The Best Memoirs by Women Still to Come in 2023
The best memoirs can both inspire and intrigue you. Much like the best autobiographies, they bring you into a career or world you previously knew little about, or share with you the lessons someone has learned along their journey, no matter how different their path may be from yours.
We at Glamour find the stories of strong and powerful women particularly inspiring. This year we are excited for a slate of upcoming memoirs from women whose experiences are all different but each teach and inspire us in their own way.
Including works by an intersex advocate raising awareness of a marginalized community, a female television writer sharing war stories of the boys’ club of Hollywood, and an influencer's heartfelt tribute to the dog that taught her how to embrace her new role as a mother, our list of upcoming 2023 memoirs by women has a story everyone can be excited about.
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- 1/10
'Life On Other Planets' by Aomawa Shields
In her day job as an astronomer and astrobiologist, Aomawa Shields, PhD, spends her time researching the potential of finding life on other planets, searching for places where there could be a “sweet spot” for organisms to bloom. In her poetic and moving memoir, she explains how her research also serves as a metaphor for her life, one in which she has explored different and disparate career paths while ultimately finding the “sweet spot” of her own potential.
A classically trained actor as well as a scientist, Shields also proves herself as a gifted memorist, sharing through moving prose how her love of the possibility of what is beyond the sky and wonder at the beauty of the natural world led her to not only achieve her own dreams but work to help other girls and women do so as well. Beautiful and poignant, it is not to be missed.
Out now.
- 2/10
'End Credits' by Patty Lin
By her late 30s, Patty Lin had built a career in Hollywood many only dream of. As a writer on shows like Friends, Freaks and Geeks, Breaking Bad, and more, she had a hand in shaping some of the iconic television of the past three decades. So why did she decide to walk away from the industry altogether?
In this thoughtful, candid, and sometimes juicy account (she names names of those who treated her badly), Lin describes how the frenetic rat race of the television industry and the sexism and racism in writers rooms left her broken and searching for meaning. By sharing her story, Lin makes the case that the entertainment industry is due for a reckoning on how it treats its workers. Given the WGA strike and the conversations surrounding labor in Hollywood, it's a timely call to action.
Out August 29.
- 3/10
'Exit Interview' by Kristi Coulter
Kristi Coulter spent more than a decade at Amazon in the 2000s climbing the corporate ladder and has the war stories to show for it. In this insightful and witty memoir, she shares her story of her years of toiling away trying to be a boss babe in corporate America, in one of the harshest and fastest-growing workplaces imaginable.
Along the way Coulter offers razor-sharp insights into the issues still facing women in the workplace, the lies of hustle culture, and how, ultimately, she broke out of the rat race for good.
Out September 12.
- 4/10
'Doppelganger' by Naomi Klein
Acclaimed author and journalist Naomi Klein had a problem. On the internet she kept being confused with fellow journalist Naomi Wolf. That would have been fine except, over the past decade, Wolf has gone from a respected feminist writer into an anti-vax conspiracy theorist. Klein is annoyed, then concerned, when people keep mistaking her for Wolf. Soon she becomes obsessed with tracking Wolf's descent into the rabbit hole.
In Doppleganger, Klein uses the way her name has been confused with Wolf's online to explore the many ways our identities have been changed and shaped in the digital age, and how conspiracy theories have been allowed to fester on the internet.
Out September 12.
- 5/10
'Birdie and Harlow' by Taylor Wolfe
Taylor Wolfe considered herself a mother for many years before having her first human child, Birdie. That's because, in her early 20s, she became a dog mom to her firstborn: a lovable Vizsla named Harlow. In this funny and relatable ode to parenthood, both the furry and not-so-furry variety, Wolfe, an influencer and entrepreneur, explores how raising Harlow prepared her to raise Birdie.
With a chatty and unique voice, Wolfe's memoir is part an ode to how pets can change and shape us, part an exploration of the millennial 20-something zeitgeist, and part coming-of-age story as she prepares to enter the next phase of her life. It's a breezy read with an emotional core that will tug at the heartstrings of pet and human parents alike.
Out September 19.
- 6/10
'Inverse Cowgirl' by Alicia Roth Weigel
Alicia Roth Weigel is one of the 2% of the world's population born intersex, but for many years she even had misconceptions about what that meant. In this witty and timely memoir, Weigel takes us through her own journey to self-discovery, from her youth being confused and embarrassed about her identity, to her embrace of it and advocacy in her late 20s.
Through learning to love herself as intersex, Weigel also found a passion for fighting back against the transphobia and homophobia that is pervasive today (she now works on the front lines as the human rights commissioner for the city of Austin). Moving and funny, Weigel both informs and inspires by sharing her story.
Out September 19.
- 7/10
'Nothing is Missing' by Nicole Wallace
Entrepreneur and motivational speaker Nicole Walters has found success beyond what she ever dreamed of, but she did it her way. In this sparkling and impassioned story, Walters shares how, after being raised to follow a narrow path to success by her Ghanian immigrant parents, she found passion in choosing herself by leaving her corporate job to strike out on her own.
Throughout, Walters shares how several other of her unique life experiences (adopting three girls she met serendipitously while living in Baltimore) and struggles (dealing with her daughter's cancer battle) taught her how to live her most authentic life. It's a celebration of self-actualization and belief, with a beating heart at the center.
Out October 10.
- 8/10
'Legitimate Kid' by Aida Rodriguez
In her debut memoir, writer and comedian Aida Rodriguez details her remarkable story with grace and poignancy. Born to a teenaged mother who she says kidnapped her from her biological father in the Dominican Republic and brought her back to the States, she had a tumultuous childhood that left her longing for stability or, as she puts it, legitimacy.
Rodriguez went through a failed marriage, becoming a young mother herself, and a lot of hardship along the way; in the end, she shows how through belief in your own strength and power you can build a life you once only dreamed of. Moving and contemplative, her story will resonate with anyone who has fought hard to shape their own destiny.
Out October 17.
- 9/10
'Call You When I Land' by Nikki Vargas
Travel writer Nikki Vargas has always been afflicted by wanderlust. After moving to the US from Colombia as a child, she felt most herself while traveling to different countries, finding herself through a series of trips to far-flung lands.
In Call You When I Land, she details how the experiences she gained around the globe gave her the courage to pursue her passions in life, like a career as a travel writer and launching her own women's magazine, to giving her the strength to face hard decisions like ending an engagement in her mid-20s. A sweet ode to pursuing your passions, Vargas's journey is relatable and heartfelt.
Out November 7.
- 10/10
'Data Baby' by Susannah Breslin
When she was a child, Susannah Breslin's parents enrolled her in what came to be known as the Block Study, a psychological experiment that asked a simple yet profound question. If you studied children from a young age and then followed them throughout their life, could you predict who they would grow up to be? For Breslin, being a part of the project was a curious, omnipresent fact about her life, until a series of hardships led her to reexamine it.
In Data Baby, Breslin examines her life, both as she lived it and by combing through the scientific record of the experiment conducted on her. In unpacking her life, she explores existential questions like nature versus nurture and, ultimately, how the weight of our lived experiences make us who we are.
Out November 7.