100 Best Author Biography Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

5.0

Man's Search for Meaning has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 psychiatrist Viktor Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the stories of his many patients, Frankl argues that we can

Recommended by Tony Robbins, Dustin Moskovitz, Ev Williams, and 60 others.

Tony Robbins

Life Coach

Another book that I’ve read dozens of times. It taught me that if you change the meaning, you change everything. Meaning equals emotion, and emotion equals life. [source]

Dustin Moskovitz

Co-founder/Facebook and Asana

Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Jimmy Fallon

TV Host

I read it while spending ten days in the ICU of Bellevue hospital trying to reattach my finger from a ring avulsion accident in my kitchen. It talks about the meaning of life, and I believe you come out a better person from reading it. [source]

2

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Trevor Noah

4.7

Preview Summary

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often ab

Recommended by Bill Gates, Heather Zynczak, Irina Nica, and 3 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

As a longtime fan of The Daily Show, I loved reading this memoir about how its host honed his outsider approach to comedy over a lifetime of never quite fitting in. Born to a black South African mother and a white Swiss father in apartheid South Africa, he entered the world as a biracial child in a country where mixed race relationships were forbidden. Much of Noah’s story of growing up in South Africa is tragic. Yet, as anyone who watches his nightly monologues knows, his moving stories will often leave you laughing. [source]

Heather Zynczak

So excited for our latest speaker announcement for #PSLIVE19! Trevor Noah! I am a huge @TheDailyShow fan! And his book -Born a Crime -and life story are amazing. Can't wait! Join us! https://t.co/N6ykJq7TOy https://t.co/r0dIx5RFVI [source]

Irina Nica

I also pay attention to any book recommendations my friends post on Facebook. I started reading Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime after I saw Radu Marcusu, CEO of Upswing, recommending it. He swore by it that is was funny -- and it was! Until the last chapter. I remember listening to the audiobook on a train and crying my eyes out. So yeah. That happened. [source]

3

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

4.7

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in

Recommended by Richard Branson, Bianca Belair, and Julia Enthoven.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Bianca Belair

For #BlackHistoryMonth I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 5th Book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By: Maya Angelou Another autobiography classic that will be hard to not find on any must- read book list! https://t.co/mGRG76lLRn [source]

Julia Enthoven

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is beautifully written, and I really enjoy the voice of the protagonist and think it’s sad and fascinating to read about her time in history. [source]

4

The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls

4.6

Preview Summary

A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Sout

5

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

J. D. Vance

4.5

Preview Summary

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegratin

Recommended by Bill Gates, Ryan Holiday, Ben Shapiro, and 2 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

The disadvantaged world of poor white Appalachia described in this terrific, heartbreaking book is one that I know only vicariously. Vance was raised largely by his loving but volatile grandparents, who stepped in after his father abandoned him and his mother showed little interest in parenting her son. Against all odds, he survived his chaotic, impoverished childhood only to land at Yale Law School. While the book offers insights into some of the complex cultural and family issues behind poverty, the real magic lies in the story itself and Vance’s bravery in telling it. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

In terms of other surprising memoirs, I found JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy to be another well-written gem. [source]

Ben Shapiro

A very well-written book. … The whole thing is a critique of individual decisions. [source]

6

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

MALCOLM X

4.4

Preview Summary

With its first great victory in the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the civil rights movement gained the powerful momentum it needed to sweep forward into its crucial decade, the 1960s. As voices of protest and change rose above the din of history and false promises, one voice sounded more urgently, more passionately, than the rest. Malcolm X—once called the mo

Recommended by Casey Neistat, Ryan Holiday, David Coogan, and 2 others.

Casey Neistat

Founder/368 Creative Space

Aside from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Casey's favorite book is The Second World War by John Keegan. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I forget who said it but I heard someone say that Catcher in the Rye was to young white boys what the Autobiography of Malcolm X was to young black boys. Personally, I prefer that latter over the former. I would much rather read about and emulate a man who is born into adversity and pain, struggles with criminality, does prison time, teaches himself to read through the dictionary, finds religion and then becomes an activist for Civil Rights before being gunned down by his former supporters when he tempers the hate and anger that had long defined parts of his message. [source]

David Coogan

His memoir describes that process of transformation from a common narrative of street hustler and limited opportunities, struggling in a racist society, to this radicalization in part through literacy, in part through literature and religion. [source]

7

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Stephen King

4.4

Preview Summary

Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, Stephen King’s critically lauded, classic bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.

"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealin

Recommended by Mark Manson, James Altucher, Ken Norton, and 8 others.

