2025 Staff Picks: Biographies and MemoirsLike this list

14 items

• Actress of a Certain Age

  My Twenty Year Trail to Overnight Success

  Hiller, Jeff,

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  We absolutely loved the TV show "Somebody, Somewhere," so we were excited to read this memoir by costar Jeff Hiller (who won an Emmy for his performance as Joel). It is just as funny and relatable as you'd expect it to be. We recommend the audiobook…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Mother Mary Comes to Me

  Roy, Arundhati,

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  Our favorite memoir of 2025. We have been fans of Arundhati Roy's writing since her Booker Prize winning debut novel, "The God of Small Things." In this candid and moving novel, Arundhati reflects on her fraught relationship with her mother, Mary…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Harder I Fight the More I Love You

  a Memoir

  Case, Neko,

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  As a longtime adoring fan of Case’s musical output (that voice, my goodness, her voice!) both solo and when she takes things to an 11 with The New Pornographers, I devoured this memoir. Hers hasn’t been a particularly easy life, and her account is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Written in the Waters

  a Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging

  Roberts, Tara,

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  This memoir is an exploration of family history, identity, and finding home. It’s also a history of the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and the resulting shipwrecks that are still being explored by scuba divers around the world. Tara…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• My Childhood in Pieces

  a Stand-up Comedy, a Skokie Elegy

  Hirsch, Edward,

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  Come for the depiction of Skokie in the era when it offered a peculiarly Jewish version of the exurban American dream and all the traps that came with it. Stay for the way Edward Hirsch–who moved here as a 10-year-old in 1960-turns the kind of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This American Woman

  a One-in-a-billion Memoir

  Garg, Zarna,

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  I absolutely loved listening to Zarna Garg's story of transformation from a classic Indian-American housewife into a hilarious and successful stand-up comedian. Very funny, no-nonsense, sweet, inspirational and, somehow, relatable! Suggested by…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I'll Tell You When I'm Home

  a Memoir

  Alyan, Hala, 1986-

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  In her emotional and evocative memoir, acclaimed poet and author Hala Alyan explores the impact of displacement and loss on her identity. She also explores her difficult journey of being a mother via surrogacy, dealing with battles of addiction and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Things Become Other Things

  a Walking Memoir

  Mod, Craig,

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  I loved this beautiful and heartfelt account of an American walking the Kii Pennsula in Japan and recounting his childhood friend whose life took a different direction. Suggested by Megan.

• Finding My Way

  a Memoir

  Yousafzai, Malala, 1997-

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  This follow-up to Malala’s first memoir, "I am Malala," chronicles her time at Oxford and her transition into adulthood. With her trademark sincerity and openness, she discusses mental health, friendships, and falling in love. The audiobook is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Pieces You'll Never Get Back

  a Memoir of Unlikely Survival

  Ali, Samina, 1969-

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  A truly remarkable story of resilience, spirituality, motherhood, and hope. It is another alarming reminder of how women’s health (particularly that of women of color) is not taken seriously. Suggested by Rummanah.

• The River's Daughter

  a Memoir

  Crocker, Bridget,

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  Fans "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed and "Educated" by Tara Westover won’t want to miss this memoir. A poignant and honest reflection on growing up in an unstable home and processing childhood trauma. Bridget Crocker, who always felt an affinity for…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Boat Baby

  a Memoir

  Nguyen, Vicky,

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  In her upbeat, feel-good and often humorous memoir, NBC News anchor Vicky Nguyen recalls her family’s dangerous journey out of Vietnam, offers insight into what it was like for her growing up Asian American, and her journey to becoming a broadcast…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The True Happiness Company

  Dinavahi, Veena,

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  Those who wonder “how does the average person end up in a cult?” will want to pick up Dinavahi’s memoir. With candor and vulnerability, she shares the story of her years-long involvement with a self-help cult led by an alternative therapist, and her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• We Will Be Jaguars

  a Memoir of My People

  Nenquimo, Nemonte, 1985-

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  A beautiful, important, engaging, educational, heart-wrenching, and inspirational read about the destruction of the Ecuadorian Amazon and its people by outsiders' greed, consumerism, ignorance, and religious colonialism. Suggested by Megan.