On this year’s “We Love Memoirs Day” (August 31st), we invite you to step into the world of heartfelt journeys and inspiring tales. 

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, curl up with a compelling memoir, and let the stories transport you to a world of self-discovery and growth. “We Love Memoirs Day” is a reminder that every life is a story worth telling and a journey worth sharing. Here are just a few of the meaningful memoirs we think you should consider:

ROUGH WATERS

At age 34, Heather C. Markham received a life-changing diagnosis: she had a progressive muscular dystrophy and would eventually need a wheelchair. Despite her body’s betrayal, she fearlessly leaned into adventures including becoming an avid Para Surfer and winning Ms. Wheelchair Kentucky. With humor and heartbreaking candor, this memoir chronicles Heather’s slow decline in mobility and her determination to live an extraordinary life regardless—a journey that is somehow relatable to all of us.

Read more about author Heather C. Markham. Order Rough Waters via Amazon or Barnes & Noble. 

RETURN TO THE RIVER

#1 international best-selling author of A Child Called It, speaker, and humanitarian Dave Pelzer welcomes readers into the next chapter of his life—and examines why, after spending decades saving others in the military, as a fire captain, and an internationally acclaimed advocate, he is confronted with the need to save himself.For anyone who has been hurt, victimized, abandoned or feels alone, there is hope and there is always a way to rewrite your own story. Pelzer’s soulful and inspiring story will remind you to keep your faith, live with gratitude, and find that resilience deep within you.

Read more about author Dave Pelzer. Order Return to the River via Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

TO WALK IT IS TO SEE IT

What happens when two empty nesters decide to take a “gap year” and trek 1,400 miles on Europe’s GR5? Some serious challenges, incredible experiences, and the adventure of a lifetime. In To Walk It is to See It, we follow Kathy and her husband Jim on their 1400-mile walk along Europe’s GR5 — a journey that took them through The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. With raw vulnerability, Kathy shares with readers her struggles growing up with dyslexia and not learning to read until the 7th grade; the joy and frustration she feels with Jim during their journey, knowing this trip could either draw them closer together or push them apart; her evolving relationship with food and the role shame has played in the ways she has shown up in her life.

Read more about author Kathy Elkind. Order To Walk It Is To See It via Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org.

DEAR DANA

True Story: When Amy Daughters reconnected with her former friend from camp decades ago, Dana, via Facebook, she had no idea how it would change her life. Through social media, Amy learned Dana’s son Parker was at St. Jude battling cancer–devastating news, but what else do you do besides comment an “I’m so sorry,” nowadays? When Parker passes away, Amy continues to write Dana, creating a connection Amy never had before. The richness of this experience left Amy wondering: If my life could be so changed by someone I considered “just a facebook friend” what would happen if I wrote all my Facebook friends a letter? A staggering 580 handwritten letters later, Amy’s life would never be the same.

Read more about author Amy Weinland Daughters. Order Dear Dana via Amazon.

EVERY OTHER WEEKEND

Anthony’s father, Gerald Mohr, is a well-known radio actor before slipping to the Hollywood B-list thanks to the advent of television. Accepting the lead in a dying Swedish TV series, he falls for the script girl and divorces Mohr’s mother, who goes on to meet and marry another divorcee, credit card industry pioneer Stanley Dashew. As his stepfather’s career rises and his biological father’s eases downward, Anthony tries to find his place. One weekend he’s sailing on his stepfather’s fifty-eight-foot catamaran; the next, his Swedish stepmother tells him that they’re poor. Coming of age in a time when divorce is rare and viewed as shocking, Anthony lives at the edges of what others regard as a dream world, a place where reality and fantasy blend, maps lead to the homes of the stars, and obstacles abound.

Read more about author Anthony J. Mohr. Order Every Other Weekend: Coming of Age with Two Different Dads via Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Bookshop.org.

WAR’S OVER, COME HOME

In War’s Over, Come Home, Patrick Smithwick brings the reader on a two-year quest through cities across the country for his son, Andrew, two-tour Marine veteran of the Iraq War, who is running away from war memories, nightmares, hallucinations, and those that love him. Smithwick’s relentless focus on the life of his homeless son is a microcosm of the national nightmare 50,000 homeless veterans and their families are living every day. Yet, Smithwick imbues every chapter with hope: hope for his son, hope for his marriage, hope for his country. This is a memoir of love, perseverance and hope.

Read more about author Patrick Smithwick. Order War’s Over, Come Home via Amazon.

SNAPSHOTS OF MY FATHER, JOHN SILBER

In Snapshots of My Father, John Silber, Rachel Silber Devlin gives us a peek behind the curtain at her father’s life of accomplishments from transforming Boston University into a renowned research institution and championing free speech on campus to running for the governorship of Massachusetts. A polarizing individual who was either loved or hated by those around him, John Silber’s lasting legacy in both Boston and Texas cannot be denied and, instead, is made much more fascinating with new information about his past, his family, and his values from the perspective of someone who knew him best—his eldest daughter.

Read more about author Rachel Silber Devlin. Order Snapshots of My Father via Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

THE BLUE HOUSE

In The Blue House, the author, Porter, a Registered Nurse and Licensed Clinical Social Worker and co-author Jacob Shefa, a Transpersonal Psychologist, deploy their educational and professional experience to illuminate the trials and triumphs Myrna experienced within her life. Throughout the memoir, Myrna’s life interlaces with an unfolding inquiry into meaning and purpose—a quest that endures even into her elder years.

Read more about author Myrna Denham Porter. Order The Blue House on Amazon.

Looking for more book recommendations? Check out:

• 10 Books to Add to Your TBR Stack for Women’s History Month
• 5 Books to Add to Your TBR Stack in August
• 5 Books to Add to Your TBR Stack in July