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Biography and Memoir March 2026 |
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You with the Sad Eyes: A Memoir
by Christina Applegate
Unflinchingly honest and darkly funny, You with the Sad Eyes unveils a side of Christina Applegate we've never seen, forever cementing her formidable and iconoclastic legacy. Christina Applegate came of age on sets and stages, expected to be on time, with lines learned, ready for lights-camera-action. What started as a financial necessity soon became an emotional escape from a tumultuous home life in the infamous Laurel Canyon scene of the 70s and 80s. She rocketed to stardom on the sitcom Married...with Children and went on to captivate audiences in classics like Don't Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead..., Anchorman, and Dead to Me in her five-decade long career. Then it all stopped. A Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 confined her to a king-sized bed and the company of memories she'd rather forget: memories of the self-doubt and body dysmorphia that stalked her meteoric rise, of her mother's fight against addiction and abuse after her father left, and of the tax life had taken on her body and mind that was suddenly coming due. Now, at her most intimate and vulnerable, she unveils a story not even those closest to her fully know. She returns to the diaries she kept her whole life, finding the pain matched by joy, the losses mitigated by the extraordinary, and the weight of life lifted by her unrelenting belief that something greater lay ahead. No longer willing to lock herself away and with the perspective only our own mortality can bring, she knew it was imperative to tell it all. You with the Sad Eyes presents a remarkable woman and her legacy. In her own words, I truly believe that books can make people feel less alone. That's why I'm doing this. You with the Sad Eyes won't be some big violin scratching for my life. But it will be real. It will be filled with the ups and downs, the humor and grief of life. So here I am. Real me. Lots to say.
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| Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America by Howard BryantSports journalist Howard Bryant's affecting history details how trailblazing Black actor Paul Robeson and Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson's differing political ideologies often put them at odds with each other, culminating in Robinson's 1949 appearance at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he testified against Robeson. For fans of: The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. by Peniel E. Joseph.
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Raising Hare: A Memoir
by Chloe Dalton
Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and bounded around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, more than two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality. In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare--a leveret--that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how difficult it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton's house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, weasels, feral cats, raptors, or even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death. Raising Hare chronicles their journey together while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness firsthand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.
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Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!
by Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli is one of the most iconic and enduring figures in entertainment history. Now, in her first and only memoir, Liza tells her story in her own words - and what a story it is. Born into Hollywood royalty, Liza was the daughter of legendary director Vincente Minnelli and the incomparable Judy Garland - and yet her beloved 'Mama's' brilliance was matched by searing personal battles, making her mother both an inspiration and, at times, a source of fear. In this deeply candid memoir, Liza pulls back the curtain on her extraordinary life, from her meteoric rise to Broadway and Hollywood stardom to the whirlwind of high-profile marriages and relationships, as well as the private heartbreaks of multiple miscarriages and lifelong struggle with Substance Use Disorder.
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Judy Blume: A Life
by Mark Oppenheimer
The highly anticipated biography of one of the world's most treasured literary voices, showcasing a life as triumphant and inspiring as the stories she crafted. To know the name Judy Blume is to know and love literature. Her influential novels turned classics--including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; Deenie; and Summer Sisters--touched the lives of tens of millions of readers. For more than fifty-five years her work has done something revolutionary: it rewired the world's expectations of what literature for young people can be--frank, candid, earthy, and unafraid to show the messier sides of humanity. But little is known about the real woman behind the iconic persona, and the unlikely journey of her literary ascension, until now. In Judy Blume, journalist, historian, and longtime Blume aficionado Mark Oppenheimer pens a beautiful, multidimensional portrait of the acclaimed author through extensive interviews with Blume herself, invaluable access to her papers and correspondence, and thoughtful analysis of Blume's beloved novels, including early, unpublished works that shed light on the pathbreaking writer she would become. Oppenheimer goes deep, exploring Blume's middle-class 1950s upbringing, complicated childhood, varied relationships and marriages, unabashed sexual experiences, bouts of heartache and loss, and enduring legacy as a champion of free speech and contemporary literature. Oppenheimer peels back the curtain to reveal the woman behind the literary empire in all her complex, multifaceted glory--a true gift for anyone who grew up reading and loving these extraordinary books.
