Biography/Memoir

Discover the stories of writers, artists, musicians, politicians, taste-makers, and others whose lives invite reflection on our concepts and experiences of culture; what (and who) it includes and how it changes.

Working on Summer Reading Book BINGO? Find more booklists to help at go.lincc.org/hvBINGObooks.

Updated May 16, 2026
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
I heard her call my name: a memoir of transition :
Sante, Lucy
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Slate "Reading this book is a joy . . . much to say about the trans journey and will undoubtedly become a standard for those in need of...
Pretty : a memoir
KB
Paper Book
Winner of the 2025 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction and the 2025 GLCA New Writers Award * By a prize-winning, young Black trans writer of outsized talent, a fierce and disciplined memoir about queerness, masculinity, and race. Even as it shines light on the beauty...
Raising hare : a memoir
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE * A fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman's unlikely friendship with a wild hare.
I'm that girl : living the power of my dreams
Chiles, Jordan
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller With a Foreword by Simone Biles The sensational two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles's heartfelt, inspiring memoir chronicling her unlikely path to the podium--including the unprecedented challenges, the joy of winning, the crushing pain of defeat,...
One day, everyone will have always been against this
El Akkad, Omar
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values. "[A] bracing memoir and manifesto." --The New York...
Where rivers part : a story of my mother's life
Yang, Kao Kalia
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,...
Memorial days
Brooks, Geraldine
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 · A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2025 · A Time Best Memoir of 2025 · Named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR,...
Saving five : a memoir of hope
Nguyen, Amanda
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. Natalie Portman's Book Club Pick for March. "Amanda's story--innovatively told by versions of herself at different ages--underscores the lasting power of speaking...
This beautiful, ridiculous city : a graphic memoir
Sohini, Kay
Paper Book
A vibrant graphic memoir of a woman--an immigrant, a survivor, a writer, a foodie, and, ultimately, an optimist--who rebuilds her life in New York City while recovering from the trauma of an abusive relationship. "An intimate portrait of the city not only as a place of dreams,...
Fearless and free : a memoir
Baker, Josephine
Paper Book
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: The TODAY Show, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, W Magazine, Oprah Daily, LibraryReads Praised as "funny and witty" by Kwame Alexander on the TODAY show, now published in the US for the first time, Fearless and Free is the...
The harder I fight, the more I love you : a memoir
Case, Neko
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
Franke, Shari
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"" open="" /> "" open="" /> "Heart-wrenchingly personal...dizzying." --Rolling Stone"" open="" /> "" open="" /> From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral...
Shattered : a memoir
Kureishi, Hanif
Paper Book
From acclaimed author and playwright Hanif Kureishi comes an urgent and stunning medical memoir about rebuilding a new life in the wake of devastating physical loss. In late 2022, in Rome, Hanif Kureishi had a fall. When he came to, he realized he could no longer walk. He could do...
Medicine River : a story of survival and the legacy of Indian boarding schools
Pember, Mary Annette
Paper Book
A sweeping and deeply personal account of Native American boarding schools in the United States, and the legacy of abuse wrought by them in an attempt to destroy Native culture and life FINALIST FOR THE PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, TIME,...
Careless people : a cautionary tale of power, greed, and lost idealism
Wynn-Williams, Sarah
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, AP, THE ECONOMIST, SLATE, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, AND MORE!
Paper girl : a memoir of home and family in a fractured America
Macy, Beth
Paper Book
An Instant National Bestseller . Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award . One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025 . Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and Vanity Fair "There couldn't be a timelier book . . . searingly poignant, essential ....
Wild thing : a life of Paul Gauguin
Prideaux, Sue
Paper Book
Paul Gauguin's legend as a transgressive genius arises as much from his biography as his aesthetically daring Polynesian paintings. Gauguin is chiefly known for his pictures that eschewed convention, to celebrate the beauty of an indigenous people and their culture. In this gorgeously illustrated...
Mother Mary comes to me
Roy, Arundhati
Paper Book
Named One of The New York Times Book Review's Top Ten Books of the Year Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography | Finalist for the Kirkus Prize | Nominated for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction One of the best-reviewed books of the...

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