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Biography and Memoir May 2026 |
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| Cosmic Music: The Life, Art, and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane by Andy BetaJazz pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane has always labored in the long shadow of her more famous husband, John. But music journalist Andy Beta’s new biography gives Alice her due. Her unique solo recordings meld elements of jazz, gospel, and eastern and western classical musics into a dreamlike, meditative tapestry that speaks to the composer’s strong spiritual foundation. For fans of: Billie Holiday: the Musician and the Myth by John Szwed. |
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| This Is Not About Running by Mary CainWhen she was a teenager, Mary Cain’s talent as a middle-distance runner secured her a coveted position in Nike’s Oregon Project youth training program, headed by running legend Alberto Salazar. But when Cain’s performance started to slip, it became clear that she had been harming and starving herself as a result of Salazar’s cruel treatment and other abuse allowed by the program. Cain tells all in her “powerful and haunting” (Publisher’s Weekly) debut. Read-alike: Abused: Surviving Sexual Assault and a Toxic Gymnastics Culture by Rachel Haines. |
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| Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Harriett's Bookshop by Jeannine A. CookJeannine A. Cook’s Philadelphia bookstore -- named in honor of Harriet Tubman -- opened barely a month before the COVID-19 lockdown. Yet Cook remained determined. She punctuates her memoir with letters that she wrote to Tubman, Phillis Wheatley, Josephine Baker, and others -- determined Black women of the past whose spirits were beacons of hope and resistance that would see her through the tough times ahead. Six years later, Harriet’s Bookshop is thriving! Try Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef for a similarly inspiring tale. |
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Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom
by Jet Li
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. Li invites readers to share his interior life, to hear untold stories from his martial arts and film career, and to meditate with him on the nature of spiritual awakening. If you look deeply, you can see Li's life philosophy in many of his movies, and in Beyond Life and Death he fully links his own story and spiritual journey with ten actionable insights that anyone can apply to live a healthy and happy life.
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And So It Is...: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope
by Jamie Lynn Sigler
The star of the legendary HBO series The Sopranos and podcast co-host with Christina Applegate, Jamie Lynn Sigler opens up about the vicissitudes of life, from early stardom to heartache and love, motherhood, and illness, offering readers an unflinchingly vulnerable exploration of the experiences that have transformed her life.
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| Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O'BrienLarry Bird was just a poor kid from a broken home in French Lick who thought his college basketball career was over when he quit the University of Indiana after an overwhelming first semester. In an unlikely turn, Bird was re-recruited by Bob King of Indiana State (a school with zero hoops cred), leading to a trip to the Final Four in 1979 and a storied NBA career. Biographer Keith O’Brien (Charlie Hustle) spins a “smart, well-paced” (Kirkus Reviews) tale of Bird beginning to take flight. |
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| Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn't Easy by Daniel OkrentComposer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s devoted fandom speaks to his huge impact on modern musical theater, and a short list of his hits -- Sweeney Todd, Company, Into the Woods -- leaves little doubt. Author Daniel Okrent’s concise, perceptive biography foregrounds aspects of Sondheim’s personal life, like how notoriously difficult he could be to work with, relentlessly pursuing perfection and sometimes displaying a vengeful streak. For fans of: Ira Gerhswin: A Life in Words by Michael Owen. |
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| Small Town Girls: A Writer's Memoir by Jayne Anne PhillipsNovelist Jayne Anne Phillips’ Small Town Girls is not strictly a memoir. Yet this collection of previously published essays includes many fragments from the author’s memories of growing up in her troubled, enchanted homeland of West Virginia. Whether pondering the Hatfield-McCoy feud or revisiting sense memories of her hometown’s beauty shop, Phillips’ incisive and lyrical observations give life to a time gone by. For more autobiographical snippets set in the Mountain State, try Crapalachia by Scott McClanahan. |
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| Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry by David StreitfeldNovelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry is perhaps best remembered for his western novel Lonesome Dove and his screenplay adaptation of Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, as well as for making his home state of Texas a minor character in most of his writing. Before his death in 2021, McMurtry entrusted his friend and Pulitzer-winning journalist David Streitfeld with writing this biography, a “revealing portrait” (Kirkus Reviews) of a complicated man who remained an enigma to all but his closest associates. |
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My Mother's Daughter: Finding Myself in My Family's Fractured Past
by Tracy Clark-Flory
Tracy Clark-Flory had a sister out there, somewhere. She knew that her mom, Deb, was sent to a home for unwed mothers as a pregnant teenager in the Sixties. After placing her baby for adoption, Deb was committed to a mental institution in her grief. Decades later, she had Tracy, who grew up as an only child longing for her sister. Now, in her thirties and a mother herself, Tracy takes a DNA test in hopes of finding her sister--and she does
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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