Memoir Graphic Novels
Graphic Memoirs, aka Memoirs told via Graphic Novels.
Huge shout outs to both one_crazy_elliott and MadHoney for such lengthy & thorough rec lists to add!
created by OhMyDio
last updated February, 2026
Comments
If you're looking for more books, might I suggest adding:
- Button Pusher by Tyler Page
- Other Boys by Damian Alexander
- Us by Sara Soler
- A Tale as Tall as Jacob by Samantha Edwards
- Homebody by Theo Parish
- Continental Drifter by Kathy MacLeod
- Puzzled by Pan Cooke
- ¡Ay, Mija! by Christine Suggs
- Weirdo by Tony Weaver Jr
- Mexikid by Pedro Martín
- Gender Slices by Jey Pawlik
- Improve by Alex Graudins
- How to be Ace by Rebecca Burgess
- Maybe an Artist by Liz Montague
- Spinning by Tillie Walden
- A Different Kind of Normal by Abigail Balfe
- Sunflowers by Keezy Young (I read a lot of graphic novels lol 🤣🤦♂️)
OhMyDioOP
This is great, thank you!! I will go through and add things next time I'm at a computer! Way to bring a list to my list!! 😍
I love pulling up with a mini-list lol 😂😎 Glad you found this helpful! :)
OhMyDioOP
team work makes the dream work!!!
🧍🤝🧍♂️-> 💭⚙️👍
OhMyDioOP
I've added everything except A Tale as Tall as Jacob - it looks like this is based on truth, but is fictionalized? Unsure if this is actually a memoir or not, lemme know your thoughts on the nuance there?
Some of these others actually fill several book prompts for a reading challenge I'm doing, so thanks again for the rockstar of a list!!
It felt to me like it mostly just "fictionalized" to the extent of changing some side character names and maybe the order of some events. It felt more like a memoir with some exaggeration maybe. Some of the other books mentioned have some fictionalized elements because graphic novels tend to lean into that. I'd say it still fits. :)
That's great! Hope you enjoy! :D
notes everything down I've already saved Dio's list but I'm always up for more graphic novels ! Thank you eliott !
Ofc! Glad I could help! I love graphic novels so I have a bajillion recommendations. Tbh some of these weren't favorites but they fit the list lol 😂😭
Yes !! I have found another of my kind ! I love a good adult picture book with thoughts !! No honestly, I quite like the idea of "did not work for me but it fits this list and might find a new audience" Because you never know , and that's someone I would trust with recommendations
Yippee! I love that description lol 😂 I'm a big fan of books with pictures, for sure (that can just be the occasional illustration or a full-on graphic novel) 🙂↕️
That's always my mentality when mentioning books that could fit a list. I try to just gather as many books as possible. Luckily for this list, it was just poor execution that docked points for most of them. But it could still be useful to someone! :)
Aw, thanks! It means a lot that people trust my recs 🥹🫶
Honestly, big fan of picture books ! There was a point when I wanted to feel "adult" and imposed a no pictures in books rule — big big mistake gimme all the beautiful art. Oh I have seen you around making recommendations, suggesting books — huge fan ! 🪭🙂↕️
Picture books are incredible! 🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️ Oof, glad you're no longer imposing that rule lol 🫶
I've seen you around before too but it's nice to finally interact. I feel like I usually just see you in passing 😂 (If you really want to make the fan big you should be able to do: (# 🪭) without the parentheses to do this:
🪭
You do have to put it on a separate line for that to work tho) - edited cause I forgot the space after the # at first 🤦♂️
This this exact reason is why I am one of the huge fans you have 🪭 In the end we are all travellers just passing by 🙂↕️ We have similar tastes and mutual friends here between the Tcs and this community. I love that graphic novels and Dio's list finally bonded us !
Oooh, you know what would really strength our bonds of friendship? Doing a buddy read! 😎 Maybe we could buddy read a graphic novel together? 👀
Yes ! That would be very cool ! I have a few graphic novels that I want to get to myself. Maybe we can start next month?
I think I could make that work. Should we figure out the book(s) first tho? 🤔
An even better question. Would @ohmydio like to join us ? 😂😂😂
I checked both yours and @ohmydio's tbrs and we don't have a single graphic novel in common. 😭 I do however, have an idea of what graphic novel we could read and I'm thinking that @superllaine might want to join us as well. I shall page you all in a minute 👀
Oh I am open to new things all the time! I haven't bothered to add everything on the lists here and you definitely have more experience in this department so I will trust you completely. We just have to wait for the both of them to find this thread !
