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The Best New Biographies and Memoirs to Read in 2024

This year sees some riveting and remarkable lives—from artist ai weiwei to singer-songwriter joni mitchell—captured on the page..

A life story can be read for escapist pleasure. But at other times, reading a memoir or biography can be an expansive exercise, opening us up to broader truths about our world. Often, it’s an edifying experience that reminds us of our universal human vulnerability and the common quest for purpose in life.

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Biographies and memoirs charting remarkable lives—whether because of fame, fortune or simply fascination—have the power to inspire us for their depth, curiosity or challenges. This year sees a bumper calendar of personal histories enter bookshops, grappling with enigmatic public figures like singer Joni Mitchell and writer Ian Fleming , to nuanced analysis of how motherhood or sociopathy shape our lives—for better and for worse.

SEE ALSO: The Best Addiction Memoirs for the Sober Curious

Here we compile some of the most rewarding biographies and memoirs out in 2024. There are stories of trauma and recovery, art as politics and politics as art, and sentences as single life lessons spread across books that will make you rethink much about personal life stories. After all, understanding the triumphs and trials of others can help us see how we can change our own lives to create something different or even better.

Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei and illustrated by Gianluca Costantini

Ai Weiwei , the iconoclastic artist and fierce critic of his homeland China, mixes fairy tales with moral lessons to evocatively retrace the story of his life in graphic form. Illustrations are by Italian artist Gianluca Costantini . “Any artist who isn’t an activist is a dead artist,” Weiwei writes in Zodiac , as he embraces everything from animals found in the Chinese zodiac to mystical folklore tales with anamorphic animals to argue the necessity of art as politics incarnate. The meditative exercise uses pithy anecdotes alongside striking visuals to sketch out a remarkable life story marked by struggle. It’s one weaving political manifesto, philosophy and personal memoir to engage readers on the necessity of art and agitation against authority in a world where we sometimes must resist and fight back.

Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti

Already well-known for her experimental writings, Sheila Heti takes a decade of diary entries and maps sentences against the alphabet, from A to Z. The project is a subversive rethink of our relationship to introspection—which often asks for order and clarity, like in diary writing—that maps new patterns and themes in its disjointed form. Heti plays with both her confessionals and her sometimes formulaic writing style (like knowingly using “Of course” in entries) to retrace the changes made (and unmade) across ten years of her life. Alphabetical Diaries is a sometimes demanding book given the incoherence of its entries, but remains an illuminating project in thinking about efforts at self-documentation.

Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison

Unlike her previous work The Empathy Exams , which examined how we relate to one another and on human suffering, writer Leslie Jamison wrestles today with her own failed marriage and the grief of surviving single parenting. After the birth of her daughter, Jamison divorces her partner “C,” traverses the trials and tribulations of rebound relationships (including with “an ex-philosopher”) and confronts unresolved emotional pains born of her own life living under the divorce of her parents. In her intimate retelling—paired with her superb prose—Jamison charts a personal history that acknowledges the unending divide mothers (and others) face dividing themselves between partners, children and their own lives.

Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring by Brad Gooch

Whether dancing figures or a “radiant baby,” the recognizable cartoonish symbols in Keith Haring ’s art endure today as shorthand signs representing both his playfulness and politicking. Haring (1958-1990) is the subject of writer Brad Gooch ’s deft biography, Radiant , a book that mines new material from the archive along with interviews with contemporaries to reappraise the influential quasi-celebrity artist. From rough beginnings tagging graffiti on New York City walls to cavorting with Andy Warhol and Madonna on art pieces, Haring battled everything from claims of selling out to over-simplicity. But he persisted with work that leveraged catchy quotes and colorful imagery to advance unsavory political messages—from AIDS to crack cocaine. A life tragically cut short at 31 is one powerfully celebrated in this new noble portrait.

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul Charles

In The House of Hidden Meaning , celebrated drag queen, RuPaul , reckons with a murky inner world that has shaped—and hindered—a lifetime of gender-bending theatricality. The figurative house at the center of the story is his “ego,” a plaguing barrier that apparently long inhibited the performer from realizing dreams of greatness. Now as the world’s most recognizable drag queen—having popularized the art form for mainstream audiences with the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race —RuPaul reflects on the power that drag and self-love have long offered across his difficult, and sometimes tortured, life. Readers expecting dishy stories may be disappointed, but the psychological self-assessment in the pages of this memoir is far more edifying than Hollywood gossip could ever be.

