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Biography and Memoir August 2026 |
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| Fully Baked: A Messy Memoir by Rosebud BakerIn comedian and former SNL writer Rosebud Baker’s Fully Baked, she reflects on an upbringing colored by dysfunction and tragedy, and how the experience taught her the value of laughter in the face of trauma. Baker’s “joke-dense” (Booklist) debut recounts her tumultuous journey to discovering her talent for standup and, eventually, choosing sobriety, marriage, and motherhood -- heavily laced with her trademark sarcasm and dark humor. |
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The Wound Is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience
by Chris Young
The inspiring memoir of a brilliant young man who, sentenced to life in prison, refused to surrender his future--a story so powerful that it transformed even the judge who handed down the sentence. If our world were more just, Chris Young would have been crossing a stage at college graduation at the age of 22. Instead, he was marched into a maximum-security federal prison, facing life under mandatory drug sentencing laws. Like far too many young Black men from his neighborhood in Clarksville, Tennessee, this was where his story was supposed to end. But one day in the prison library, a book caught his eye: an encyclopedia. As he began to turn the pages, Chris felt himself transported. Knowledge became a portal. He began to confront the nihilism around him, the trauma of his past, and the cruelty of a system determined to confine him.
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Work in Progress: A Memoir
by Devon Rodriguez
This inspiring, raw memoir traces the path Devon Rodriguez took from an abusive childhood to becoming the most followed artist on social media worldwide, as he discovered the transformative power of seeing and being seen--featuring new graphite illustrations of the people and places that shaped him.
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Unsayable: A Life in Writing
by Michael Cunningham
An intimate memoir portraying a life spent trying to describe the indescribable, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours and Day. Go ahead. Try using language to slit the skin of mortality to see what's on the other side. At the age of three, Michael Cunningham began obsessively collecting the names of things: oak, Chevrolet, finch, tulip, Tupperware. . . . Each word rendered the world ever so slightly more understandable, more describable, kicking off a lifelong love affair with language--one that would, eventually, maybe inevitably, lead him to become a writer. In Unsayable, Cunningham's memories spill forth, and with them reflections on the craft of writing.
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| When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class by Chris SmallsWhen Chis Smalls, an employee at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, figured out that he was repeatedly passed over for advancement opportunities because he was Black, he staged a walkout and was fired for it. But that was only the beginning. Smalls’ autobiography recounts his founding of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) to combat unfair pay and poor working conditions at the only unionized Amazon warehouse in the country. |
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Sitcom: A Memoir
by Chuck Lorre
A memoir from Chuck Lorre--one of the most prolific television writers and showrunners in TV history (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Mom, The Kominsky Method, Young Sheldon), on his life, career, and the deal with all those vanity cards.Ever wonder what it's like to spend decades making millions of strangers laugh -- while trying not to lose your mind in the process?As the creator of The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Young Sheldon, Bookie, Dharma & Greg, Mom, and more, Lorre has racked up almost two thousand half-hours of comedy. But his own story is just as outrageous, awkward, and surprisingly touching as the shows he built.In this memoir on his life and career in comedy, Lorre trades punchlines for real talk: the messy, very human truth behind Hollywood's glossy fa ade, addiction, his own and that of his famous colleagues, his failed marriages, disastrous life choices, and chronic illness--all of which somehow became the ingredients for comedy. One chapter may leave you doubled over, the next might sneak in a lump in your throat -- but that's Chuck. That's sitcoms. That's also real life.If you've ever binged The Big Bang Theory, argued over your favorite Two and a Half Men character, or wondered how TV comedy gets made, this is your all-access pass. Spoiler: it involves failure, low-self-esteem, and an unshakable love for laughter.
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| The Double Dutch Fuss by Phill BranchIn his autobiography, director Phill Branch addresses the difficulties of growing up Black, queer, and artistic in an environment where strict codes of masculinity reigned, enforced chiefly by a domineering father whose love was dependent on his son’s conforming to rigid expectations. Branch found some freedom when he moved to Los Angeles after college, stopped hiding his identity, and finally patched things up with his dad. |
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| Gowanus Crossing: A Brooklyn Boyhood by Vincent CoppolaJournalist and debut memoirist Vincent Coppola takes a trip back to 1960s Gowanus, Brooklyn, the tough-as-nails Italian American neighborhood of his youth. With gritty lyricism, Coppola captures a tightly knit place where outsiders were mistrusted, people feared the police and the mafia equally, the Catholic church held absolute sway, and family life was hardly less chaotic. |
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| Catching Sight: How a Guide Dog Helped Me See Myself by Deni Elliott with Graham BuckDeni Elliott, a professor of ethics who was born with limited eyesight, co-authors her memoir with Graham Buck, the dog trainer who matched her with guide dogs Alberta and Koala, both of whom are charismatic characters in her story. Elliott narrates their shared adventures with humor and wit, helping readers appreciate both the challenges of vision-impaired disability and the amazing intelligence and sensitivity of her canine helpers. |
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| Push the Wall: My Life, Writing, Drawing, and the Art of Storytelling by Frank MillerLauded comics author and artist Frank Miller (Dark Knight Returns, Sin City) tells his life story with a tone as edgy as his comics oeuvre. His passion for storytelling remains undimmed as he peppers his career highlights with advice for fellow creators, exhorting readers to “push the wall” -- i.e. force creative boundaries outward to make something new. Miller’s book, generously illustrated with his groundbreaking artwork, will appeal to fans of Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore by Lance Parkin. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Harford County Public Library
1221-A Brass Mill Rd Belcamp, Maryland 21017 410-273-5600
hcplonline.org
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