Biography and Memoir

Discover the stories of their lives, in recent biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
Updated December 5, 2024
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Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
Salman Rushdie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring--and surviving--an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him   A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR:...
On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service
Anthony Fauci M.D.
Paper Book
Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous - and most revered - doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was...
The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi
Paper Book
The most powerful woman in American political history tells the story of her transformation from housewife to House Speaker--how she became a master legislator, a key partner to presidents, and the most visible leader of the Trump resistance. When, at age forty-six, Nancy Pelosi,...
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir
Griffin Dunne
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller * A TIME Must Read Book of the Year "Warm and perceptive." --New York Times "Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story." --Washington Post "Dunne is a prospector for the incandescent detail....
The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir
Kelly Bishop
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Goodreads Choice Awards Winner "Come for the Gilmore Girls anecdotes, stay for the revealing truths about what it takes to build a lifelong career in and out of Hollywood" (The A.V. Club) in...
A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
Tia Levings
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller: "Today it hit me when he hit me, blood shaking in my brain. Maybe there wasn't a savior coming. Maybe it was up to me to save me." Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia...
Sociopath: A Memoir
Patric Gagne
Paper Book
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir of the author's struggle to understand her own sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. "A cross between a podcast by relationship therapist Esther Perel and a salacious tell-all."...
Elon Musk
Walter Isaacson
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller from the author of Steve Jobs--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 electric vehicles, private...
Sonny Boy: A Memoir
Al Pacino
Paper Book
The Instant New York Times Bestseller * One of People Magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year "The rare celebrity memoir that's also a literary read. As funny as it is reflecive, it shares stories behind Pacino's hardscrabble upbringing, classic films and journey to icon...
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
Dava Sobel
Paper Book
The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo's Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who...
Men Have Called Her Crazy: A Memoir
Annamarie Tendler
Paper Book
*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* "This book is so many things I didn't know I needed: a testament to the work of healing, a raw howl of anger, and an indictment of misogyny's insipid, predictable, infuriating reign." --Carmen Maria Machado, author of the National Book Award...
Lovely One: A Memoir
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her "vulnerable, tender, and infinitely inspirational" (Oprah Daily) memoir, the first Black woman to ever be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States chronicles her extraordinary life story. "A billowingly triumphant...
True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between
Gretchen Whitmer
Paper Book
From trailblazing Michigan governor and rising Democratic star Gretchen Whitmer comes an unconventionally honest, personal, and funny account of her remarkable life and career, full of insights that guided her through a global pandemic, showdowns with high-profile bullies, and even a kidnapping...
Who Could Ever Love You: A Family Memoir
Mary L. Trump
Paper Book
Instant New York Times and USA Today nonfiction bestseller! A New York Times Nonfiction Book to Read this Fall A People Magazine Best Book of September The Week Five Riveting Books to Take You Through September<...
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller from "America's historian-in-chief" (New York magazine). An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America's most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography,...
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Sonia Purnell
Paper Book
"A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... riveting and revelatory." --The New Yorker "Rigorous but rollicking." --The New York Times Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by Apple Books, The Economist<...
Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage That Shook Europe
John Guy
Paper Book
"A fierce, scholarly tour-de-force. . . . Hunting the Falcon brilliantly shows how time, circumstance and politics combined to accelerate Anne's triumph and tragedy." --Tina Brown, New York Times Book Review "A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue, and betrayal, underpinned by...
The Spamalot Diaries
Eric Idle
Paper Book
"A rollicking account of the making of the Broadway musical Spamalot and an irresistible and unfiltered ode to the art of live theater. Fans will love this tantalizing glimpse behind the curtain."-Publishers Weekly (starred review) From comedy legend Eric Idle, the...
Brothers
Alex Van Halen
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this intimate and open account--nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you've ever read--Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate. Told...
Reagan: His Life and Legend
Max Boot
Paper Book
In this "monumental and impressive" biography, Max Boot, the distinguished political columnist, illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan, revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the fortieth president's aides, friends, and family members, as...
Melania
Melania Trump
Paper Book
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller A #1 Publishers Weekly Bestseller Melania is a compelling and inspirational memoir that offers a glimpse into the life of a remarkable woman who has navigated challenges with grace and determination.<...
Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk
Kathleen Hanna
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want Kathleen Hanna's band Bikini Kill...
The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards
Jessica Waite
Paper Book
"You will stay up all night reading this gem" (Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author) about a widow whose life is turned upside down when she uncovers the truth about her late husband. A lyrical, witty, and deeply moving memoir of betrayal and forgiveness.
Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
Rachel Kousser
Paper Book
"A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure." --Ilyon Woo A riveting biography of Alexander the Great's final years, when the leader's insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy.   By 330 B.C.E., Alexander...
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Amy Tan
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...
Coming Home
Brittney Griner
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the nine-time women's basketball icon and two-time Olympic gold medalist--a raw, revelatory account of her unfathomable detainment in Russia and her journey home. "Compelling . . . An intimate,...
The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America
Sara B. Franklin
Paper Book
An Economist Best Book of 2024 Legendary editor Judith Jones, the woman behind some of the most important authors of the 20th century--including Julia Child, Anne Frank, Edna Lewis, John Updike, and Sylvia Plath--finally gets her due in this "surprising, granular, luminous,...
Hitler's People: The Faces of the Third Reich
Richard J. Evans
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews "A fascinating and instructive book . . . elegantly written and perceptive." --Wall Street Journal "Kaleidoscopic . . . A fascinating exploration of individual agency that never loses sight of the larger...
Consent: A Memoir
Jill Ciment
Paper Book
A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the acclaimed novelist ("A virtuoso"--Donna Seaman, Booklist), a deft, shocking memoir that asks whether we can judge past behavior by today's moral codes, as the author reevaluates her decades-long marriage to the forty-seven-year-old man...
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
Elyse Graham
Paper Book
The untold story of the academics who became OSS spies, invented modern spycraft, and helped turn the tide of the war At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today's CIA, was quickly...
Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
Dan Jones
Paper Book
"Ambitious... With meticulous research and in lively style, Jones presents us with the man beyond the Shakespeare character."--The New York Times "The best biography yet of England's greatest king."--Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs and...
Joyful Recollections of Trauma
Paul Scheer
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Paul Scheer delivers a deeply funny, personal and moving account of how joy and pain are the perfect ingredients for a happy and funny life."--Amy Poehler "It's a hilarious essay collection about trauma. Yes, really."--People Magazine ...
Life's Too Short: A Memoir
Darius Rucker
Paper Book
"Darius has always been one of my favorite people to sing with and to call a friend in this industry and yet even knowing him well for as long as I have, there are so many incredible stories in Life's Too Short that I enjoyed learning for the first time."--Sheryl Crow ...

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