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne

Patric Gagne is an unlikely subject for a memoir on sociopaths. Especially since she is a former therapist with a doctorate in clinical psychology. Still, Gagne makes the case that after a troubled childhood of antisocial behavior (like stealing trinkets and cursing teachers) and a difficult adulthood (now stealing credit cards and fighting authority figures), she receives a diagnosis of sociopathy. Her memoir recounts many episodes of bad behavior—deeds often marked by a lack of empathy, guilt or even common decency—where her great antipathy mars any ability for her to connect with others. Sociopath is a rewarding personal exposé that demystifies one vilified psychological condition so often seen as entirely untreatable or irreparable. Only now there’s a familiar face and a real story linked to the prognosis.

Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare

Nicholas Shakespeare is an acclaimed novelist and an astute biographer, delivering tales that wield a discerning eye to subjects and embrace a robust attention to detail. Ian Fleming (1908-1964), the legendary creator of James Bond, is the latest to receive Shakespeare’s treatment. With access to new family materials from the Fleming estate, the seemingly contradictory Fleming is seen anew as a totally “different person” from his popular image. Taking cues from Fleming’s life story—from a refined upbringing spent in expensive private schools to working for Reuters as a journalist in the Soviet Union—Shakespeare reveals how these experiences shaped the elusive world of espionage and intrigue created in Fleming’s novels. Other insights include how Bond was likely informed by Fleming’s cavalier father, a major who fought in WWI. A martini (shaken, not stirred) is best enjoyed with this bio.

Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie , while giving a rare public lecture in New York in August 2022, was violently stabbed by an assailant brandishing a knife . The attack saw Rushdie lose his left hand and his sight in one eye. Speaking to The New Yorker a year later , he confirmed a memoir was in the works that would confront this harrowing existential experience: “When somebody sticks a knife into you, that’s a first-person story. That’s an ‘I’ story.” Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder is promised to be his raw, revelatory and deeply psychological confrontation with the violent incident. Like the sword of Damocles, brutality has long stalked Rushdie ever since the 1989 fatwa issued against the author, following the publication of his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses . The answer to such barbarity, Rushdie is poised to argue, is by finding the strength to stand up again.

The Art of Dying: Writings, 2019–2022 by Peter Schjeldahl (Release: May 14)

Peter Schjeldahl (1942-2022), longstanding art critic of The New Yorker , confronted his mortality when he was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer in 2019. The resulting essay collection he then penned, The Art of Dying , is a masterful meditation on one life preoccupied entirely with aesthetics and criticism. It’s a discursive tactic for a memoir that avoids discussing Schjeldahl’s coming demise while equally confirming its impending visit by avoiding it. Acknowledging that he finds himself “thinking about death less than I used to,” Schjeldahl spends most of the pages revisiting familiar art subjects—from Edward Hopper ’s output to Peter Saul ’s Pop Art—as vehicles to re-examine his own remarkable life. With a life that began in the humble Midwest, Schjeldahl says his birthplace was one that ultimately availed him to write so plainly and cogently on art throughout his career. Such posthumous musings prove illuminating lessons on the potency of American art, with whispered asides on the tragedy of death that will come for all of us.

Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell by Ann Powers (Release: June 11)

Joni Mitchell has enjoyed a remarkable revival recently, even already being one of the most acclaimed and enduring singer/songwriters. After retiring from public appearances for health reasons in the 2010s, Mitchell, 80, has returned to the spotlight with a 2021 Kennedy Centers honor , an appearance accepting the 2023 Gershwin Prize and even a live performance at this year’s Grammy Awards . It’s against this backdrop of public celebration of Mitchell that NPR music critic Ann Powers retraces the life story and musical (re)evolution of the singer, from folk to jazz genres and rock to soul music, across five decades for the American songbook. “What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell,” she writes in the introduction. Instead, Powers’ project is one showing how Mitchell’s many journeys—from literal road trips inspiring tracks like “All I Want” to inner probings of Mitchell’s psyche, such as the song “Both Sides Now”—have always inspired Mitchell’s enduring, emotive and palpable output. These travels hold the key, Powers says, to understanding an enigmatic artist.

