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Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated September 27, 2023
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Discover the global phenomenon that tells an unforgettable story of love, loss, and healing. "Compellingly artful . . . [a] blockbuster memoir."--The New Yorker It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century...
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Pageboy: A Memoir
Elliot Page
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Eloquent and enthralling..." --Washington Post "The emergence of our true selves is all of our life's work. Pageboy helps chart the course." --Jamie Lee Curtis "Searing, deeply...
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Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury
Drew Gilpin Faust
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A memoir of coming of age in a conservative Southern family in postwar America. To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. Two...
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THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND a memoir at the end of sight /
Leland, Andrew,
A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author's transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn about blindness as a rich culture all its own "The Country of the Blind is about seeing-but also about marriage and family and the moral and...
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PRESIDENT GARFIELD From Radical to Unifier
Goodyear, C. W.
"An eloquent and moving biography of our twentieth President." --James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom "A meticulously researched reappraisal." --Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
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THE WOMAN THEY WANTED shattering the illusion of the good Christian wife / Shannon Harris.
Harris, Shannon
"No one is coming to rescue me. I am going to have to rescue me." As a twenty-three-year-old singer and the soon-to-be wife of youth pastor Joshua Harris, nothing in Shannon Harris's secular upbringing prepared her to enter the world of conservative Christianity. Soon Joshua's...
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YOU COULD MAKE THIS PLACE BEAUTIFUL A Memoir
Smith, Maggie
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A bittersweet study in both grief and joy." --Time "A sparklingly beautiful memoir-in-vignettes" (Isaac Fitzgerald, New York Times bestselling author) that explores coming of age in your middle...
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When Your Back's Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned through a Lifetime of Adversity
Michael Oher
The NFL champion whose life inspired the hit movie The Blind Side is back with an inspiring and motivating book on overcoming any obstacle, no matter how tough the odds Millions of people became part of Michael Oher's story when they watched a version of him on the big...
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The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
Lara Love Hardin
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Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Christian Cooper
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up. "Wondrous . . ....
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Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere
Maria Bamford
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From "weird, scary, ingenious" (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems--from Dale...
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How to Say Babylon: A Memoir
Safiya Sinclair
A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! With echoes of Educated and Born a Crime, How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author's struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father's strict patriarchal views and...
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August Wilson: A Life
Patti Hartigan
The first authoritative biography of August Wilson, the most important and successful American playwright of the late 20th century, by a theater critic who knew him. August Wilson wrote a series of ten plays celebrating African American life in the 20th century, one play for each...
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Exit Interview: A Memoir
Kristi Coulter
A candid, intensely funny memoir of ambition, gender, and a grueling decade inside Amazon.com, from the author of Nothing Good Can Come from This. "A unique and brilliant book." --Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks What would you...
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Pulling the Chariot of the Sun: A Memoir of a Kidnapping
Shane McCrae
An unforgettable memoir by an award-winning poet about being kidnapped from his Black father and raised by his white supremacist grandparents. When Shane McCrae was three years old, his grandparents kidnapped him and took him to suburban Texas. His mom was white and his dad was...
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Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond
Henry Winkler
From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole. Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as "The Fonz" in the beloved Happy Days, has...
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Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History
Yunte Huang
Born into the steam and starch of a Chinese laundry, Anna May Wong (1905-1961) emerged from turn-of-the-century Los Angeles to become Old Hollywood's most famous Chinese American actress, a screen siren who captivated global audiences and signed her publicity photos--with a touch of defiance--...
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The Visionaries: Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil, and the Power of Philosophy in Dark Times
Wolfram Eilenberger
A soaring intellectual narrative starring the radical, brilliant, and provocative philosophers Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil, and Ayn Rand by the critically acclaimed author of Time of the Magicians, Wolfram Eilenberger The period from 1933 to 1943 was one...
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Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith
John Szwed
"The first comprehensive biography of this hipster magus . . . [John Szwed] allows different sides of Smith's personality to catch blades of sun. He brings the right mixture of reverence and comic incredulity to his task." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times Grammy...
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The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times
Michelle Obama
#1 NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2022 * In an inspiring follow-up to her critically acclaimed, #1 bestselling memoir Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for...
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Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton, and Me
Bernie Taupin
**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** An evocative, clear-eyed, and revealing memoir by Bernie Taupin, the lyrical master and long-time collaborator of Elton John "I loved writing, I loved chronicling life and every moment I was cogent,...
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Wandering through Life: A Memoir
Donna Leon
Theinternationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells herown adventurous life story as she enters her eighties In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, DonnaLeon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more...
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A Place for Us: A Memoir
Brandon J. Wolf
From one of the most vital and passionate LGBTQ+ activists comes a powerful memoir about self-discovery, community, love, and resilience in the face of adversity. You never forget your first. First kiss. First love. First heartache. They all burrow their way into your...
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Flirting with Danger: The Mysterious Life of Marguerite Harrison, Socialite Spy
Janet Wallach
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE "A compelling story that pulsates with the energy of a thriller"--The Wall Street Journal "Suspense, élan and a generous helping of glamour: Think George Smiley in a mink-trimmed coat."--The New York Times Book...