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

I read a bunch of books on writing before I wrote my first book and the two that stuck with me were Stephen King’s book and “On Writing Well” by Zinsser (which is a bit on the technical side). [source]

Alina Varlanuta

My professional path – copywriting – somehow intertwines with my unprofessional (hahaha) path – writing so I would recommend reading literature for both. Somehow reading and writing are two ways of doing the same thing: storytelling (even when you read you tell yourself a story in your own voice, bringing your personal emotion and empathy to the story you’re reading). The only difference is that when I’m reading, panic is far away from me, in a safe place. Nevertheless, the words below helped me rewrite and think twice before adding an exclamation point: On Writing by Stephen King. [source]

Andrew Cowan

Yes. It is a surprise to a lot of people that this book is so widely read on university campuses and so widely recommended by teachers of writing. Students love it. It’s bracing: there’s no nonsense. He says somewhere in the foreword or preface that it is a short book because most books are filled with bullshit and he is determined not to offer bullshit but to tell it like it is. [source]

8

J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography

Humphrey Carpenter and J.R.R. Tolkien

4.3

The authorized biography of the creator of Middle-earth. In the decades since his death in September 1973, millions have read THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Born in South Africa in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood and brought up in near-poverty. He served in the first World

9

A Moveable Feast

Ernest Hemingway

4.2

Preview Summary

Hemingway's memories of his life as an unknown writer living in Paris in the twenties are deeply personal, warmly affectionate, and full of wit. Looking back not only at his own much younger self, but also at the other writers who shared Paris with him - James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald - he recalls the time when, poor, happy, and writing in cafes, he discovered his vocation.

Recommended by Janine di Giovanni, Mohsin Hamid, and Wai Chee Dimock.

Janine di Giovanni

The fact that Hemingway writes it as an old, rather bitter man trapped in his Idaho home with a bullying wife while he dreams of his youth in Paris with his first wife and child is so touching to me. [source]

Mohsin Hamid

We think of Hemingway as an American writer, but much of his writing is set outside of the United States, just as much of his life was set outside of the United States. [source]

Wai Chee Dimock

This is a memoir by Hemingway about his time in Paris, which includes sketches of people like F Scott Fitzgerald. [source]

10

New Kid

Jerry Craft

4.2

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft.

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents

Recommended by Bunmi Laditan, Krishna Grady, and Todd Nesloney.

Bunmi Laditan

Best book I’ve read all year. Absolutely wonderful, touching and fun. I bought it for my oldest daughter and ended up reading it, too. 📚 ♥️🌹 https://t.co/IkV115zyJo [source]

Krishna Grady

It’s about a kid, Jordan Banks, who transfers to the Riverdale Academy Day School. He’s in seventh grade and he can’t help seeing privilege everywhere. He’s one of the few African American students in the school. The beauty of the story is that he’s regularly dealing with racism and microaggressions and bullying, but there’s also friendship and learning who you are, which is especially hard in middle school. Craft just created this really intimate and relatable world that invites kids in and holds them there. [source]

Todd Nesloney

I love this book from @JerryCraft and even got to interview him for #TellYourStory!! https://t.co/Hnmx0usD4u [source]

11

Broken Crayons Still Color: Based on a True Story

David Weaver

4.2

Multi-platinum rapper Devin has it all. Money, cars, fame, women

12

What Are The Odds? From Crack Addict To CEO

Mike Lindell

4.2

Far more than a "business memoir," What Are the Odds? is a raw, authentic account by a man many thought would never rise above his serial, addiction-fueled failures. Mike's gripping narrative transports readers from his small-town tavern with its colorful cast of "Regulars" to Mexico and a drug deal gone awry. From Las Vegas casinos, where Mike won and lost fortunes as a professional gambler, to a

Recommended by Brian Fraser.

Brian Fraser

This book is amazing. One of the most inspirational books I've ever read. I urge everyone to read this. If anyone you know is suffering from addiction this book could change their lives. https://t.co/Hhr4cIVNH6 [source]

13

The Complete Maus

Art SPIEGELMAN

4.2

Combined for the first time here are Maus I: A Survivor's Tale and Maus II - the complete story of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife, living and surviving in Hitler's Europe. By addressing the horror of the Holocaust through cartoons, the author captures the everyday reality of fear and is able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary sensation of survival - and how the children of survivors ar

Recommended by Susan Bordo.

Susan Bordo

It’s about the Holocaust. It’s also a comic book, in which the various characters are depicted as animals – the Jews as mice, the Nazis as cats. [source]

14

The Pale-Faced Lie

David Crow

4.2

A violent ex-con forces his son to commit crimes in this riveting new memoir

Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his three siblings idolized their dad. Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee regaled his family with stories of his World War II feats. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ex-con with his own code of ethi

15

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Hunter S. Thompson

4.2

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.

Recommended by Bill Earner and Matthew O’Brien.

Bill Earner

My favorites novels are 100 Years of Solitude, All the King's Men, The Last Samurai, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. [source]

Matthew O’Brien

It’s one of my favourite books and probably my favourite Las Vegas-related book. Hunter S Thompson came out here in the early 70s to cover the Mint 400 off-road race for Sports Illustrated. He ended up writing a 10,000-word riff on his visit. In 1971, Jann Wenner ultimately published two long sections of it in Rolling Stone. Those two stories were the foundation for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. [source]

16

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

4.2

Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himse

Recommended by Holger Seim.

Holger Seim

When it comes to adventure stories, Into the Wild. [source]

17

The Case for Trump

Victor Davis Hanson

4.2

This New York Times bestselling Trump biography from a major American intellectual explains how a renegade businessman became one of the most successful -- and necessary -- presidents of all time.

In The Case for Trump, award-winning historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson explains how a celebrity businessman with no political or military experience triumphed over sixteen well-qua

Recommended by Neal Houston.

