New Biographies & Memoirs To Read This Summer

The New York Times bestselling author of Begin Again confronts America’s unfinished story in this blistering reassessment of race, freedom, and the myths that bind us. Centered around the major celebrations of America’s milestone birthdays across 250 years of history, the book offers a riveting look at the battles over who has a stake in writing the American story. Devastatingly candid, profoundly moving, and deeply reflective, America, U.S.A. is a shining meditation on how we must reckon with a grim past in order to strive for the better angels of our future.

The inspiring true story of the self-made, Bronx-born portraitist who overcame all odds to become the most followed artist on social media worldwide — featuring never-before-seen drawings of the people and places that made him who he is. Devon has now sketched over a thousand people. With this book, he delivers his most precise and moving portrait yet: Of himself. Frank, profound, and occasionally hilarious, Work in Progress is motivational magic for the digital age.

Martial arts legend and international movie star Jet Li distills ten powerful insights from his iconic career, his personal life and philosophies, and his thirty-year Buddhist practice.

A romantic, life-affirming memoir about a young woman’s solo honeymoon to Europe after her fiancé’s sudden death weeks before their wedding, and the community of hope and wonder she built along the way. The result is a beautiful exploration of what it means to choose life in the face of unimaginable pain. The Solo Honeymoon shines a light on the joy of love, the depths of grief, and all the beauty there is in the world.

A radically vulnerable and virtuosic inquiry into the pursuit of freedom and the interminable nature of struggle, from the award-winning author of What We Lose. In elegiac prose, Clemmons trains her discerning eye on American institutions and mythologies, probing the bounds of liberation and autonomy to interrogate our most enduring quest — the relentless pursuit of freedom for all.

New York Times bestselling author Isaac Fitzgerald sets off into the heart of America, following the path of the legendary Johnny Appleseed on an epic journey that both takes him far from home and brings him closer to it.

From one of the most electric and consequential figures to emerge from the contemporary American labor movement, the remarkable story of his battle to create the first Amazon union in the U.S. and a powerful call to arms on behalf of the working class.

A tender, moving, and insightful account of queer motherhood and an interrogation of life on the margins of American culture as a self-described “ugly” woman. Interlacing cultural history and analysis with memoir, Ugly is a probing investigation into cultural norms and the formation of our aesthetic sense of self. By sharing the history of her troubled self-image, Fairyington invites us to go rogue, to invent a new language and logic to overthrow all the ways that women have been cultivated to hate themselves.

Legendary baseball player and manager Dusty Baker reflects on his extraordinary career — filled with invaluable lessons on perseverance, leadership, and living life meaningfully on the field and off. A true American original, counting among his friends presidents and dignitaries, bluesmen and artists, Baker weaves a spell of life at the crossroads, where fate turns on our decisions and the unexpected answers that sometimes seek us out when we least expect it.

Offering hope and illumination, the bone-raw story of a father’s failure to bond with his infant twin daughters, and his journey through paternal depression — an often undiagnosed condition that affects millions of new fathers. A much-needed voice and new understanding for fathers navigating love, identity, and healing in the shadows of expectation.

A revelatory exposé of professional tennis by revered New York Times and The Athletic tennis writer Matthew Futterman, featuring never-before-reported stories of the struggles and accomplishments of current legends and tomorrow’s rising stars. The Cruelest Game is a riveting account of the price of fame and glory.

The creator of the viral TikTok series “Who TF Did I Marry?” shares an even more unfiltered account of how she reclaimed herself, fought through toxic relationships, and regained her foundation through healing and deep self-reflection. Probing, personal, and incredibly relatable, What (TF) Do I Do Now? isn’t a self-help guide, but an empowering conversation with the reader, illuminating the courage it takes to trust yourself because healing is on the other side of pain.

In this emotional and laugh-out-loud coming-of-age memoir, the co-creator of Hulu’s brilliant Pen15 grapples with the reappearance of her estranged father — and whether it’s possible to reconnect before it’s too late. Written in intimately beautiful prose, The Sane One is a tragicomic memoir of growing up, falling apart, getting older, and trying to come back together while there’s still time.

