Libromaniacs.com

21 of the Best Memoir Audiobooks (Read by the Author)

Not all authors have the skill to read their own material. But those who do can add a lot of value to their memoir audiobooks if they can deliver a great performance. It doesn’t even have to be a celebrity audiobook (although there are plenty on this list). Any author can really deliver the goods if they can nail a performance with subtle intonation, character voices, just the right pauses for humor, and audio-only flourishes.

If that sounds like what you want, then you’ve come to the right place. Because we have a line-up of 21 of the best autobiographies and memoirs that are read by the author.

Audiobook Memoirs with book covers

(This article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase, I’ll make a small commission.)

Best Memoir Audiobooks (by Authors, Bloggers & Regular Folks)

best autobiography books on audible

Furiously Happy : A Funny Book About Horrible Things, by Jenny Lawson

Who knew that a memoir audiobook about crippling anxiety and depression could also be endearing and surprisingly funny. Some folks have found her light hearted look at such a serious subject to be off-putting. But its Lawson’s life to live and she can share it with us however she wishes. She chooses to (over)share with a strong dose of humor and she doesn’t shy away from telling stories from her bizarre childhood, which bytheway was full of taxidermied animals.

Her delivery is great. She got a very clear voice and dead pans the funniest parts of the book.

best autobiography books on audible

Anything by David Sedaris

Always listen to Sedaris, never “read” him.

David Sedaris honed his audio skills as a storyteller on NPR’s This American Life. As his books became popular, he further refined his skills at book readings. I daresay, he now makes as much money doing paid speaking events as he does on his books. His unique, (and frankly weird) voice, is the perfect vehicle for his delivering his own words.

If you’ve never listened to a Sedaris audiobook memoir, then you could start with the most recent Carnival of Snackery or The Best of Me . However, these books re-surface previously published works. If you want fresher content, then check out his Calypso , which was published in 2018. It covers his family gatherings at a new beach home which he and his partner Hugh have purchased on the Carolina coast. Sedaris reflects on his family’s history, relationships and regrets.

best autobiography books on audible

Wow, No Thank You , by Samantha Irby

This series of life essays have a very conversational tone. They cover Irby’s foibles with the Hollywood industrial complex, her discomfort with social engagement, and her inept approach to suburban life. She also has some poo issues and no cartilage in her knees. Because we needed to know that.

She delivers all of this in a really funny audio performance. She nails the right mix of outrage and dry humor with just a tinge of the long-suffering sigh. Great for a laugh out loud while out on a walk.

Irby also has a newer memoir out called Quietly Hostile . They are both worth it for a listen.

best autobiography books on audible

Shrill , By Lindy West

If you are looking some audio memoirs by comedians, then check out  Shrill  by Lindy West. West is fat. And in the bro-tastic world of comedy, a funny, fat, feminist who takes no sh**t and gives no f**ks wears a target on her back.

West discusses her relationship with her body, how she came to be in comedy, why some white men in politics are so very very dumb, and how she dealt with her Twitter trolls. Her story has also been turned into a very touching show on Hulu .

Her audio delivery is very funny and you can hear every eye roll. If you like it, then you should also give a listen to her newer book The Witches are Coming . It’s a searingly funny feminist screed.

best autobiography books on audible

High Achiever : The Incredible True Story of One Addict’s Double Life, by Tiffany Jenkins

Jenkins considered herself a master manipulator, getting what she wanted from others and keeping up a good front while also an opioid addict. It worked for her, until it didn’t. The memoir covers her life, her shocking behavior while addicted, her prison sentence and her road to recovery.

Her performance offers a raw and open access to her story.

best autobiography books on audible

Where I Come From : Stories from the Deep South, by Rick Bragg

“Tupperware is the Wedgewood of the South.” This quote should tell you everything you need to know about Bragg’s series of essays. They’ve been assembled from years of writing about his life in the Deep South. He covers the eccentricities of the south with a strong emphasis on food, fishing, dogs and pick-ups. He offers a nostalgic tone, but he doesn’t shy away from the South’s darker side. The book’s essays also acknowledge how racism stains Southern culture.

Pour yourself a tall glass of iced tea (sweet, of course) and listen to Bragg slowly drawl his way through his own stories. This is a good listen for sitting on the porch on a hot summer day.

best autobiography books on audible

Between the World and Me , by Ta-Nehisi Coates

How can we have an honest reckoning with our nation’s fraught, racist history? And how do we free ourselves from this burden?

These are the questions that Coates poses in this open letter to his son. He’s not hopeful, that’s for sure. But he’s earnest, raw and heartfelt. And he wants to give his son (and you the reader) an honest assessment of his life’s experience as a Black man in America.

If you want the full gut-punch, listen to the whole three hour audio in one go.

If you choose to read this for book club, check out our discussion guide for Between the World and Me .

best autobiography books on audible

Solito , Javier Zamora

When Zamora’s parents fled El Salvador, they worked for years in the US before finally sending for him. As a nine-year-old, he made the perilous journey to the US through El Salvador, Mexico and the Sonoran desert. It would be perilous enough for an adult, but to tackle this journey as a child is remarkable. His prose is descriptive and heart-breaking and it provides a very sympathetic take on the immigrant experience.

His audio performance will make you feel like you are there with him. Read this one for book club and use our Solito book club questions to discuss it.

Best Memoir Audiobooks (by Celebrities & Musicians)

best autobiography books on audible

I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy’s memoir offers up a very tough take on her upbringing and her stardom on the iCarly Nickelodeon show. Forced to follow her mother’s dreams, McCurdy ends up in a profession that she doesn’t love, held hostage by her mother’s impossible expectations and abusive demands. 

Her trauma included physical and emotional abuse, a severe eating disorder, and abuse of power. It’s tough content. But McCurdy’s audio delivery brings just enough snark and humor to soften some of the horror. And her journey to a more healthy place as an adult is very satisfying.

Read it for book club and use our I’m Glad My Mom Died discussion guide .

best autobiography books on audible

Crying in H Mart , by Michelle Zauner

Crying in H Mart is far more than a simple food memoir. In the book, Zauner explores her life growing up as a Korean American, an awkward adolescence, her Mom’s high expectations and lots and lots of eating in her Grandmother’s apartment. It’s also a painful foray in to the pain of grief. It’s a searing, devastating and often funny look at Zauner’s life (so far).

Zauner is a singer and guitarist, so she certainly knows how to deliver a performance. But what makes this memoir so good on audiobook is that you can really hear her emotions coming through.

Read it for book club and use our H Mart discussion guide .

best autobiography books on audible

Never Broken : Songs are Only Half the Story, by Jewel

Jewel had an unconventional upbringing — homesteading in Alaska, learning to yodel and building an independent life for herself (which she kinda didn’t want to do, but her family circumstance forced the issue). There’s a lot to her story as a homeless-to-riches musician. She doesn’t shrink away from sharing some painful childhood stories, an unfiltered look at her career and her own imperfections.

The audio is great because she also sings some of her songs, which adds a lot of value to the narrative.

best autobiography books on audible

Broken Horses , by Brandi Carlisle

Like Jewel, Brandi Carlisle grew up with a lot of instability in her childhood. There were a lot of moves, childhood illness and the risks associated with coming out gay as a teenager. Carlisle also covers her journey as a musician and a mother and how she created a great found family for herself.

This audiobook memoir also has the delightful value-add of songs, so it’s like getting both a book and an album.

best autobiography books on audible

Born a Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime  is a remarkable memoir. Many celebrity memoirs simply offer a voyeur’s view into the life of someone whose work that we admire. And  Born a Crime  has that, but it’s also an education on how the warped Apartheid policies impacted day-to-day life for Black and Colored South Africans. And Noah’s mixed race heritage made that even more complicated. Noah offers up insight (with a strong dose of humor) into the complexities of class and race, which are disturbingly applicable elsewhere in English-speaking world.

This is a fantastic audiobook because Noah offers distinct voices for all of his friends and family members. His Mom’s voice is priceless.

This book makes a good book club read, which you can supplement with our Born a Crime reading guide .

best autobiography books on audible

Greenlights , by Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey has the gift of gab and he deploys it with a full throttle in his memoir, Gr eenlights . The book covers his childhood, his first acting gigs and dealing with stardom. Greenlight’s themes include strong family bonds, a willingness to pivot, a spirit of adventure and being honest with yourself.

The format for Greenlights is an interesting mix of standard memoir, self-help advice, poems and pithy bumper stickers.

McConaughey delivers all of this with an enthusiastic audio performance– and even a few Alright Alright Alrights.

If you are listening to McConaughey for your book club, use our Greenlights book club questions to guide your discussion.

best autobiography books on audible

Becoming , by Michelle Obama

I have political opinions, and I always vote, but I’ve never been a fan of political non-fiction or presidential memoirs. Too much wonk. But Michelle Obama’s memoir is another matter entirely. In it, she covers her childhood, her growth as a professional woman, the sacrifices that she had to make when her husband decided to go for it, and the major adjustments she had to make as a political wife and First Lady.

Her audio delivery is smooth and warm.

If you do indeed like presidential memoirs, then Barack Obama’s A Promised Land makes for a good companion listen.

Read Becoming for book club and use our discussion guide to get the conversation started.

best autobiography books on audible

Not My Father’s Son , by Alan Cumming

Cumming had a very rough childhood at the hand of his cruel and violent father. He gets invited to participate in a genealogy TV show and through that process, he becomes reconnected with his estranged father and learns about his long lost grandfather. The memoir covers Cummings process of coming to terms with his personal history. He’s willing to share some long buried family secrets with his readers.

His audio is deeply personal and honest. Plus, that Scottish accent doesn’t hurt.

If you are keen on the setting, we’ve also got a whole list of books set in Scotland .

best autobiography books on audible

Finding Me , Viola Davis

The official publisher synopsis for Finding Me is the only one I’ve ever seen written in the first person. That alone tells you that you are in for something special. When Davis decided to stop running and own her voice, she really decided to own it.