• SEE ALSO : Will Keen On Playing Vladimir Putin On Broadway in ‘Patriots’

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The Best Books of the Year (So Far)

The nonfiction and novels we can’t stop thinking about.

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By The New York Times Books Staff

• Published May 24, 2024 Updated June 7, 2024

Fiction | Nonfiction

We’re almost halfway through 2024 and we at The Book Review have already written about hundreds of books. Some of those titles are good. Some are very good. And then there are the following.

We suspect that some (though certainly not all) will be top of mind when we publish our end-of-year, best-of lists. For more thoughts on what to read next, head to our book recommendation page .

James , by Percival Everett

In this reworking of the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Jim, the enslaved man who accompanies Huck down the Mississippi River, is the narrator, and he recounts the classic tale in a language that is his own, with surprising details that reveal a far more resourceful, cunning and powerful character than we knew.

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The Best New Book Releases Out June 11, 2024

Erica Ezeifedi

Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack. Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_ .

View All posts by Erica Ezeifedi

Also, make sure to get into Barnes and Noble’s list of the best books out so far this year . B&N is still in their cheeky phase with their book categories — one of which is “The Cutting Edge: Eight Spredges We’re Obsessed With.” I’m not mad at the creativity, but I am a little mad at “spredges,” not going to lie.

Questionable portmanteaus aside, today’s new releases include senior citizens cuttin’ up ( How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley), forbidden, science-y affairs ( Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood), and a nonfiction account of the consequences of climate destruction on an Indigenous family ( Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance by Victoria Blanco).

The new books below include a first-time adult book by mega-bestselling YA author Nicola Yoon, a queer astrology romance based in New Orleans, and a horror centered around a ’90s-era arthouse horror flick. The theme of the day, though? Pro wrestling! A couple of the books below look at 1) a Mexican family that has been sustained by wrestling, and 2) a broke girl who uses pro-wrestling tools to start and run a successful OnlyFans account.

One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon

One of Our Kind is Yoon’s ( Everything, Everything , Sun Is Also a Star ) first adult novel, and it is bringing some heat. It’s been described as a mix of The Stepford Wives and Get Out. In it, Jasmyn and King Williams are a Black couple who move to Liberty, California, a town they believe to be a Black utopia. It certainly seems nice — at first — and though King fits right in immediately, Jasmyn doesn’t. Where she was hoping for likeminded people interested in social justice and activism, she instead finds a community of people obsessed with getting spa treatments at the bougie wellness center at the top of the hill. What’s more, she finds out a secret that reveals this perfect place is anything but.

Looking for a Sign by Susie Dumond

Book Riot senior writer Susie Dumond has granted the astrology girlies something sweet. Gray is about to be 29 and has just moved to New Orleans for a new job. This new beginning is nice, sure, but she’s also newly single and needs help navigating the dating scene — which she hasn’t participated in in 10 years. When her friend Cherry recommends the astrologer Madame Nouvelle Lune, Gray is skeptical. But once she warms to the idea — which is low-key (high-key) out of desperation — Madame Lune tells her to work astrology into her dating schemes. So, she’ll go on a date with someone from each sign before her birthday, when Saturn will make its return to the sign it was in when she was born. This journey to find a partner before her Saturn Return has her journeying through her own needs, and questioning things she once took as gospel.

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Back in 1993, an indie arthouse horror movie — aptly titled “ Horror Movie” — was made. And, though only three of its scenes were ever seen by the general public, it nonetheless grew a dedicated fanbase. Now, Hollywood wants to give it a reboot with a big budget, but only one of the original cast members has survived. He’s willing to do it, but then memories of what happened during the first cursed filming begin to resurface, and they overlap with his current reality.

