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  1. Genres
  2. ›Biography

Best Biography Books

Life stories of notable people

451 summaries

Showing 337–360 of 451

  1. Oscar Wilde

    Richard Ellmann

    ★ 4.1 (4k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    Oscar Wilde's brilliant mind and forbidden desires sparked a cultural shift, only to be crushed by the rigid morality of his time.

  2. Andrew Carnegie

    David Nasaw

    ★ 3.9 (4k) average on GoodreadsBusiness

    This biography explores the life of Andrew Carnegie, from his start in Scotland to his rise as an American steel magnate, detailing how he built and then gave away the world's largest fortune.

  3. The Life of Samuel Johnson

    James Boswell

    ★ 3.8 (4k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    Through the insatiable curiosity and meticulous journals of his friend Boswell, the larger-than-life lexicographer and moralist Samuel Johnson is immortalized in a biography brimming with wit, anecdote, and the pulse of 18th-century intellectual life.

  4. Mummy Told Me Not to Tell

    Cathy Glass

    ★ 4.4 (4k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    A foster carer uncovers a terrifying family secret behind a 7-year-old boy's violent outbursts, revealing a dark past that redefines childhood trauma and resilience.

  5. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure

    Dorothy Allison

    ★ 4.1 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    In this memoir, Dorothy Allison confronts childhood abuse, tracing the feelings that shaped her life in the shadow of her abuser.

  6. Born on the Fourth of July

    Ron Kovic

    ★ 3.9 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Ron Kovic's life changed after a battlefield injury, taking him from a patriotic soldier eager to fight in Vietnam to a wheelchair and the national stage as a strong voice against the war he once supported.

  7. Unbowed

    Wangari Maathai

    ★ 4.1 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Wangari Maathai's 'Unbowed' tells of her journey from a Kenyan village girl to a Nobel laureate, planting trees and democracy against tyranny.

  8. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions

    Gloria Steinem

    ★ 4.2 (4k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Gloria Steinem's essay collection, from an undercover Playboy Bunny expose to the satirical 'If Men Could Menstruate,' critiques patriarchy with wit, warmth, and a belief in women's voices.

  9. A Man Called Intrepid

    William Stevenson

    ★ 4.3 (4k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Sir William Stephenson was a British spymaster who outsmarted the Axis powers with his secret network and inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond.

  10. My Feudal Lord

    Tehmina Durrani

    ★ 3.7 (4k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    Trapped in a gilded cage, a Pakistani socialite defies her powerful, abusive political husband and a patriarchal society, sacrificing everything to reclaim her voice and expose the hidden plight of women.

  11. My Story

    Marilyn Monroe

    ★ 4.1 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Marilyn Monroe's 'My Story' offers an honest look into the life of an icon, showing the intelligent, sensitive woman behind the public image, from her lonely childhood to her sense of her own tragic end.

  12. The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk

    Sudha Murty

    ★ 3.9 (4k) average on Goodreads

    From a drought-stricken woman's selfless act of providing water to a talkative man's inability to listen, Sudha Murty uncovers surprising lessons in the everyday lives of ordinary people.

  13. The Fight

    Norman Mailer

    ★ 4.1 (4k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    In the heart of Zaïre, Norman Mailer writes about the 1974 'Rumble in the Jungle,' examining the fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, the clash of their personalities, the meaning of a continent, and the nature of human struggle.

  14. Holding the Man

    Timothy Conigrave

    ★ 4.3 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    In 1970s Australia, a flamboyant drama student and the stoic football team captain begin a tumultuous, decades-long love affair that defies societal norms and grapples with life's ultimate challenges.

  15. On the Edge

    Ilona Andrews

    ★ 4.0 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Caught between mundane reality and dangerous magic, a disillusioned Edger with latent power finds herself bound to a ruthless blueblood noble in a desperate fight to save their unique home from a ravenous magical invasion.

  16. Angels In My Hair

    Lorna Byrne

    ★ 4.1 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Lorna Byrne's memoir tells of her life, from a childhood where her angelic visions were misunderstood to becoming a modern mystic helping thousands, sharing a life deeply connected with the divine and the certainty of a guardian angel's presence.

  17. The Book of Delights

    Ross Gay

    ★ 4.3 (4k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Ross Gay’s "The Book of Delights" is a collection of essays that turns a year of everyday observations, from melting candy wrappers to quiet nods between strangers, into a reflection on joy, even among race, loss, and consumer culture.

  18. How to Get Rich

    Felix Dennis

    ★ 4.2 (4k) average on GoodreadsBusiness

    Felix Dennis, a self-made millionaire, shares the plain truth and often hard lessons from his journey 'from a South London lad' to immense wealth, showing that getting rich is a learnable skill available to anyone with enough determination.

  19. Finding Fish

    Antwone Quenton Fisher

    ★ 4.2 (3k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    From the depths of an abusive foster home and homelessness, Antwone Fisher rises through the Navy to become a successful Hollywood screenwriter, ultimately confronting his past to reclaim his identity.

  20. I Dreamed of Africa

    Kuki Gallmann

    ★ 3.9 (3k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    In the untamed heart of Kenya, a young Italian socialite transforms into a resilient matriarch, battling personal tragedy and the raw power of the African wilderness to forge a legacy on 90,000 acres.

  21. The Colossus of Maroussi

    Henry Miller

    ★ 4.0 (3k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    In Greece, a poor Henry Miller, at Lawrence Durrell's urging, meets George Katsimbalis, a man whose colossal spirit helps Miller find a profound sense of self.

  22. The Tao of Wu

    The RZA

    ★ 4.1 (3k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    From the gritty streets of Staten Island to hip-hop stardom, RZA shares how street wisdom, spiritual philosophy, and martial arts discipline shaped his life and the Wu-Tang Clan.

  23. Laughing at My Nightmare

    Shane Burcaw

    ★ 4.1 (3k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Shane Burcaw's memoir is an honest and funny look at living with spinal muscular atrophy, showing that even serious conditions can't stop a sharp mind and a 'you-only-live-once' attitude.

  24. The Autobiography of Mark Twain

    Mark Twain

    ★ 4.0 (3k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Mark Twain's deathbed autobiography chronicles an America of riverboats and gold rushes, revealing the man behind the legendary tales with candor and humor.

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