20 Best Memory Improvement Books

Joshua Foer recounts training for competitive memory events while investigating the history and science of remembering. His journey among memory athletes explores techniques, practice, and the relationship between exceptional feats of recall and the ordinary workings of human memory.

Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas explain a memory system for use at work, school, and home. Their techniques address remembering names, numbers, appointments, and foreign vocabulary, alongside reading comprehension and recalling useful details in social situations.

Ron White presents a thirty-day approach to practicing memory skills. He introduces mnemonic methods and a mental filing system for recalling names, faces, numbers, speeches, and study material, with guidance on applying the techniques to everyday tasks.

Frances Yates traces the art of memory from ancient Greece through later European culture. She examines systems that associate images with imagined places, showing how mnemonic techniques intersected with architecture, philosophy, religion, and the demands of learning before printing.

Memory champion Dominic O'Brien presents a sequence of practical exercises for building recall. His guide explains mnemonic techniques and visual associations, applying them to everyday challenges such as remembering names, appointments, information and prepared speeches.

Kevin Horsley presents techniques for learning and retaining information through deliberate memory training. The guide covers concentration, remembering names, recalling study material, and using memory systems to reduce repeated learning and apply information more effectively.

Barbara Oakley explains learning strategies for difficult mathematics and science subjects, drawing on her own academic struggles. The guide offers ways to approach intimidating material and develop effective learning habits applicable beyond technical disciplines.

Dean Vaughn presents a memory system built around vivid mental images, familiar locations and sound associations. His stepwise guide shows how these techniques can organize names, dates, numbers and other information for later recall.

Neal Barnard proposes a three-step approach to brain health involving food choices, exercise, and supplements. He discusses nutrition research and possible risks to memory, accompanying his recommendations with menus, recipes, and practical advice for preparing meals.

Nelson Dellis presents memory techniques through familiar challenges such as remembering names, numbers, lists, and where objects were left. He explains ways to build vivid associations and practice recall, translating competitive memorization methods into exercises for everyday use.

Psychologist Julia Shaw explores how memories can become distorted or entirely false. Drawing on experiments and criminal cases, she examines suggestion, mistaken identification and confessions, questioning the reliability of recollections that feel vivid and certain.

Alexander Luria examines the life and mental processes of a man with an extraordinary memory. This case study connects his remarkable recall with synesthesia while exploring how his abilities shaped his personality, everyday experience, and difficulties.

Kenneth Higbee explains principles of remembering and introduces techniques for improving recall through association, organization, and imagery. Practical examples connect the psychology of memory with tasks involving names, numbers, study material, and other information readers want to retain.

Benedict Carey examines research on learning and memory and tests its implications for everyday practice. He explores how timing, sleep, forgetting, surroundings, and variation in study can affect the way people absorb and retain information.

Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel explore how learning and memory work through cognitive research and real-life stories. They challenge familiar study habits and present practical approaches for students, educators, and adults developing new skills.

In this nonfiction book, Genova uses her background in neuroscience to explain how memory is formed, stored, and retrieved. She separates normal forgetting from warning signs of disease and offers practical ways to work with your brain instead of worrying every time you forget a name.

Daniel Schacter explores scientific discoveries about memory through research and accounts of patients with unusual difficulties recalling their experiences. He examines amnesia, false and recovered memories, and how brain injury or psychological trauma can affect the past we remember.

Majid Fotuhi presents a three-month program intended to strengthen memory, concentration, and other mental abilities. Combining discussion of brain research with practical activities, he explores his approach to improving brain performance and maintaining cognitive abilities with age.

Neuroscientist Lisa Mosconi explores the relationship between nutrition and brain function. Combining scientific explanations with food recommendations, recipes and a dietary assessment, she presents her approach to eating in support of memory and cognitive health.

Mike Dow outlines a three-week program intended to address problems with focus, memory and mood. His approach combines dietary changes, sleep, physical activity, thought patterns and mental exercises, with attention to purpose and spiritual connection.