Neal Houston

@VDHanson on “The Case For Trump” How did blue-collar voters connect with a millionaire from Queens in the 2016 election? Senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson addresses that question and more in his newly released book, The Case for Trump. Very insightful https://t.co/EEL6cjO5WT [source]

Cover unavailable

18

The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Volume 1

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

4.2

Preview Summary

Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society

19

Ordinary Grace

William Kent Krueger

4.1

From "New York Times "bestselling author William Kent Krueger comes a brilliant new novel about a young man, a small town, and murder in the summer of 1961.New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were at the ready at Halderson's Drug Store soda counter, and "Hot Stuff "comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time o

Recommended by Carl Bass.

Carl Bass

CEO/Autodesk

Winner of the 2014 Edgar Award for the best novel, William Kent Krueger's "Ordinary Grace" is the story of a young teenager, Frank Drum. Set in the summer of 1961, the novel recounts, from the perspective of Frank looking back 40 years later, how he was suddenly and rudely ushered into an adult world filled with a labyrinth of secrets, betrayal and murder. Krueger unfolds a classically poignant coming-of-age story whose themes are the high price of wisdom and the continuing grace of God. Bass has revealed in interviews that he is a man who reflects on spiritual matters and who recalls moments in his own life when he was called upon to grow up and accept responsibilities that he hadn't foreseen. [source]

20

Cry Like a Man: Fighting for Freedom from Emotional Incarceration

Jason Wilson

4.1

As a leader in teaching, training, and transforming boys in Detroit, Jason Wilson shares his own story of discovering what it means to “be a man” in this life-changing memoir.

His grandfather’s lynching in the deep South, the murders of his two older brothers, and his verbally harsh and absent father all worked together to form Jason Wilson’s childhood. But it was his decision to acknowledge his e

21

Walden

Henry David Thoreau

4.1

Preview Summary

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection.

In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize h

Recommended by Emma Watson, Donna Dickenson, Emily Thomas, and 5 others.

Donna Dickenson

He discusses how the original ideals that America was founded on were being compromised, and how massive industrial interests were starting to dominate. [source]

Emily Thomas

The beginning is hard going. Once you get past that, then suddenly you’re into these beautiful and inspiring descriptions of nature. [source]

Joan Boixados

In case you were deceived and expected me to name Walden by Henry David Thoreau, you should read it too if you haven’t, it obviously is the inspiration to Walden Two. :) [source]

22

Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It

Charlamagne Tha God

4.1

Charlamagne Tha God—the self-proclaimed “Prince of Pissing People Off,” co-host of Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, and “hip-hop’s Howard Stern”—shares his unlikely success story as well as how embracing one’s truths is a fundamental key to success and happiness.

In his new book, Charlamagne Tha God presents his comic, often controversial, and always brutally honest insights on how living an authe

Recommended by Ryan Holiday.

Ryan Holiday

Author

I also loved Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It by Charlamagne Tha God, and I wish more celebrity memoirs bothered to do what he did with this book: You know, actually teach people stuff in the form of concrete lessons instead of just talking about their lives. [source]

23

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus, #1)

Art Spiegelman

4.1

A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.

Recommended by James Altucher.

24

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Masaji Ishikawa

4.1

The harrowing true story of one man’s life in—and subsequent escape from—North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes.

Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the

25

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

Issa Rae

4.1

In the bestselling tradition of Sloan Crosley’s I Was Told There’d Be Cake and Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, a collection of humorous essays on what it’s like to be unabashedly awkward in a world that regards introverts as hapless misfits, and black as cool.

My name is “J” and I’m awkward—and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be. That som

26

Travels with Charley: In Search of America

John Steinbeck

4.1

To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light— these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.

Recommended by Richard Branson.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

I wanted to include an older book that has been on my bookshelves for decades, and is a less obvious example of reading to lead. John Steinbeck took a road trip with his dog Charley for company across the length and breadth of the US, and recorded what he saw, who he met and what he learned. With his inimitable charm, it opens your eyes to the small pleasures of life, and the great wonders of humanity in the little moments that matter. Less a direction on how to lead, you could see it as a subtle guide on how to live. [source]

27

Anne Sexton: A Biography

Diane Middlebrook

4.1

Anne Sexton began writing poetry at the age of twenty-nine to keep from killing herself. She held on to language for dear life and somehow -- in spite of alcoholism and the mental illness that ultimately led her to suicide -- managed to create a body of work that won a Pulitzer Prize and that still sings to thousands of readers. This exemplary biography, which was nominated for the National Book A

28

The Paris Review Interviews, I: 16 Celebrated Interviews

The Paris Review The Paris Review

4.1

How do great writers do it? From James M. Cain's hard-nosed observation that "writing a novel is like working on foreign policy. There are problems to be solved. It's not all inspirational," to Joan Didion's account of how she composes a book--"I constantly retype my own sentences. Every day I go back to page one and just retype what I have. It gets me into a rhythm"--The Paris Review has elicited

Cover unavailable

29

Max Perkins: Editor of Genius

A. Scott Berg

4.1

Winner of the National Book Award
and a National Bestseller...