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Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir
Beth Nguyen
From the award-winning author of Stealing Buddha's Dinner, a powerful memoir of a mother-daughter relationship fragmented by war and resettlement. At the end of the Vietnam War, when Beth Nguyen was eight months old, she and her father, sister, grandmother, and uncles fled...
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THE RYE BREAD MARRIAGE How I Found Happiness With a Partner I'll Never Understand
Weissman, Michaele,
How do partners in long-lasting relationships live together without driving each other up a wall? After forty years of marriage, Michaele Weissman has a few answers. When they first meet, John-- a dashing European, a Latvian refugee, a physics PhD--is...
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FRIENDS, LOVERS, AND THE BIG TERRIBLE THING a memoir /
Perry, Matthew,
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The BELOVED STAR OF FRIENDS takes us behind the scenes of the hit sitcom and his struggles with addiction in this "CANDID, DARKLY FUNNY...POIGNANT" memoir (The New York Times) ...
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While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence
Meg Kissinger
From award-winning journalist Meg Kissinger, a searing memoir of a family besieged by mental illness, as well as an incisive exploration of the systems that failed them and a testament to the love that sustained them. Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg...
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STRIP TEES a memoir of millennial Los Angeles /
Flannery, Kate,
"Compelling and brave, Kate's story is a must read for all young women learning how to navigate adulthood and identity." --Lili Reinhart, New York Times bestselling author "Racy...devourable, rendered in efficient, colorful scenes." -...
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Don't Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir
Lucinda Williams
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The iconic singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy winner opens up about her traumatic childhood in the Deep South, her years of being overlooked in the music industry, and the stories that inspired her enduring songs in this "bracingly candid chronicle" (The...
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MY FRIEND ANNE FRANK The Inspiring and Heartbreaking True Story of Best Friends Torn Apart and Reunited Against All Odds
Pick-goslar, Hannah/ Kraft, Dina (CON)
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Both heartbreaking and life-affirming" (Edith Eger, author of The Choice), the long-awaited memoir of Holocaust survivor Hannah Pick-Goslar, who shares an intimate look into her life and...
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It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs
Mary Louise Kelly
An Instant New York Times Bestseller "This voice-driven, relatable, heartfelt and emotional story will make any parent tear up." --Good Morning America, "15 Delightful Books Perfect for Spring Reading" Operating Instructions...
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A Living Remedy: A Memoir
Nicole Chung
Named a Best Book of the Year by: Time * Harper's Bazaar * Esquire * Booklist * USA Today * Elle From the bestselling author of ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW comes a searing memoir of family, class and grief--a daughter's search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she...
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No Ordinary Assignment: A Memoir
Jane Ferguson
"A haunting memoir of disarming honesty. . . a remarkable testament to the anguish and the beauty of foreign correspondence."--Roger Cohen, New York Times Paris bureau chief and author of An Affirming Flame From award-winning journalist Jane Ferguson, an unflinching memoir of...
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BOGIE & BACALL The Surprising True Story of Hollywood's Greatest Love Affair
Mann, William J.
From the noted Hollywood biographer and author of The Contender comes this celebration of the great American love story--the romance between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart--capturing its complexity, contradictions, and challenges as never before. In Bogie & Bacall, William...
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Strong Female Character
Fern Brady
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * "Witty, dry, and gimlet-eyed, this is a necessary corrective in a world where Autistic women are all either written off as quiet and docile, or erased entirely." --Devon Price, Ph.D., author of Unmasking Autism Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told...
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The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions
Jonathan Rosen
"Brave and nuanced...an act of tremendous compassion and a literary triumph." - The New York Times "Immensely emotional and unforgettably haunting." - Wall Street Journal Acclaimed author Jonathan Rosen's haunting investigation of the forces that led his...
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Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain
Andrew McCarthy
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BARNES & NOBLE BEST BOOK OF 2023 An intimate, funny, and poignant travel memoir following New York Times bestselling author and actor Andrew McCarthy as he walks the Camino de...
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THE REVOLUTIONARY SAMUEL ADAMS
Schiff, Stacy
This "glorious" revelatory biography from a Pulitzer Prize winner is about the most essential Founding Father (Ron Chernow)--the one who stood behind the change in thinking that produced the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson asserted that if there was any leader of the...
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CONGRATULATIONS, THE BEST IS OVER! essays /
Thomas, R. Eric,
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The beloved author of Here for It returns with an all-new collection of heartening, deeply relatable, and laugh-out-loud essays about what happens after happily ever after. "Funny, insightful, and hopeful . . . a profound meditation on what it...
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A LIFE OF ONE'S OWN Nine Women Writers Begin Again
Biggs, Joanna
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by the New York Times, The Week, Vulture, Elle, and The Millions A piercing blend of memoir, criticism, and biography examining how women writers across the centuries carved out intellectual freedom for themselves--and how others might do the same ...
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All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir
Beth Moore
New York Times, Publishers Weekly,and Wall Street Journalbestseller!An incredibly thoughtful, disarmingly funny, and intensely vulnerable glimpse into the life and ministry of a woman familiar to many but known by few."It's a peculiar thing, this having lived long...
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