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
Ron Chernow
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
Geraldine Brooks
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
Bill Gates
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...
Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up
Dave Barry
Paper Book
America's most beloved wiseass finally tells his life story with all the humor you'd expect from a man who made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything. How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate...
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir
Neko Case
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
Shari Franke
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
Molly Jong-Fast
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
Pope Francis
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
Dan Nadel
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
Laurie Woolever
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...
Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put
Annie B. Jones
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.<...
Bibliophobia: A Memoir
Sarah Chihaya
Paper Book
"A wise, tremendously moving exploration of what it means to seek companionship and understanding, in books and in life."--Hua Hsu, author of Stay True "[A] stirring and sparkling new memoir."--The Washington Post A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY...
Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman
Brooke Shields
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
Patrick Hutchison
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 and Ruminations
Alton Brown
From Alton Brown, the New York Times bestselling cookbook author and beloved culinary food personality, a debut collection of personal essays defined by his flair, wit, and insight. From cameraman to chef, musician to food scientist, Alton Brown has had a...
The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had
Helen Rappaport
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
Mark Hoppus
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
Susan Morrison
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...
Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats
Courtney Gustafson
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken--and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats. AN NPR AND CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE...
Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West
Dane Huckelbridge
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
Paul Lisicky
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
Keith McNally
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,...
A Change of Habit: Leaving Behind My Husband, Career, and Everything I Owned to Become a Nun
Sister Monica Clare
Paper Book
The soulful, hilarious memoir of a chronic people pleaser who surprised everyone in her life by abandoning an unfulfilling career and marriage to join a convent-and learned how much we stand to gain when we fully embrace our authentic selves "A Change of Habit follows...
Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic
Douglas Boin
Paper Book
One of Rome's most powerful women, Clodia has been maligned over two thousand years as a promiscuous, husband-murdering harlot--thanks to her starring role in one of Cicero's most famous speeches in the Forum. But Cicero was lying, in defense of his own property and interests. Like so many women...
You'll Never Believe Me: A Life of Lies, Second Tries, and Other Stuff I Should Only Tell My Therapist
Kari Ferrell
Paper Book
"A captivating, sharp and very funny memoir." --New York Times Book Review The compelling, edgy, compassionate, laugh-out-loud memoir from Kari Ferrell, formerly known as the "Hipster Grifter" Before Anna Delvey, before the Tinder Swindler,...
Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us
Jennifer Finney Boylan
" What is the difference between men and women? Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author of She's Not There and co-author of Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, examines the divisions--as well as the common ground--between the genders, and reflects on her own experiences, both...
Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly
Hannah Selinger
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? ...
Raised by a Serial Killer: Discovering the Truth About My Father
April Balascio
Paper Book
The untold story behind the hit true crime podcast The Clearing, this "engrossing and absolutely terrifying read" (San Francisco Chronicle) traces one daughter's moving quest to understand the truth about her father, the serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards, while confronting cold...
The Woman Who Knew Everyone: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washington’s Most Famous Hostess
Meryl Gordon
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...
Making the Best of What's Left: When We're Too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered
Judith Viorst
Paper Book
From the bestselling author Judith Viorst comes a witty and poignant exploration of the joys and sorrows of life's twilight years--one that leaves us laughing, pondering, and grateful for the moments we have left. In a career that has spanned more than fifty years, Judith Viorst...
This Dog Will Change Your Life
Elias Weiss Friedman
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . A uniquely insightful, uplifting, emotional, and informative book that shows us how dogs make our lives better by making us better people, from the Dogist The stunning hardcover of This Dog Will Change Your Life features a custom...
Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous, Scandalous Story of Aimee Semple McPherson
Claire Hoffman
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...
How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty
Bonny Reichert
Paper Book
An "absolutely transformative" (People) culinary memoir about the relationship between food and family--sustenance and survival--from a chef, award-winning journalist, and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. "Beautifully written, heartbreaking and hopeful."--Ruth Reichl, New...
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
Amanda Hess
Paper Book
"Second Life is not only a book for parents; it's for anyone intrigued (and concerned) by the ways in which our digital footprints impact the circle of life itself." --Elle "Engrossing....With a reporter's gimlet eye, Hess lenses out from her personal experience.....
I'll Have What She's Having
Chelsea Handler
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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