Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated June 28, 2024
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Making it so : a memoir
Stewart, Patrick
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER The renowned and bestselling memoir--written with "insight, truth, and passion" (Sir Ian McKellen)--from iconic, beloved actor and living legend Sir Patrick Stewart. From his...
Elon Musk
Isaacson, Walter
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...
The woman in me
Spears, Britney
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by Elle, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, NPR, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, and more! "In Britney Spears's memoir, she's stronger than ever." --The New York Times Over 2 million...
My name is Barbra
Streisand, Barbra
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,...
The French ingredient : a memoir ; making a life in Paris one lesson at a time
Bertch, Jane
Paper Book
The inspiring and delicious memoir of an American woman who had the gall to open a cooking school in Paris--a true story of triumphing over French naysayers and falling in love with a city along the way "An engaging, multilayered story of a woman navigating innumerable cultural...
The wives : a memoir
Gorrindo, Simone
Paper Book
"[Simone] Gorrindo's prose is inviting and fluid, and her storytelling is intimate and vivid...[an] engaging, evocative memoir." --The New York Times Book Review "A hopeful, unifying memoir." --People This profoundly intimate memoir about...
Hits, flops, and other illusions : my fortysomething years in Hollywood
Zwick, Edward
Paper Book
This heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last Night, and Glory, creator of the show thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life,...
How to say Babylon : a memoir
Sinclair, Safiya
Paper Book
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner A New York Times Notable Book A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! A Best Book of 2023 by the New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, Shelf Awareness<...
The age of magical overthinking : notes on modern irrationality
Montell, Amanda
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and...
Our fight
Rousey, Ronda
Paper Book
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! From New York Times bestselling author and trailblazing athlete Ronda Rousey, an unfiltered chronicle of loss, resilience and finding meaning in life's journey.  From the moment she...
Not your China doll : the wild and shimmering life of Anna May Wong
Salisbury, Katie Gee
Paper Book
Before Constance Wu, Sandra Oh, Awkwafina, or Lucy Liu, there was Anna May Wong. In her time, she was a glamorous starlet, flapper, and fashion icon who graced Oscar-winning films and who was mobbed by clamoring fans and the adoring press both here and abroad. Anna May Wong was plucked from her...
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...
Grief is for people
Crosley, Sloane
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 Exchange, Sunset, and...
Briefly perfectly human : making an authentic life by getting real about the end
Arthur, Alua
Paper Book
A deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives, from America's preeminent death doula. For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at...
One way back : a memoir
Ford, Christine Blasey
Paper Book
Now a New York Times bestseller "A blisteringly personal memoir...a thoughtful exploration of what it feels like to become a main character in a major American reckoning." --The Washington Post "An insightful tour de force." --People<...
Burn book : a tech love story
Swisher, Kara
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller From award-winning journalist Kara Swisher comes a witty, scathing, but fair accounting of the tech industry and its founders who wanted to change the world but broke it instead. "Swisher, the bad-ass journalist and...
A very private school : a memoir
Spencer, Charles Spencer, Earl
Paper Book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER "A tour de force." --The Washington Post In this poignant memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at age eight to attend boarding school. A Very Private School...
The rulebreaker : the life and times of Barbara Walters
Page, Susan
Paper Book
A "smart, juicy, deeply reported" (Katie Couric) biography of the most successful female broadcaster of all time--Barbara Walters--a woman whose personal demons fueled an ambition that broke all the rules and finally gave women a permanent place on the air, written by bestselling author Susan...
The house of hidden meanings : a memoir
RuPaul
Paper Book
***An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!*** From international drag superstar and pop culture icon RuPaul, comes his most revealing and personal work to date--a deeply intimate memoir of discovery, found family, and self-acceptance. The House of Hidden Meanings is a self-portrait of the...
My side of the river : a memoir
Gutierrez, Elizabeth Camarillo
Paper Book
A New York Times Editor's PickA People Magazine Best Book to Read in February A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of 2024 "My Side of the River is both fierce and poetic. It brilliantly reframes border writing while embracing nature and...
The swans of Harlem : five Black ballerinas, fifty years of sisterhood, and their reclamation of a groundbreaking history
Valby, Karen
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE * The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history--until now. "This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!" -...
There's always this year : on basketball and ascension
Abdurraqib, Hanif
Paper Book
A poignant, personal reflection on basketball, talent and allegiance, and of course, LeBron James-from the author of the National Book Award finalist A Little Devil in America While Hanif Abdurraqib is an acclaimed author, a gifted poet, and one of our culture's most...
A good bad boy : Luke Perry and how a generation grew up
Wappler, Margaret
Paper Book
An artful and contemplative tribute to the late actor famed for his role as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210. Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. There have...
Radiant : the life and line of Keith Haring
Gooch, Brad
Paper Book
"It's all here: the grade school Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss; the adolescent acid trips; the fondness for Post-it notes and flying saucers; the long tails of Dubuffet and Burroughs; the encounters with Madonna, Warhol, and one game-changer of a subway Johnny Walker Red poster....
Alphabetical diaries
Heti, Sheila
Paper Book
A thrilling confessional from the award-winning, beloved author of Pure Colour. Sheila Heti kept a record of her thoughts over a ten-year period, then arranged the sentences from A to Z. Passionate and reflective, joyful and despairing, these are her alphabetical diaries...
The manicurist's daughter : a memoir
Lieu, Susan
Paper Book
An emotionally raw memoir about the crumbling of the American Dream and a daughter of refugees who searches for answers after her mother dies during plastic surgery. Susan Lieu has long been searching for answers. About her family's past and about her own future. Refugees from...
The great abolitionist : Charles Sumner and the fight for a more perfect union
Puleo, Stephen
Paper Book
The groundbreaking biography of a forgotten civil rights hero. In the tempestuous mid-19th century, as slavery consumed Congressional debate and America careened toward civil war and split apart-when the very future of the nation hung in the balance-Charles Sumner's voice rang...
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald : the jazz singer who transformed American song
Tick, Judith
Paper Book
Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) possessed one of the twentieth century's most astonishing voices. In this first major biography since Fitzgerald's death, historian Judith Tick offers a sublime portrait of this ambitious risk-taker whose exceptional musical spontaneity made her a transformational...
This American ex-wife : how I ended my marriage and started my life
Lenz, Lyz
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A deeply validating manifesto on the gender politics of marriage (bad) and divorce (actually pretty good!) in America today, and an argument that the former needs a reboot--from journalist and proud divorcée Lyz Lenz "This American Ex-Wife...
Carson McCullers : a life
Dearborn, Mary V.
Paper Book
The first major biography in more than twenty years of one of America's greatest writers, based on newly available letters and journals V. S. Pritchett called her "a genius." Gore Vidal described her as a "beloved novelist of singular brilliance . . . Of all the Southern writers,...

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