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

After last year’s The Deep Sky , Kitasei is serving up what sounds like more glorious sci-fi, this time featuring ” a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization.” After 10 years of being the best art thief in the galaxy — who returned stolen artifacts to their rightful civilizations — Maya Hoshimoto has been forced into hiding. Now, she’s just a student of anthropology who dreads the future. Then, an old friend pops up with the job of a lifetime — if she can find a powerful item, an alien species could be saved from extinction. Thing is, no one alive has ever seen it, and others are after it, too. To get it, she’ll go from strange worlds to ancient ruins, and realize that saving one species could spell ruin for all of humanity.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

With Margo’s Got Money Troubles , PEN/Faulkner finalist Thorpe is giving laughs and a few feels, all at the intersection of OnlyFans and pro wrestling (yes). The eponymous Margo foresaw not being able to rely on her parents for much as an adult, but she didn’t foresee becoming pregnant by her community college English professor. She also probably didn’t see being broke as a joke at 20 with an infant. When Jinx, her estranged father and ex-pro wrestler, shows up wanting to move in with her, she agrees only on the condition that he help with her kid. When she signs up for an OnlyFans account to make something happen in the money department, it’s Jinx’s wrestling-world advice that helps her make it a success. But is it worth it is the question.

Bonus side note: the audiobook is narrated by Elle Fanning!

The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza

Here’s our other wrestling-centric book, this time featuring Luchadores — or masked Mexican wrestlers, for the unfamiliar. We meet Ernesto Vega in Mexico City in the 1960s when he’s still working on a construction site but is soon discovered by a luche libre trainer. Ernesto is transformed into the rockstar Luchadore El Rey Coyote and becomes known all across Mexico. Decades pass, and in L.A., his son Freddy is fighting to keep his gym open, while his grandson, Julian, is fighting to live authentically as a gay man. As Ernesto’s life fades away in hospice care, everyone from his descendants to his wife’s ghost and manifestations of the past visits him.

Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove

With the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop having just passed last year, legendary drummer of The Roots, Questlove, looks at history-making songs within the genre, gracefully picking them apart and showing what they meant to music and Black American history alike.

Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:

• All the Books , our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
• The New Books Newsletter , where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
• Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!

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Donald Trump's Nephew Fred C. Trump III Set to Release Tell-All Memoir About Trump Family

Frederick Trump III is releasing a new memoir revealing the dark corners of the Trump family on July 30

Luke Hales/Getty, Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

Fred C. Trump III is sharing all the details about his family in an upcoming memoir.

The nephew of Donald Trump , 62, is discussing his ties — and separations — from the Trump family in his new memoir All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way which is set for release on July 30, Gallery Books has announced. 

The book release comes amid Donald Trump's continued campaign for a second term at the White House after being convicted of 34 felony counts for hiding an unlawful scheme to corrupt that election on May 30. 

While Fred III has mainly kept out of the spotlight over the years, he now plans to speak out in the book about what it was like growing up with Donald as his uncle and the Trump family in never-before-told stories — exposing the family in a manner they have never been before. 

“Silence is golden only where there is nothing that needs to be said,” he said, in a press release about the book's release.

Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

In his new memoir, Fred III will be discussing his relationship with Donald, 77, and his late grandfather, Trump patriarch Frederick Christ Trump Sr . He will also give access to life in the White House and delve into the win-at-all-costs family dynamic that created a rift as he tried to protect his own family.

Fred III will also open up about how these damaging mentalities threatened the health and safety of his son William, who was diagnosed with developmental disabilities, as he brings darker corners of the Trump family to light in the book.

Fred III is the son of Donald's older brother Frederick Christ “Freddy” Trump Jr. (1938-1981) and his wife Linda Clapp, along with daughter, Mary Trump.

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

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Freddy didn’t have a great relationship with his father, which passed down to his children after his death, as Fred Sr. removed Fred Jr. and his descendants from his will, according to The New York Times . Fred III and Mary filed a lawsuit as a result, which led to Donald suspending medical benefits for him and his family in anger. The lawsuit was eventually settled. Like her brother, Mary released a book about her family, titled Too Much and Never Enough , in July 2020. Her uncle Robert Trump (Donald's younger brother) called her memoir  a "disgrace" and sued her in June 2020 over the book — arguing that Mary was in violation of a 2001 confidentiality agreement related to a fight over Fred Sr.'s estate.

Then-President Donald Trump weighed in on the matter at the time as he  told the political news website Axios that Mary was "not allowed to write a book" because of her nondisclosure agreement. A temporary restraining order was imposed on Mary as a result.

All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way is due out on July 30 from Gallery Books and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.

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Joseph Epstein

About the author.

JOSEPH EPSTEIN is the author of the best-selling Snobbery and of Friendship, as well as the short story collections The Goldin Boys and Fabulous Small Jews, among other books, and was formerly editor of the American Scholar. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, and other magazines.

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