The book covers her childhood up to her present career. She unapologetically tells her ugly truth, covering childhood trauma, misogyny, racism, and colorism, all delivered in her unique and powerful voice.

best autobiography books on audible

Year of Yes , by Shonda Rhimes

Since Shonda Rhimes helped Viola Davis nail one of the juiciest roles of her career, we think it’s also worth taking a look at Rhimes’ own memoir.

Rhimes is the creative genius behind hit TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. It’s easy to say “no” when you are running hit TV shows and have kids at home. But when her sister told her that she never says yes to anything, Rhimes was shaken out of her complacency. This memoir follows her as she busts out of her introverted comfort zone and says yes to far more than she ever thought she would.

Rhimes overcomes her introverted nature by doing her own entertaining audio performance.

best autobiography books on audible

Walking with Ghosts , by Gabriel Byrne

The Irish are masterful storytellers and Byrne is right up there with the best of them. In this audio autobiography, he shares his childhood and his creative life with a keen eye for observation, quiet humor and poignancy.

“I begin to apply my makeup. My mask. Our tragedy, O’Neill said, is that we are haunted not just by the masks others wear but by the masks we wear ourselves. We all act all the time. Life makes us necessary deceivers. Except maybe when we are alone.”

Byrne’s writing style is very poetic and he delivers the audio with every inch of his acting talent.

best autobiography books on audible

A Very Punchable Face , by Colin Jost

Jost is a host of Weekend Update and lead writer for SNL. In this memoir, he talks about his childhood on Staten Island, his career and how he occasionally gets punched in the face. He shares his goofy antics and dancing rats on the ferry as well as some very heart felt stories, like his mom’s contribution to saving lives during 9/11. You also get some insider baseball on SNL.

If that doesn’t convince you, just ask Larry David, who blurbed the book with ““I always wanted to punch his face before I read his book. Now I just want to kick him in the balls.”

For a guy who didn’t even speak until he was four years old, Jost is able to delivery a very charming celebrity audiobook performance.

best autobiography books on audible

The Princess Diarist , by Carrie Fisher

Fisher crafted this delightful memoir using the notebooks that she kept while working on Star Wars as a teenager. The book covers her affair with Harrison Ford (what?!?), her efforts to get work after the filming of the movie and the weird aftermath of being in a cult culture classic. She delivers all of it with her trademark crisp wit.

From her notebooks- “If anyone reads this when I have passed to the big bad beyond, I shall be posthumorously embarrassed. I shall spend my entire afterlife blushing.”

RIP Princess Leia.

NEED BOOK CLUB IDEAS?

Use our guide to find dozens of book ideas for your group.

Have a listen on Audible. Try audio books for free for 30 days.

Share the best of the best autobiography audiobooks on Pinterest:

Audiobook memoirs- 20 awesome reads read by the author

Share on Social Media

Meet our Writers :

best autobiography books on audible

  • Novels to Change Your Whole Life
  • Books with Movie Adaptations
  • The Greatest Novels Ever Written
  • Books Everyone Should Read
  • Books No One Ever Finishes
  • Books Everyone Lies About Reading
  • The Best Novelists of All Time
  • The Best Science Fiction Novels
  • The Greatest Books You Were Forced to Read
  • The Most Overrated Books Ever
  • The Greatest Fantasy Book Series
  • The Best Horror Books of All Time
  • The Best Works by Stephen King
  • 17 BookTok Books That Are Actually Worth Readin...
  • Badly Written Best-Selling Books, Ranked By Fru...

The Best Audiobook Biographies

Ranker Books

The best biographies are often more engaging than fiction. Whether they're autobios or told from an outside perspective, a good biography or memoir is like listening to someone interesting tell you their life story. The best biography audiobooks make it easier to listen to interesting lives while you go about yours at work, or just doing tasks around the house.

Some of the best biographies have inspired movies, such as Wild , American Sniper and Eat, Pray, Love . Great biography audiobooks also range from the life stories of the very famous, such as Steve Jobs , to people who lived fascinating lives without achieving fame, like the historical biography Maude . There are even versions of biographies read by the author, such as The Glass Castle , written and read by Jeannette Walls; What Happened, written and read by Hilary Rodham Clinton; and Becoming , written and read by Michelle Obama.

Which of these biographies will you download? Try Audible and get two free audiobooks - which makes it even easier to start listening to life stories. Vote for the biography audiobooks you would recommend and add any must-listen books we might have missed.

Lucky: A Memoir

Lucky: A Memoir

Born a crime.

Educated: A Memoir

Educated: A Memoir

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Becoming

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Maude

The Glass Castle

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed

The Yorkshire Shepherdess

The Yorkshire Shepherdess

High school: a memoir tegan quin , sara quin.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison

The Magnolia Story

The Magnolia Story

When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air

What Happened

What Happened

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Inside out demi moore.

Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary

Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary

Ranking the best novels and non-fiction books of every genre.

Novels to Change Your Whole Life

The Best Autobiographies To Listen To On Audible

The Best Autobiographies To Listen To On Audible

best autobiography books on audible

Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Lady Anne Glenconner

As Lady Anne Glenconner said on her memorable appearance on the Graham Norton Show in 2019, this is not a “lavender-scented memoir”. Instead, this recounting of the remarkable life of Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting is full of humour and sordid detail. Lady Glenconner has been close to the royal family since childhood. The eldest child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, she was described as “the greatest disappointment” by her family because, as a daughter, she was unable to inherit. She married the charismatic but highly volatile Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who became the owner of Mustique. Together they turned the island into a paradise for the rich and famous, including Mick Jagger and David Bowie. But beneath the glitz and glamour there also lurked tragedy. Lady Glenconner writes with extraordinary wit and courage, and she exposes what life was like in her gilded cage, revealing the role of her great friendship with Princess Margaret and the freedom she can now finally enjoy in later life.

Visit Audible.co.uk

best autobiography books on audible

Me by Elton John

We all know his songs, but what do we know about the star behind the piano? Christened Reginald Dwight, the man who would become the 70s rock icon Elton John was a shy boy who grew up in the suburbs of London. From quiet beginnings, he burst onto the music scene, resplendent in sequins, silver hot pants and decorative glasses. Me, which was released last year, is his first official autobiography. It’s a joyous, moving account that reveals candid details about his life – including his friendships with the likes of Freddie Mercury, George Michael and John Lennon, and his drug addiction. He writes honestly about getting clean, finding love and becoming a father. It’s a touching book and the messages inside will stay with you.

best autobiography books on audible

Things I Learned From Falling by Claire Nelson

In 2018, Claire Nelson made international headlines. Feeling incredibly anxious and at breaking point, she decided to take some time off and travelled alone to Joshua Tree Park in California to hike and clear her head. But during the hike, Claire fell 25 feet, gravely injuring herself, miles away in the desert from any trail, without phone signal and fighting for her life. She lay exposed to the elements for four days until she was miraculously found. In Things I Learned From Falling Claire tells her incredible story and what it taught her about loneliness, anxiety, transformation and how to survive it all.

best autobiography books on audible

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Just days after Raynor Winn learns that Moth, her husband of 32 years, is terminally ill, the couple lose their home and their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset via Devon and Cornwall. They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, encounter and test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey. The Salt Path is an unflinchingly honest, inspiring and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Winn’s 2020 follow-up, The Wild Silence, is also well worth a listen.

best autobiography books on audible

Educated by Tara Westover

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and then Cambridge universities. In doing so she discovered the transformative power of education as well as the price she had to pay for it.

best autobiography books on audible

Diary of an MP’s Wife by Sasha Swire

What is it like to be a wife of a politician in modern-day Britain? Sasha Swire lifts the lid. For more than 20 years she kept a secret diary detailing the trials and tribulations of being a political plus-one; now she gives us a ringside seat at the seismic political events of the last decade. A professional partner and loyal spouse, Swire has strong political opinions herself and smashes the stereotype of the dutiful wife. From state banquets in Buckingham Palace to dinners in Downing Street, shenanigans in Devon hedges and partying with City ‘hedgies’, she observes the great and the not-so-great at the closest of quarters. Here are the friendships and the fallouts, the general elections and the leadership contests, the scandals and the rivalries. Diary of an MP's Wife is an honest, wildly indiscreet and often uproarious account of what life is like in the thick of it.

best autobiography books on audible

Quite by Claudia Winkleman

Claudia Winkleman’s warmth, humour and no-holds-barred attitude have made her a favourite broadcaster of millions and a much-loved household name. In her first book, Claudia invites us into her world. She shares observations on topics such as the importance of melted cheese, why black coats are vital, why it’s never okay to have sex with someone who has an opinion on your date outfit, how nurses are our most precious national treasure, and why colourful clothing is only for the under-tens. This is a love letter to life – the real, sometimes messy kind. Quite celebrates friendship, the power of art, the highs and lows of parenting and, of course, how a good eyeliner can really save your life. Heartfelt, wry and unmistakably her, this book gets to the heart of what really matters.

best autobiography books on audible

Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion

From one of America’s most influential writers comes this timeless collection of Joan Didion’s early pieces written from 1968 to 2000. They offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of a legendary figure and showcase Didion’s incisive reporting and her empathetic gaze. Pieces include her writing about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, a visit to San Simeon's Hearst Castle, a reunion of World War Two veterans in Las Vegas, and famous folk from Nancy Reagan to Robert Mapplethorpe and Martha Stewart. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive, bemused and stunningly prescient.

