Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated November 6, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
Salman Rushdie
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   On the morning of August 12,...
On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service
Anthony Fauci M.D.
Paper Book
Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous - and most revered - doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was...
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir
Griffin Dunne
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller!  "Warm and perceptive." --New York Times "Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story." --Washington Post "Dunne is a prospector for the incandescent detail."  --Los Angeles Times ...
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,...
A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
Tia Levings
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...
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."...
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...
Sonny Boy: A Memoir
Al Pacino
Paper Book
The Instant New York Times Bestseller "The book is a beautiful trip." (New York Times Magazine) * "Soulful . . .  Feels like hanging out within a history of American movies over the last 50 years." (Los Angeles Times) * "Startlingly...
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
Dava Sobel
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...
All That Glitters: A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art
Orlando Whitfield
Paper Book
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 development as a series for HBO Orlando Whitfield and Inigo...
True Gretch : what I've learned about life, leadership, and everything in between
Whitmer, Gretchen
Paper Book
From trailblazing Michigan governor and rising Democratic star Gretchen Whitmer comes an unconventionally honest, personal, and funny account of her remarkable life and career, full of insights that guided her through a global pandemic, showdowns with high-profile bullies, and even a kidnapping...
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller from "America's historian-in-chief" (New York magazine). An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America's most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography,...
Men have called her crazy : a memoir
Tendler, Annamarie
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...
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,...
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Sonia Purnell
Paper Book
"A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... riveting and revelatory." --The New Yorker "a must-read book of Fall 2024" --People Magazine "Rigorous but rollicking." --The New York Times<...
Hunting the Falcon : Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage That Shook Europe
Guy, John/ Fox, Julia
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...
Consent: A Memoir
Jill Ciment
Paper Book
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 she met when she was seventeen, revisiting a...
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...
The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards
Jessica Waite
Paper Book
"You will stay up all night reading this gem" (Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author) about a widow whose life is turned upside down when she uncovers the truth about her late husband. A lyrical, witty, and deeply moving memoir of betrayal and forgiveness.
Group Living and Other Recipes: A Memoir
Lola Milholland
Paper Book
"An affirmation and celebration of our deep and radical connections with the world and each other . . . Reading this book is like finding a friend."--Ruth Ozeki A spirited and timely exploration of group living that encourages readers to reconsider the meaning of family and home....
Brothers
Alex Van Halen
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...
John Lewis: A Life
David Greenberg
Paper Book
A comprehensive, authoritative biography of Civil Rights icon John Lewis, "the conscience of the Congress," drawing on interviews with Lewis and approximately 275 others who knew him at various stages of his life, as well as never-before-used FBI files and documents. Born into...
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson
Paul French
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Paul French examines a controversial and revealing period in the early life of the legendary Wallis, Duchess of Windsor-her one year in China. Before she was the Duchess of Windsor, Bessie Wallis Warfield was Mrs. Wallis Spencer,...
Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
Rachel Kousser
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...
Feh : a memoir
Auslander, Shalom
Paper Book
Shalom Auslander was raised like a veal in a dysfunctional family in the Orthodox community of Monsey, New York: the son of an alcoholic father; a guilt-wielding mother; and a violent, overbearing God. Now, as he reaches middle age, Auslander begins to suspect that what plagues him is something...
The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon: The Life and Times of Washington’s Most Private First Lady
Heath Hardage Lee
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...
Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery
Theodore H. Schwartz
Paper Book
We've all heard the phrase 'it's not brain surgery.' But what exactly is brain surgery? It's a profession that is barely a hundred years old and profoundly connects two human beings, but few know how it works, or its history. How did early neurosurgeons come to understand the human brain - an...
Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice
David S. Tatel
Paper Book
The "moving, thoughtful, and inspiring memoir" (Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy) by one of America's most accomplished public servants and legal thinkers--who spent years denying and working around his blindness, before finally embracing it as an essential part of his identity....
Tiger, Tiger: The Untold Story of the G.O.A.T.
