Books > Biographies & Memoirs
1. Becoming by Michelle Obama: In this deeply personal memoir, former first lady Michelle Obama invites readers into her life, tracing her path from the South Side of Chicago to the White House. With her signature candor and wit, she offers a rare and powerful glimpse into the experiences that have shaped her.
2. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X: This autobiography of Malcolm X, co-authored by journalist Alex Haley, chronicles the life of the African-American leader, from his early childhood to his rise as a civil rights leader and his eventual assassination in 1965.
3. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: Anne Frank’s diary, written while she and her family were hiding from the Nazis during World War II, is one of the most widely read and powerful accounts of the Holocaust.
4. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: This memoir tells the story of Jeannette Walls’ unconventional and often difficult childhood, growing up with an alcoholic father and a dreamer of a mother in a family of nomads.
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: This autobiographical book tells the story of Maya Angelou’s childhood and adolescence, growing up in the South during the 1930s and 1940s.
6. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride: In this memoir, James McBride explores his unique upbringing in a family of twelve children, all of whom were raised by his white Jewish mother.
7. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt: This Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir tells the story of Frank McCourt’s impoverished childhood in Ireland during the 1930s and 1940s.
8. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: This book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells were taken without her knowledge and used to create a revolutionary new medical treatment.
9. Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama: This memoir tells the story of Barack Obama’s search for his identity as he navigates his African and American heritage.
10. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand: This biography tells the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete and World War II prisoner of war who survived for 47 days in a raft in the Pacific Ocean.