best autobiography books on audible

The Glossy Years by Nicholas Coleridge

Over his 30-year career at Condé Nast, Nicholas Coleridge witnessed it all. From the anxieties of the Princess of Wales to the blazing fury of Mohamed Al-Fayed, his story is also the story of the people who populate the glamorous world of glossy magazines. Having cut his teeth on Tatler, then as editor of Harpers & Queen, he became the Mr Big of glossy publishing for three decades. With surprising candour, he offers the inside scoop on Tina Brown and Anna Wintour, David Bowie and Philip Green, Kate Moss and Beyonce, while discussing Margaret Thatcher's clothing legacy, and a surreal weekend away with Bob Geldof and William Hague. Packed with hilarious anecdotes, The Glossy Years also provides perceptive insight into the changing and treacherous worlds of fashion, journalism, museums and a whole sweep of British society. A fascinating listen.

best autobiography books on audible

An Improbable Life by Sir Trevor McDonald

Now in his 82nd year, Sir Trevor McDonald is known and loved by people the world over for his humility, charm and natural ease. In An Improbable Life, Sir Trevor recounts his personal experience of world events and interviews with globally famous – and notorious – figures. He has witnessed war and death, as well as risked his own life to meet and talk with despots and liberators. We hear about his first trip to South Africa and obtaining the first British television interview with Nelson Mandela; his reflections on the Windrush generation; and experiencing Barack Obama's momentous inauguration as US president. Listeners are also present at his dramatic meetings with Saddam Hussein (the first and only one by a British television correspondent) and Muammar Gaddafi. Engaging, intimate and moving, this is the life story of an exceptional journalist and broadcaster.

best autobiography books on audible

The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris

Discover vice-president Kamala Harris's Sunday Times bestselling book about the core truths that unite us and the shared values that will see us into the future. The daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists, Harris was raised in a California community that cared deeply about social justice. As she rose to prominence as a political leader, her experiences would become her guiding light as she grappled with an array of complex issues and learned to bring a voice to the voiceless. In The Truths We Hold, published in 2019, Harris reckons with the big challenges we face together. Drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career up until this point, and the work of those who have most inspired her, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, purpose and values.

Share This Story

DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at [email protected] .

You can use the below login to access your SheerLuxe account & SL Community account.

(You will be redirected to the right platform once logged in)

Forgotten login? Request a new password

If you are not already a member

Best Autobiography Audiobooks Read by the Author

A smiling woman wearing headphones enjoys looking at her smartphone while traveling on a train.

Before books, there were storytellers.

Autobiographies and memoirs are more than just a peek into someone’s private life. These authors bravely capture the pivotal moments where life’s big lessons are learned, whether gained through loss or triumph. Icons, heroes, and artists — to hear these stories told in their own voices makes them all the more significant.

Undaunted: my fight against america's enemies, at home and abroad - audiobook cover featuring the title and author john o. brennan, former director of the cia, with a promise of a personal narration by the author himself, set against a dark blue background.

Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad

By john o. brennan, narrated by the author. 14 hours, 22 minutes..

This is what decades of civil service looks like. Since applying to the CIA in 1980, Brennan has served as an analyst, station chief, chief of staff, and in 2013, Obama tapped him to be Director. He advised presidents from Reagan to Trump with a tight grip on the values instilled in him by his Irish immigrant father. In Undaunted , he unpacks his wins and losses along the way. It’s a treasure to have John Brennan as our guide through the halls of the CIA during some of the most important events in recent political history, and to get his unique perspective on America’s future.

 Available at Audible.com and Libro.fm

Two joyful individuals captured in a moment of laughter at a sunny, sandy location, with the text "hollywood park - a memoir mikel jollett" overlaying the image, hinting at a personal story filled with memories.

Hollywood Park

By mikel jollett, narrated by the author. 11 hours, 45 minutes..

In the early 1970s, Jollett is born into the Church of Synanon, a cult that separates infants from their parents to be raised by cult teachers. One night, Mikel, his mother, and his older brother, Tony, make a desperate and dangerous escape. With no understanding of life on the outside, it takes Jollett years to realize that they live in poverty, that his mother is severely depressed and emotionally abusive, and that his brother is struggling, too. Through the decades, Jollett reconnects with his father, goes to college, forms the indie rock band The Airborne Toxic Event, and learns to forgive. Bonus: The audiobook includes original music from The Airborne Toxic Event’s album of the same name, which acts as a soundtrack to the book.

Black and white portrait of a smiling man, possibly a public figure, with the text "a promised land, barack obama, read by the author" indicating that this is an audio book cover.

A Promised Land

By barack obama, narrated by the author. 29 hours, 10 minutes..

We all witnessed Barack Obama’s road to the White House, but now he tells the story as only he can. In the first of more presidential memoirs to come, Obama pinpoints the moments that changed him from a community organizer, to a senator, to a historic candidate, and finally, POTUS. History lovers will thrill to his in-the-room-where-it-happened retellings of key events. Heartfelt stories of family life are peppered throughout. And in the end, his defense of hope and change is a love song to the country he once led.

A book cover illustration for david chang's memoir "eat a peach," depicting a stylized mountain landscape with a peach substituting for the sun on the horizon, where a solitary figure stands looking towards it. the scene is rendered in a limited color palette that gives a serene and contemplative feel.

Eat a Peach

By david chang, narrated by the author. 9 hours, 6 minutes..

Chef Chang never imagined that his tiny ramen noodle spot in NYC would be the birthplace of the next big culinary trend. What started with late-night ramen noodles and pork buns is now the Momofuku empire with a Netflix show to boot. Navigating restaurant culture is difficult enough for a young chef, but throw in a struggle with mental illness amid runaway success, and you’ll see why Chef Chang’s victories are so delicious.

Available at Audible.com and Libro.fm

An audiobook cover of "dolly parton, songteller: my life in lyrics," featuring a portrait of dolly parton surrounded by a decorative frame on a patterned background, highlighting an original audio production with nearly 100 songs and stories performed by herself.

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics

By dolly parton, narrated by the author. 5 hours, 18 minutes..

Songteller is part autobiography, part concert, and all Dolly. Her decades of iconic songs, big-hearted personality, beloved movies, and complete inability to take herself too seriously are what make Dolly Parton a living legend. What a treat to hear these songs, plus the history and the creative process behind them, straight from the woman herself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…probably all at once.

Book cover of 'once i was you: a memoir of love and hate in a torn america' by maria hinojosa, an in-depth personal account reflecting on immigration and identity in america.

Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America

By maria hinojosa, narrated by the author. 12 hours, 12 minutes..

Hinojosa is an award-winning reporter and the host of Latino USA on NPR. Her Mexican-American family of immigrants has long informed her journalism and her understanding of our nation.  Here, her own experience growing up in Chicago is the diving board for a deeper look at how America talks about all immigrants, how immigrants are afforded pathways to success (or not), and the current state of America’s immigration system.

Colorful typographic cover art for david sedaris's audiobook ‘the best of me’ - unabridged and read by the author.

The Best of Me

By david sedaris, narrated by the author. 13 hours, 8 minutes..

Sedaris has been inviting readers into every corner of his life for years, which is why this collection of stories hand-picked by him, told by him, is already such a fan favorite. The greatest hits include some of his most popular tales and probably a few you missed. Never boastful, always hilarious, often heartbreaking, Sedaris’ selections run the gamut from silly observations to melancholy regrets about friends and family.

A contemplative man glancing away from the camera, with a hint of introspection.

Greenlights

By matthew mcconaughey, narrated by the author. 6 hours, 42 minutes..

Who would have guessed that McConaughey is an avid diarist? For the last 35 of his 50 years, he has kept journals with, as he calls them, “my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls.” From an early age, he realizes that life is complex and deserving of reflection. It takes a milestone birthday for him to pore over his many diaries and synthesize them into Greenlights , his framework for accepting reality and then moving forward in peace.

A swirling kaleidoscope of vivid blues, pinks, and purples intermingles with touches of glittering gold on the cover of "untamed" by glennon doyle, a #1 new york times bestseller, marking it as a selection of reese's book club and indicating it's an audiobook read by the author.

By Glennon Doyle, narrated by the author. 8 hours, 22 minutes.

Doyle goes deeper than almost anyone else these days in writing about what it means to be a woman. In Untamed , she pays tribute to her inner voice — the one that questions and doubts then questions again. Finally, Doyle realizes that to fix her life, she has to break it first. Hear how she stopped worrying about people’s expectations and created a life she always knew she was intended to live.

A confident veterinarian, dr. evan antin, poses with a large reptile draped over his shoulders against a dark background, highlighting his book "world wild vet" about encounters in the animal kingdom.

World Wild Vet: Encounters in the Animal Kingdom

By evan antin, narrated by the author. 6 hours, 51 minutes..

If you follow Dr. Antin’s veterinary adventures on his show,  Evan Goes Wild , you already know how serious he is about wildlife conservation. With World Wide Vet , we learn what sparked his passion from an early age and we go behind the scenes on hard-earned lessons about how to interact with wild animals. Antin’s at his most poignant when talking about wildlife abuses he has witnessed first-hand and what we all can do to help prevent them.

Share with your friends

Related articles.

best autobiography books on audible

10 Evocative Literary Fiction Books Set in Small Towns

A collection of five books with colorful covers is spread out against a yellow background, featuring a range of topics from teamwork and productivity to self-improvement and societal commentaries.

11 Must-Read Motivational Books That Just Might Change Your Life

Five colorful books with artistic covers displayed against a light background, showcasing a variety of literary works.

10 Buzzy Debut Novels We Can't Wait to Read in 2024

Celadon delivered.

Subscribe to get articles about writing, adding to your TBR pile, and simply content we feel is worth sharing. And yes, also sign up to be the first to hear about giveaways, our acquisitions, and exclusives!

