Adiele, Faith. Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun. New York: Norton, 2004. www.english.pitt.edu/people/faculty/adiele.html

Andrew, Elizabeth J. Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Spiritual Memoir. Boston: Skinner House Books, 2000.

Armstrong, Karen.   The Spiral Staircase:   My Climb Out of Darkness. New York:   Anchor Books, 2004. (Armstrong's journey out of the convent and into a life of interfaith exploration.) www.randomhouse.com

Augustine. The Confessions of St. Augustine. New York: Doubleday, 1960. (The foundational conversion narrative. Everything in Augustine's story hinges on his a-ha moment, dividing his life into "before" and "after". Note how Augustine occasionally disregards the reader and directly addresses God.)

Black Elk Speaks. Told through John Neihardt. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1932. (A record of an oral narrative. Black Elk's story illustrates the life-long ramifications of a single vision--a good example of how the impact of mystical experiences is more important than the experiences themselves. He also disregards the listeners to directly address the Grandfathers.)

Bondi, Roberta. Memories of God: Theological Reflections on a Life. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995.

Bozarth, Alla Renee. Womanpriest: A Personal Odyssey. San Diego: LuraMedia, 1978.

Breyer, Chloe. The Close: A Young Woman's First Year at Seminary. New York: Basic Books, 2000.

Cairns, Scott. Short Trip to the Edge: Where Earth Meets Heaven--A Pilgrimage. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 2007. (A convert's journey to Mount Athos and into Greek Orthodoxy.)

Chernin, Kim. In My Father's Garden: A Daughter's Search For a Spiritual Life. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1996. (A skeptic's very physical spiritual awakening.) www.kimchernin.com

Covington, Dennis. Salvation on Sand Mountain. New York: Penguin, 1995. (One of my all-time favorite reads. Covington covers the trial of a pastor accused of murder in Appalachia and gets sucked into his snake-handling, strychnine-drinking faith.)

Crane, George. Bones of the Master: A Buddhist Monk's Search for the Lost Heart of China. New York: Bantam, 2000. (A particularly beautiful opening forty-some pages.) www.randomhouse.com

David-Neel, Alexandra. My Journey to Lhasa. Boston: Beacon Press, 1927.

Doty, Mark. Heaven's Coast. New York: Harper Perennial, 1996. (Doty loses his partner to AIDS. His record of love, loss, and grief is eloquent. A good book to read for language and for linking reflection and narration.) www.markdoty.org

Doyle, Brian. "Eating Dirt," in The Best Spiritual Writing 1999, edited by Philip Zaleski. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 1999.

Dubus, Andre. "Love in the Morning," in The Best Spiritual Writing 1998, edited by Philip Zaleski. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 1998.

Duncan, David James. My Story As Told By Water: Confessions, Druidic Rants, Reflections, Bird-Watchings, Fish-Stalkings, Visions, Songs and Prayers Refracting Light, from Living Rivers, in the Age of the Industrial Dark. Sierra Club Books, 2002. (Funny! Duncan, environmentalist and fly-fisherman, explores his nature-deprived childhood and the influence of his Bible-beating grandmother. Opening section is the best.)

Ehrlich, Gretel. A Match to the Heart. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. (A Buddhist woman's story of being struck by lightning--a second time--and what sense she makes of it.)

Erdrich, Louise.  The Blue Jay's Dance:  A Birth Year.  New York:  HarperCollins, 1995.  (A collection of reflections that trace the author's first year with her daughter.  Erdrich makes beautiful connections between the natural world and the life of her spirit.)

Foster, Patricia. Minding the Body: Women Writers on Body and Soul. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Gallagher, Winifred. Working on God. New York: Random House, 1999. http://literati.net/Gallagher/index.htm

Gaustad, Edwin S, editor. Memoirs of the Spirit. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999.

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia. New York: Penguin, 2006. www.elizabethgilbert.com

Goldberg, Natalie. Long Quiet Highway. New York: Bantam Books, 1993. www.nataliegoldberg.com

Halpern, Sue. Migrations to Solitude: The Quest for Privacy in a Crowded World. New York: Vintage Books, 1992.

Hampl, Patricia. Virgin Time. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992. (Hampl's pilgrimage to Italy and quest for prayer.)

Harvey, Andrew. A Journey in Ladakh. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

Hathaway, Katharine Butler. The Little Locksmith. New York: The Feminist Press, 1942. (An unfinished narrative by a woman whose childhood was confined to bed. Sensitive, lovely.)

Hendra, Tony. Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul. New York: Random House, 2004. (The comedian's relationship to his spiritual director over a lifetime.) www.randomhouse.com

Hillesum, Etty. An Interrupted Life. New York: Pocket Books, 1981.

Johnson, Robert A. Balancing Heaven and Earth: A Memoir of Visions, Dreams, and Realizations. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998. (Jungian analyst tells of the formative impact of dreams and visions on his life's journey.)

Jung, Carl. Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Vintage Books, 1961.

