Memoir continues to be a popular genre as 2024 moves along. Reading memoirs for 2024 can give you a lot of clues to help you write yours.
It’s hard to find time to read books when you’re writing one of your own. But it’s both motivating and instructive to read well-crafted memoirs published about the same time you’re hoping to publish yours. What is selling these days? What type of work do publishers accept?
My tip if you have no time to read is to combine exercise with audiobooks. I listen as I run, which gets me out running and also takes no extra time, since I’m “reading” memoirs during the time slot I’d already set aside for working out. It’s a lot of bang for the buck.
I’ve divided a selected group among this year’s most anticipated memoirs, some just-published and others not yet in print, into categories reflecting types of memoirs and memoir authors I see in my work as a memoir editor and coach. Of course, you can read memoirs that are not in your group, too.
If Your Memoir Recounts a Triumph Over Adversity
Everyone but Myself by Julie Chavez
Was published January 9
An intense panic attack rocks Julie Chavez and motivates her to take better care of her mental health.
Outofshapeworthlessloser: A Memoir of Figure Skating, F*cking Up, and Figuring It Out by Gracie Gold
Was published February 6
Bulimia and suicidal ideation are just two of the challenges 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Gracie Gold discusses in her story of discovering her worth.
A Very Private School by Charles Spencer
Coming March 12
Growing up rich isn’t the same as growing up happy. Princess Diana’s younger brother Charles Spencer may have had a privileged childhood, but he recalls feeling abandoned and encountering nothing but cruelty at the boarding school that educated him when he was a little boy. He had to establish his own sense of self even through the fame that came with his sister’s marriage to British royalty.
If Your Memoir Focuses on Your Minority Group Experiences
What Have We Here? by Billy Dee Williams
Was published February 13
Old-timers know Billy Dee Williams from various TV and movie roles, including his breakout role in 1971’s “Brian’s Song,” while “Star Wars” fans recognize him as the first Black actor in the franchise. There’s a lot before and in-between for Williams to share with readers about being a Black actor back when.
Whiskey Tender: A Memoir by Deborah Taffa
Coming February 27
Deborah Taffa reflects on her 1970s-1980s childhood on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico and incorporates the history of Natives’ relationships with other Americans.
Beautiful People by Melissa Blake
Coming March 5
Here, a viral tweet inspires a book. In 2019, disability activist Melissa Blake tweeted to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, and this memoir goes deeper into her experiences and disability.
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul
Coming March 5
Highly anticipated, RuPaul’s memoir takes readers into the life of a drag queen who grew up poor, Black and queer. Word is that RuPaul is no less articulate a writer than he is a TV host and personality.
Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir by Zoë Bossiere
Coming April 17
Remembering the time spent in an Arizona trailer park, author Zoë Brossier tells how it was to navigate gender lines with both binary and nonbinary experiences.
Make It Count: My Fight to Become the First Transgender Olympic Runner by CeCé Telfer
Coming June 18
Born in Jamaica, CeCé Telfer became the first openly trans woman to win an NCAA championship, and here she chronicles the path.
If Your Memoir Shares Lessons and Inspiration
Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself by Crystal Hefner
Was published January 23
This tell-all memoir by the third wife of the late Hugh Hefner is getting a lot of buzz. She was just 21 when she married the Playboy magnate and was the widow left when he died in 2017. With a few more years and a broader perspective, Hefner describes the underbelly of life in the mansion.
I Did a New Thing by Tabitha Brown
Was published January 30
Known for her multiple books on her vegan lifestyle, Tabitha Brown links her success to fearlessly trying new things. She traces the way little steps can lead to big changes.
All You’ll See is Sky by Janet A. Wilson
Coming April 16
Wilson explores her relationship with her husband as they embarked upon a 25,000-mile African adventure. She helps the reader learn how a marriage can survive even when unpleasant events and memories surface.
If Your Memoir Incorporates Your Work or Hobby
Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker
Was published February 6
Bianca Bosker worked as a security guard in a museum, only one of the adventures she shares as an appreciative observer of art and artists.
The French Ingredient by Jane Bertch
Coming April 9
In 2009, American Jane Bertch launched La Cuisine Paris, a French cooking school for the non-French. Her memoir tells the challenges of an American trying to open and operate a business in France and describes the delicious dishes she taught.
If You Think You’re Too Young to Write a Memoir
One in a Millennial by Kate Kennedy
Was published January 24
Podcast host Kate Kennedy grew up in the 1990s and 2000s and offers up her first memoir reviewing all that was cool and hip in those decades.
Here After by Amy Lin
Coming March 5
Canadian author Amy Lin not only lost her 32-year-old husband suddenly while the pair were still newlyweds but shortly after faced her own health crisis. Even young people face tragedy and challenges worthy of a memoir.
If Your Memoir Has an Unorthodox Format
Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti
Was published February 6
Sheila Heti’s first book was the novel Pure Colour, while this memoir tackles the creative structure of presenting sentences from Heti’s journal in alphabetical order.
Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer by Joyce Carol Oates, edited by Greg Johnson
Coming March 5
This memoir gathers correspondence between the late novelist Joyce Carol Oates and editor Greg Johnson to fashion a narrative providing insight into Oates’s life and thoughts.