In The Kennedys and the Windsors, acclaimed journalist Caroline Hallemann unearths the story of two iconic families whose lives, ambitions, and respective reigns have mirrored each other in surprising ways. From Queen Elizabeth’s coronation to President Kennedy’s historic London visit, from JFK Jr.’s shocking death to Prince Harry’s decisive break with his family, Hallemann traces the key moments in the lives of these two dynasties through a fresh and fascinating lens, showing how they have intersected over the generations in ways that not only shaped their images and legacies, but history itself.

From Indigenous chef Nephi Craig, a searing personal and cultural reckoning that demonstrates the power of food to heal intergenerational wounds. Interweaving personal reflection with illuminating cultural insight, Our Knives Will Save Us offers a vision of hope: One where food is decolonized and cooking is a pathway to healing for all of us.

An irresistible delight, this hilarious and heartwarming essay collection gathers essential tales about growing up in the South, the pitfalls of date night, and why no one should ever tell a Black girl how to Black Girl.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing comes an update of John Steinbeck’s trip in Travels with Charley, a cross-country journey exploring modern America with Lauren Hough’s signature observational wit, searing social commentary, and perspective as someone who knows what it’s like to truly exist on the margins of this country.

In this inspiring memoir, a Black woman pilot leading the way for other aviatrixes shares her journey of fulfilling a lifelong dream to fly — and how she rediscovered her passion in the face of tragedy and adversity. Cleared for Takeoff is a deeply affecting story, tracing Gilliam’s roots to navigate a male-dominated industry and illuminating one woman’s unwavering faith in herself.

The soul-stirring intersectional biography of the most famous Islamic woman scholar working today, from the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist author of If the Oceans Were Ink and Home, Land, Security. The Lady Imam chronicles the life of a singular figure not only in Islam, but also in feminism, Black history, and gender studies. With unprecedented access through years of interviews and archival research, Carla Power has written the definitive account of wadud’s extraordinary life while shedding light on our deepest questions about faith, family, and social justice.

In this raw, potent memoir of heartbreak and the life-saving power of fandom, an award-winning sports journalist tells the story of how he hit rock bottom — and the unlikely, unlucky soccer team that would carry him through.

From evolution to capitalism, our belief in the “survival of the fittest” has shaped our view of the world. But we got it wrong — and our mistake has brought us to the brink. In Togetherness, evolutionary biologist Rowan Hooper shows us that all life on Earth hinges on collaboration. From the rich underbrush, to the murky ocean depths, to the human body itself, Hooper uncovers the poetry of life’s greatest collaborations. Dazzlingly clever and suffused with awe, Togetherness will change the way you see the world, our place in it, and our obligation to its hidden wonders.

Step into the life and times of George Forster, the eighteenth-century naturalist who sailed the world and made waves with his revolutionary ideas about humanity and freedom — from the bestselling author of The Invention of Nature. The Traveler recounts the remarkable life of this deeply curious and exceptional man who, though largely forgotten by history, truly belonged to the future.

From Senator Ted Cruz, a timely, authoritative exploration of Clarence Thomas’s life, ideas, and lasting impact on constitutional law.

Decorated FDNY firefighter, 9/11 survivor, and expert emergency manager Tim Brown shares the lessons he’s learned about grief, resilience, sacrificial love, and transforming pain into purpose. Drawing on decades in fire service, disaster response, and national security, as well as on the lessons learned from the fallen heroes, Brown distills the principles of sacrificial service that he forged in the midst of pressure, trauma, and great personal cost.

Angelica Glass spent decades as a social worker helping families struggling with poverty, addiction, abuse and neglect. Needing relief from work-related stress, she turned to walking as an outlet. What began as a way to incorporate more exercise into her busy life transformed into something extraordinary: a years-long odyssey in which Glass drew upon physical exercise, a close observation of the natural world, and long periods of introspection to reconcile with her own past.

In 1998, Ed Park wrote a memoir and saved it to the vanishing technology of the floppy disk, losing it for more than twenty years. Until one day, emptying out an old, unmarked box in his family’s cramped New York City home, he came across a hefty manila folder. Out slid the only remaining copy of Three Tenses. Profound, wily, and beautifully wrought, Three Tenses is a meeting of memory and myth, confession and obfuscation, coalescing to offer a singular picture of creativity in action.