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  1. Genres
  2. ›Biography

Best Biography Books

Life stories of notable people

451 summaries

Showing 73–96 of 451

  1. The Story of My Life

    Helen Keller

    ★ 4.1 (132k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Blinded, deafened, and muted as a toddler, Helen Keller's autobiography chronicles her journey of discovering language and the world through Anne Sullivan's guidance, culminating in her graduation from Radcliffe and a life dedicated to advocacy.

  2. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

    Alison Bechdel

    ★ 4.1 (130k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir uncovers the hidden life of her enigmatic, closeted gay father, a funeral home director, as she comes to terms with her own lesbian identity and the questions surrounding his death.

  3. Alexander Hamilton

    Ron Chernow

    ★ 4.2 (129k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    From an illegitimate orphan to a leading architect of American finance and government, Alexander Hamilton's turbulent life was a relentless fight against obscurity and opposition, forging the very foundations of a nation.

  4. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

    Jenny Lawson

    ★ 3.9 (125k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    Jenny Lawson comically explores the absurdities of severe depression and mental illness, finding deep joy and connection amid the chaos with the help of taxidermied animals.

  5. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

    Vincent Bugliosi

    ★ 4.0 (125k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    This is the prosecutor's account of the Charles Manson murders, exposing Manson's psychological control over his followers and the Tate-LaBianca murders.

  6. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

    Lori Gottlieb

    ★ 4.4 (124k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    When a therapist suddenly finds herself on the other side of the couch, she discovers that the universal struggles of her diverse patients mirror her own journey through love, loss, and the messy, humorous business of being human.

  7. A Beautiful Mind

    Sylvia Nasar

    ★ 4.1 (123k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    This is the true story of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician who descended into schizophrenia but re-emerged decades later to claim the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory.

  8. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls

    David Sedaris

    ★ 3.8 (122k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    David Sedaris hilariously explores the absurdities of family, mortality, and peculiar obsessions, finding deep humanity in unexpected observations, from his father's odd clothes to thinking about buying a Pygmy skeleton.

  9. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began

    Art Spiegelman

    ★ 4.4 (121k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    In this graphic memoir's haunting conclusion, a son confronts his aging, Holocaust-survivor father's past in Auschwitz and their difficult present in the Catskills, grappling with inherited trauma through the unforgettable metaphor of mice and cats.

  10. The Complete Persepolis

    Marjane Satrapi

    ★ 4.4 (120k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Through black-and-white graphic panels, Marjane Satrapi tells about her childhood in revolutionary Iran, her adolescence in Vienna, and her return, showing a nation's trouble through one girl's coming-of-age.

  11. A Moveable Feast

    Ernest Hemingway

    ★ 4.0 (118k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    In this posthumous memoir, Ernest Hemingway vividly recaptures the intoxicating poverty and creative camaraderie of his youth among literary giants in 1920s Paris, a time when he discovered his voice while living on the edge of starvation and brilliance.

  12. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

    Azar Nafisi

    ★ 3.6 (118k) average on GoodreadsMemoir
  13. All Creatures Great and Small

    James Herriot

    ★ 4.3 (115k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Journey alongside a young, compassionate veterinarian as he navigates the humorous, heartwarming, and often challenging realities of treating creatures great and small amidst the rugged beauty of rural Yorkshire.

  14. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

    Walter Isaacson

    ★ 4.0 (114k) average on GoodreadsBusiness
  15. American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

    Chris Kyle

    ★ 4.0 (111k) average on GoodreadsMemoir
  16. Holidays on Ice

    David Sedaris

    ★ 3.9 (109k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    From a cynical Macy's elf to absurd French Easter bunnies and competitive family Christmases, Sedaris skewers the 'most wonderful time of the year' with his signature wit and misanthropic charm.

  17. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

    Haruki Murakami

    ★ 3.9 (106k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Haruki Murakami reflects on his life through long-distance running, sharing the discipline, insights, and quiet struggles that shaped him into a celebrated novelist.

  18. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

    James McBride

    ★ 4.1 (104k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    A journalist discovers the remarkable life of his white mother, who survived the Holocaust and became a respected figure in a Black community, showing how love crosses racial lines and how identity is complex.

  19. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo

    Amy Schumer

    ★ 3.7 (104k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Amy Schumer hilariously bares her soul through candid essays about love, life, and everything in between, proving that vulnerability can be the funniest and most powerful thing of all.

  20. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea

    Sebastian Junger

    ★ 4.1 (103k) average on GoodreadsLifestyle

    A harrowing account of the 1991 "perfect storm" that claimed the fishing vessel Andrea Gail and its six-man crew, showing nature's raw, untamed power against human effort.

  21. Seriously... I'm Kidding

    Ellen DeGeneres

    ★ 3.7 (103k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    In this collection of hilarious and poignant anecdotes, Ellen DeGeneres shares the embarrassing moments and lighthearted observations that have shaped her journey from comedian to beloved talk show host.

  22. My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands

    Chelsea Handler

    ★ 3.8 (101k) average on GoodreadsMemoir

    Chelsea Handler hilariously recounts her uninhibited adventures in the world of one-night stands, revealing the awkward, outrageous, and sometimes surprisingly meaningful encounters with a diverse cast of men.

  23. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

    Michael Lewis

    ★ 4.3 (101k) average on GoodreadsBusiness

    Challenging baseball's traditions, Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane uses data and undervalued players to build a winning team on a small budget.

  24. Cleopatra: A Life

    Stacy Schiff

    ★ 3.7 (100k) average on GoodreadsHistory

    Stacy Schiff resurrects Cleopatra, not as the seductress of legend, but as a ruthless strategist and political genius who wielded incest, assassination, and two of Rome's most powerful men to reshape the ancient world.

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