Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated January 30, 2025
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Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
Rushdie, Salman
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring--and surviving--an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New...
The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House
Pelosi, Nancy
Paper Book
The most powerful woman in American political history tells the story of her transformation from housewife to House Speaker--how she became a master legislator, a key partner to presidents, and the most visible leader of the Trump resistance. When, at age forty-six, Nancy Pelosi,...
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir
Dunne, Griffin
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller * Named a Best Book of the Year by TIME, NPR, People, Town & Country, and Air Mail "Warm and perceptive." --New York Times "Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story." --Washington...
The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir
Bishop, Kelly
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Goodreads Choice Awards Winner "Come for the Gilmore Girls anecdotes, stay for the revealing truths about what it takes to build a lifelong career in and out of Hollywood" (The A.V. Club) in...
A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
Levings, Tia
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller:"Today it hit me when he hit me, blood shaking in my brain. Maybe there wasn't a savior coming. Maybe it was up to me to save me." Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant...
Sociopath: A Memoir
Gagne, Patric
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."...
Sonny Boy: A Memoir
Pacino, Al
Paper Book
The Instant New York Times Bestseller * One of People Magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year "The rare celebrity memoir that's also a literary read. As funny as it is reflecive, it shares stories behind Pacino's hardscrabble upbringing, classic films and journey to icon...
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
Sobel, Dava
Paper Book
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo's Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who...
Men Have Called Her Crazy: A Memoir
Tendler, Anna Marie
Paper Book
*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* "This book is so many things I didn't know I needed: a testament to the work of healing, a raw howl of anger, and an indictment of misogyny's insipid, predictable, infuriating reign." --Carmen Maria Machado, author of the National Book Award...
All That Glitters: A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art
Whitfield, Orlando
Paper Book
AN ECONOMIST AND TOWN & COUNTRY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A dazzling insider's account of the contemporary art world and the stunning rise and fall of the charismatic American art dealer Inigo Philbrick, as seen through the eyes of his friend and fellow dealer In...
Lovely One: A Memoir
Jackson, Ketanji Brown
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her "vulnerable, tender, and infinitely inspirational" (Oprah Daily) memoir, the first Black woman to ever be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States chronicles her extraordinary life story. "A billowingly triumphant...
True Gretch : what I've learned about life, leadership, and everything in between
Whitmer, Gretchen
Paper Book
From trailblazing Michigan governor, Democratic leader, and national advocate for women's rights, Gretchen Whitmer, comes an unconventional and deeply personal account of her life and career--"Not your nana's ponderous political memoir" (New York magazine)--offering insights into her...
Who Could Ever Love You: A Family Memoir
Trump, Mary L.
Paper Book
Who Could Ever Love You is an intimate, heartbreaking memoir of a father, a mother, and a family's exile.Mary Trump grew up in a family divided by its patriarch's relentless drive for money and power. The daughter of Freddy Trump, the highly accomplished, dashing eldest son of wealthy real estate...
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Purnell, Sonia
Paper Book
"A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... riveting and revelatory." --The New Yorker "Rigorous but rollicking." --The New York Times Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by Apple Books, The Economist<...
Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage That Shook Europe
Guy, John
Paper Book
"A fierce, scholarly tour-de-force. . . . Hunting the Falcon brilliantly shows how time, circumstance and politics combined to accelerate Anne's triumph and tragedy." --Tina Brown, New York Times Book Review "A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue, and betrayal, underpinned by...
Brothers
Van Halen, Alex
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this intimate and open account--nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you've ever read--Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate. Told...
Reagan: His Life and Legend
Boot, Max
Paper Book
In this "monumental and impressive" biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president's aides, friends, and family members, as...
John Lewis: A Life
Greenberg, David
Paper Book
New York Times Book Review Top 100 Books of 2024 Explore the "comprehensive and compelling" (Jon Meacham) biography of civil rights leader John Lewis, celebrated as "the conscience of Congress," through a narrative that weaves together exclusive interviews, never-before...
Melania
Trump, Melania
Paper Book
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller A #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller Melania is a compelling and inspirational memoir that offers a glimpse into the life of a remarkable woman who has navigated challenges with grace and determination.<...
Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
Hanna, Kathleen
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...
Alexander at the end of the worl : the forgotten final years of Alexander the Great
Kousser, Rachel Meredith
Paper Book
"A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure." --Ilyon Woo A riveting biography of Alexander the Great's final years, when the leader's insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy.   By 330 B.C.E., Alexander...
The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington's Most Private First Lady
Lee, Heath Hardage
Paper Book
A new, revolutionary look into the brilliant life of Pat Nixon.In America's collective consciousness, Pat Nixon has long been perceived as enigmatic. She was voted "Most Admired Woman in the World" in 1972 and made Gallup Poll's top ten list of most admired women fourteen times. She survived the...
Tiger, Tiger : his life, as it's never been told before
Patterson, James
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller! "Patterson's account is compelling" (Daily Mail). The only major author to have nine holes-in-one gets inside the mystery of Tiger Woods in a biography that reads like an unputdownable...
Ambition Monster: A Memoir
Romolini, Jennifer
Paper Book
An "intimate, intensely resonant memoir about workaholism, unresolved trauma, and the 'addictive nature of ambition'" (Harper's Bazaar), this is an anti-girlboss tale for our times for readers of Drinking: A Love Story and Uncanny Valley. ...
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Tan, Amy
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...
Coming Home
Griner, Brittney
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the nine-time women's basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist--a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home. "Compelling . . . An intimate,...
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America
Franklin, Sara B.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER An Economist Best Book of 2024 * A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2024 Legendary editor Judith Jones, the woman behind some of the most important authors of the 20th century--including Julia Child, Anne Frank, Edna Lewis, John...
Sharks don't sink : adventures of a rogue shark scientist
Graham, Jasmin
Paper Book
The uplifting story of a young Black scientist's challenging journey to flourish outside the traditional confines of academia, inspired by her innate connection to nature's most misunderstood animal-the shark. "Jasmin Graham has that winning combination of talent and grit needed to...
Consent : a memoir
Ciment, Jill
Paper Book
A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the acclaimed novelist ("A virtuoso"--Donna Seaman, Booklist), a deft, shocking memoir that asks whether we can judge past behavior by today's moral codes, as the author reevaluates her decades-long marriage to the forty-seven-year-old man...
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
Graham, Elyse
Paper Book
The untold story of the academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of the war At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today's CIA, was quickly...
Joyful Recollections of Trauma
Scheer, Paul
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Paul Scheer delivers a deeply funny, personal and moving account of how joy and pain are the perfect ingredients for a happy and funny life."--Amy Poehler "It's a hilarious essay collection about trauma. Yes, really."--People Magazine ...
The color of everything : a journey to quiet the chaos within
Richards, Cory
Paper Book
A renowned climber and National Geographic photographer shares his incredible adventures-and the early trauma that drove him to seek such heights. "An extraordinary memoirofmental illness that reads like a thriller."-Amy Ellis Nutt, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and...
Life's Too Short: A Memoir
Rucker, Darius
Paper Book
A raw, heartfelt memoir from Darius Rucker, the Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum selling lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish and country music sensation--told through the remarkable stories of the music that coursed through his life.
What a Fool Believes: A Memoir
McDonald, Michael
Paper Book
* INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A sweeping and evocative memoir from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy Award-winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, written with his friend, Emmy Award-nominated actor, comedian, and #1 New York Times ...

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