Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated November 26, 2025
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Mark Twain
Chernow, Ron
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller * A Barack Obama Summer Reading List Pick * A TIME Best Book of 2025 * A Washington Post and New York Times Notable Book "Comprehensive, enthralling . . . Mark Twain flows like the Mississippi River, its prose...
Memorial days : a memoir
Brooks, Geraldine
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller · A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 · A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2025 · An NPR Best Book of 2025 "Brooks tracks the geography of grief with patience and grace as she comes to terms with the...
Source code : my beginnings
Gates, Bill
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...
The house of my mother : a daughter's quest for freedom
Franke, Shari
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...
How to lose your mother : a daughter's memoir
Jong-Fast, Molly
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2025 "With propulsive humor and perspective on her annus horribilis, Jong-Fast achieves the memoir's transformative work of alchemy, arming us all with lines so good you won't just...
Hope : the autobiography
Francis, Pope
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,...
Crumb : a cartoonist's life
Nadel, Dan
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post "A definitive and ideal biography--pound for pound, one of the sleekest and most judicious I've ever read." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times A critical darling, Crumb...
Care and feeding : a memoir
Woolever, Laurie
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...
Say everything : a memoir
Skye, Ione
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...
Ordinary time : lessons learned while staying put
Jones, Annie B.
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.<...
Brooke Shields is not allowed to get old : thoughts on aging as a woman
Shields, Brooke
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....
Cabin : off-the-grid adventures with a clueless craftsman
Hutchison, Patrick (Journalist)
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...
Food for thought : essays & ruminations
Brown, Alton
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,...
The rebel Romanov : Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the empress Russia never had
Rappaport, Helen
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Romanov Sisters comes the story of a courageous young Imperial Grand Duchess who scandalized Europe in search of freedom. In 1795, Catherine the Great of Russia was in search of a bride for her grandson...
Fahrenheit-182 : a memoir
Hoppus, Mark
Paper Book
***The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!*** A smart, funny, and refreshing memoir from Mark Hoppus, the vocalist, bassist, and founding member of pop-punk band blink-182. This is the story of an angst-filled kid from the desert, navigating the chaos of his parents' bitter...
Lorne : the man who invented Saturday Night Live
Morrison, Susan
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * AN NPR AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * 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...
Paper doll : notes from a late bloomer
Mulvaney, Dylan
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 Actress and content...
Queen of all mayhem : the blood-soaked life & mysterious death of Belle Starr, the most dangerous woman in the West
Huckelbridge, Dane
Paper Book
A riveting, deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West.  On February 3, 1889, just two days shy of her forty-first birthday, Myra Maybelle Shirley--better known at that point by her outlaw...
Song so wild and blue : a life with the music of Joni Mitchell
Lisicky, Paul
Paper Book
"An intimate, impressionistic Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man mode, interwoven with Mitchell myths and parallels."-- New York Times Book Review "An astonishing exploration of what it means to lead an artist's life--how to last, dig deep, change, to embrace one's voice while in...
I regret almost everything : a memoir
McNally, Keith
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller The entertaining, irreverent, and surprisingly moving memoir by the visionary restaurateur behind such iconic New York institutions as Balthazar and Pastis. A memoir by the legendary proprietor of Balthazar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern,...
Spellbound : my life as a dyslexic wordsmith
Hanley, Phil
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
Selinger, Hannah
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? ...
The woman who knew everyone : the power of Perle Mesta, Washington's most famous hostess
Gordon, Meryl
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...
Sister, sinner : the miraculous life and mysterious disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson
Hoffman, Claire (Journalist)
Paper Book
A Must-Read: The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Millions, Alta "Gripping . . . Wonderfully thorough, the type of biography in which you learn just the right amount about everything . . . Magnificent." --Casey Cep, The...
Written in the waters : a memoir of history, home, and belonging
Roberts, Tara
Paper Book
One woman's epic journey to trace the global slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean in this searing memoir for fans of Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped. An adventurous blend of personal and cultural history from a star National Geographic Explorer...
I'll have what she's having
Handler, Chelsea
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...

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