MAX PERKINS: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg took the literary world by storm upon its publication in 1978, garnering rave reviews and winning the National Book Award. A meticulously-researched and engaging portrait of the man who introduced the public to the greatest writers of this century, Berg's biography stands as one of the fin

30

James Joyce

Richard Ellmann

4.1

Although several biographers have thrown themselves into the breach since this magisterial book first appeared in 1959, none have come close to matching the late Richard Ellmann's achievement. To be fair, Ellmann does have some distinct advantages. For starters, there's his deep mastery of the Irish milieu--demonstrated not only in this volume but in his books on Yeats and Wilde. He's also an admi

31

Reasons to Stay Alive

Matt Haig

4.1

Matt Haig’s accessible and life-affirming memoir of his struggle with depression, and how his triumph over the illness taught him to live.

"Destined to become a modern classic." —Entertainment Weekly

Like nearly one in five people, Matt Haig suffers from depression. Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt’s inspiring account of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of re

Recommended by Bryony Gordon and Ella Botting.

Bryony Gordon

You know how they have the bible in all hotel room drawers? Well they should have Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive. [source]

Ella Botting

Books have helped me with just about every decision I’ve ever made. One that sticks out to me was reading How to Stay Alive by Matt Haig. There’s a moment in the book where Matt talks about wanting to kill himself but not having the gusto to go through with it. And I’ve been there before, in pretty much the exact circumstances he describes. I thankfully got help and I’m all good now, but it felt reassuring to read that experience and almost share it with him and know that he and maybe other people get it. It’s hard to explain but sometimes when you feel suicidal having people worry makes you feel annoyed, but being able to almost joke about it, in the way Matt does, feels quite cathartic. Although I’m certainly not saying anything about suicide is funny! [source]

32

Education of a Wandering Man

Louis L'Amour, Daniel J. Boorstin

4.1

Shortly before his death in June 1988, Louis L’Amour completed writing his most unique adventure story: a personal reflection on his lifelong love affair with learning. Now Bantam Books proudly presents this special Centennial Edition of Education of a Wandering Man, in which L’Amour vividly recalls many of the books he read, the places he visited, and the people he met that catalyzed his evolutio

Recommended by Marvin Liao.

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

I'd say it was back during my teenage years at High School, feeling very down when my grandfather passed away & overall just feeling VERY lost direction wise in life. I retreated to my books & the ones that still stick with me are Louis L’Amour's "The Education of a Wandering Man" & his Medieval adventure "The Walking Drum". They entranced me & helped me to get my spirits back up. [source]

33

The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things

Paula Byrne

4.1

Acclaimed literary biographer Paula Byrne takes a highly original approach in this landmark biography, providing the most intimate and revealing portrait yet of the distinguished and beloved novelist-a Jane Austen for the twenty-first century.

The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things offers a startlingly original look at the revered writer through a variety of key moments, scenes, and objects i

34

West with the Night

Beryl Markham

4.1

West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s.

Recommended by Cal Fussman and David Maraniss.

Cal Fussman

"I note: Tim Ferriss asked Cal, "If you were a billionaire and could give 2 to 3 books to every graduating high school senior in the country this year, what would they be?" His answer (updated since the podcast) is: "For everyone: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. For females: West with the Night by Beryl Markham. For males: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. That's a good start for a journey". [source]

David Maraniss

She’s always been attracted to flying and space, she grew up near O’Hare Airport. [source]

35

A. Lincoln

Ronald C. White Jr.

4.1

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington Post • The Philadelphia Inquirer • The Christian Science Monitor • St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

WINNER OF THE CHRISTOPHER AWARD

Everyone wants to define the man who signed his name “A. Lincoln.” In his lifetime and ever since, friend and foe have taken it upon themselves to characterize Lincoln according to their own labe

36

Chronicles: Volume One

Bob Dylan

4.1

"I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else." So writes Bob Dylan in Chronicles: Volume One, his remarkable book exploring critical junctures in his life and career.

Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dy

Recommended by Bill Gurley and Greil Marcus.

Greil Marcus

Dylan has had a career of extraordinary richness and variety. Yet here he is writing a memoir that completely ignores everything which made him a world figure. It ignores all of his most famous songs, it ignores all the periods in which he was a great star. It’s all about times when he was trying to learn, when he was confused and lost but absolutely alive with the thrill of discovering new ideas, new singers, new information. [source]

37

Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters

John Steinbeck

4.1

Each working day from January 29 to November 1, 1951, John Steinbeck warmed up to the work of writing East of Eden and a letter to the late Pascal Covici, his friend and editor of the Viking Press. It was his way, he said, of "getting my mental arm in shape to pitch a good game."

Steinbeck's letters were written on the left-handed pages of a notebook in which the facing pages would be filled with t

38

100 African-Americans Who Shaped American History

Chrisanne Beckner

4.1

Teeming with interesting nuggets of fact and information, 100 African Americans Who Shaped American History includes such legendary men and women as Benjamin Banneker, Dred Scott, Mary Church Terrell, George Washington Carver and Bessie Smith. Also included are Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall and many, many more. Organized chronologically and meticulously researched, this bo

Cover unavailable

39

The Silent Wife

Kerry Fisher

4.1

A heart-wrenching, emotionally gripping read for fans of Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain

Lara's life looks perfect on the surface---gorgeous doting husband, Massimo; sweet little son, Sandro; and the perfect home. But Lara knows something about Massimo. Something she can't tell anyone else, or everything he has worked so hard for will be destroyed: his job, their reputation, their son. This

40

The Water Is Wide: A Memoir

Pat Conroy

4.1

New York Times Bestseller: The “miraculous” memoir of an inspiring teacher and the students who changed his life on an impoverished South Carolina island (Newsweek).