James Patterson
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
Jennifer Romolini
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. ...
Coming Home
Griner, Brittney
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * 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, honest recollection of Griner's time...
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America
Sara B. Franklin
Paper Book
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 Updike, and Sylvia Plath--finally gets her due in this "surprising, granular, luminous, and path-breaking biography" (Edward Hirsch,...
The Uptown Local: Joy, Death, and Joan Didion: A Memoir
Cory Leadbeater
Paper Book
A brilliant debut memoir about a young writer--struggling with depression, family issues, and addiction--and his life-changing decade working for Joan Didion As an aspiring novelist in his early twenties, Cory Leadbeater was presented with an opportunity to work for a well-known writer...
Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist
Jasmin Graham
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...
Hitler's people : the faces of the Third Reich
Evans, Richard J.
Paper Book
"A fascinating and instructive book . . . elegantly written and perceptive." --Wall Street Journal "Kaleidoscopic . . . A fascinating exploration of individual agency that never loses sight of the larger context . . . Just the kind of probing, nuanced and unsparing...
Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
Dan Jones
Paper Book
"Ambitious... With meticulous research and in lively style, Jones presents us with the man beyond the Shakespeare character."--The New York Times "The best biography yet of England's greatest king."--Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs and...
Joyful Recollections of Trauma
Paul Scheer
Paper Book
From award-winning actor and comedian Paul Scheer, a candid and humorous memoir-in-essays on coming to terms with childhood trauma and finding the joy in embracing your authentic self. Paul Scheer has entertained countless fans and podcast listeners with stories about the odd...
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...
Do Something: Coming of Age Amid the Glitter and Doom of '70s New York
Guy Trebay
Paper Book
An evocative coming-of-age memoir--the story of the education of a wayward wild child and acidhead who, searching for meaning and purpose, found refuge in the demimonde of the ruined but magical metropolis that was New York City in the 1970s. "In his beautiful memoir, Do Something...
Unleashed: Memoirs from Former Prime Minister and Bestselling Author Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Paper Book
Shattering the mold of the traditional political memoir, Unleashed is a candid, unrestrained, and revealing book by Boris Johnson, the Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  In Unleashed, Johnson takes readers through all the big decisions during his time in...
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...
Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World
Anupretta Das
Paper Book
From the finance editor of The New York Times, an insightful and illuminating examination of Bill Gates--one of the most powerful and provocative figures of the past four decades--and an exploration of our national fixation on billionaires. Few billionaires have been in...
Life's Too Short: A Memoir
Darius Rucker
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.
Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West
John J. Sullivan
Paper Book
A memoir of service by the American ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when Putin invaded Ukraine, Midnight in Moscow is the first behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their nadir--and a playbook for our unfolding confrontation. ...
The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty
Valerie Bauerlein
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The definitive account of the Murdaugh murders. Forget the podcasts, the TV specials, and the documentaries--this is the version of the story you'll want to read. And once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down."--John Carreyrou, Pulitzer...
The dragon from Chicago : the untold story of an American reporter in Nazi Germany
Toler, Pamela D.
Paper Book
For fans of unheralded women's stories, a captivating look at Sigrid Schultz-one of the earliest reporters to warn Americans of the rising threat of the Nazi regime "No other American correspondent in Berlin knew so much of what was going on behind the scene as did Sigrid Schultz." -...
Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life
Nicholas D. Kristof
Paper Book
From New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and best-selling author Nicholas D. Kristof, an intimate and gripping memoir about a life in journalism "Nick Kristof takes us behind the scenes as he risks his life to shine a light on the world's most pressing problems...
What a Fool Believes: A Memoir
Michael McDonald
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 ...
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...
Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones: A Memoir
Priyanka Mattoo
Paper Book
From a wry, insightful, and very funny new voice, here is one woman's search for home, from Kashmir to England to Saudi Arabia to Michigan to Rome and, finally, to Los Angeles--standalone essays that together form a sweeping portrait of a peripatetic life. "I would follow Priyanka...

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