" * " indicates required fields

Connect with

Sign up for our newsletter to see book giveaways, news, and more.

best autobiography books on audible

Biographies & Memoirs

  • Adventurers, Explorers & Survival (1,185)
  • Entertainment & Celebrities (6,782)
  • People with Disabilities (373)
  • Sports (2,143)
  • Art & Literature (3,810)
  • Historical (2,616)
  • Politics & Activism (4,568)
  • True Crime (10,971)
  • Cultural & Regional (784)
  • LGBTQ+ (562)
  • Professionals & Academics (4,182)
  • Women (3,891)
  • Diaries & Correspondence (435)
  • Military & War (2,016)

We're pleased to have you join us

Mad Woman by Bryony Gordon

The long-anticipated follow up to Mad Girl

Jack Whitehall Safe Space

Listen now >

Jack Whitehall throws open the doors to his Safe Space, with special celebrity guests

Ed Gamble's in the kitchen listens

Read more >

Ed Gamble's in the kitchen listens

Press Play, Turn On

The ins and outs of audio porn

Best Sellers

I'm Glad My Mom Died cover art

I'm Glad My Mom Died

By: Jennette McCurdy

  • Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
  • Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 12,996
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 11,447
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 11,420

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life....

  • 5 out of 5 stars

Heartwrenching

  • By Ellie Moore on 11-08-22

Alan Partridge: Big Beacon cover art

Alan Partridge: Big Beacon

By: Alan Partridge

  • Narrated by: Alan Partridge
  • Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,282
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,168
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,166

In Big Beacon , Norwich's favourite son and best broadcaster, Alan Partridge, triumphs against the odds. TWICE....

  • 3 out of 5 stars

I’ve listened to your ideas Alan…

  • By Dan on 14-10-23

And Away... cover art

And Away...

By: Bob Mortimer

  • Narrated by: Bob Mortimer
  • Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 11,682
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 10,371
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 10,314

The long-awaited first autobiography by national treasure Bob Mortimer....

A wonderful book

  • By Lauren on 17-09-21

Diddly Squat cover art

Diddly Squat

  • A Year on the Farm

By: Jeremy Clarkson

  • Narrated by: Jeremy Clarkson
  • Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,845
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,636
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,631

Welcome to Jeremy's farm. It's an idyllic spot, offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows, woodlands and natural springs. Jeremy always liked the idea being a farmer....

Disappointing. Nothing new and short. Very short.

  • By Mark67 on 12-11-21

This Much Is True cover art

This Much Is True

By: Miriam Margolyes

  • Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
  • Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 9,770
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 8,870
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 8,827

Award-winning actor, creator of a myriad of memorable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure....

Frank & Funny

  • By John C. Patterson on 23-09-21

My Thoughts Exactly cover art

My Thoughts Exactly

By: Lily Allen

  • Narrated by: Lily Allen
  • Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 5,096
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,474
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,457

So, this is me. Lily Allen. I am a woman. I am a mother. I was a wife. I drink. I have taken drugs. I have loved and been let down. I am a success and a failure. I am a songwriter. I am a singer. I am all these things and more.

  • By B on 24-09-18

The Sound of Laughter cover art

The Sound of Laughter

By: Peter Kay

  • Narrated by: Peter Kay
  • Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 4,312
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 3,837
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 3,827

The long-awaited audio edition of Peter Kay’s best-selling autobiography, The Sound of Laughter , including two completely new and exclusive bonus chapters....

Genius….. simple as that

  • By Susan. on 17-09-21

Unnatural Causes cover art

Unnatural Causes

By: Dr Richard Shepherd

  • Narrated by: Dr Richard Shepherd
  • Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 7,678
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 6,814
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 6,788

As the country's top forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has spent a lifetime uncovering the secrets of the dead....

A rollercoaster ride

  • By Dr Debbie Tranter on 23-09-18

Fighting for Queen and Country cover art

Fighting for Queen and Country

  • One Man’s Remarkable Story of Blood and Glory in the Paras and SAS

By: Nigel Ely

  • Narrated by: Nigel Ely
  • Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 31
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 30
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 30

Spud Ely's SAS career has taken him into some of the most deadly, high-octane, violent battles ever. Fighting for Queen and Country is the unputdownable account of his most bloody, violent, heroic moments....

Great story

  • By S Brown on 01-04-24

Windswept & Interesting cover art

Windswept & Interesting

  • My Autobiography

By: Billy Connolly

  • Narrated by: Billy Connolly
  • Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 12,219
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 10,940
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 10,878

In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life....

  • By john donoghue on 14-10-21

Abroad in Japan cover art

Abroad in Japan

By: Chris Broad

  • Narrated by: Chris Broad
  • Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 647
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 609
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 609

When Englishman Chris Broad landed in a rural village in northern Japan he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. With no knowledge of the language and zero teaching experience, was he was about to be the most quickly fired English teacher in Japan's history....

Let down by performance

  • By UK4747 on 04-11-23

Poor cover art

  • Grit, Courage, and the Life-Changing Value of Self-Belief

By: Katriona O'Sullivan

  • Narrated by: Katriona O'Sullivan
  • Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 631
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 616
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 618

As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O'Sullivan making anything of her life. Poor is the extraordinary story - moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling - of how Katriona turned her life around....

What I needed to hear

  • By Anonymous User on 04-06-23

Oh Miriam! cover art

  • Stories from an Extraordinary Life
  • Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 678
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 654
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 653

Join us on another unforgettable adventure through the extraordinary life and strong opinions of Miriam Margolyes....

  • By Kindle Customer on 16-09-23

Janey cover art

  • The Woman That Won't Shut Up

By: Janey Godley

  • Narrated by: Janey Godley
  • Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
  • Overall 0 out of 5 stars 0
  • Performance 0 out of 5 stars 0
  • Story 0 out of 5 stars 0

Comedy legend and national treasure Janey Godley shares her extraordinary life with candour and humour as she faces cancer head-on.

Rambling Man cover art

Rambling Man

  • My Life on the Road
  • Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 558
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 531
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 530

The hilarious book from the nation's favourite comedian, Billy Connolly....

A braw story

  • By Philip on 14-10-23

Happy Sexy Millionaire cover art

Happy Sexy Millionaire

  • Unexpected Truths About Fulfilment, Love and Success

By: Steven Bartlett

  • Narrated by: Steven Bartlett
  • Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,683
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 2,317
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,306

We are losing ourselves. We're chasing the wrong things, asking the wrong questions, and polluting our minds. It's time to stop, it's time to resist and it's time to rethink the fundamental social blueprint that our lives are built upon....

  • 1 out of 5 stars

Self righteousness on steroids

  • By Darren Scott on 09-06-21

My Account cover art

  • The official autobiography

By: Coleen Rooney

  • Narrated by: Coleen Rooney
  • Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 263
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 259
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 259

This, then, is My Account , Coleen Rooney’s tale of what it means to stand up for yourself and your family....

  • By Kindle Customer on 16-11-23

Endure cover art

  • How to Work Hard, Outlast, and Keep Hammering

By: Cameron Hanes

  • Narrated by: Cameron Hanes, David Goggins, Joe Rogan
  • Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,659
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,460
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,449

Push beyond your physical limits to improve yourself by following bowhunter and ultramarathoner Cameron Hanes's lifelong philosophies.

Respect the man, but hard to finish

  • By vikki robinson on 19-08-22

James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media cover art

James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media

By: James Acaster

  • Narrated by: James Acaster
  • Overall 4 out of 5 stars 648
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 586
  • Story 4 out of 5 stars 585

This is a self-help book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you....

  • 2 out of 5 stars

I'm a fan, but didn't like this book.

  • By Gee on 18-08-22

How to Build a Car cover art

How to Build a Car

By: Adrian Newey

  • Narrated by: Richard Trinder
  • Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,842
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,621
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,614

The world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir....

So much better than you think it will be!

  • By Robert on 14-04-18

Everything Is Everything cover art

Everything Is Everything

  • A Memoir of Love, Hate & Hope

By: Clive Myrie

  • Narrated by: Clive Myrie
  • Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 144
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 139
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 140

As a Bolton teenager with a paper round Clive Myrie read all the newspapers he delivered from cover to cover, and dreamed of becoming a journalist....

Riveting book. Highly recommended

  • By Amazon Customer on 18-09-23

David Mitchell: Back Story cover art

David Mitchell: Back Story

By: David Mitchell

  • Narrated by: David Mitchell
  • Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 5,498
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 4,685
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,662

David Mitchell has written a book about his life....

A Total Joy

  • By Stan on 17-10-12

Lost Connections cover art

Lost Connections

  • Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions

By: Johann Hari

  • Narrated by: Johann Hari
  • Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 4,203
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,651
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 3,623

From the New York Times best-selling author of Chasing the Scream, a radically new way of thinking about depression and anxiety....

Don't buy if you have depression and no support.

  • By Bailey Jayne on 15-03-18

Undoctored cover art

  • The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients

By: Adam Kay

  • Narrated by: Adam Kay, Reverend Richard Coles
  • Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,082
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 983
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 980

Undoctored is Adam Kay's funniest and most moving book yet—an astonishing portrait of a life in and out of medicine, from one of Britain's finest storytellers....

A difficult second album

  • By Ben Kelleher on 15-09-22

The Second Half cover art

The Second Half

  • By: Roy Keane, Roddy Doyle
  • Narrated by: Roy Keane, Stephen Hogan
  • Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,138
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,828
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,814

Narrated by Stephen Hogan and introduced by Roy Keane....

Narrator was hard to listen to

  • By Ronan on 13-10-14

By: Roy Keane , and others

Stakeknife's Dirty War cover art

Stakeknife's Dirty War

  • How Scappaticci, British Intelligence and Special Branch Ran the IRA

By: Richard O'Rawe

  • Narrated by: Alan Turkington
  • Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 112
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 111
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 111

Freddie Scappaticci was born in 1946 and raised in a deeply nationalist area of Belfast. When the Troubles broke out in 1969, he joined the Provisional IRA, where he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming commander of Belfast in 1984....

Brilliant story

  • By Eamon on 23-11-23

Born to Run cover art

Born to Run

By: Bruce Springsteen

  • Narrated by: Bruce Springsteen
  • Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 2,166
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,944
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,942

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl's halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it....

