The best memoirs that use humor to balance difficult circumstances

Why am I passionate about this?

I think there’s a little voyeur in all of us, which is why we love reading memoirs. These stories typically are written by people who’ve wrestled with a life-changing event and emerged on the other side with wisdom to share. Whether they’ve grappled with a heartbreaking loss, a debilitating illness, or an unsettling change in circumstances that left them reeling, authors who temper their truth with humor are the ones who inspire me most. Finding hilarity in the midst of hardship is no easy feat, but it reminds us that humor is a great coping skill. 


I wrote...

Sad Sacked

By Liz Alterman,

Book cover of Sad Sacked

What is my book about?

When my husband, Rich, and I, both longtime media professionals, were laid off within six weeks of each other, I didn't know how we'd continue to pay the mortgage or keep our marriage intact. Complicating matters, we had different approaches to our unexpected unemployment. While Rich was skipping through the rooms, delighted to no longer have to catch a 5:43 am train, I panicked. 

In writing this memoir, I wanted to shine a light on the toll unemployment takes and remove a bit of the stigma that surrounds job loss. I couldn’t find the book that talked about all the agony and absurdity of job hunting at midlife so I attempted to capture the simultaneous horror and hilarity of those challenging times in my book.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story

Liz Alterman Why did I love this book?

I adored this memoir because it is the perfect combination of poignant and hilarious. Emmy-nominated TV writer Bess Kalb’s beloved grandmother Bobby has died, but on these pages and in the voicemails Kalb saved, she not only comes alive but also shines.

Though it’s clear that Kalb desperately misses this woman who served as a guiding light and her biggest cheerleader, the memoir reads like a celebration of life where humor and wisdom will make you smile rather than weep. After reading this memoir, I gave it to friends who’d lost and missed their parents and grandparents.

By Bess Kalb,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Nobody Will Tell You This But Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**I HAVE NOT BEEN AS PROFOUNDLY MOVED BY A BOOK IN YEARS' JODI PICOULT**
**I LOVED THIS BOOK MORE THAN I CAN SAY**NIGELLA LAWSON

A brilliantly original memoir of a grandmother speaking to her granddaughter from beyond the grave, telling the story of her life with hilarious candor and love.

Bess Kalb has saved every voicemail message her grandmother - her best friend, her confidante - ever left her until the day she died.

In this wildly imaginative memoir, Bobby Bell's voice is still in Bess's head. Stubborn, glamorous, larger than life, she gives Bess critical advice on everything and…


Book cover of A Heart That Works

Liz Alterman Why did I love this book?

Actor and comedian Rob Delaney won my heart in the series Catastrophe. In this memoir, told with unflinching honesty, he shares the story of losing his two-year-old son, Henry, to brain cancer.

As a writer, I couldn’t stop thinking about how difficult this must’ve been for Delaney to do—to relive this all over and over again, putting it down and then rereading it countless times before it went to publication. But in doing so, he keeps his son close, and his humor amid the darkest days is an absolute inspiration. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Delaney, and his delivery and timing make this a must-listen.

By Rob Delaney,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Heart That Works as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York TimesBestseller *New Yorker Best Books of 2022 *Entertainment Weekly Best Books of 2022 *USA TodayBest Books of 2022 *Time100 Must-Read Books of 2022 *Mother JonesBooks We Needed in 2022 *PeopleFall Must Read *2022BuzzFeedFall Reading Pick * New York Post Best Books of 2022 *New York Times Editors’ Choice

This is the story of what happens when you lose a child, and everything you discover about life in the process, by the star of the Amazon Prime series Catastrophe.

In 2018, Rob Delaney’s two-year-old son, Henry, died of a brain tumor. A Heart That Worksis Delaney’s intimate, unflinching, and…


Book cover of You're Leaving When?: Adventures in Downward Mobility

Liz Alterman Why did I love this book?

I adore Annabelle Gurwitch’s humor and keen observations. She never loses her trademark wit as she navigates midlife curveballs—divorce, empty nest, financial challenges, dating, and taking in roommates.

