Narrative or creative nonfiction is somewhat newly recognized genre. Naturally, as librarians we have a great appreciation for the research, the primary source documents and interviews, but it is the narrative, the skillful pacing, the phrasing, and the insight that make it read like a thriller that set these books apart from other nonfiction. For this week's readers advisory practice we decided to pay tribute to the talented authors who do this well. We received such a strong response to the call out for favorites that we divided the list into four categories: journalism and social science, travel and adventure, science, and memoir. This is the memoir edition of our salute to great narrative non-fiction.

In the memoir category, Persepolis is a personal account of growing up liberal and female in post-revolution Iran and Elie Weisel's Night describes a boy’s transformation to caretaker of his father in Nazi concentration camps. —Carmen Nigro, Milstein Division

I laughed out loud to Caitlyn Doughty's Smokes Gets in Your Eyes And Other Lessons from the Crematory.  She is a funeral director and YouTube star of the Ask a Mortician series; this book looks at her first couple years of working in the funeral industry. —Lauren Bradley, George Bruce

Brother I Am Dying by Edwidge Danticat is a modern memoir about a Haitian American family. Covering the complex and harrowing accounts of two brothers and their families, Danticat effortlessly recounts their stories over multiple decades and distinct settings. —Jhenelle Robinson, Van Nest

One of the most moving pieces of nonfiction I've ever read is Joe Gould's Secret by Joseph Mitchell.  The story began as a New Yorker profile by Mitchell entitled "Professor Sea Gull." After the piece was published Joe Gould became a celebrity, and his fan mail was delivered to Mitchell's office.  The two men continued to meet over the next several years. The book begins as a profile of one man and morphs into the story of their relationship, and about the secret that Mitchell would not reveal until after Gould's death. —Andrea Lipinski, Kingsbridge

Art Spiegelman's groundbreaking graphic novel Maus blurs the line between art and biography, portraying the Holocaust using comic characters. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth is a graphic novel that is ostensibly a biography of philosopher Bertrand Russell, but what we get is a surprisingly dramatic and very readable "history of reason for dummies", and we feel really smart after the ride. —Jeremy Megraw, Billy Rose Theater Division

I recommend Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This story of a highly dysfunctional family (alcoholic dad, mentally ill mother) really stayed with me. What could have been a very painful story was brightened by humor and the very real sense that there was love in the family and some of it was downright beautiful. —Danita Nichols, Inwood

This is an intriguing burgeoning genre. Cheryl's Strayed's Wild comes to mind, as well as her Tiny Beautiful Things. Rebuilt by Michael Chorost is an autobiography, but it has elements of this creative nonfiction genre. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market

A book that has stayed with me is Patrick Tracey's Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family's Schizophrenia. It combines travel (to Ireland!), mental health research and exploration, and history. Tracey ties all of it together with his stories and insights, but offers both the personal and factual aspects of his search in equally engaging manners. —Alexandria Abenshon, Countee Cullen