A real 'Brucie Bonus'

  • By Philip on 10-06-17

Poor Charlie’s Almanack cover art

Poor Charlie’s Almanack

  • The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

By: Charles T. Munger

  • Narrated by: Grover Gardener
  • Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
  • Overall 5 out of 5 stars 90
  • Performance 5 out of 5 stars 84
  • Story 5 out of 5 stars 84

"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up," Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack . Originally published in 2005, this compendium of 11 talks, delivered by the legendary Berkshire Hathaway....

  • By SH on 03-02-24

A Bit of a Stretch cover art

A Bit of a Stretch

  • The Diaries of a Prisoner

By: Chris Atkins

  • Narrated by: Chris Atkins
  • Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,318
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,958
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,946

Welcome to Her Majesty's Prison Service, a creaking and surreal world that has been left to rot for decades in the shadows of polite society....

Annoying music at random intervals - beware

  • By Doc on 08-02-20

Mack the Life cover art

Mack the Life

By: Lee Mack

  • Narrated by: Lee Mack
  • Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
  • Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
  • Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 904
  • Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 899

Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from....

Mack the life

  • By Dean on 16-07-22

New Releases

Murder at Lordship cover art

Murder at Lordship

  • Inside the Hunt for a Detective's Killer
  • By: Pat Marry, Robin Schiller
  • Narrated by: Dan Murphy

Pat Marry, former colleague of Adrian Donohoe and the detective inspector in charge of the investigation, and journalist Robin Schiller take us inside the notorious case, describing the gardai's unprecedented collaboration with the FBI, the NYPD and Homeland Security which finally brought Brady to justice, following the lengthiest police inquiry and murder trial in the history of the Irish state. Filled with details not previously known to the public, Murder at Lordship is the definitive account of one of the most shocking crimes of this century.

By: Pat Marry , and others

Less cover art

  • Stop Buying So Much Rubbish: How Having Fewer, Better Things Can Make Us Happier

By: Patrick Grant

  • Narrated by: Patrick Grant
  • Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

In this passionate and revealing book about loving clothes but despairing of a broken global system Patrick Grant considers the crisis of consumption and quality in fashion, and how we might make ourselves happier by rediscovering the joy of living with fewer, better-quality things. Weaving in his personal journey through fashion, clothing and the other everyday objects in his life, this is a book that celebrates craftsmanship, making things with care, buying things with thought and valuing everything we own.

Janey has been a determined fighter all her life - from her tough Glasgow childhood to becoming the much-loved comedian she is now. It was the strength she needed to survive as a sweary-mouthed woman in the male-dominated comedy clubs of the 1990s. At the end of the long sell-out tour which followed she received the devastating news she had ovarian cancer. Her future hung in the balance, but even in treatment, a new tour went ahead, called Not Dead Yet . Janey now faces her fears head on and shares the tumultuous journey she's on, continuing to find humour even in her darkest moments.

The Stars Will Still Be There cover art

The Stars Will Still Be There

  • What my daughter taught me about love, life and loss

By: Nicola Nuttall

  • Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
  • Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

When Nicola Nuttall was told that her 18-year-old daughter Laura had only 12 months to live, following a diagnosis of the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, she couldn’t begin to process her emotions. It was her greatest fear come true. But while her mother struggled to adjust and searched for new treatments, Laura made a decision: she would live her life to the full and embark on an extraordinary bucket list.

The Giant on the Skyline cover art

The Giant on the Skyline

  • On Home, Belonging and Learning to Let Go

By: Clover Stroud

  • Narrated by: Clover Stroud
  • Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Clover's eldest children are leaving home for university. Her husband Pete's work is in America. The only way for Clover and the younger children to live with him is to uproot, leave their rural life near the ancient Ridgeway in Oxfordshire and move to Washington DC. Forced to leave the home she loves and consider these questions, Clover sets out to explore the place where she lives, walk the Ridgway, understand a little of the history of her landscape and work out why it is that it is so hard for her to go.

The Traitor of Arnhem cover art

The Traitor of Arnhem

  • WWII’s Greatest Betrayal and the Moment That Changed History Forever

By: Robert Verkaik

  • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
  • Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Following the Western Allies' overwhelming victory on D-Day, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin are all prepared to shape the future, and Operation Market Garden is Britain's attempt to beat the Russians to Berlin and be the first to help craft the new world order. With 10,000 men dropped into Arnhem and another 20,000 in Grave, the British are set to secure the area and declare victory. However, Dutch resistance hero Christian Lindemans has other plans. Lindemans is determined to help the Germans gain the lead in the war and begins to dismantle the operation from within.

You Will Get Through This Night: Extended Edition cover art

You Will Get Through This Night: Extended Edition

By: Daniel Howell

  • Narrated by: Daniel Howell
  • Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

A practical guide to taking control of your mental health for today, tomorrow, and the days after, from the Sunday Times bestselling author and beloved entertainer. Written by Daniel Howell, in consultation with a qualified psychologist, this is an entertaining and personal book to help you from the perspective of someone who has been through it all. This no-nonsense book gives you the tools to understand your mind so you can be in control and really live.

Inside Out cover art

  • The Extraordinary Legacy of April Ashley

By: Douglas Thompson

  • Narrated by: Luke R Francis
  • Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Through her own – often bloody-minded – determination and the medical skill of others, April Ashley became the woman she had always believed herself to be. And for half a dozen decades she soared around, over and above momentous and turbulent times, difficult, and changing times when, finally, who you wanted to be and who you could be became the cultural topic of the day. She overcame opprobrium and penury and became renowned and celebrated for one specific achievement: being April Ashley.

The Prison Officer cover art

The Prison Officer

By: Gen Glaister

  • Narrated by: Rebecca Lee
  • Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Life as a prison officer was Gen's calling. But when she took her first job in a men’s prison at only 23, she was thrown in at the deep end. From the wing kingpin who delivers his threats with a smile and a pat on the back, to the famous drill artist causing a stir on the wing, and from the ‘frequent flyer' for whom prison is the only home he's known to the young offender who gets a second chance, Gen reveals the incredible cast of characters behind the prison walls.

The Cleopatras cover art

The Cleopatras

By: Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

  • Narrated by: Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
  • Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins

Cleopatra: lover, seductress, and Egypt's greatest queen. A woman more myth than history, immortalized in poetry, drama, music, art, and film. She captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, the two greatest Romans of the day, and died in a blaze of glory, with an asp clasped to her breast - or so the legend tells us. But the real-life story of the historical Cleopatra VII is even more compelling. She was the last of seven Cleopatras who ruled Egypt before it was subsumed into the Roman Empire. These extraordinary women keep a close grip on power in the wealthiest country of the ancient world.

My My! cover art

  • ABBA Through the Ages

By: Giles Smith

  • Narrated by: Kris Dyer

This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Waterloo (the song, not the battle) – a seminal moment in pop history which saw Swedish sensation ABBA burst on to the international music scene. How is it that half a century later this seventies Eurovision act is bigger than ever – reaching listeners of all ages and spinning off into musicals, museums and holograms? Giles Smith, writer and music fan, sets out to find out why.

Bothy cover art

  • In Search of Simple Shelter

By: Kat Hill

  • Narrated by: Catrin Walker-Booth
  • Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

You will find a bothy in the mountains or the wilderness, remote huts you can’t reserve, usually without electricity or other mod-cons, running water or a marker on the map. And it’s there that you’ll meet Kat Hill – kettle on, feet up and pen out. Leading us on a gorgeous journey around the UK, Kat reveals the history of these wild mountain shelters and the people who visit them. With an historian’s insight and a rambler’s imagination, Kat lends fresh consideration to the concepts of nature, wilderness and escape.

Apache at War cover art

Apache at War

  • An Elite Pilot's Story

By: Steve Jones

  • Narrated by: Nathaniel Priestley
  • Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins

Steve Jones is a former senior British combat pilot flying with the Army Air Corps (AAC), and Apache At War is his vivid and uncompromising account of flying 'the ultimate fighting machine', the Apache AH1 attack helicopter in action. From patrolling 'Bandit Country' in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s, to taking out Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in the mid to late 2000s, with active service in the Balkans and Iraq along the way: Steve Jones offers the taut, gritty, and graphic reality of flying in military service.

Performance cover art

Performance

  • A Misadventure in Soho

By: Ruth Ivo

  • Narrated by: Ruth Ivo
  • Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Burlesque performer Ruby unfolds from a Fabergé egg each night at clubs across London, until she is asked to direct the show at 'The Club'. A place of infamy and illicit pleasures where the filthy rich and famous come to play, and nothing is off-limits. There, Ruby's nights unravel in a crescendo of violent delights, in thrall to unhinged bosses and a rabid audience. Her soul is wrung out by decadence as the line between entertainment and destruction blurs - yet still, the dance must go on.

Missing cover art

  • My life finding the lost and delivering justice for the living

By: Charlie Hedges

  • Narrated by: Charlie Hedges
  • Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins

350,000: the number of missing person reports opened in the UK every year. But how do we find the missing? Charlie Hedges is a pioneer in the field of missing persons over a career spanning nearly four decades. During his work in the police force, then at the Missing Persons Bureau and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, Charlie has been involved in some of the most high-profile cases of recent years. From abductions and trafficking to accidents and the vulnerable, Charlie has seen into the dark shadows of life.

White Terror cover art

White Terror

  • A True Story of Murder, Bombings and Germany’s Far Right

By: Jacob Kushner

  • Narrated by: Samantha Desz

In a tour de force of investigative journalism and novelistic storytelling, White Terror follows the National Socialist Underground, or NSU, from their radicalisation as young skinheads through their transformation into fully fledged terrorists carrying out bombings and assassinations while living on the run. But it’s also about something almost as terrifying: the German police and intelligence services that missed clues, mishandled far-right informants and repeatedly tried to paint the immigrant victims as mafiosos.