Though the children of Yamacraw Island live less than two miles from the southern mainland, they can’t name the US president or the ocean that surrounds them. Most can’t read or write. Many of the students are the descendants of slav

41

Lincoln

David Herbert Donald

4.1

A masterful work by Pulitzer Prize–winning author David Herbert Donald, Lincoln is a stunning portrait of Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency.

Donald brilliantly depicts Lincoln’s gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever-expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divided by civil war. Donald goes beyond biography, illuminating th

42

Dust Tracks on a Road

Zora Neale Hurston

4.1

"Told in gutsy language...her story is an encouraging and enjoyable one for any member of the human race." — N.Y. Review of Books.

First published in 1942 at the height of her popularity, Dust Tracks on a Road is Zora Neale Hurston's candid, funny, bold and poignant autobiography, an imaginative and exuberant account of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among t

43

Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl

Donald Sturrock

4.1

Now in paperback—Donald Sturrock’s Storyteller is “a major literary biography…packed with intimate details, sharply intelligent commentary, and surprising revelations” (The Washington Post) of one of the greatest writers in the twentieth century, whose work still delights millions around the world today.

A single-minded adventurer and an eternal child who gave us the iconic Willy Wonka and Matilda

44

The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury

Sam Weller

4.1

Accomplished journalist Sam Weller met the author Ray Bradbury while writing a cover story for the Chicago Tribune Magazine and spent hundreds of hours interviewing Bradbury, his editors, family members, and longtime friends. With unprecedented access to private archives, he uncovered never–before–published letters, documents, and photographs that help tell the story of this literary genius and hi

45

Rimbaud: A Biography

Graham Robb

4.1

Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture. During his lifetime he was a bourgeois-baiting visionary, and the list of his known crimes is longer than the list of his published poems. But his posthumous career is even more astonishing: saint to symbolists and surreali

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46

The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told: A True Tale of Three Gamblers, The Kentucky Derby, and the Mexican Cartel

Mark Paul

4.1

The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told is an inspiring personal narrative about a filly who broke through the male-dominated world of horseracing and inspired crowds of men and women alike, along with a trio of gamblers who embark on an unforgettable adventure that's as epic as the history victory of Winning Colors. It's Seabiscuit meets Narcos, and the best true-life gambling story ever told.

In t

47

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination

Neal Gabler

4.1

The definitive portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in American history.

Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how

Recommended by Brian Chesky, Marc Andreessen, and DJ Vlad.

Brian Chesky

Co-Founder & CEO/AirBnb

Walt Disney … was a hero, he left behind an unbelievable legacy. You kinda hold him regard as the iconic successful founder. He was brilliant. The thing that's amazing is Walt bet everything over and over, was always on the brink of bankruptcy, and almost should never have been successful. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Both Marc and Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, have read and recommended Neal Gabler's biography of Walt Disney. [source]

48

Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life

Julia Briggs

4.1

Virginia Woolf is one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century literature. She was original, passionate, vivid, dedicated to her art. Yet most writing about her still revolves around her social life and the Bloomsbury set.

In this fresh, absorbing book, Julia Briggs puts the writing back at the center of Woolf’s life, reads that life through her work, and mines the novels themselves to

Cover unavailable

49

Kept: An American Househusband in India

Gregory E. Buford

4.1

Kept: An American Househusband in India is a hilarious, heart-warming tale of a company man turned trailing spouse when his wife gets his dream job and drags him halfway around the globe. World travelers and armchair tourists alike will marvel as Greg and Dana dine with royalty, smash an immigrant smuggling ring, flee angry mobs, foil a terrorist plot and survive a Russian rocket assault. When the

50

Gift from the Sea

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

4.1

In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of li

Cover unavailable

51

One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder for the Spiritual and Nonspiritual Alike

Brian Doyle

4.1

A playful, deeply moving book of spiritual essays-for the spiritual and non-spiritual alike-that excavate the rich seams of examined life and point to the miracles that surround us.

When Brian Doyle died of brain cancer at the age of sixty, he left behind dozens of books -- fiction and nonfiction, as well as hundreds of essays -- and a cult-like following who regarded his writing on spirituality

Cover unavailable

52

James Baldwin: A Biography

David Leeming

4.1

“The most revealing and subjectively penetrating assessment of Baldwin’s life yet published.” —The New York Times Book Review. “The first Baldwin biography in which one can recognize the human features of this brilliant, troubled, principled, supremely courageous man.” —Boston Globe

James Baldwin was one of the great writers of the last century. In works that have become part of the American canon—

53

Jane Austen: A Life

Claire Tomalin

4.1

At her death in 1817, Jane Austen left the world six of the most beloved novels written in English—but her shortsighted family destroyed the bulk of her letters; and if she kept any diaries, they did not survive her. Now acclaimed biographer Claire Tomalin has filled the gaps in the record, creating a remarkably fresh and convincing portrait of the woman and the writer.

While most Austen biographe

54

Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life

Carol Sklenicka

4.1

The first biography of America’s best-known short story writer of the late twentieth century.

The London Times called Raymond Carver "the American Chekhov." The beloved, mischievous, but more modest short-story writer and poet thought of himself as "a lucky man" whose renunciation of alcohol allowed him to live "ten years longer than I or anyone expected."

