August 31 was We Love Memoirs Day, offering the perfect reason to dive into compelling, honest—and sometimes, hilarious—memoirs.

Some memoirs transport you into worlds you never expected to find so fascinating, while others tell stories that feel deeply familiar, as if they’re speaking directly to you. But why celebrate memoirs for just one day? Here are a handful of memoirs you can love all year long:

The Soldier That Left retraces Korey Rowe’s journey from soldier to fugitive to unlikely producer of one of the most controversial documentaries of all time. Enlisting just weeks before September 11, 2001, Rowe was thrust onto the front lines of America’s wars—which meant combat, moral conflict, and disillusionment. Rowe eventually made a decision that defined his life, he walked away. On the run, Rowe reunited with his best friend Dylan Avery, they developed a film that began as a creative experiment, and evolved into Loose Change, a low-budget internet documentary that exploded into a global phenomenon. Intertwining the behind-the-scenes story of Loose Change with Rowe’s personal battles, The Soldier That Left is a story of dissent, friendship, the cost of speaking out, and survival at the dawn of the digital age.

Read more about author Korey Rowe. Order The Soldier That Left via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org

Matt Evans, thanks to reading too much James Herriot as a child, had a dream—to become a veterinarian. That dream changed along the way to specifically becoming an equine vet. The only problem with his new dream was that Matt was not raised around horses, and that made for an uphill battle of overcoming ineptitude, imposter syndrome, and a load of doubters. Thankfully for Matt, it also came with a lot of laughs. Chomping at the Bit follows Matt into and out of veterinary school and through his first job. The memoir retells the challenges he faced along the way with humility and humor. Readers meet memorable horses, clients he loves, clients he wishes he could forget, and a cast of colleagues both supportive and—shall we say, less so—as Matt struggles to find his way in the dream job that he is uniquely unqualified for.

Read more about author Matt Evans. Order Chomping at the Bit via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org

At the age of twelve, Sieu Sean Do’s childhood was shattered when the Khmer Rouge seized control of Cambodia. Forced into labor camps, separated from loved ones, and surrounded by starvation, disease, and death, he witnessed one of the darkest chapters in modern history. After escaping the Khmer Rouge into Vietnam, Sieu left his family behind at the age of eighteen and embarked on a perilous journey through refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. Along the way, he became an interpreter, English teacher, and trained medic, working alongside international humanitarian organizations while helping fellow refugees despite the hardships he faced himself. A Stick of Good Fortune is a tribute to the countless victims who never had the chance to tell their stories, and to the doctors, nurses, aid workers, and volunteers whose compassion restored hope in the midst of despair.

Read more about author Sieu Sean Do. Order A Stick of Good Fortune via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org

Through a series of intimate, chronological vignettes, Tim Smith recounts a childhood shaped by abuse, addiction, and emotional abandonment—beginning with his mother’s instability and a father who never truly showed up. Raised in an environment where safety was unpredictable and trust was fragile, Smith learned early how to endure. But this memoir is not only a story of survival—it is about what comes after. Fault Line follows Tim’s long, uneven path toward healing, identity, and personal truth. With a voice that is direct, reflective, and at times unexpectedly humorous, he explores resilience and what it means to build a life after survival—and the quiet realization that you can carry your past without letting it define you. 

Read more about author Tim Smith. Order Fault Line via Amazon.

Paige Gordon binged for the first time when she was 11. As she got older, that feeling of constant hunger didn’t go away, but the feeling that accompanied it—shame—grew stronger. So she developed a new habit to go with the bingeing: purging. And once she started, nothing could make her stop, not therapy, Prozac, various inpatient programs, nor any other traditional treatment. Searching for Full is a wry, no-holds-barred account of a life shaped by bingeing and purging—until GLP-1s stopped her compulsions and changed everything. As an advocate and activist, Paige shares her personal experience in the hopes of changing the system and broadening research into underlying causes and innovative treatments for eating disorders.

Read more about author Paige Gordon. Order Searching for Full via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org

Silence Was My First Language is the story of what happens when childhood trauma is left unspoken and what becomes possible when silence is finally broken. Rich Dunning was three years old when his father walked away. Soon after, his mother married a man whose alcoholism, violence, and cruelty transformed their Bronx basement into a place where fear dictated every decision. Violence became ordinary, poverty was relentless, and silence was not a choice—it was survival. The trauma responses Rich learned followed him into adulthood and kept him imprisoned in shame. This memoir speaks to survivors of abuse, families affected by addiction, children who grew up too quickly, and anyone who has spent years believing the past could never loosen its grip. It is a story of survival, but more importantly, it is a story of hope. 

Read more about author Rich Dunning. Order Silence Was My First Language via Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

A folk hero in law enforcement circles and scorned within the underworld, Edward McDonald has become a well-known personality, perhaps most recognizable for playing himself in the iconic Oscar-winning film Goodfellas. In Chasing Goodfellas, written with Jake Brown, Ed, for the first time, takes us inside the real-life investigations, prosecutions, and trials of two front-page courtroom battles, the Lufthansa Heist and the Boston College point-shaving scandal. With behind-the-scenes detail of trial strategies and stages, Ed’s memoir also serves as a window into criminal trial practice, presented in an understandable and gripping way for non-lawyers, while never leaving out descriptions of the antics of all the colorful characters he encountered along the way.

Read more about author Edward McDonald. Order Chasing Goodfellas via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org

Emotionally resonant, educational, and deeply personal, this selection of memoirs captures the breadth of the genre. From stories of resilience and reinvention to reflections on family, identity, and purpose, each offers a glimpse into a life uniquely lived. We hope you’ll find a story that inspires, surprises, or stays with you.

Have a story of your own to tell and need help getting it out there? PR by the Book is here for you. Contact us to learn about how we can support you on your author journey.

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