Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated June 28, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Making It So: A Memoir
Patrick Stewart
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER The renowned and bestselling memoir--written with "insight, truth, and passion" (Sir Ian McKellen)--from iconic, beloved actor and living legend Sir Patrick Stewart. From his...
Elon Musk
Walter Isaacson
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era--a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of...
The Woman in Me
Britney Spears
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by Elle, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, NPR, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, and more! "In Britney Spears's memoir, she's stronger than ever." --The New York Times Over 2 million...
My Name is Barbra
Barbra Streisand
Paper Book
The long-awaited memoir by the superstar of stage, screen, recordings, and television Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy,...
Between Two Trailers: A Memoir
J. Dana Trent
Paper Book
A powerful, unforgettable memoir about a girl who escapes her childhood as a preschool drug dealer in rural Indiana-only to find that no one can really "make it out" until they make peace with where their story began- home Home, it turns out, is where the war is. It's also...
Sociopath: A Memoir
Patric Gagne
Paper Book
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir of the author's struggle to understand her own sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. "A cross between a podcast by relationship therapist Esther Perel and a salacious tell-all."...
The French Ingredient: Making a Life in Paris One Lesson at a Time; A Memoir
Jane Bertch
Paper Book
The inspiring and delicious memoir of an American woman who had the gall to open a cooking school in Paris--a true story of triumphing over French naysayers and falling in love with a city along the way "An engaging, multilayered story of a woman navigating innumerable cultural...
Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
Kathleen Hanna
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill...
Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood
Ed Zwick
Paper Book
This heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last Night, and Glory, creator of the show thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life,...
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir
Safiya Sinclair
Paper Book
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner A New York Times Notable Book A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! A Best Book of 2023 by the New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, Shelf Awareness<...
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality
Amanda Montell
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and...
Our Fight: A Memoir
Ronda Rousey
Paper Book
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! From New York Times bestselling author and trailblazing athlete Ronda Rousey, an unfiltered chronicle of loss, resilience and finding meaning in life's journey.  From the moment she...
Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong
Katie Gee Salisbury
Paper Book
Before Constance Wu, Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, or Lucy Liu, there was Anna May Wong. In her time, she was a glamorous starlet, flapper, and fashion icon who graced Oscar-winning films and who was mobbed by clamoring fans and the adoring press both here and abroad. Anna May Wong was plucked from her...
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Amy Tan
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club * With a foreword by David Allen Sibley "Unexpected...
My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me
Caleb Carr
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "The most brilliant feline portrait in literary history." -People Magazine (Book of the Week) The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half...
The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church
Sarah McCammon
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER "An intimate window into the world of American evangelicalism. Fellow exvangelicals will find McCammon's story both startlingly familiar and immensely clarifying, while those looking in from the outside can find no...
Grief Is for People
Sloane Crosley
Paper Book
One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year: TIME, The Washington Post, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Publishers Weekly, Paste, The Millions, Kirkus Reviews, Lit Hub, Real Simple, Nylon, BookPage, The Story Exchange, Sunset, and...
Briefly Perfectly Human
Alua Arthur
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives, from America's most visible death doula. "A truly unique, inspiring perspective on the time we have, what we do...
One Way Back: A Memoir
Christine Blasey Ford
Paper Book
Now a New York Times bestseller "A blisteringly personal memoir...a thoughtful exploration of what it feels like to become a main character in a major American reckoning." --The Washington Post "An insightful tour de force." --People<...
We Loved It All: A Memory of Life
Lydia Millet
Paper Book
Across more than a dozen acclaimed works of fiction, readers have become intimate with Lydia Millet's distinctive voice and sly wit. We Loved It All, her first nonfiction book, combines the precision of fact with the power of narrative to evoke our enmeshment with the more-than-human world....
Burn Book: A Tech Love Story
Kara Swisher
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller From award-winning journalist Kara Swisher comes a witty, scathing, but fair accounting of the tech industry and its founders who wanted to change the world but broke it instead. "Swisher, the bad-ass journalist and...
A Very Private School: A Memoir
Charles Spencer
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "A tour de force." --The Washington Post In this poignant memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at age eight to attend boarding school. A Very Private School...
The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters
Susan Page
Paper Book
A "smart, juicy, deeply reported" (Katie Couric) biography of the most successful female broadcaster of all time--Barbara Walters--a woman whose personal demons fueled an ambition that broke all the rules and finally gave women a permanent place on the air, written by bestselling author Susan...
Ghost Dogs: On Killers and Kin
Andre Dubus III
Paper Book
During childhood summers in Louisiana, Andre's grandfather taught him that men's work is hard. Ever after, whether tracking down a drug lord in Mexico as a bounty hunter or grappling with privilege while living with a rich girlfriend in New York City, Andre worked-at being a better worker and a...
I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition
Lucy Sante
Paper Book
"Reading this book is a joy... much to say about the trans journey and will undoubtedly become a standard for those in need of guidance. " -- The Washington Post "Sante's bold devotion to complexity and clarity makes this an exemplary memoir. It is a clarion...
Did I Ever Tell You?: A Memoir
Genevieve Kingston
Paper Book
The most "profound" (Booklist, starred review) memoir you will ever read about the power of love. Did I Ever Tell You? reads like a novel but is an unforgettable true story. Genevieve (Gwen) Kingston was just eleven years old when her mother passed away...
The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir
RuPaul
Paper Book
***An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!*** From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date--a deeply intimate memoir of discovery, found family, and self-acceptance. The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the...
