a society that prefers women to be silent In Recollections of My Nonexistence, Rebecca Solnit describes her formation as a writer and as a feminist in 1980s San Francisco, in an atmosphere of gender violenc

24.) Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath written byHeather Clark

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• Barnes & Noble

“Finally, the biography that Sylvia Plath deserves . . . A spectacular achievement.” –Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life The highly anticipated new biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman

23.) The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist written byAdrian Tomine

Lists It Appears On:

• NY Times
• NYPL

A comedic memoir about fandom, fame, and other embarrassments from the life of a New York Times bestseller What happens when a childhood hobby grows into a lifelong career? The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, Adrian Tomine’s funniest and most revealing foray into autobiography, offers an

22.) The Meaning of Mariah Carey written byMariah Carey

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• NPR

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller The global icon, award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, actress, mother, daughter, sister, storyteller, and artist finally tells the unfiltered story of her life in The Meaning of Mariah Carey It took me a lifetime to have the courage and the clarity to

21.) The Wild Silence written byRaynor Winn

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• The Guardian

The incredible follow-up to the international bestseller The Salt Path, a story of finding your way back home. Nature holds the answers for Raynor and her husband Moth. After walking 630 homeless miles along The Salt Path, living on the windswept and wild English coastline; the cliffs, the sky and t

20.) The Yellow House written bySarah M. Broom

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• The Guardian

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the 2019 National Book Award in Nonfiction A brilliant, haunting and unforgettable memoir from a stunning new talent about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East. In 1961, Sarah M. Broom’s mother Ivory Mae bought a sho

19.) Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots written byMorgan Jerkins

Lists It Appears On:

• Booklist 2
• Amazon

Named one of the most anticipated books of the year by ELLE, Buzzfeed, Esquire, Bitch Media, Good Housekeeping, Electric Literature, Parade and BookRiot “One of the smartest young writers of her generation.”–Book RiotFrom the acclaimed cultural critic and New York Times bestselling author of This W

18.) World Of Wonders: In Praise Of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, And Other Astonishments written byAimee Nezhukumatathil

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NPR

A Kirkus Prize Finalist for Nonfiction An Indie Next Pick, September 2019 A Publishers Weekly “Big Indie Book of Fall 2020” A BuzzFeed Best Book of Fall 2020 A Literary Hub “Most Anticipated Book of 2020 An Esquire Best Book of Fall 2020 A Ralph Lauren Summer Reading Recommendation A Garden & Gun Su

17.) Wow, No Thank You.  written bySamantha Irby

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NPR

*AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* “Stay-up-all-night, miss-your-subway-stop, spit-out-your-beverage funny…. irresistible as a snack tray, as intimately pleasurable as an Irish goodbye.” –Jia Tolentino From Samantha Irby, beloved author of We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, a rip-roaring,

16.) Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, And A Woman’s Search For Justice In Indian Country written bySierra Crane Murdoch

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• NPR

The gripping true story of a murder on an Indian reservation, and the unforgettable Arikara woman who becomes obsessed with solving it–an urgent work of literary journalism. “I don’t know a more complicated, original protagonist in literature than Lissa Yellow Bird, or a more dogged reporter in Ame

15.) A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom written byBrittany K. Barnett

Lists It Appears On:

• Worldly Gentleman
• Booklist 2
• Amazon

An urgent call to free those buried alive by America’s legal system, and an inspiring true story about unwavering belief in humanity–from a gifted young lawyer and important new voice in the movement to transform the system. “An essential book for our time . . . Brittany K. Barnett is a star.”–Van

14.) All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto written byGeorge M. Johnson

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Popsugar
• Worldly Gentleman

*An Amazon Best Book of the Year optioned for television by Gabrielle Union!* In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked

13.) Children of the Land written byMarcelo Hernandez Castillo

Lists It Appears On:

• Booklist 2
• Bookpage
• NPR

An Entertainment Weekly, The Millions, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2020 This unforgettable memoir from a prize-winning poet about growing up undocumented in the United States recounts the sorrows and joys of a family torn apart by draconian policies and chronicles one young man’s attempt to

12.) Eat a Peach written byDavid Chang

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• NYPL
• NPR

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – From the chef behind Momofuku and star of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious–an intimate account of the making of a chef, the story of the modern restaurant world that he helped shape, and how he discovered that success can be much harder to understand than failure. “David puts wo

11.) Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning written byCathy Park Hong

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• Booklist 2
• NPR

A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness and the struggle to be human “Brilliant . . . To read this book is to become more human.”–Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blen

10.) Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir written byLacy Crawford

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NY Times
• NPR

A “powerful and scary and important and true” memoir (Sally Mann, Carnegie Medal-winning author of Hold Still) of a young woman’s struggle to regain her sense of self after trauma, and the efforts by a powerful New England boarding school to silence her—at any cost. A New York Times Book Review Ed

9.) Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In written byPhuc Tran

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• Amazon
• Booklist 2

For anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with h

8.) The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life written byAlex Trebek

Lists It Appears On:

• Worldly Gentleman
• Barnes & Noble
• Goodreads

A RECOMMENDED SUMMER READ BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, TIME, AND NEWSWEEK Longtime Jeopardy! host and television icon Alex Trebek reflects on his life and career. Since debuting as the host of Jeopardy! in 1984, Alex Trebek has been something like a family member to millions of television viewe

7.) The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir written byMichele Harper

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Amazon
• NY Times

The New York Times Bestseller “Riveting, heartbreaking, sometimes difficult, always inspiring.” –The New York Times Book Review As seen/heard on Fresh Air, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, Weekend Edition, and more An emergency room physician explores how a life of service

6.) The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X written byLes Payne

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
• NPR

Finalist — National Book Award for Nonfiction – Excerpted in The New Yorker – Longlisted — Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction – New Books to Watch Out for in October — New York Times – Best Books of Fall 2020 — O, the Oprah Magazine, The Week, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Best New B

5.) The Undocumented Americans written byKarla Cornejo Villavicencio

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• NY Times
• NPR

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD – One of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard reveals the hidden lives of her fellow undocumented Americans in this deeply personal and groundbreaking portrait of a nation. “Karla’s book sheds light on people’s personal experiences and allow

4.) Uncanny Valley: A Memoir written byAnna Wiener

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NY Times
• NPR

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A definitive document of a world in transition: I won’t be alone in returning to it for clarity and consolation for many years to come. –Jia Tolentino, author of Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a January 2020 In

3.) A Promised Land written byBarack Obama

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• NY Times
• NPR
• Worldly Gentleman

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making–from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his

2.) Untamed written byGlennon Doyle

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Booklist 2
• Goodreads
• Popsugar

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – “Packed with incredible insight about what it means to be a woman today.”–Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick) In her most revealing and powerful memoir yet, the activist, speaker, bestselling author, and “patron saint of female empowerment

1.) Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir written byNatasha Trethewey

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• Waterstones
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
• NY Times
• NYPL
• NPR

An Instant New York Times BestsellerA chillingly personal and exquisitely wrought memoir of a daughter reckoning with the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather, and the moving, intimate story of a poet coming into her own in the wake of a tragedy At age nineteen, Natasha

The 100+ Additional Best Biography and Memoir Books Released In 2020

13 Best Biography and Memoir Book Sources/Lists