Best Audiobook Memoirs Read by the Authors Who Wrote Them

Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, has published successful books and has been friendzoned by Hollywood, left Chicago, and moved into a house with a garden that requires repairs and know-how with her wife in a Blue town in the middle of a Red state where she now hosts book clubs and makes mason jar salads. The essays in this collection draw on the raw, hilarious particulars of Irby’s new life. Wow, No Thank You is Irby at her most unflinching, riotous, and relatable.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.

Anthony Bourdain’s unapologetic honesty, disarming wit, and ability to explore a culture from a place of humility and curiosity made him one of a kind. Kitchen Confidential is really where it all began. His no frills, brutally candid memoir is a descent into the dregs and triumphs of the culinary world and an early indicator of the Bourdain’s unpretentious, unrepentant, sincere style.

In her most revealing and powerful memoir yet, the activist, speaker, bestselling author, and “patron saint of female empowerment” (People) explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet others’ expectations and start trusting the voice deep within us.

Full of grace, candor, grit, and humor, Eat a Peach chronicles Chang’s switchback path. He lays bare his mistakes and wonders about his extraordinary luck as he recounts the improbable series of events that led him to the top of his profession. He wrestles with his lifelong feelings of otherness and inadequacy, explores the mental illness that almost killed him, and finds hope in the shared value of deliciousness. Along the way, Chang gives us a penetrating look at restaurant life, in which he balances his deep love for the kitchen with unflinching honesty about the industry’s history of brutishness and its uncertain future.

Barack Obama’s now-classic memoir is truly a remarkable read. It’s difficult to imagine a career politician, particularly one with presidential ambitions, releasing a more candid personal history. Dreams From my Father is a lyrical and unsentimental view into Obama’s early life, his complex relationship with his father’s memory, and his struggles coming to terms with what it means to be a black man in America. At turns melancholic and hopeful, it is a fascinating and honest rumination on identity and legacy. Obama’s skillful narration lifts the story to another level.

In essays by turns hysterical and heartfelt, Thomas reexamines what it means to be an “other” through the lens of his own life experience. Here for It will resonate deeply and joyfully with everyone who has ever felt pushed to the margins, struggled with self-acceptance, or wished to shine more brightly in a dark world.

With Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the history of race in America by taking readers through a series of profound, painful, and deeply intimate personal experiences — experiences that defined both his conception of self and the place of people of color in society.It is a landmark work, particularly in our current political climate, and echoes James Baldwin in its eloquent and piercing insight.

Trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth Reichl took the job (and the risk) of a lifetime when she entered the high-stakes world of magazine publishing. In Save Me the Plums, she chronicles her groundbreaking tenure as editor in chief of Gourmet.