Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated November 6, 2025
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The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex
Melissa Febos
Paper Book
From Melissa Febos, the national bestselling author of Girlhood, comes an examination of the solitude, freedoms, and feminist heroes she discovered during a year of celibacy and a wise and transformative look at relationships and self-knowledge. "Only Melissa Febos could...
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir
Neko Case
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AN APPLE BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH Singer-songwriter Neko Case paints a vivid portrait of an extraordinary life--one forged through a poverty-stricken childhood, obsessive desire, bursts of comedy, and...
The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
Shari Franke
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Heart-wrenchingly personal...dizzying." --Rolling Stone From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog--now the subject of a new Hulu...
Care and Feeding: A Memoir
Laurie Woolever
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! A candid, funny, and occasionally devastating memoir of a woman making her way through the food world, navigating addiction, a cultural reckoning, and an unexpected tragedy In this moving, hilarious, and insightful bestselling memoir, Laurie...
Source Code: My Beginnings
Bill Gates
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The origin story of one of the most influential and transformative business leaders and philanthropists of the modern age "A surprisingly candid memoir of the Microsoft mogul's early years...Reading this book feels like watching someone take a...
Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman
Brooke Shields
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From generational icon Brooke Shields comes an intimate and empowering exploration of aging that flips the script on the idea of what it means for a woman to grow older Brooke Shields has spent a lifetime in the public eye....
Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put
Annie B. Jones
Paper Book
In her first book, the popular From the Front Porch podcast host and independent bookstore owner challenges the idea that loud lives are the ones that matter most, reminding us that we don't have to leave the lives we have in order to have the lives of which we've always dreamed.<...
Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up
Dave Barry
Paper Book
America's most beloved wiseass finally tells his life story with all the humor you'd expect from a man who made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything. How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate...
Memorial Days: A Memoir
Geraldine Brooks
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller "Brooks tracks the geography of grief with patience and grace as she comes to terms with the ongoing nature of outliving the ones you love most. ... Her memoir is certainly a testament to her own unique loss, but it's moreover a lifeline to others...
Say Everything: A Memoir
Ione Skye
Paper Book
In this instant New York Times bestselling memoir, Gen X icon Ione Skye shares her "delightfully juicy" (People) and achingly vulnerable story about chasing fame, desire, and true love in the shadow of her famous, absent father. In 1987, sixteen-year-old Ione Skye...
You'll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Other Stuff I Should Only Tell My Therapist
Kari Ferrell
Paper Book
"A captivating, sharp and very funny memoir." --New York Times Book Review The compelling, edgy, compassionate, laugh-out-loud memoir from Kari Ferrell, formerly known as the "Hipster Grifter" Before Anna Delvey, before the Tinder Swindler,...
CABIN: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman
Patrick Hutchison
Paper Book
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER A memoir of the author's journey from an office job to restoring a cabin in the Pacific Northwest, based on his wildly popular Outside Magazine piece. Wit's End isn't just a state of mind. It's the name of a gravel road, the address...
Raised by a Serial Killer: Discovering the Truth About My Father
April Balascio
Paper Book
The untold story behind the hit true crime podcast The Clearing, this "engrossing and absolutely terrifying read" (San Francisco Chronicle) traces one daughter's moving quest to understand the truth about her father, the serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards, while confronting cold...
I'll Have What She's Having
Chelsea Handler
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . In hilarious and tender essays, Chelsea Handler shares her unforgettable story of becoming the woman she always wanted to be. "A raw and raucous exploration of Handler's ongoing search for self . . . She's disarming us with humor to get at our...
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
Susan Morrison
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America's most beloved comedy show "The kind of biographical monument usually consecrated to founding fathers, canonical authors and world-historical scientific geniuses."--The New York...
Hope: The Autobiography
Pope Francis
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Pope Francis originally intended this exceptional memoir to appear only after his death, but the needs of our times and the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope moved him to make this precious legacy available sooner. Now, the book stands as his testament; the spiritual,...
Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer
Dylan Mulvaney
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! "Dylan makes me laugh and makes me brave. I love Paper Doll, and I love this woman." --Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed ...
This Dog Will Change Your Life
Elias Weiss Friedman
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . A uniquely insightful, uplifting, emotional, and informative book that shows us how dogs make our lives better by making us better people, from the Dogist The stunning hardcover of This Dog Will Change Your Life features a custom...
Sucker Punch: Essays
Scaachi Koul
Paper Book
The long-awaited follow-up from one of the most original and hilarious voices writing today. Scaachi Koul's first book was a collection of raw, perceptive, and hilarious essays reckoning with the issues of race, body image, love, friendship, and growing up the daughter of...
Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy
Julia Ioffe
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD Acclaimed journalist Julia Ioffe tells the story of modern Russia through the history of its women, from revolution to utopia to autocracy. In 1990, seven-year-old Julia Ioffe and her family fled the Soviet Union. Nearly...
Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations
Alton Brown
Paper Book
This instant New York Times bestseller by Alton Brown, the acclaimed cookbook author, beloved culinary personality, and food science expert, is a "must-read" (Gaby Dalkin, New York Times bestselling author of What's Gaby Cooking) debut collection of food essays, cooking tips,...
Spellbound: My Life as a Dyslexic Wordsmith
Phil Hanley
Paper Book
National Bestseller An Amazon Best of Biography/Memoir Comedian and severe dyslexic Phil Hanley reveals his unlikely path to success in a story that is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking. When Phil Hanley...
Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly
Hannah Selinger
Paper Book
Town & Country's Best Books of Spring 2025 | Kirkus Reviews's Most Anticipated Nonfiction of Spring 2025 | Amazon's Best Books of the Month | American Writers Museum's Staff Picks What happens when a career you love doesn't love you back? ...
Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand
Jeff Chu
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A profound meditation on nature, heritage, and belonging, from an accomplished journalist who left New York City for life on a working farm "I needed this book. I think you need it, too."--Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could...
Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered
Judith Viorst
Paper Book
From the bestselling author Judith Viorst comes a witty and poignant exploration of the joys and sorrows of life's twilight years--one that leaves us laughing, pondering, and grateful for the moments we have left. In a career that has spanned more than fifty years, Judith Viorst...
Mark Twain
Ron Chernow
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller! One of Barack Obama's Summer Reading List Picks "Comprehensive, enthralling . . . Mark Twain flows like the Mississippi River, its prose propelled by Mark Twain's own exuberance." --The Boston Globe ...
The Woman Who Knew Everyone: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washington’s Most Famous Hostess
Meryl Gordon
Paper Book
A TOWN & COUNTRY MUST READ BOOK OF 2025 AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH - BIOGRAPHIES & MEMOIR A deeply researched biography of the socialite, political hostess, activist and United States envoy to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta, from New York Times...
The Cure for Women: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women's Lives Forever
Lydia Reeder
Paper Book
"Valiant and timely .... reintroduces its subject as a hero for this moment." ―The New York Times How Victorian male doctors used false science to argue that women were unfit for anything but motherhood--and the brilliant doctor who defied them ...
Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star
Mayukh Sen
Paper Book
Merle Oberon made history when she was announced as a nominee for the Best Actress Oscar in 1936. Hers was a face that "launched a thousand ships," a so-called exotic beauty who the camera loved and fans adored. Her nomination for The Dark Angel marked the first time the Academy recognized a...

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