In that last decade, Carver became the lea

55

Black Boy

Richard Wright

4.1

A special 75th anniversary edition of Black Boy, Richard Wright's powerful and eloquent memoir of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. At once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment, Black Boy is a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.

When Black Boy exploded onto the literary scene in 1945, it caused a sensation. Orville Pres

56

Sold on a Monday

Kristina McMorris

4.1

2 CHILDREN FOR SALE

The scrawled sign, peddling young siblings on a farmhouse porch, captures the desperation sweeping the country in 1931. It’s an era of breadlines, bank runs, and impossible choices.

For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family’s dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when the image leads to hi

57

The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists

Irene Taylor, Alan Taylor

4.0

This is an anthology of some of the world's greatest diarists, with over 200 wide-ranging, international contributions. It is laid out day-by-day and a typical date might feature entries from such distinctly different writers as Andy Warhol, Kafka, Pepys and Goebbels.

58

Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris

4.0

David Sedaris' move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious pieces, including the title essay, about his attempts to learn French from a sadistic teacher who declares that every day spent with you is like having a caesarean section. His family is another inspiration. You Can't Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother, who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no

Recommended by Ev Williams.

59

West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915 (Little House #11)

Laura Ingalls Wilder

4.0

In 1915, Laura Ingalls Wilder traveled by train from her home in Missouri to San Francisco. Laura's westward journey to visit her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, coincided with a spectacular event taking place in that city-the Panama Pacific International Exposition.
This was a great world's fair celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, and Laura was amazed by the attractions that had been gat

60

Letter to My Daughter

Maya Angelou

4.0

For a world of devoted readers, a much-awaited new volume of absorbing stories and inspirational wisdom from one of our best-loved writers.

Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou’s path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, po

61

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life

C. S. Lewis

4.0

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography describing Lewis' conversion to Christianity. The book overall contains less detail concerning specific events than typical autobiographies. This is because his purpose in writing wasn't primarily historical. His aim was to identify & describe the events surrounding his accidental discovery of & consequent search for the pheno

Recommended by Yiyun Li.

Yiyun Li

This book is more about thoughts than about straight experience – it’s about a man tracing back his mind [source]

62

What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love

Carole Radziwill

4.0

"What Remains" is a vivid and haunting memoir about a girl from a working-class town who becomes an award-winning television producer and marries a prince, Anthony Radziwill, one of a long line of Polish royals and nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Carole Radziwill's story is part fairy tale, part tragedy. She tells both with great candor and wit.Carole grew up in a small suburb with a large, e

63

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Charles Seife

4.0

The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. For centuries, the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. Zero follows this number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apotheosis as the mystery of t

Recommended by Alex Bellos and Bryan Johnson.

Alex Bellos

Unlike Ifrah, Charles Seife is a brilliant popular science writer who has here written the ‘biography’ of zero. And even though he doesn’t talk that much about India, it works well as a handbook to Ifrah’s sections on India. Because Seife talks about how zero is mathematically very close to the idea of infinity, which is another mathematical idea that the Indians thought about differently. Seife gives you the context and it explains why, really, without zero, you can’t do anything. The difficulty of understanding zero is similar to the difficulty of understanding infinity. The Greeks had no zero, Roman numerals have no zero, and they had no infinity. He plays with this idea that we were afraid of infinity and then gradually we learnt not to be afraid of it. [source]

Bryan Johnson

Chronicles how hard it was for humanity to come up with and hold onto the concept of zero. No zero, no math. No zero, no engineering. No zero, no modern world as we know it... [source]

64

Piecing Me Together

RenÃ©e Watso

4.0

A timely and powerful story about a teen girl from a poor neighborhood striving for success, from acclaimed author Renée Watson.

Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportuni

65

The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, the Accident

Elie Wiesel, Stella Rodway, Francois Mauriac

4.0

The first three works by Elie Wiesel are here brought together in one volume, where the terrifying truth of their vision, the stunning simplicity of their art, and the power of their unity achieve epic dimensions.

Night, first published in 1960, is Wiesel's true account of spiritual and national exile and one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature. The adolescent Elie and his family, among hun

66

J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator

Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull, J.R.R. Tolkien

4.0

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) renowned author of THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE SILMARILLION, was an artist in pictures as well as in words. Though he often remarked that he had no talent for drawing, his art has charmed his readers and has been exhibited to large and appreciative audiences the world over. In fact, his talent was far more than he admitted, and his sense of design was natur

Cover unavailable

67

A Girl Named Misty: The True Story of Misty Copeland (American Girl: A Girl Named)

Kelly Starling Lyons and Melissa Manwill

4.0

The A Girl Named series tells the stories of how ordinary American girls grew up to be extraordinary American women. Misty Copeland became the first African American Female Principal Dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, but how did she get there? A Girl Named Misty describes the defining moments that made up her childhood and adolescence with full-color illustrations throughout. In addition to

68

Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1)

Frank McCourt

4.0

Imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion. This is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is th

Cover unavailable

69

Coffee, Tea and Rock 'n' Roll: Memoirs of a Stewardess Flying the World's Greatest Bands

Linda Laidlaw

4.0

70

The Heart of a Woman

Maya Angelou

4.0

In The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to move to New York. There she enters the society and world of black artists and writers, reads her work at the Harlem Writers Guild, and begins to take part in the struggle of black Americans for their rightful place in the world. In the meantime, her personal life takes an unexpected turn. She leaves the bail bondsman she

Recommended by Bianca Belair.

