Biography

Real lives are often stranger and more moving than fiction. This shelf mixes memoirs and biographies: presidents and founders, entertainers and athletes, and people who grew up in hard, sometimes dangerous homes and wrote their way out. Some of these stories are hopeful, and a few are painful to read. I say in the reviews when a book deals with abuse, addiction or loss, so you can decide when you're ready for it. I also note when a memoir is one person's side of a contested story. What these books share is that they let you spend time inside someone else's life, and that can make anyone a little more patient with the people around them.