My Side of the River: A Memoir
Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
Paper Book
A New York Times Editor's PickA People Magazine Best Book to Read in February A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of 2024 "My Side of the River is both fierce and poetic. It brilliantly reframes border writing while embracing nature and...
The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History
Karen Valby
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE * The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history--until now. "This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!" -...
Here After: A Memoir
Amy Lin
Paper Book
Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and Library Journal A March Book of the Month Selection An Apple Books Best Book of March A SheReads and ELLE Most Anticipated Book of 2024 ...
Cloistered: My Years As A Nun
Catherine Coldstream
Paper Book
"A profoundly moving memoir which gripped me . . . It's about spirituality and asceticism and silence and sisterhood, but also about how flawed human beings can abuse power and how hermetically sealed communities, which should care for and protect their members, can be dangerously vulnerable...
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension
Hanif Abdurraqib
Paper Book
A poignant, personal reflection on basketball, talent and allegiance, and of course, LeBron James-from the author of the National Book Award finalist A Little Devil in America While Hanif Abdurraqib is an acclaimed author, a gifted poet, and one of our culture's most...
A Good Bad Boy: Luke Perry and How a Generation Grew Up
Margaret Wappler
Paper Book
An artful and contemplative tribute to the late actor famed for his role as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210. Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. There have...
Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring
Brad Gooch
Paper Book
"It's all here: the grade school Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss; the adolescent acid trips; the fondness for Post-it notes and flying saucers; the long tails of Dubuffet and Burroughs; the encounters with Madonna, Warhol, and one game-changer of a subway Johnny Walker Red poster. Brad Gooch...
The Right Kind of White: A Memoir
Garrett Bucks
Paper Book
A revelatory memoir that earnestly reckons with whiteness. As the product of progressive parents and a liberal upbringing, Garrett Bucks prided himself on the pursuit of being a "good white person." The kind of white person who treats their privilege as a...
Alphabetical Diaries
Sheila Heti
Paper Book
Sheila Heti collected 500,000 words from a decade's worth of journals, put the sentences in a spreadsheet, and sorted them alphabetically. She cut and cut and was left with 60,000 words of brilliance and mayhem, joy and sorrow. These are her alphabetical diaries.
Whiskey Tender: A Memoir
Deborah Taffa
Paper Book
An Oprah Daily "Best New Book" and "Riveting Nonfiction and Memoir You Need to Read" * A New York Times "New Book to Read" * A The New Yorker "Best Book out now" * An Esquire "Best Book (so far)" * A Zibby Mag "Most Anticipated Book" * An Elle "Best Book" * A Washington Post "Book to Read this...
Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley
Brent Underwood
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER . A long-abandoned silver mine for sale sounded like an adventure too great to passup, but it turned into much more-a calling, a community of millions, and hard-earned lessons about chasing impractical dreams. "Inspiring and meditative-the story...
The Manicurist's Daughter: A Memoir
Susan Lieu
Paper Book
An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who searches for answers after her mother dies during plastic surgery. Susan Lieu has long been searching for answers. About her family's past and about her own future. Refugees from...
Where Rivers Part
Kao Kalia Yang
Paper Book
This powerful memoir about a Hmong family's epic journey to safety is a profound "testament to the miraculous strength of women and the indomitable resolve of the human spirit" (Cristina Henríquez, author of The Book of Unknown Americans). Born in 1961 in war-torn Laos,...
But Everyone Feels This Way: How an Autism Diagnosis Saved My Life
Paige Layle
Paper Book
Autism acceptance activist and TikTok influencer Paige Layle shares her deeply personal journey to diagnosis and living life autistically.  "For far too long, I was told I was just like everyone else. But knew it couldn't be true. Living just seemed so much...
The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union
Stephen Puleo
Paper Book
The groundbreaking biography of a forgotten civil rights hero. In the tempestuous mid-19th century, as slavery consumed Congressional debate and America careened toward civil war and split apart-when the very future of the nation hung in the balance-Charles Sumner's voice rang...
Another Word for Love: A Memoir
wallacecarvell
Paper Book
A transformative memoir that reimagines the conventions of love and posits a radical vision for healing. In Another Word for Love, Carvell Wallace excavates layers of his own history, situated in the struggles and beauty of growing up Black and queer in America. ...
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song
Judith Tick
Paper Book
Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) possessed one of the twentieth century's most astonishing voices. In this first major biography since Fitzgerald's death, historian Judith Tick offers a sublime portrait of this ambitious risk-taker whose exceptional musical spontaneity made her a transformational...
Beautiful People: My Thirteen Truths About Disability
Melissa Blake
Paper Book
Well-known disability activist and social media influencer Melissa Blake offers a frank, illuminating memoir and a call to action for disabled people and allies. In the summer of 2019, journalist Melissa Blake penned an op-ed for CNN Opinion. A conservative pundit...
This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life
Lyz Lenz
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A deeply validating manifesto on the gender politics of marriage (bad) and divorce (actually pretty good!) in America today, and an argument that the former needs a reboot--from journalist and proud divorcée Lyz Lenz "This American Ex-Wife...
Carson McCullers: A Life
Mary V. Dearborn
Paper Book
The first major biography in more than twenty years of one of America's greatest writers, based on newly available letters and journals V. S. Pritchett called her "a genius." Gore Vidal described her as a "beloved novelist of singular brilliance . . . Of all the Southern writers,...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.