Bianca Belair

For #BHM I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 16th Book: The Heart of a Woman 17th Book: Mom & Me & Mom By: Maya Angelou I just love Maya Angelou. Check out these books and her poetry. It will be everything you want and need. 🖤 https://t.co/nUsvD3DJSu [source]

71

The Body Papers: A Memoir

Grace Talusan

4.0

Winner of The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Grace Talusan’s critically acclaimed memoir The Body Papers, a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection, powerfully explores the fraught contours of her own life as a Filipino immigrant and survivor of cancer and childhood abuse.

Born in the Philippines, young Grace Talusan moves with her family to a New England suburb in the 1970s. At s

72

Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scottie Fitzgerald Smith

4.0

The standard work on Fitzgerald, revised, enlarged, and updated; Since its first publication in 1981, Some Sort of Epic Grandeur has stood apart from other biographies of F. Scott Fitzgerald for its thoroughness and volume of information. It is regarded today as the basic work on Fitzgerald and the preeminent source for the study of the novelist. In this second revised edition, Matthew J. Bruccoli

73

Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires

Shomari Wills

4.0

Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of industrious, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.

Mary Ellen Pleasant, used her Gold Rush wealth to further the cause of abolitionist John Brown. Robert Reed Church, became the largest landowner in Tennessee

74

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (37 plays, 160 sonnets and 5 Poetry Books With Active Table of Contents)

William Shakespeare

4.0

This collection gathers together the works by William Shakespeare in a single, convenient, high quality, and extremely low priced Kindle volume!

The Comedies of William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
Love’s Labour ’s Lost
Measure for Measure
Much Ado About Nothing
The Comedy of Errors
The Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Taming of the Shrew
The

75

The Coalwood Way: A Memoir (Coalwood, #2)

Homer Hickam

4.0

From the #1 bestselling author of October Sky comes this rich, unforgettable tale. With the same dazzling storytelling that distinguished his first memoir, Homer Hickam takes us deeper into the soul of his West Virginia hometown at a moment when its unique way of life is buffeted by forces of time and change.

It is fall 1959. Homer “Sonny” Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys are in their senior year

76

Girl, Interrupted

Susanna Kaysen

4.0

In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. She spent most of the next two years on the ward for teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital as renowned for its famous clientele--Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, and Ray Charles--as for its progressive methods of treating those who could

Recommended by Rae Earl.

Rae Earl

In this book and in her use of language she explores how the brain tumbles [source]

77

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami

4.0

An intimate look at writing, running, and the incredible way they intersect, from the incomparable, bestselling author Haruki Murakami.While simply training for New York City Marathon would be enough for most people, Haruki Murakami's decided to write about it as well. The result is a beautiful memoir about his intertwined obsessions with running and writing, full of vivid memories and insights, i

Recommended by Anant Jain and Brian Koppelman.

Anant Jain

On the non-business side of things, “What I Talk about When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami is my recent favorite. I’m a long distance runner and I was extremely delighted to find out that one of the top fiction writers in the world draws a huge chunk of his inspiration from long distance running. In this book, Murakami beautifully connects running to writing, which are two skills close to me that I want to get better at. [source]

Brian Koppelman

The single best distillation of the kind of focus, commitment, and sense of mission it takes to become a great artist. [source]

78

Manchild in the Promised Land

Claude Brown, Nathan McCall

4.0

With more than two million copies in print, Manchild in the Promised Land is one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time—the definitive account of African-American youth in Harlem of the 1940s and 1950s, and a seminal work of modern literature.

Published during a literary era marked by the ascendance of black writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Alex Haley, t

Recommended by Audrey Russo.

Audrey Russo

Manchild in The Promised Land absolutely unhinged me. It was as if my whole world turned upside down and made me understand the narrow thinking and bubble I was living in. [source]

79

The Year of Magical Thinking

Joan Didion

4.0

'An act of consummate literary bravery, a writer known for her clarity allowing us to watch her mind as it becomes clouded with grief.'

From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a hus

Recommended by Catalina Penciu.

Catalina Penciu

I can't forget The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. [source]

80

The Distance Between Us

Reyna Grande

4.0

From an award-winning novelist and sought-after public speaker, an eye-opening memoir about life before and after illegally emigrating from Mexico to the United States.

Mago pointed to a spot on the dirt floor and reminded me that my umbilical cord was buried there. “That way,” Mami told the midwife, “no matter where life takes her, she won’t ever forget where she came from.”

Then Mago touched my b

81

Black Pioneers of Science and Invention

Louis Haber

4.0

A readable, perceptive account of the lives of fourteen gifted innovators who have played important roles in scientific and industrial progress. The achievements of Benjamin Banneker, Granville T. Woods, George Washington Carver, and others have made jobs easier, saved countless lives, and in many cases, altered the course of history.
Includes a bibliography and an index.

