Best True Books With True Stories [Top 10] [2024 Update]

What are the best true story books and ebooks? For example about abuse, war, murder, abuse or an inspiring life story? Read on for the best books with the most special true stories.

Discover the best true books of all time

For anyone who can’t get enough of true stories, we’ve compiled a list of the ten best true books. We start our recommendations with the top 10 best True Books With True Stories of all time. This list has been updated this year, including all the recent titles.

Best True Books With True Stories	Author
Beautiful Exiles	Meg Waite Clayton
Salvage the Bones	Jesmyn Ward
Murder on the Orient Express	Agatha Christie
See What I Have Done	Sarah Schmidt
The Girls	Emma Cline
The Revenant	Michael Punke
Every Man for Himself	Beryl Bainbridge
A Brief History of Seven Killings	Marlon James
White Houses	Amy Bloom
The Perfect Nanny	Leila Slimani

The updated top 10 list: the best books about true stories

No Fourth River. A Novel. Based on a True Story. A profoundly moving read about a woman’s fight for survival.

This book is at the top our list, because it will inspire people who are in a terrible situation and show them how one woman escapes her current life of drinking too much alcohol and having an abusive marriage.

The Violinist of Auschwitz: Based on a true story, an absolutely heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 novel

Alma used to be a well-known violinist, but her life changes drastically when the war starts. She learns how to survive in a camp with her other inmates, while being the conductor of the camp orchestra.

Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island

We like this book, because it shows the strength a child can have. Regina is one of five children who grows up in foster homes and on the street. She struggles to keep her and her brother and sisters together. Will she succeed in doing so? Or will it all fall apart?

Nettie and Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters (Based on a True Story)

Nettie and Nellie have parents, so how could they end up being an orphanage? Then they get adopted, and the situation gets even worse. This book is based on a true story and tells all about possible struggles on an early age.

The House on Cooper Lane: Based on a True Story

Would you move into an apartment in a house that is totally empty, even though the apartments are amazing? When Bud can finally persuade the home owner to let him live there with his dog, strange events start happening.

Slapped!: A Novel Based on a True Story

When a construction development company wants to build a city on the river bench, two women decide they need to protect nature and not let anything be built there. What follows, of course, is a not so pretty tale of how large companies try to silence everyone who gets in their way to get what they want.

God*s Will: Based on a True Story

Sam’s mother can’t take care of him anymore and drops him off, with an excuse, at a Baptist reform school. If he behaves, he can get out early. Then he hears about an escape plan. Will he join the group of boys that is planning the escape? Or will he wait for his early release?

Beyond The Call: The True Story of One World War II Pilot’s Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front

Captain Robert Trimble wasn’t trained for the job he agreed to do, but he does it anyway, and he succeeds. He saves many fellow soldiers who are left behind after the war, and brings them home.

Based on a True Story: A Memoir

This book tells the tale of Norm Macdonald’s life. His life started on a farm in Canada, but he soon developed into one of the funniest comedians ever. The story is both true and hilariously funny, because what happens when Norm is fired from his job?

Call Me Tuesday: Based on a True Story

When her sister dies, Tuesday has nothing to do with it, but her mother thinks differently and puts the blame all on her. Read about how she survives an abusive childhood and how she still feels love for her parents, even after all she’s been through.