Popular European Memoir Books

Find memoir books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (135)

91.

Tell Me Why You Fled: True Stories of Seeking Refuge by Karen O’Reilly EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
A candid and irreverent memoir about helping people find refuge - from war, and torture and genocide - as a young woman seeking refuge from herself.

92.

The Appointment : A Novel by Katharina Volckmer EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Germany flag Germany
Description:
“A darkly funny untangling of national and sexual identity.” —The Guardian * “Transgressive...Incendiary.” —The New Yorker * “A furious comic monologue...with a disregard for propriety worthy of Alexander Portnoy.” —The New York Times Book Review * “Sexy, hilarious, and subversive.” —The Paris Review For readers of Ottessa Moshfegh and Han Kang, a whip-smart debut novel in which a woman on the verge of major change addresses her doctor in a stream of consciousness narrative. In a well-appointed examination in London, a young woman unburdens herself to a certain Dr. Seligman. Though she can bar... continue

93.

The Arab of the Future : Volume 1: a Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984 - a Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
VOLUME 1 IN THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CHILDHOOD The Arab of the Future tells the unforgettable story of Riad Sattouf's childhood, spent in the shadows of three dictators - Muammar Gaddafi, Hafez al-Assad, and his father. A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR | AN OBSERVER GRAPHIC BOOK OF THE YEAR | A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' TOP BOOK OF THE YEAR 'I tore through it... The most enjoyable graphic novel I've read in a while' Zadie Smith 'I joyously recommend this book to you' Mark Haddon 'Riad Sattouf is one of the great creators of our time' Alain De Botton 'Beautifully-written and drawn, ... continue

94.

The Archaeology of Loss : Life, love and the art of dying by Sarah Tarlow EN

0 Ratings
Description:
‘A companion for anyone navigating the hardships of loss and uncertainty’ - Octavia Bright, author of This Ragged Grace 'In the end, there is so much love in this book’ - The Times A unflinching memoir exploring the realities of marriage, care-giving, how we die and how we grieve. After thirteen years together, Sarah Tarlow’s husband Mark began to suffer from an undiagnosed illness, which rapidly left him incapable of caring for himself. Life – an intense juggling act of a demanding job, young children and looking after a depressed and frustrated parner – became hard. One day, five years after... continue

95.

The Book of Eels : Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Sweden flag Sweden
Description:
National Bestseller Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book One of TIME's 100 Must Read Books of the Year One of The Washington Post's 50 Notable Nonfiction Books of the Year One of Smithsonian Magazine's 10 Best Science Books of the Year One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year A New York Times Editor's Choice Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world's most elusive fish--the eel--and a reflection on the human condi... continue

96.

The Boy on the Wooden Box : How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List by Leon Leyson EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Poland flag Poland
Description:
“Much like The Boy In the Striped Pajamas or The Book Thief,” this remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children to survive the Holocaust on Oskar Schindler’s list, “brings to readers a story of bravery and the fight for a chance to live” (VOYA). This, the only memoir published by a former Schindler’s list child, perfectly captures the innocence of a small boy who goes through the unthinkable. Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and ... continue

97.

The boy with the Topknot by Sathnam Singh EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Description:
NOW A BBC DRAMA The Boy With the Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton is a hilarious and heart-rending tale of what it is like to grow up different in modern Britain. "It's 1979, I'm three years old, and like all breakfast times during my youth it begins with Mum combing my hair, a ritual for which I have to sit down on the second-hand, floral-patterned settee, and lean forward, like I'm presenting myself for execution." For Sathnam Sanghera, growing up in Wolverhampton in the eighties was a confusing business. On the one hand, these were the heady days of George Michae... continue

98.

The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
In Bihac, Bosnia, in 1992, sixteen-year-old Amra and her family face starvation and the threat of brutal ethnic violence as Serbs and Bosnians clash, while a stray cat, Maci, provides solace --

99.

The Copenhagen Trilogy : Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen EN

Rating: 5 (4 votes)
Country: Europe / Denmark flag Denmark
Description:
Called "a masterpiece" by The Guardian, this courageous and honest trilogy from Tove Ditlevsen, a pioneer in the field of genre-bending confessional writing, explores themes of family, sex, motherhood, abortion, addiction, and being an artist. This single-volume hardcover contains all three volumes of her memoirs Tove Ditlevsen is today celebrated as one of the most important and unique voices in twentieth-century Danish literature, and The Copenhagen Trilogy (1969–71) is her acknowledged masterpiece. Childhood tells the story of a misfit child’s single-minded determination to become a poet; Y... continue

100.

The Description of the World by Marco Polo EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Italy flag Italy
Description:
Composed in a prison cell in 1298 by Venetian merchant Marco Polo and Arthurian romance writer Rustichello of Pisa, The Description of the World relates Polo's experiences in Asia and at the court of Qubilai, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. In addition to a new translation based on the Franco-Italian "F" manuscript of Polo's text, this edition includes genealogies of the Mongol rulers and nine maps of Polo's journey, as well as thorough annotation and an extensive bibliography.