82

The Raven: A Biography of Sam Houston

Marquis James

4.0

This is the stuff of which legend is made, this story of the making of Texas, and Houston is one with those semilegendary characters--with Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, with Marion the Swamp Fox and Ethan Allen. . . . In a sense he is too good to be true, this man who wrought such mighty deeds within the lifetime of our fathers and grandfathers; in a sense if he had not existed we should have ha

83

Byron: Life and Legend

Fiona MacCarthy

4.0

This biography reinterprets the great man's life and poetry. MacCarthy casts a fresh eye on Byron's childhood in Scotland, his embattled relations with his mother and his series of relationships with adolescent boys.

84

Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays

R. Eric Thomas

4.0

From the creator of Elle 's "Eric Reads the News," a poignant and hilarious memoir-in-essays about growing up seeing the world differently, finding his joy, and every awkward, extraordinary stumble along the way.

R. Eric Thomas didn't know he was different until the world told him so. Everywhere he went—whether it was his rich, mostly white, suburban high school, his conservative black church

85

The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood

Richard Blanco

4.0

A poignant, hilarious, and inspiring memoir from the first Latino and openly gay inaugural poet, which explores his coming-of-age as the child of Cuban immigrants and his attempts to understand his place in America while grappling with his burgeoning artistic and sexual identities.

Richard Blanco’s childhood and adolescence were experienced between two imaginary worlds: his parents’ nostalgic world

86

Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King

Lisa Rogak

4.0

From dust jacket flap: A fascinating look at the life of the author who created such modern classics as Carrie, IT, and The Shining. One of the most prolific and popular authors in the world, Stephen King has become part of pop culture history. But who is the man behind those tales of horror, grief, and the supernatural? Where do these ideas come from? And what drives him to keep writing at a brea

87

The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-earth

John Garth

4.0

A lavishly illustrated look at the locales familiar to J. R. R. Tolkien, the creator of Middle-earth

This book takes you to the places that inspired J. R. R. Tolkien to create his fictional locations in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other classic works. Written by renowned Tolkien expert John Garth and prepared with the full cooperation of the Tolkien estate, Tolkien's Worlds features a we

88

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

Mary S. Lovell

4.0

This is the story of a British upper class family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the two World Wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy was one of the best-selling novelists of her day; beautiful Diana married the Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley; and Unity , a close friend of Hitler, shot herself in the head when England and Germany decla

89

The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate Over Race in America

Nicholas Buccola

4.0

How the clash between the civil rights firebrand and the father of modern conservatism continues to illuminate America's racial divide

On February 18, 1965, an overflowing crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the mov

90

Jane Austen's England

Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins

4.0

A cultural snapshot of everyday life in the world of Jane Austen

Jane Austen, arguably the greatest novelist of the English language, wrote brilliantly about the gentry and aristocracy of two centuries ago in her accounts of young women looking for love. Jane Austen’s England explores the customs and culture of the real England of her everyday existence depicted in her classic novels as well as tho

91

The Crosswicks Journals: A Circle of Quiet, The Summer of the Great-Grandmother, The Irrational Season, and Two-Part Invention

Madeleine L'Engle

4.0

92

The Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein

Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler

4.0

One murky night in 1816, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Lord Byron, famed English poet, challenged his friends to a contest--to write a ghost story. The assembled group included the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley; his lover (and future wife) Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; Mary's stepsister Claire Claremont; and Byron's physician, John William Polidori. The famous result was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a w

93

Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This?

Marion Meade

4.0

She was known for outrageous one-liners, her ruthless theater criticism, her clever verses and bittersweet stories, but there was another side to Dorothy Parker - a private life set on a course of destruction. She suffered through two divorces, a string of painful affairs, a lifelong problem with alcohol, and several suicide attempts.

In this lively, absorbing biography, Marion Meade illuminates b

94

Letters of E. B. White, Revised Edition

E. B. White

4.0

Letters of E. B. White touches on a wide variety of subjects, including the New Yorker editor who became the author's wife; their dachshund, Fred, with his "look of fake respectability"; and White's contemporaries, from Harold Ross and James Thurber to Groucho Marx and John Updike and, later, Senator Edmund S. Muskie and Garrison Keillor. Updated with newly released letters from 1976 to 1985, addi

95

Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

4.0

John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath during an astonishing burst of activity between June and October of 1938. Throughout the time he was creating his greatest work, Steinbeck faithfully kept a journal revealing his arduous journey toward its completion.The journal, like the novel it chronicles, tells a tale of dramatic proportions—of dogged determination and inspiration, yet also of paranoia,

96

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

Roxane Gay

4.0

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist: a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.

“I ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe. I buried the girl I was because she ran into all kinds of trouble. I tried to erase every memory of her, but she is still there, som

Recommended by Brene Brown.

Brene Brown

This book will take your breath away with its truth-telling. A searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself. [source]

97

The Brontë Myth

Lucasta Miller

4.0

Following the Brontë sisters through their many reincarnations at the hands of biographers, Lucasta Miller reveals as much about the impossible art of biography as she does about the Brontës themselves. Their first biographer, Mrs Gaskell, transformed their story of literary ambition into one of the great legends of the 19th century, a dramatic tale of three lonely sisters playing out their tragic

98

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen

Jacques Pepin

4.0

In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain.

We see young Jacques as a homesick six-year-old boy in war-ravaged France, working on a farm

99

This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind

Ivan Doig

4.0

100

Men We Reaped

Jesmyn Ward

4.0

'...And then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.' Harriet Tubman

In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five men in her life, to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the qu