Junod, Tom. "Can You Say Hero?" in The Best Spiritual Writing 1999, edited by Philip Zaleski. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 1999.

Kamenetz, Rodger. The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 1994.

Kempe, Margery. The Book of Margery Kempe. New York: Penguin, 1985.

Kingston, Maxine Hong. Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. New York: Vintage Books, 1975.

Kurs, Katherine, ed. Searching for Your Soul: Writers of Many Faiths Share Their Personal Stories of Spiritual Discovery. New York: Shocken Books, 1999.

Lamott, Anne. Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. Anchor Books, 2000. (Master of humor and faithful irreverence. Lamott speaks to a younger generation of seekers.)

Lee, Li-Young. The Winged Seed: A Remembrance. St. Paul, MN: Hungry Mind Find, 1995. (A difficult but beautiful book. Lyrical in style, circular in form.)

Levine, Stephen. Turning Toward the Mystery: A Seeker's Journey. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 2002.

MacDonald, Sarah.   Holy Cow.   New York:   Broadway Books, 2002. (A hip Australian TV anchor spends a few years traveling through India learning about the world's religions.)

Macy, Joanna. Widening Circles. Canada: New Society Publishers, 2000. www.joannamacy.net

Mairs, Nancy. Ordinary Time: Cycles in Marriage, Faith and Renewal. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993. www.nancymairs.com

Manning, Martha. Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1996. www.harpercollins.com

Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leopard. New York: Penguin, 1978. (I find this story of trekking in the Himalayas fascinating for its structure, which defies the traditional story-arc in favor of a Zen Buddhist form.) New York Times review

Mernissi, Fatema. Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Cambridge: Perseus Books, 1994. (Surprising vignettes of growing up in Morocco.) www.mernissi.net

Merton, Thomas. Seven Storey Mountain. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1948. (A classic conversion narrative from Merton's younger years.)

Miles, Sara.  Take This Bread:  A Radical Conversion.  New York: Ballantine Books, 2007.  (A contemporary conversion story that highlights a socially progressive view of Christian ritual.) www.saramiles.net

Momaday, N. Scott. The Names. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1976.
The Way to Rainy Mountain. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1969.

Morrison, Melanie. The Grace of Coming Home. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1995.

Nomani, Asra.   Standing Alone:   An American Woman's Struggle for the Soul of Islam.   New York:   HarperSanFransisco, 2005. (A single, unwed mother journeys to Mecca on the hajj, recommits to the Islamic faith, and works for women's rights. Although poorly edited, this memoir demonstrates the profound influence of spiritual lives on the public sphere.) www.asranomani.com

Norris, Kathleen. Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. (Really a collection of essays with strong memoir material. A good example of arranging smaller pieces into a narrative whole.)

Nouwen, Henri. The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery. Garden City: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1976.

O'Reilly, Mary Rose. Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd. Minneapolis: Milkweed, 2001.

Rosen, Jonathan. The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

Rothluebber, Francis. Nobody Owns Me: A Celibate Woman Discovers Her Sexual Power. San Diego: LuraMedia, 1994.

Salzberg, Sharon. Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience. New York: Riverhead, 2002. (Here is an example of blending memoir with instructional nonfiction. Salzberg shares small bits of her story to illuminate her discussion of faith's role in Buddhism.) Interview with the author.

Sandor, Marjorie. "Waiting for a Miracle: A Jew Goes Fishing," in The Best Spiritual Writing 2000, edited by Philip Zaleski. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 2000. (I enjoy how Sandor makes even library research into an engaging story.)

Sarton, May. Journal of Solitude. New York: W.W. Norton, 1973. (Sarton uses the informal journal structure but with the intention of an audience.)

Taylor, Barbara Brown.   Leaving Church:   A Memoir of Faith.   New York:   Harper Collins, 2006. (Success drives this Episcopalian priest to leave the ministry.) www.barbarabrowntaylor.com

Teresa of Avila. The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself. London: Penguin Books, 1957.

Thurman, Howard.   With Head and Heart.   New York:   Harcourt Brace & Co., 1979. (An autobiography with keen attention to the evolution of Thurman's theology.)

Tweedie, Irina. The Chasm of Fire. Great Britain: Element Books, 1979.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Avon, 1969. (Powerful story of the loss of faith. A good example of how spiritual memoir can ask unanswerable questions and end without resolution.)

Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. (A rare look at feminist Mormonism. Williams draws beautiful parallels between the natural world, her family's health, and the life of the soul.)

Willis, Jan. Dreaming Me: An African American Woman's Spiritual Journey. New York: Riverhead Books, 2001. http://jwillis.faculty.wesleyan.edu/

Winner, Lauren. Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2002. www.laurenwinner.net

Wurtele, Margaret. Touching the Edge: A mother's spiritual path from loss to life. New Jersey: John Wiley, 2003.

Zaleski, Philip, ed. The Best Spiritual Writing, annual series. New York: Harper San Francisco. (This is a top-notch anthology that culls publications for short literary spiritual writing and always includes some memoir.)

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