Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated May 20, 2026
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IN THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH I WAS TOLD WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN: A MEMOIR
Junod, Tom
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE . From two-time National Magazine Award winner Tom Junod, a searching, brilliantly stylized memoir about a charismatic, philandering father who tried to mold his son in his image, the many secrets he hid, the son's obsessive quest to uncover...
Phases : a memoir
Brandy
Paper Book
* INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! * The iconic, multiplatinum, Grammy Award®-winning performer Brandy brings us a raw, intimate portrait of her life, charting her journey from Mississippi churches to Hollywood spotlights ...
North of ordinary : how one woman left it all behind for wilderness and wonder in Alaska's frozen frontier
Aikens, Sue
Paper Book
When the wild strips everything away, what's left is who you are. In the raw, untamed wilds of Alaska--where the wind howls, predators hunt, and the sun disappears for months--only a rare few figure out how to survive. Sue Aikens, the breakout star of National Geographic's long-running TV...
Small town girls : a writer's memoir
Phillips, Jayne Anne
Paper Book
OPRAH'S #1 MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 * A luminous memoir in essays from the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, who reflects on her origins and the mysteries of memory. "A brilliant, wide-ranging book, nostalgic and tough-minded at the same time. Like Willa Cather and Stephen Crane,...
How to be okay when nothing is okay : tips and tricks that kept me alive, happy, and creative in spite of myself
Lawson, Jenny
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Warm, insightful, and witty, the first book of advice from New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson--aka the Bloggess Jenny Lawson is full of contradictions. She's a celebrated author but battles self-doubt,...
Boss Lincoln : the partisan life of Abraham Lincoln
Pinsker, Matthew
Paper Book
We know Lincoln as the eloquent, compassionate leader of a nation torn by civil war. But he had another, less visible side, equally central to his character and leadership: Lincoln was a master of party politics. Schooled as a Whig in the rough-and-tumble of Illinois electioneering in the 1830s,...
Famesick : a memoir
Dunham, Lena
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In this rowdy, frank reflection on illness, fame, sex, and everything in between, the remarkable mind behind the hit series Girls and the bestselling author of Not That Kind of Girl asks whether fulfilling her creative ambitions has been...
100 rules for living to 100 : an optimist's guide to a happy life
Van Dyke, Dick
Paper Book
On the eve of his 100th birthday, national treasure Dick Van Dyke brings us this autobiographical collection of stories, reflections, and life advice on how he's maintained a zest for life. Dick Van Dyke danced his way into our hearts with iconic roles in ...
Traversal
Popova, Maria.
Paper Book
From the Marginalian creator and bestselling author Maria Popova, a bold exploration of what makes a meaningful life. What is life? What is death? What makes a body a person? What makes a planet a...
Stripped down : unfiltered and unapologetic
Bunnie Xo
Paper Book
From the trailer parks of Vegas to the mansions of Nashville, Bunnie Xo has lived a lot of lives and seen the darkest sides of humanity. Her memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, is cold, clear evidence that no one is irredeemable. With a heavy dose of humor and a...
David Bowie and the search for life, death and God
Ormerod, Peter (Journalist)
Paper Book
'The Bowie you thought you knew is recast completely' Helen Barrett, The Spectator ''Ormerod had me singing in the choir with him' Simon Critchley, The Guardian 'a transfixing look at David Bowie's life through a spiritual lens......
Winter : the story of a season
McDermid, Val
Paper Book
"The perfect little book to get you through winter's doldrums . . . a warm look at a dark time."--Washington Post In this radiant work of creative nonfiction, internationally beloved novelist Val McDermid delivers a dazzling ode to a lost world, ruminating on a single...
The last kings of Hollywood : Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg and the battle for the soul of American cinema
Fischer, Paul (Documentary film producer)
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Riveting, grade A smack for cinema junkies...Fischer's writing pulsates." --Steven Soderbergh, filmmaker The untold, intimate story of how three young visionaries--Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg...
STARRY AND RESTLESS: THREE WOMEN WHO CHANGED WORK, WRITING, AND THE WORLD
Cooke, Julia
Paper Book
She hid on a Red Cross boat to reach Omaha Beach on D-Day. She walked the abandoned streets of Hong Kong to take food to her daughter's father, a prisoner of war. She fought off the advances of overzealous Yugoslavian diplomats, found overlooked details of world history in a dentist's kitchen in...
Black. Single. Mother. : real-life tales of longing and belonging
Lemieux, Jamilah
Paper Book
A personal meditation on, examination of, and tribute to Black single motherhood, unapologetically told through poignant essays and candid interviews by a celebrated cultural critic "Jamilah Lemieux is one of the most important feminist writers of the twenty-first century."...
The look
Obama, Michelle
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD * Beautifully illustrated with more than 200 photographs, including never-before-seen images, The Look is a stunning journey through Michelle Obama's style evolution, in her own words for the first time. ...
Thank you, teachers : true stories from America's teachers, our last line of defense and our first line of hope
Patterson, James
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller! Teachers deserve recognition every day, especially on National Teacher's Day! This Teacher Appreciation Week and end of school year, express your...
I identify as blind : a brazen celebration of disability culture, identity, and power
Lachi (Singer)
Paper Book
Lachi is an award-winning musician and an unapologetic activist who awakens the world to this truth: Disability is an identity worth brazenly celebrating. In her book, Lachi spotlights how disabled people have to be driven, persistent, perceptive, and highly adaptable just to get through any given...
The wanderers : a story of exile, survival, and unexpected love in the shadow of World War II
Gerson, Daniela
Paper Book
"Powerful." -- Wall Street Journal An immigration journalist and her wife trace their family's intertwined past to unearth a history of how hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews survived Hitler's Holocaust at the brutal hands of Stalin--a story that...
Empire of madness : reimagining Western mental health care for everyone
Kidia, Khameer
Paper Book
An urgent rethinking of the Western approach to mental health, which treats the symptoms rather than the exploitative systems causing our distress-by a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Medical School physician-anthropologist-offering lessons from the rest of the world. What if the...

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