Personal memoirs and autobiographical narratives distinct from formal biographies
Far and Wild is a co-authored travel memoir by Fabiana Capuano and Brant Huddleston, now in its second edition, that traces Capuano's leap at age 27 from small-town Italian life into global adventure — and the romantic partnership that grew alongside those journeys through untamed places. With 407 pages and an early perfect rating from its initial readers, it stands as a distinctive entry in the travel memoir genre for its dual-voice structure and its commitment to genuinely remote destinations.
May 10, 2026
Prone to Wander is a memoir by Suzanne LaVenture — world traveler, Fulbright Scholar, and award-winning educator — that traces her evolution from a sheltered Southern Baptist upbringing through a life of bold global exploration spanning more than forty countries, weaving together questions of love, faith, and cross-cultural connection along the way. Published by Sibylline Press in April 2025, it is pitched by the publisher as both poignant and humorous, and is shaped by the extraordinary real-world credentials LaVenture brings to the page.
Jun 21, 2026
She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road and in the Wild, published by Chronicle Books in March 2019, is Gale Straub's anthology of stories from 40 diverse women who have taken their lives outdoors — into vans, onto trails, and across open roads. Rooted in the She Explores digital community Straub built after her own year-long van road trip in 2014, the book pairs personal narratives with travel photography, illustrations, and practical tips. It is a wide-ranging collection designed to inspire women at every point on the outdoors spectrum, from committed nomads to first-time solo hikers.
May 20, 2026
Leo Weston's memoir Finding Him, Finding Me is a candid, humor-laced account of queer love, chosen family, and self-acceptance set against the backdrop of London's gay pub scene during the height of HIV stigma — a story that readers on Amazon describe as funny, deeply moving, and impossible to put down.
May 10, 2026
Alexandra Stein's Inside Out is a memoir documenting her recruitment into, life inside, and eventual escape from a secretive Minneapolis political cult known as the O — a rare firsthand account praised by major voices in both literary and academic circles for its passion, insight, and unflinching honesty.
Apr 28, 2026
Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail recounts her 1,100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995 — a journey undertaken at age 26, with no prior hiking experience, as an act of self-rescue after her mother's death, the collapse of her marriage, and a descent into heroin use. It reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, was the inaugural selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0, and spent 52 weeks on the NPR Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller List — a record of cultural impact matched by its literary reputation.
Jun 16, 2026
The Lost Girls is a group memoir in which three Manhattan media professionals — Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner — quit their jobs, leave their boyfriends, and spend a year backpacking 60,000 miles across four continents. Published by HarperCollins in May 2010, the book is an entertaining portrait of friendship under pressure and the cost of a quarter-life detour, though critical reception was split: critics praised the authors' vivid, passionate writing as an intensely enjoyable read for travel-writing fans, while Kirkus Reviews found the narrative unable to fully convey the depth of what the trio experienced.
May 12, 2026
Albert Podell's Around the World in 50 Years is a nonfiction travelogue published by Thomas Dunne Books in March 2015, chronicling the Brooklyn-born former magazine editor's decades-long mission to set foot in every country on Earth — a goal that began with a record-breaking 581-day Trans-World Record Expedition in 1965–1966 and concluded, country by stubborn country, over a decade of sporadic travel starting in 2000. Publishers Weekly calls Podell a "worthy raconteur," and Kirkus Reviews confirms there is "never a dull moment" — though both outlets also note the book's occasional cultural blind spots and some stretches of list-driven content that slow the momentum.
May 8, 2026
Alice Steinbach's travel memoir follows a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who takes a sabbatical from the Baltimore Sun to travel through France, England, and Italy in search of a self no longer defined by her roles and routines — a journey praised by the Chicago Tribune as "a lovely travelogue" and by the Des Moines Register as "a feast" for the soul.
May 13, 2026
Dancing with Death is a travel adventure memoir by Jean-Philippe Soulé chronicling the Central American Sea Kayak Expedition 2000, in which Soulé and his partner Luke Shullenberger paddled roughly 3,000 miles from Baja California to Panama across three years and seven countries — a journey the author describes as his most epic expedition and one he is fortunate to have survived.
May 11, 2026
Rachel Lithgow's debut memoir, published by She Writes Press on November 11, 2025, chronicles her year of spectacularly ill-fated online dates in the aftermath of a gutting breakup—while simultaneously navigating a 22-year divorce, single motherhood, career reinvention, and a PTSD diagnosis. Kirkus Reviews awarded it their "Get It" verdict, calling it "funny, honest, and heart-wrenching," and the book delivers exactly what its title promises: the dates are, indeed, really bad.
Jun 12, 2026
Strangers Again: A Memoir of Marriage, Betrayal, and Becoming Whole is an independently published memoir by Sam Joe, released in 2026, chronicling a personal journey through marriage breakdown, betrayal, and self-reconstruction — a compact, intimate account offered directly to readers outside traditional publishing channels.
Apr 29, 2026Search
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