Biography and Memoir
December 2024
Recent Releases
From Under the Truck
by Josh Brolin 

Academy Award-nominated actor Josh Brolin dishes on his unconventional life and career in his candid and compelling first memoir. For fans of: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey.
 
Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me
by Glory Edim

In her heartfelt and affirming latest that includes a reading list, Well-Read Black Girl book club founder Glory Edim shares how favorite books of her youth helped her through a fraught childhood marked by the dissolution of her Nigerian immigrant parents' marriage, an unstable home life, and her mother's depression. Try this next: Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature by Farah Jasmine Griffin.
Master of Me
by Keke Palmer

Multi-hyphenate entertainer Keke Palmer's intimate and reflective blend of memoir and self-help includes the author's musings and advice on topics like forgiveness, vulnerability, and self-empowerment. Try this next: Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You by A'ja Wilson.
 
Carson the Magnificent
by Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas 

After securing a rare interview with Johnny Carson in 2002 (the first since the iconic late night talk show host's retirement in 1992), celebrity biographer Bill Zehme began writing this nuanced and well-researched biography of Carson; after Zehme's death in 2023, it was completed by his longtime research assistant, arts reporter Mike Thomas. For fans of: Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman.
2024 Debuts
Cactus Country
by Zoë Bossiere

In this moving and lyrical debut, author Zoë Bossiere chronicles their fraught coming-of-age in a Sonoran Desert trailer park, where they wrestled with gender identity, poverty, and a longing to escape. For fans of: Pageboy by Elliot Page.
Kissing Girls on Shabbat
by Sara Glass

Raised in a strict Hasidic Jewish community, psychotherapist Sara Glass found her faith and relationships tested when she came out as a lesbian while married to a man. This "courageously candid memoir" (Kirkus Reviews) will appeal to fans of Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya M and Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman by Abby Stein.
The Wives
by Simone Gorrindo

Simone Gorrindo chronicles the ups and downs of her military marriage in her frank and lyrical memoir, detailing how she found solace in friendship with other military wives. Further reading: Plenty of Time When We Get Home: Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War by Kayla Williams.
Rental Person Who Does Nothing
by Shoji Morimoto; translated by Don Knotting

After leaving his unfulfilling corporate job in 2018 Japan, Shoji Morimoto began working as a "rental person" hired to do mundane tasks such as airport greetings, coffee dates, and hospital visits. His reflective and offbeat international bestseller proves that "people have a value even if they do nothing." For fans of: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell; I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee. 
Joyful Recollections of Trauma
by Paul Scheer

Paul Scheer's bittersweet yet uplifting memoir-in-essays explores how the actor/comedian overcame an abusive childhood to find a successful career and love with fellow comedian June Diane Raphael, with whom he cohosts the popular How Did This Get Made? podcast. Try this next: The World Deserves My Children by Natasha Leggero.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Sonoma County Library
707-545-0831www.sonomalibrary.org