A finalist for The Thurber Prize, this memoir in essays made me laugh as I nodded along in commiseration. Reinventing yourself in midlife can be funny if you look at it right; Gurwitch reminded me just when I needed it most.

By Annabelle Gurwitch,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You're Leaving When? as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor

"In this surprisingly upbeat memoir, Annabelle Gurwitch writes about the financial curveballs that can hit you in midlife . . . Somehow, Ms. Gurwitch manages to find humor in these setbacks. Ultimately, this is a story about harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most." —Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times

From the New York Times bestselling author of I See You Made an Effort comes a timely and hilarious chronicle of downward mobility, financial and emotional.

With signature "sharp wit" (NPR), Annabelle Gurwitch…


Book cover of Running with Scissors: A Memoir

Liz Alterman Why did I love this book?

When my book club read this, we were universally blown away by Augusten Burroughs’ humor. Mining his tumultuous childhood, Burroughs paints a vivid and unforgettable picture of life with the ultimate dysfunctional family.

I went on to read the author’s other memoirs, and while I always enjoy his one-of-a-kind spin on the world, this remains my favorite of his works.

By Augusten Burroughs,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Running with Scissors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times Bestseller

An Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year

Now a Major Motion Picture

This is the true story of a boy who wanted to grow up with the Brady Bunch, but ended up living with the Addams Family. Augusten Burroughs's mother gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa Claus and a certifiable lunatic into the bargain. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients and a sinister man living in the garden shed completed the tableau. The perfect squalor of their dilapidated Victorian house, there were no…


Book cover of Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things

Liz Alterman Why did I love this book?

Lawson, better known as The Bloggess, isn’t afraid to share the most intimate details of her life and mental health challenges. Her ability to find joy, wonder, and humor in the most unexpected places makes this book a must-read for anyone wrestling with anxiety and/or depression.

Her unique take on life had me laughing out loud while also enlightening me about what it’s like to live with these conditions and, ultimately, thrive.

By Jenny Lawson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Furiously Happy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times Bestseller

In Furiously Happy, a humor memoir tinged with just enough tragedy and pathos to make it worthwhile, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest:

"I've often thought that people with severe depression have developed such a well for experiencing extreme emotion that they might be able to experience extreme joy in a way that ‘normal people' also might never understand. And that's what Furiously Happy is all about."

Jenny’s readings are standing room only,…


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Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Rebecca Wellington Author Of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am adopted. For most of my life, I didn’t identify as adopted. I shoved that away because of the shame I felt about being adopted and not truly fitting into my family. But then two things happened: I had my own biological children, the only two people I know to date to whom I am biologically related, and then shortly after my second daughter was born, my older sister, also an adoptee, died of a drug overdose. These sequential births and death put my life on a new trajectory, and I started writing, out of grief, the history of adoption and motherhood in America. 

Rebecca's book list on straight up, real memoirs on motherhood and adoption

What is my book about?

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, I am uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption.

The history of adoption, reframed through the voices of adoptees like me, and mothers who have been forced to relinquish their babies, blows apart old narratives about adoption, exposing the fallacy that adoption is always good.

In this story, I reckon with the pain and unanswered questions of my own experience and explore broader issues surrounding adoption in the United States, including changing legal policies, sterilization, and compulsory relinquishment programs, forced assimilation of babies of color and Indigenous babies adopted into white families, and other liabilities affecting women, mothers, and children. Now is the moment we must all hear these stories.

Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

By Rebecca Wellington,

What is this book about?

Nearly every person in the United States is affected by adoption. Adoption practices are woven into the fabric of American society and reflect how our nation values human beings, particularly mothers. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women's reproductive rights places an even greater emphasis on adoption. As a mother, historian, and adoptee, Rebecca C. Wellington is uniquely qualified to uncover the policies and practices of adoption. Wellington's timely-and deeply researched-account amplifies previously marginalized voices and exposes the social and racial biases embedded in the United States' adoption industry.…


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