The Scandal of the Century cover art

The Scandal of the Century

By: Lisa Hilton

  • Narrated by: Emma Gregory
  • Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

There are few labels not attached to Aphra Behn - playwright, poet, a spy, a scarlet woman condemned for loose morals. And yet, for all her notoriety Aphra Behn is an enigma. Born in around 1640, her early life isn't well recorded and facts about her are continually disputed. Her birth name may have been Eaffrey Johnson and she could have been the daughter of a Canterbury barber, although neither fact is certain. And, just after the Restoration she probably briefly lived in the English colony of Surinam in South America, where she was perhaps embroiled in political espionage.

Did I Ever Tell You? cover art

Did I Ever Tell You?

By: Genevieve Kingston

  • Narrated by: Genevieve Kingston
  • Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Ten days before Gwen Kingston turned twelve, her beloved mother - with whom she shared a birthday - died. She left behind two chests - one for Gwen and one for her brother - filled with lovingly wrapped presents and letters marking the milestones she would miss: driver's licences, graduations and every one of their birthdays until the age of thirty. Each gift a chance to reach back into the past and, for the briefest moment, hear her voice again.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

These 12 Stunning Autobiographies Will Leave You in Wonder

By Mia Barzilay Freund

Image may contain Andre Agassi Katharine Graham Book Publication Adult Person Novel Accessories Formal Wear and Tie

We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to win Wimbledon , run The Washington Post , or get drunk with Jimmy Buffett ? Through the best autobiographies and celebrity memoirs , we can access gripping true stories told in the words of the people who lived through them.

Translating experience into language is a creative act. Autobiography can be earnest or irreverent, playful or profound. Often, real life can be stranger than fiction. The best autobiographies bring us closer to remarkable people and circumstances—and they’re well-written, to boot.

But that’s not all. The best examples from the genre can provide insights that help us improve our own lives. After all, there’s nothing like a story of perseverance against all odds to prove anything is possible.

These tales of endurance, transformation, and unlikely triumph are sure to command your attention––and dare we say, inspire your own main character energy .

Open by Andre Agassi

Image may contain: Andre Agassi, Publication, Book, Adult, Person, Head, Face, Earbuds, and Electronics

You don’t need to love tennis to find yourself totally engrossed by the story of Agassi’s legendary career. Once the number-one player in the world, Agassi led a life of pressure and publicity—from his intense childhood coached by his father to his high-profile marriages to Brooke Shields and Steffi Graf to the acute physical pain of his last chapter in professional tennis. The book was written with the help of ghostwriter J. R. Moehringer, whose own memoir The Tender Bar inspired a 2021 film with Ben Affleck. (Moehringer most recently helped Prince Harry pen his memoir, Spare .)

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Image may contain: Advertisement, Poster, Baby, Person, Page, Text, Face, and Head

The Glass Castle

A New York Times bestseller for more than eight years, this stunning memoir details the author’s unconventional upbringing and her trajectory from a trailer park in Arizona to the New York City literary scene. Under her troubled but relentlessly dreaming father, Wells nurtured her imagination as she and her siblings learned to fend for themselves within their dysfunctional household. Her approach was creative and sometimes painful—like when she suffered full-body burns cooking hot dogs at age three, or when she fashioned homemade braces from rubber bands and wire. A brilliant prequel, Half Broke Horses , focuses on Walls’s adventurous grandmother during the early 1900s.

The Accidental Life by Terry McDonell

Image may contain: Book, Publication, Advertisement, Poster, Text, Adult, and Person

The Accidental Life

A legend in the world of magazines and publishing, McDonell was the trusted editor and friend of literary greats like James Salter and George Plimpton. His 2016 memoir chronicles relationships and skirmishes across a four-decade career in journalism—from sipping wine with Jimmy Buffett to playing “acid golf” with Hunter S. Thompson. Each chapter comes marked with a word count, making for satisfying, self-contained dips into literary lore. Evocative, irreverent, and honest, McDonell’s memoir spans a wild and wonderful time in American media.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

Image may contain: Book, Publication, Advertisement, Poster, Clothing, and Glove

How to Say Babylon

A poet as well as a memoirist, Sinclair fills her 2023 memoir with lyrical descriptions of her upbringing in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where the Rastafarian faith into which she was born prescribed rigid codes on the basis of gender. However, language—specifically, poetry —served as a welcome escape, made possible by Sinclair’s literature-loving mother. Moving and unflinching, Babylon is an astonishing feat of memory set in motion.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Image may contain: Book, Publication, Advertisement, and Poster

I Know Why the Caged Bird

Angelou enlarged and enriched the genre of autobiography with her 1969 account of her early life in Stamps, Arkansas. In it, she fashions her younger self into a literary character through whom she revisits events of the past. A young Maya endures affronts to her humanity through encounters with racism and sexual violence, but her story channels adolescent insecurity into self-possession, reflected in the author’s breathtaking command of language and narrative.

Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones

Image may contain: Book, Publication, Adult, Person, Baby, Advertisement, Poster, Face, Head, and Novel

Easy Beauty

Born with sacral agenesis, a rare condition that affects her gait and stature, Cooper Jones is keenly aware of the reactions her physicality elicits. Her subtle and humorous 2022 memoir—a Pulitzer Prize finalist—challenges the reader to reassess the way bodies claim space , tracing how Cooper Jones’s own perspective shifts when she unexpectedly becomes a mother.

Personal History: A Memoir by Katharine Graham

Image may contain: Katharine Graham, Book, Publication, Adult, Person, Advertisement, Poster, Face, Head, and Accessories

Personal History

Graham’s Pulitzer Prize–winning autobiography explores her isolating upbringing amid extreme privilege, her exhilarating and agonizing marriage, and her leadership of The Washington Post during its coverage of events like the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal. With its intimate insight into a formidable figure in American life, Graham’s Personal History makes the memoir a literary force.

Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington

Image may contain: Grace Coddington, Book, Publication, Face, Head, Person, Photography, Portrait, and Adult

Vogue ’s longtime creative director pulls back the curtain on the fashion industry and the creative world surrounding it, documenting the insecurities of moving from industry outsider to insider and the joy of bringing to life fashion fantasies in the magazine’s pages. Beginning with her upbringing in Wales and her early career in modeling, Coddington recounts things in a playful and characteristically British tone: the professional squabbles, artistic decisions, iconic outfits, and all. The memoir also features Coddington’s personal photographs, as well as lush spreads from her favorite features.

Por Estas Calles Bravas / Down These Mean Streets by Piri Tomás

Image may contain: City, Road, Street, Urban, Advertisement, Poster, Book, Publication, Lighting, Nature, Night, and Outdoors

Down These Mean Streets

Growing up in Spanish Harlem in the 1930s and ’40s, Tomás experienced discrimination and abuse on the basis of his Puerto Rican heritage. In an environment of poverty and violence, he fell into crime and drug addiction and eventually was incarcerated over a dispute with a police officer. His vivid personal account, available in both English and Spanish, details his journey from a place of hopelessness to self-acceptance through storytelling.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Image may contain: Frederick Douglass, Face, Head, Person, Photography, Portrait, Adult, Book, Publication, and Accessories

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Douglass’s narrative is an important document of American history, as well as an essential piece of American literature. It records his experiences under slavery and his eventual escape and involvement in the abolition movement. A story of incredible hardship and triumph, the narrative includes the acquisition of language itself; Douglass taught himself to read and write, skills the enslaved were otherwise denied.

The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day

Image may contain: Dorothy Day, Book, Publication, Advertisement, Poster, Adult, and Person

The Long Loneliness

A leader in the Catholic Worker movement, Day was a radical political organizer and journalist governed by principles of nonviolence and charity. Her autobiography captures a storied life, including her religious conversion, her personal conflicts over motherhood, and her founding and operation of the Catholic Worker newspaper. Her autobiography stands as an exquisite piece of personal reflection and social activism (with a moving introduction by psychiatrist Robert Coles).

Night by Elie Wiesel

Image may contain: Book, Publication, Advertisement, Poster, and Novel

Written in 1960, Wiesel’s memoir is the sobering account of his experiences during the Holocaust, including his time in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. At certain moments, his prose takes on a fractured, faltering quality, as if language itself fails to capture the horrors he endured. Sixty-four years after its publication, Night remains an important record of a dark chapter in recent history.

Met Gala 2024 Red Carpet Looks: See Every Celebrity Outfit and Dress from Last Night

By Christian Allaire

Queen Latifah and Her Longtime Partner, Eboni Nichols, Shared a Red-Carpet Date Night in Thom Browne at the 2024 Met Gala

Advertisement

Supported by

Pulitzer Prizes 2024: A Guide to the Winning Books and Finalists

Jayne Anne Phillips won the fiction award for “Night Watch,” while Jonathan Eig and Ilyon Woo shared the biography prize.

  • Share full article

On left, the book cover for “Night Watch” shows an illustration of asylum grounds in shades of black and gray. The book title and author’s name are written over the illustration, along with a curving line that serves as a road for a horse and buggy. On the right, in a portrait, Jayne Anne Phillips looks at the camera at an angle, with a half-smile.

By Elizabeth A. Harris and Joumana Khatib

Eighteen books were recognized as winners or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize on Monday, in the categories of history, memoir, poetry, general nonfiction, fiction and biography, which had two winners.

Night Watch , by Jayne Anne Phillips

A story about a mother and daughter set in the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, W.Va., after the Civil War. “Night Watch,” which was also longlisted for the National Book Award, is about surviving war and its aftermath. “I consider Phillips to be among the greatest and most intuitive of American writers,” wrote our critic Dwight Garner.

Fiction finalist: Wednesday’s Child: Stories , by Yiyun Li

A short story collection written over the course of a decade that examines aging and loss. The stories touch on a woman who makes a spreadsheet of every person she’s lost, a middle-aged practitioner of Eastern medicine and an 88-year-old biologist.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Fiction finalist: Same Bed Different Dreams , by Ed Park

An imagined alternate history of Korea that includes assassins, slasher films and the dangers of social media. In a review in The Times, the critic Hamilton Cain called the book “wonderfully suspenseful, like watching a circus performer juggle a dozen torches; will one slip his agile hands?”

