Biographies, Memoirs and Autobiographies 2026

Another year of great reading of Biographies, Memoirs and Autobiographies!

Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the OSS
Lisa Rogak
5/5 stars
This is an amazing true story of four women in the military in WW II and who spread false rumors to throw off the enemies and helped win the war. Great book! Non-Fiction

Sisters in Death: The Black Dahlia, the Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter
Eli Frankel
5/5 stars
This is the stories of two women, one who was known as The Black Dahlia and the other was known as the Prairie Heiress. Both of these women were killed by the man who was obsessed by them. This book hard to put down. Non-Fiction Biography

I'm reading Who is Alex Trebek? by Lisa Rogak

I'm starting Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime by Debora Harding

Just finished Arthur Plantagenet: Henry VIII's Illegitimate Uncle by Sarah-Beth Watkins. Would recommend for some to the side British royal history.

Chasing Evil: Shocking Crimes, Supernatural Forces, and an FBI Agent’s Search for Hope and Justice
John Edward
5/5 stars
What a wonderful and interesting non-fiction book! The authors talked about how they searched out crimes and apprehended criminals. I really loved this book! Non-Fiction/Biography

My book club has me reading a celebrity memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne, whom I've never heard of. But I'm keeping an open mind.

Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth)
by Markus Zusak
What a wonderful book by Markus Zusak who wrote about his dogs and his family! I highly recommended it!
Biography

I finished the excellent memoir, How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family's Story of Hope and Survival in the American South by Esau McCaulley. You can see my review on the book's work page and on my Club Read thread.

Just finished Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival, Christopher Marlowe by Stephen Greenblatt which is a kind of biography/history mashup. Really good and I highly recommend if you're interested in that era, Marlowe, or Shakespeare.

I've started Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America by Joy-Ann Reid who I adore. I haven't read any of her books yet so I'm looking forward to this as I'm a huge fan of hers. Damn MSNBC for firing her.

I'm reading Run Like a Girl: A Memoir of Ambition, Resilience and Fighting for Change by Catherine McKenna

I'm reading That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America by Amanda Jones

Finally starting Ain't Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton by Martha Ackmann, who is one of my favorite writers. This is a book I've been waiting for.

>15 amdial7: Sounds interesting, I like bios!

I agree about Martha Ackmann a great storyteller and this story did not disappoint.

>16 JulieLill: It's really good. Martha Ackmann is a wonderful writer.

>16 JulieLill: It's very good.

Finished Ain't Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton by Martha Ackmann which was great as all Ackmann books are. She is a wonderful storyteller for the life of an amazing performer/person. I definitely recommend it.

Now onto The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr: What Really Happened to Henry VIII's Last Queen? by June Woolerton which I'm already three pages into and hooked.

I'm now reading Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg―and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema
Paul Fischer
4/5 stars
A wonderful and interesting book about the modern-day kings of cinema which include Stephen Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. A must read for movie fans!
Books On Entertainment /Biographies

I finished the compelling and excellent The Yellow House: A Memoir about several generations of an extended black family in New Orleans and, ultimately, how they were affected by the Water (i.e. Hurricane Katrina). One of the very best memoirs I've ever read. My review is on the book's work site and on my Club Read thread.

I'm reading John Candy: A Life in Comedy by Paul Myers

I finished the interesting Spy Catcher: the Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer by Peter Wright. The author was the Assistant Director of MI5, more or less the British equivalent to the FBI. Wright describes with relish the severe dysfunction, but also the successes, of the British counterintelligence agency thoughout the Cold War. My review is on the book's work site and on my Club Read thread.

I finished Roy White: From Compton to the Bronx by Roy White with Paul Semendinger. For baseball fans and, probably, for Yankee fans only. Roy White was a crucial member of the New York Yankees during the time when I was at the height of my baseball fandom, from junior high and high school through my college days and just after. He made it to the Major Leagues in 1966, just after the Yankee dynasty of the late 50s and early 60s had collapsed to to age and inattention to the farm system, and played on the team through the stormy Reggie Jackson/Billy Martin glory years of the late 70s. He was a fine fielder and a steady hitter, though he was quiet and steady, and largely played in the shadow of the team's flashier players. I was looking forward to reading White's memoir, but was somewhat disappointed in it. What White provides is, more or less, a summary of his life and career. He does talk about the struggles and hard work he went through to be able to play baseball at the highest level, and he offers a few insights into Jackson and Martin and their relationship to each other. But otherwise what we get is more or less a surface look at White's baseball life. Interesting anecdotes and real details about what it is like to be part of a major league team, on the field and in the locker room, are very thin on the ground. The short essays from White's contemporaries that are added in every so often are mostly filler, recapitulations of the same theme: White was a very nice guy who worked very hard and never blew his own horn, was nice to everybody, and served as a wonderful role model for players and fans alike. I did mostly enjoy reading this book because it was nice to stroll down memory lane with White about an era of baseball I have great fondness for, but I wouldn't particularly recommend this book to anyone, even baseball fans, not especially interested in White's career and the teams he played on.

I just noticed that this is the third straight memoir I've read!

Currently on The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell which is excellent.

A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature
by Adam Morgan
3/5 stars
Interesting book about Margaret C. Anderson who fought in the Twenties to prevent book bans and produced her own magazine, The Little Review, despite a backlash. Biography/Non-Fiction

reading biography of david mcculugh history matters written by his daughter, its a collection of essays, speeches and interviews he wrote but not published. fav part so far is his interview with the Paris Review about his writing but i liked what he says about paying attentionm to the lesso teaches us abpout thhe future

I'm reading Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Addiction by Jonathan Tepper

I’ve started John Keats: A Life by Stephen Coote.

Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen
by Cheryl W. Thompson
4/5 stars
What a wonderful book about the Tuskegee airmen who fought in WWII and helped win the war. Definitely, a must read! Non-Fiction/Biography

I'm reading Hope and Despair: My Struggle to Free My Husband Maher Arar by Monia Mazigh

Finally finished The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell and it was excellent. A great read and deeply researched. I highly recommend it.

What Ever Happened to Eddy Crane? A Memoir and a Murder Investigation
by Kate Crane
4/5 stars
This is the true story of Kate Crane's father, Eddy Crane and the lengths that she went to find her missing father. This book was a great book and very interesting!
Non-Fiction

Don Rickles: The Merchant of Venom
by Michael Seth Starr
4/5 stars
This is an in-depth look at the merchant of venom, comedian Don Rickles. I enjoyed and remembered his movies and comedy shows!
Books On Entertainment/Biography

I'm reading A Hymn to Life: Shame has to Change Sides by Gisele Pelicot.

Just finished The Edwardian Lady: The Story of Edith Holden, Author of the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
by Ina Taylor by Ina Taylor which has wondering drawings by Holden and I learned about this incredible woman artist from the Edwardian age.

I'm reading The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite