The best memoirs, according to hackers
25 memoirs were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 2 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The two most recommended memoirs with the badge. Each figure is 10 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
106 recommend, 24 criticize, 82% approval
Ranked 1 of 25 by recommenders
Inside look at executive behavior
An insider's account of Facebook's executives and political dealings, praised as revealing and entertaining, though many critics say the author downplays her own complicity.
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Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
13 recommend, 2 criticize, 87% approval
Ranked 2 of 25 by recommenders
Readers strongly recommend it to others
Recommended as a survivor's account that makes a case for finding meaning and controlling your reaction; one critic found it not useful.
We may earn a commission. It never changes the order.
We may earn a commission. It never changes the order.
All 25 memoirs, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Careless Peopleby Sarah Wynn-Williams | 106 | 24 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| 2 | Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Emil Frankl | 13 | 2 | 87% | 9 | — | Approved |
| 3 | Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard Phillips Feynman and Ralph Leighton | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | Down and Out in Paris and Londonby George Orwell | 9 | 1 | 90% | 8 | — | — |
| Tied 4 | Kitchen Confidentialby Anthony Bourdain | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| 6 | Mein Kampfby Adolf Hitler | 8 | 6 | 57% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 7 | Homage to Cataloniaby George Orwell | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 7 | The Doomsday Machineby Daniel Ellsberg | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 9 | Skunk Worksby Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos and Ben R./Janos, Leo Rich | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 9 | Into Thin Airby Jon Krakauer | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 9 | Making It Soby Patrick Stewart | 5 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | Waldenby Henry David Thoreau | 4 | 2 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | Ghost in the Wiresby Kevin D. Mitnick | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | You Can't Winby Jack Black | 4 | 1 | 80% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | Call Me Tedby Ted Turner | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | Rockets and Peopleby World Spaceflight News and Boris Chertok and Asif A. Siddiqi | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | StartUpby Jerry Kaplan | 3 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | The World of Yesterdayby Stefan Zweig | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | An Island to Oneselfby Neale, Tom. and Tom Neale | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | Confessions of a Long-Distance Sailorby Paul Lutus | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | The Autodesk Fileby John Walker | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | 747by Joseph F. Sutter and Joe Sutter and Jay Spenser | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | It Took 4 Years to Sell My Startup | 3 | 3 | 50% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | The Story of My Experiments with Truthby Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| 25 | Sunburst and Luminaryby Don Eyles | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same memoir in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to memoirs that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.