Random House

No Right to an Honest Living , by Jacqueline Jones

Jones, a historian and a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, examines the hypocrisy of Boston before the Civil War. The city was known for its antislavery rhetoric and as the center of abolitionism, but Black residents endured “casual cruelty” in the work force and were condemned to lives of poverty without the chance for equal employment.

Basic Books

History finalist: Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion , by Elliott West

This is an examination of the American West and its physical and cultural transformation in the 19th century. The book covers the 1840s, when the West was home to various Native cultures, and moves through the next three decades, when the area was organized into states and territories and connected by railroads and telegraph wires.

University of Nebraska Press

History finalist: American Anarchy: The Epic Struggle Between Immigrant Radicals and the U.S. Government at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, by Michael Willrich

This book is a history of the American anarchist movement in the early 20th century. While many working class immigrants saw it as heroic, others considered it a frightening foreign ideology.

King: A Life , by Jonathan Eig

This major study of the civil rights icon draws on a landslide of recently released White House telephone transcripts, F.B.I. documents, letters, oral histories and other material. Eig shows a masterly command of his research, showing King in intimate moments, and arguing that his nonviolence has been mistaken for passivity. Put simply, our critic Dwight Garner wrote, “Eig’s book is worthy of its subject.”

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom , by Ilyon Woo

In 1848, William and Ellen Craft, an enslaved couple, disguised themselves as a sick, wealthy white man traveling with his male slave and headed north. Woo tells the story of their stunning, perilous journey in novelistic detail, tracing their path through the United States and eventual passage to England, where they wrote a popular book about their escape.

Simon & Schuster

Biography finalist: “ Larry McMurtry: A Life ,” by Tracy Daugherty

This is the first comprehensive biography of McMurtry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Lonesome Dove” and “The Last Picture Show,” among other novels. Daugherty has also written biographies of Joseph Heller and Joan Didion, and his latest “reads a bit like one of McMurtry’s novels,” our critic Dwight Garner wrote in his review. “Elegy and humor bleed into each other.”

St. Martin’s Press

MEMOIR OR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice , by Cristina Rivera Garza

In 1990, Rivera Garza’s 20-year-old sister was killed, and the case is a jumping-off point for this searching, personal examination of femicide in Mexico. The book is “one of the most effective resurrections of a murder victim I have ever read,” our reviewer, Katherine Dykstra, wrote. “Rivera Garza draws her sister, then complicates that drawing and then complicates the complication, creating layer upon layer of nuance.”

Memoir finalist: The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight , by Andrew Leland

The author, a longtime editor and podcaster, details his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that is gradually causing him to lose his vision. His writing is “jazzy and intelligent,” our critic Alexandra Jacobs said, “with licks of understated humor.” Yet Leland also “rigorously explores the disability’s most troubling corners,” resulting in an affecting study of vision and its limits.

Penguin Press

Memoir finalist: The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions , by Jonathan Rosen

In this account of his friendship with Michael Laudor, who came to prominence as a Yale student trying to publicly destigmatize mental illness and later was convicted of stabbing his pregnant girlfriend to death, Rosen offers a look at the boundaries between brilliance and insanity. Our critic Alexandra Jacobs called it “an act of tremendous compassion and a literary triumph.”

GENERAL NONFICTION

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy , by Nathan Thrall

This book tells the story of a deadly bus crash outside Jerusalem through the eyes of a Palestinian father whose 5-year-old died in the accident. The father’s agony is compounded by the physical and legal restrictions that shape the lives of Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Thrall also examines the political, bureaucratic and personal decisions that contributed to the crash, and “vignettes of individual guilt come up against stark political realities,” our reviewer Rozina Ali wrote.

Metropolitan Books

General nonfiction finalist: Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World , by John Vaillant

In 2016, wildfires tore through Fort McMurray, in the Canadian province of Alberta. Vaillant details how the fire began, how it traveled and the wreckage it left behind, weaving a story of a warming climate, a massive oil reserve and the apocalyptic fallout. The heart of the story, of course, is the fire itself: “Vaillant anthropomorphizes fire,” our reviewer David Enrich wrote. “Not only does it grow and breathe and search for food; it strategizes. It hunts. It lays in wait for months, even years.”

General nonfiction finalist: Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives , by Siddharth Kara

Cobalt is an essential mineral used in the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power devices from smartphones to electric vehicle. This book, from an academic who has studied modern slavery, examines the horrors of cobalt mining, particularly the hazardous conditions and subsistence pay that workers face.

Tripas: Poems, by Brandon Som

In this collection, Som celebrates his multicultural heritage and family memories, writing about his grandmother, who was Chicana and worked nights on an assembly line at a Motorola factory, and his Chinese American father and grandparents, who ran a corner store.

Georgia Review Books

Poetry finalist: Information Desk: An Epic , by Robyn Schiff

Schiff chronicles her five years working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s information desk, where she answered mostly one question. As she writes in “Information Desk,” the “catechism/commences: Where’s the bathroom? / Where’s / the bathroom? Can you direct me to a / men’s room? ” Writing about the book for The Times, Maggie Lange called it “a searing yet reverent book-length poem, containing as many jokes as it does social critiques.”

Penguin Poets

Poetry finalist: To 2040, by Jorie Graham

Graham’s 15th poetry collection is narrated by a speaker looking toward the future while reflecting on her own mortality. The collection begins with questions stated as fact: “Are we / extinct yet. Who owns / the map.”

Copper Canyon Press

  More about Elizabeth A. Harris

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

“Real Americans,” a new novel by Rachel Khong , follows three generations of Chinese Americans as they all fight for self-determination in their own way .

“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

Joan Didion’s distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here are her essential works .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

Why Tom Selleck was asked to break up Princess Diana's dance with John Travolta: Memoir

best autobiography books on audible

"Magnum, P.I." star Tom Selleck pours out fond memories as thick as his famed mustache in " You Never Know: A Memoir " (Harper Collins, 339 pp., out now).

Selleck, 79, is working on his final "Blue Bloods" season. He writes about life lessons, his charmingly accidental Hollywood career, and the global superstar ride spurred on by his iconic 1980 "Magnum" role as the famed Hawaiian-shirt-loving private investigator.

"You Never Know" dishes nice, doesn't settle scores or talk politics, and the "Magnum"-heavy memoir doesn't dwell on Selleck's movies like 1987's "Three Men and a Baby" (or even discuss his long-running "Friends" role as Courteney Cox' s much older boyfriend).

Here are Selleck's best "You Never Know" revelations.

Tom Selleck Talks 'Blue Bloods,' 'Magnum P.I.'

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

Selleck won despite being a double 'Dating Game' loser

A University of Southern California basketball player and underachieving student, Selleck got his Hollywood start on the blind date competition show "The Dating Game." Selleck's first TV appearance, pitted against two other bachelors, was a disaster with nervously bumbled responses to the female contestants' flirty questions.

"I had lame answers, and I lost. I wasn’t funny. I didn’t enjoy it," he writes. The producers called for a return appearance. "For some bizarre reason, I went back. I was still terrified. I still wasn’t funny, and I lost again."

The double loss somehow turned into key career moves. Selleck got a Pepsi commercial and was noticed by a casting director.

Selleck tipped his fedora to Harrison Ford after losing Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones role because of 'Magnum'

After shooting the promising "Magnum" pilot, Selleck was the unknown actor Steven Spielberg and George Lucas wanted to play Indiana Jones in 1981's " Raiders of the Lost Ark ." Selleck wasn't allowed to see the script before his first high-pressure reading. But "the hat and leather jacket helped me understand the period," Selleck writes.

Reading along with actress Sean Young as Marion Ravenwood (that part went to Karen Allen ), Selleck was called back for a second meeting.

“'We want you to play Indiana Jones.' I think it was Steven who told me," Selleck writes. "Look, I don’t have a clue how I responded. I hope at least I said 'Thank you.' This was a new franchise and they thought it needed a new face. I guess I was it."

But after "Magnum" was sold to CBS, the network president wouldn't release his star, fearing "that if he let me do 'Raiders,' I wouldn’t want to do 'Magnum,' and I would try and get out of it," Selleck writes. "I, of course, knew I would never do that."

Friends warned him not to watch "Raiders." Selleck bought a movie ticket and Jujyfruits. "Indiana Jones was Harrison Ford. The one errant thought that never entered my mind was 'That coulda been me,'" Selleck writes. "Somehow it didn’t bother me. It was such a good movie."

How much did Frank Sinatra bill for expenses for his six-day 'Magnum' shoot? It was still a bargain.

Frank Sinatra , a friend of "Magnum" star Larry Manetti (Rick Wright), had one condition about shooting a Season 7 guest appearance: "Just make sure I get to beat somebody up.”

The ailing Sinatra, then 70, committed to the part of an NYPD sergeant searching for the men who murdered his granddaughter. Even from his sickbed after being hospitalized for colitis, Sinatra assured: "Don't worry. I said I'll be there, I'll be there."

Sinatra's energy was limited in the shortened six-day shoot, making every moment count − especially for the final fight scene that Sinatra insisted on performing. Somehow a forbidden on-set camera flash ruined a key scene of a power Sinatra punch.

"Frank was not happy. We were not happy," Selleck says. "Our eyes landed on Larry, holding his Polaroid camera with a photo sticking out of it. 'I didn’t do it,' was Larry’s defense. The picture developed of Frank throwing a perfect punch."

The scene eventually worked. The landmark episode was the highest-rated "Magnum" in two years. It was a huge score even if production bosses were "shocked when they got the bill for Frank’s expenses," Selleck writes. "I don’t know the exact number, but it was in the six figures." Still a bargain.