That's good to hear! I'm definitely more open to trying different graphic novels because they're much shorter, and therefore less of a commitment, than most prose books. I figured this thread is already getting super long and I didn't want to overwhelm the comments on Dio's list anymore so I paged y'all here! 🫡
OhMyDioOP
I fully missed y'all gabbing!!! Late to the party, but HERE
We are certified yappers fr fr 🙂↕️🙂↕️ Glad you're here now! This thread is getting so cramped lol 😂😭🤦♂️
Can we maybe get a graphic novel quest?? 😁😜
I'll think about it 🤔 I'd definitely have to narrow it down more though
This list was needed! Graphic novels are so underrated. Well done Dio !
OhMyDioOP
We love a story that utilizes its medium!!!
Underrated graphic novels are underrated criminally. And yes we do !
Oh we both have a graphic memoirs list! Let me pull together a list of any I have that you don’t already and I will delete my list so that there’s not a duplicate.
OhMyDioOP
Oh!! When did you make yours? I tried searching before I made mine but I totally could have missed it!
A few months ago, but no biggie! Yours is getting more traction so I don't mind sending over my list. 😊 I recommend adding "Graphic Memoir" in the body of the description incase folks search by that.
Here are additional graphic memoirs you can add: -Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction by Jarrett J. Krosoczka -Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder -In Limbo by Deb J.J. Lee -A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat -I Know You Rider by Leslie Stein -It Won't Always Be Like This by Malaka Gharib -The Third Person by Emma Grove -The Heart That Fed: A Father, a Son, and the Long Shadow of War by Carl Sciacchitano -Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love by -Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir by Denise Dorrance -Halfway There: A Graphic Memoir of Self-Discovery by -Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir by Bishakh Kumar Som -In-Between Days: A Memoir About Living with Cancer by Teva Harrison -I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir by Maurice Vellekoop -Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast -Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham -Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice by Eddie Ahn -Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley -And Now I Spill the Family Secrets: An Illustrated Memoir by Margaret Kimball -Imagine Wanting Only This by Kristen Radtke -Everything is Flammable by Gabrielle Bell -A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi -March: Book One (March, #1) by John Lewis -Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
OhMyDioOP
You're amazing, Thank you! I'll work on adding these!
Anytime! I’m sure I’ll be back if I find more during my reading adventures. ☺️
Great idea for a list! I'll keep an eye out for recs.
definitely recommend Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls :)
OhMyDioOP
added both to the list & my tbr!! thank you!
the magic fish by trung le nguyen is a fantastic memoir/graphic novel about coming out to immigrant asian parents, and until i meet my husband by ryousuke nanasaki is a memoir/manga about a gay man whose marriage was the first same-sex marriage that was religiously/legally recognized in japan
eta: the magic fish isn't a memoir, whoops! it's a semi-autographic graphic novel. the main character is not the author, but the story narrated is the author's experience of navigating coming out as gay to his mom
OhMyDioOP
Both have been added to my TBR & Until I Meet My Husband as been added to the list. Thank you!!
yay!! the magic fish especially was so impactful/moving to me and made me feel so so seen i may or may not have shed a tear it was also banned from schools in certain states in the US because it addresses queer identity (discovering and expression) and coming out in such a raw, beautiful way. i hope you enjoy reading both!! and this is a fantastic list, btw, so sorry for not leading with that :)
What a lovely list! Thank you for putting this together! Recommendations: When Stars Are Scattered by Jamieson Huda F Are You? by Fahmy The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Crewes Belonging by Krug Good Talk by Jacob Anne Frank’s Diary Graphic Novel edition
I've been meaning to read more graphic novels, this list is perfect! Any personal fav you recommend?
so excited about this!! ☺️
Wonderful list! Thanks for putting it together! A few more to add:
- Becoming Unbecoming by Una
- Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green
- Cry When The Baby Cries by Becky Barnicoat
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata
- The Fire Never Goes Out by ND Stevenson
- Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash
- Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel
Would you consider books like Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh to be graphic memoirs? It's a collection of illustrated essays, on the fence between memoir and graphic memoir, perhaps in a category of its own.
OhMyDioOP
thanks for the recs!!
thats a good question. 🤔🤔 I havent read hyperbole simce it was a basic webcomic so Ill have to check out the book!
I love graphic memoirs! I've done my best to double check you don't already have any of these recs on your list:
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata Welcome to St Hell by Lewis Hancox Escape from St Hell by Lewis Hancox
I think everything else I was going to rec has been covered :)
OhMyDioOP
thank you!!
I just noticed that I actually love Graphic Novel Memoirs so I came on Pagebound to create precisely this list, glad that someone already got it 🙂↕️
I tried reading all the comments (so many good suggestions! I'm in love) but here some titles that I think I haven't seen:
- The Smile trilogy by Raina Telgemeier
- New Girl by Cassandra Calin
- Be prepared by Vera Brosgol
OhMyDioOP
awesome, thank you!!
What a cool list. I feel like I almost enjoy them more than the traditional kind of memoir. They strip away unnecessary bits and include so much in the images. It gives you a different kind of appreciation for their stories.
OhMyDioOP
I love in particular when someone does visual art to tell their story. Its so good!
