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Biography and Memoir October 2026 |
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| Finding Renée Richards: The Groundbreaking Story of Tennis's Trans Pioneer by Julie KliegmanJournalist Julie Kliegman weaves the controversy surrounding trans women athletes into their biography of Renée Richards, a transgender ophthalmologist and amateur tennis player who made waves in 1977 when she successfully sued for the right to compete in the U.S. Women’s Open. Richards, today happily retired at age 90 and interviewed by the author, drops a surprising bombshell at the book’s conclusion. Try this next: Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates by Katie Barnes. |
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| Hiroshima, 8:15: The Lost Memoir by Kiyoshi TanimotoJapanese Methodist minister Kiyoshi Tanimoto happened to be across town from his Hiroshima apartment on an errand at 8:15 am on August 6th, 1945. In this detailed memoir, he records firsthand the horror he witnessed, from narrowly escaping the atomic blast to his journey home to his family. Though Tanimoto first told his story to journalist John Hersey for a piece in the New Yorker, his original manuscript was only recently rediscovered. For a similar read, try The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff. |
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| The Wound Is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience by Chris YoungFor a teenaged Chris Young, selling drugs was the only available escape from his poverty-stricken and violent domestic life. Upon being handed a mandatory life sentence after multiple felony arrests, Young startled everyone at his hearing by advocating for himself armed with nothing but his extensive reading of the books in the prison library, a speech that eventually secured his early release. Young’s story of overcoming tremendous odds is a “resonant, inspirational tale of redemption” (Booklist) that underscores the racism and injustice corrupting the penal system. |
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This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story
by Evan Gershkovich
The revelatory, much-anticipated memoir from the Wall Street Journal reporter who was wrongly imprisoned in Putin's Russia for more than a year--a glimpse inside the perils and contradictions of a country in the midst of autocracy Propulsive . . . a taut thriller.--Patrick Radden Keefe, #1 New York Times bestselling author of London Falling NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALL BY: The New York Times Book Review, Lit Hub, Town & Country, The Times (UK) In March 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Evan Gershkovich met with a union boss connected with a Russian tank factory. As the journalist sat with his source in an empty restaurant in an industrial city 900 miles east of Moscow, a squad of masked agents charged in, blindfolded Evan, and dragged him into an unmarked van. The agents were from the FSB, Putin's powerful security service, and the successor to the Soviet-era KGB. Five years earlier, Evan had arrived in Moscow to jumpstart his journalism career. His parents had left the Soviet Union in the 1970s, forging a middle-class life in New Jersey, where Evan grew up on Soviet-era cartoons and weekend trips to Brighton Beach. In Moscow, Evan dove into life--unpacking politics for readers of The Moscow Times and developing a circle of deep friendships with Russian peers, all striving to make their way in perilous times. Western journalists had long felt insulated from the dangers their Russian counterparts experienced. But war, it seemed, had changed the rules. Interrogated for hours after his arrest, Evan was told he was being charged with spying and thrown in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison--a pawn in a geopolitical chess match. After his world suddenly shrunk to a tiny, cement-walled cell, Evan did something remarkable: he continued reporting. For the next sixteen months, he documented a life in Russia that few Westerners will ever experience: its sprawling prison system, with its own vocabulary and customs--and surprising pockets of humanity. In writing by turns riveting and humorous, Evan brings readers inside the events leading to his arrest, his nearly 500 days in Russian prisons, and the blockbuster, multi-country prisoner swap that freed him. More than a prison memoir, This Cursed Beautiful Land is an extraordinary, deeply reported chronicle of a misunderstood people and their land--marked at once by stunning beauty and a haunting history.
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| Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline BicksShakespeare scholar Caroline Bicks occupies the University of Maine’s inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, a fortuitous position that quickly led to a dialogue and friendship with Mr. King. In an accessible voice, Bicks reveals creepy parallels between the works of the Bard and those of the Master of Scares, and even shares some nuggets of writing wisdom from the famous author himself. If this interests you, seek out King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. |
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| Edgar Allan Poe: A Life by Richard KopleyEnglish professor Richard Kopley offers a detailed account of Edgar Allan Poe’s brief life mixed with close readings of the author and poet’s work. With the latter, Kopley makes a persuasive case for Poe as the godfather of both the horror and detective genres, though his achievements were undermined by his demons -- namely, alcohol; grief at the death of his young wife, Virginia; and frustration at his failure to gain financial success for his writing. In a crowded field, this biography “can well be called definitive” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra PetersonShe’s best known as the busty, pun-slinging vamp and horror hostess Elvira, but TV personality Cassandra Peterson’s backstory is one of grit and perseverance. Growing up in Colorado in a home rife with abuse and addiction, Peterson knew early on that she wanted to become a showgirl, decamping to Las Vegas fresh out of high school. After this early start, she came to many things late in life -- fame as Elvira, motherhood, and, finally, true love with her same-sex partner when she was 51. Peterson’s memoir is candid, ghoulishly funny, and inspiring. |
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| It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese, editorPut together by NYU writing professor Joe Vallese, It Came from the Closet is an essay anthology featuring 26 queer or trans writers reflecting on the excitement, revulsion, and sense of belonging they found in horror cinema and literature. The feelings of comfort and validation the contributors describe were often not to be found in a society that ironically viewed them as “monsters.” This thought-provoking collection, while touching on disturbing themes, is shot through with humor, wit, and original ideas. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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