A license flub nearly derailed Selleck's top-secret 'commando-like precision' Reno wedding

Selleck and his partner, British actress Jillie Mack, were intent on a secret family-only wedding. The clandestine event in Reno, Nevada, in August 1987, before shooting the final season of "Magnum," was a super-feat in paparazzi-fueled time. Mack hid her wedding dress in her handheld garment bag and Selleck flew in with only a carry-on to avoid suspicion. The star hid in the car as his father sized his wedding ring at a quickie Reno wedding store.

Selleck eventually had to exit his car and take off his sunglasses-and-baseball-hat disguise to identify himself to the shocked county clerk for the wedding license. But the operation to Reverend Dave's wedding chapel on the second floor of a strip mall was conducted with "commando-like precision." The "Magnum" fan organist was even ready with her surprise wedding music, taken from TV's nighttime soap opera "Dynasty."

"I didn't have the heart to tell her that 'Dynasty' was our Wednesday night competition," Selleck writes.

There was a major problem. A frantic search revealed the wedding license was left behind in the rush of leaving the clerk's office. "None of us knew what to say. We were stuck," Selleck writes.

Rev. Dave agreed to perform the wedding and pick up a new license himself as the family celebrated. The "Magnum" superstar's marriage to Mack was not reported until late the next month and has lasted 36 years.

"In Celebrityland, keeping our secret for a month might be a record," Selleck writes.

Selleck put his (left) foot down, refused to 'cut in' on John Travolta's dance with Princess Diana

John Travolta is a tough act to follow on the dance floor. So Selleck and Clint Eastwood steered clear as Travolta famously danced with Princess Diana at a White House state dinner thrown by President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in November 1985.

"We slipped away from all the dancers and moved to a spot slightly around the corner. By now John and Princess Di were dancing to an up-tempo number and rocking out. Everybody else stopped dancing and formed a circle around them, clapping their hands," Selleck writes. "Clint and I stood our ground."

A British woman urged action from the two stars as Travolta's second dance could "start rumors."

"Clint and I said nothing.'Mr. Selleck, you must step in and replace him.” Selleck recalls the women saying. “I’M NOT CUTTING IN ON JOHN TRAVOLTA!” was my reply, probably in too loud a voice. She was not pleased."

Selleck gallantly stepped in for a third dance, working his way through a thankfully slow song.

"Princess Diana was lovely, and there was a very shy quality about her in spite of her being well-schooled in the art of conversation," Selleck writes.

Dr. Sylvester Cotton

Dr. Sylvester Cotton

You're getting a free audiobook., best sellers.

Cyberspace Guardians Audiobook By Dr. Sylvester Cotton cover art

Cyberspace Guardians

  • A Comprehensive Guide for Choosing the Right CISO
  • By: Dr. Sylvester Cotton
  • Narrated by: Chris Walsh
  • Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins
  • Overall 0 out of 5 stars 0
  • Performance 0 out of 5 stars 0
  • Story 0 out of 5 stars 0

Dive into the intriguing world of digital defense with Dr. Sylvester “Sly” Cotton’s masterpiece, “Cyberspace Guardians.” In an era dominated by an intricate web of technology, Dr. Cotton unravels the mysteries of safeguarding the vast realm of cyberspace.

  • Release date: 05-08-24
  • Language: English
  • Not rated yet

Failed to add items

Add to cart failed., add to wish list failed., remove from wishlist failed., adding to library failed, follow podcast failed, unfollow podcast failed.

Regular price: $6.95 or 1 credit

Sale price: $6.95 or 1 credit

Are you an author?

IMAGES

  1. What Is The Highest Rated Book On Audible

    best autobiography books on audible

  2. Autobiography by Morrissey

    best autobiography books on audible

  3. 19 of the best autobiographies that will fascinate and inspire you

    best autobiography books on audible

  4. Top 16 Best Autobiography Books That You Should Reading

    best autobiography books on audible

  5. Chapters from My Autobiography (Audiobook) by Mark Twain

    best autobiography books on audible

  6. Autobiography by Morrissey

    best autobiography books on audible

VIDEO

  1. Best autobiography I am reading 📚- A Life in Parts by: Bryan Cranston

COMMENTS

  1. Best of the Year: The 15 Best Bios and Memoirs of 2022

    Margo Jefferson. Audible's Memoir of the Year, 2022. To call Margo Jefferson's exquisite Constructing a Nervous System a memoir is a bit of a misnomer. After all, this skillfully crafted autobiography dances between genres so fluidly, leaping from the personal to deft cultural analysis in a dazzling display of narrative choreography.

  2. 21 of the Best Memoir Audiobooks (Read by the Author)

    Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner. Crying in H Mart is far more than a simple food memoir. In the book, Zauner explores her life growing up as a Korean American, an awkward adolescence, her Mom's high expectations and lots and lots of eating in her Grandmother's apartment. It's also a painful foray in to the pain of grief.

  3. 20 Best Biography Audiobooks of All Time

    The 20 best biography audiobooks recommended by Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jimmy Fallon, Satya Nadella, The New Yorker, Time, Forbes and Esquire.

  4. 100 of the Best Bios & Memoirs AudioBooks (200 books)

    I listen to a lot of audio books on my commute to and from work. Biography/Auto-biography and Memoir are among my favorites so I have added a bunch to this list. 200 books based on 94 votes: Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knigh...

  5. The Best Biography Audiobooks, Ranked By Listeners

    Bibliophilia. Ranking the best novels and non-fiction books of every genre. Over 50 readers have voted on the 20+ books on Best Audiobook Biographies. Current Top 3: Lucky: A Memoir, Born A Crime, Educated: A Memoir.

  6. Amazon Best Sellers: Best Biographies & Memoirs

    1 offer from $21.83. #13. Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning. Liz Cheney. 11,560. Audible Audiobook. 1 offer from $21.83. #14. Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself.

  7. 16 Best New Autobiography Audiobooks To Read In 2024

    5 Best New Autobiography Audiobooks To Read In 2024 Discover the best and latest autobiography audiobooks, and pick the right one for you. As seen on CNN, Forbes, and Inc, BookAuthority features the books recommended by experts.

  8. The Best Autobiographies To Listen To On Audible

    The Best Autobiographies To Listen To On Audible. There's something special about hearing a person tell their own story and, whether you're on the move or not, audible biographies can provide hours of entertainment. From Claudia Winkleman and Elton John, to Princess Margaret's lady-in-waiting, we've rounded up our favourites - most of ...

  9. Best Autobiography Audiobooks Read by the Author

    Hollywood Park. By Mikel Jollett, narrated by the author. 11 hours, 45 minutes. In the early 1970s, Jollett is born into the Church of Synanon, a cult that separates infants from their parents to be raised by cult teachers. One night, Mikel, his mother, and his older brother, Tony, make a desperate and dangerous escape.

  10. Best Autobiographical Audiobooks of 2022

    The Best Biographies & Memoirs of 2022 Best of 2022 The Best Biographies & Memoirs of 2022 There's been no shortage of great audiobooks released this year, and we've compiled a wonderful collection of the brightest and best biography audiobooks released in 2022.

  11. 24 best autobiographies you have to read in 2024

    Best autobiographies at a glance: Open, Andre Agassi | £10.99. Everything I Know About Love, Dolly Alderton | £10.99. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou | from £4.99. Wild Swans ...

  12. Amazon.com: Audible Books Autobiographies

    1-48 of over 3,000 results for "audible books autobiographies" Results. Best Seller in Biographies of Celebrities & Entertainment Professionals. Greenlights. by Matthew McConaughey and Random House Audio. ... Editors' pick Best Biographies & Memoirs. Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks. by Stephen Davis, Christina Delaine, et al. 4.5 ...

  13. The Best Audiobooks of 2022

    20. Sakshi Jain. By Lauren Christensen. Dec. 7, 2022. As I've taken stock of the 400-ish hours of audiobooks I've listened to this year — many for work, some not, in a car or on a plane ...

  14. Amazon.com: Autobiography Audible Books

    Delivering to Lebanon 66952 Choose location for most accurate options All. Select the department you want to search in

  15. Biographies & Memoirs Audio Books

    By: Pat Marry, and others. The Stars Will Still Be There. By: Nicola Nuttall. The Giant on the Skyline. By: Clover Stroud. Inside Out. By: Explore our collection of Biographies & Memoirs audiobooks including best sellers, new releases and customer picks. Start your free trial today and receive a free audiobook.

  16. The Best Autobiographies to Entertain and Inspire

    The book was written with the help of ghostwriter J. R. Moehringer, whose own memoir The Tender Bar inspired a 2021 film with Ben Affleck. (Moehringer most recently helped Prince Harry pen his ...

  17. Best New Book Releases This Week: May 7-13, 2024

    Best new books, from Tiffany Haddish to thrillers, sci-fi, sweet tales and more Parade's book expert Michael Giltz shares his top picks for the best new book releases in every genre out the week ...

  18. Amazon.com: Greenlights (Audible Audio Edition): Matthew McConaughey

    GreenlightsMatthew McConaughy5 Diamond Review💎💎💎💎💎Greenlights, written by Matthew McConaughy is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read and listened to. I ordered it first on Audible. I enjoyed the book so much, I ordered a hard copy as well.

  19. Pulitzer Prizes 2024: A Guide to the Winning Books and Finalists

    Eighteen books were recognized as winners or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize on Monday, in the categories of history, memoir, poetry, general nonfiction, fiction and biography, which had two winners.

  20. Tom Selleck's new book details top-secret wedding, famous Diana dance

    "Magnum, P.I." star Tom Selleck pours out fond memories as thick as his famed mustache in "You Never Know: A Memoir" (Harper Collins, 339 pp., out now). Selleck, 79, is working on his final "Blue ...

  21. Amazon.com: Audible Autobiography

    books autobiography best sellers ebooks books best sellers biography ... Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances: Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data: Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations : IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities: IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment

  22. Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio

    Browse Dr. Sylvester Cotton's best-selling audiobooks and newest titles. Discover more authors you'll love listening to on Audible. ... Follow Dr. Sylvester Cotton to get new release emails from Audible and Amazon. ... Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.