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Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane
by Lindy West
In New York Times bestselling author Lindy West's ambitious memoir, she brings readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage in the process. Through Shrill--the book and then the Hulu series--Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to a narrow set of societal norms--thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change. In Adult Braces, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom, and of the journey she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster tourist traps and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life.
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| Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J. MannBiographer William J. Mann's (Bogie & Bacall) well-researched true crime account offers fresh insights on the 1947 murder of actress Elizabeth Short, who posthumously came to be known by the moniker "Black Dahlia." Further reading: Sisters in Death: The Black Dahlia, the Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter by Eli Frankel.
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Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Harriett's Bookshop
by Jeannine A. Cook
The author of It's Me They Follow chronicles the improbable true story of how she left an abusive past to build a bookshop that survived the Covid pandemic and become an international sensation.Jeannine Cook always thought she'd open a bookshop in her old age. Raised by a blind librarian, books were integral to her life, and she expected she would eventually write one as well. Instead, Jeannine found herself a burnt-out workaholic with three jobs and no time to read or write, feeling like she hadn't fulfilled her purpose.In her journal, Jeannine began an imaginary dialogue with Harriet Tubman, Q&As she dubbed Conversations with Harriett. Jeannine wondered how Harriet became a wade through waist-high water in the winter: type of woman--and how she could become one too.On February 1, 2020, Jeannine fulfilled her dream and opened a bookstore in Philadelphia which she named after her hero and inspiration, Harriet Tubman. Harriett's Bookshop would be a place to celebrate women authors, artists, and activists. While the name was ironic--Harriet could neither read nor write--it was also fitting. The City of Brotherly love was one of Harriet's first stops to freedom on the Underground Railroad. But in only six weeks, Jeannine would be forced to shut the shop's doors when Covid turned the world upside down--not knowing whether her dream would survive.Five years later, this small independent bookshop is thriving, with satellite stores in unconventional places, from movie theaters to horse trailers. Despite global death and destruction, book bans, the downward spiral in readership, the lack of physical customers, AI, and more, Jeannine's shops have survived. Shut Up & Read is her story--the story of the little bookseller who could, and of the woman who has been the driving force behind it all.
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| After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan's Memory Palace by Robert PolitoBiographer Robert Polito refutes the popularly accepted version of Bob Dylan’s late-career output in After the Flood. Although critical reception of his work has been up and down over the last few decades, Polito instead asserts that Dylan has produced some of the most challenging work of his life in this time frame, including powerful retellings from the Great American Songbook, two books, paintings, and over 3,000 concerts. Try this next: I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons.
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Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect
by Valerie Bertinelli
From beloved actress and New York Times bestselling author Valerie Bertinelli, her most vulnerable book yet offering wisdom hard-won through divorce, menopause, and generational pain, with a powerful message of self-acceptance and embracing the past with compassion.With her signature warmth and disarming humor, the beloved actress and New York Times bestselling author strips away the polished fa ade and shares what it's really like to grow older, love harder, and start over. Now in her mid-sixties, Valerie reflects on the hard-won lessons of aging, self-worth, and letting go. From her experiences with menopause, relationships, and family trauma, she writes with clarity and compassion about the insecurities that have haunted her for decades: shame and anxiety about her body, and the false belief that her value depended on perfection. Through it all, Valerie reflects on the quiet, daily work of self-acceptance--the kind that doesn't make headlines but changes lives. Getting Naked isn't just a story of survival. It's a reckoning--with her past, her family history, and the generational pain that shaped her. It's about the myths we believe when we're young--about beauty, love, success--and how we carry them until they break us open. It's about unlearning the script that says women must please, endure, and stay silent.The result is a deeply personal, unexpectedly funny, and profoundly uplifting look at the inner journey we all share. Getting Naked isn't about vulnerability for vulnerability's sake. It's about finally letting go of the need to be perfect, quieting the harsh inner critic, and choosing compassion over judgment. After all, it's never too late to make peace with yourself--and to fall madly in love with the perfectly imperfect person you already are.
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