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Autobiography recommendations

44 replies

SteveArnottsbeadyeyes · 07/09/2020 17:56

Just that really. I feel like taking a bit of a break from fiction and love a good memoir.

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NataliaOsipova · 01/10/2020 18:19

I really enjoyed the Ed Balls autobiography if you are interested in politics?

madamehooch · 01/10/2020 18:16

Airhead by Emily Maitliss

PomBearWithoutHerOFRS · 01/10/2020 00:08

Ohh, and Debbie Barham's father wrote her biography. She was a joke writer for tv, she worked on HIGNFY etc, and died of anorexia. It's sad, but also a really good tribute to her.

PomBearWithoutHerOFRS · 01/10/2020 00:06

Cupcake Brown's autobiography is good.
There's one called "The Boy who was afraid of rain" (something like that) that I really enjoyed too.

TheWindOnTheMoon · 30/09/2020 09:42

Oops - the Jane Austen biog - obvs not an autobigraphy Blush but still a very interesting read.

TheWindOnTheMoon · 30/09/2020 09:37

I've enjoyed quite a lot of the ones already recommended on here. Loved Anne Glenconner's autobiography Lady In Waiting.

Some others I've enjoyed:-

Jane Austen: A Life - Claire Tomalin
The Diary of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell
Confessions of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell
On Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing Persons - Laura Cumming
The Cut Out Girl - Bart van Es
The Salt Path - Raynor Winn
The Fish Ladder - Katherine Norbury
The Outrun - Amy Liptrot
Spectacles - Sue Perkins
In The Days of Rain - Rebecca Stott
A Life Like Other People's - Alan Bennett
Fingers in the Sparkle Jar - Chris Packham
Shop Girl - Mary Portas
All At Sea - Decca Aitkenhead

Greenteandchives · 30/09/2020 09:13

Some great recommendations here.
Depends on whether you like heavy stuff or gentle reminisces OP.
I’ve enjoyed Why be Happy When You Could be Normal. Jeanette Winterson.
Coming Up Trumps. Baroness Trumpington
Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid. Bill Bryson.
If you grew up in the 70s and 80s and like a bit of humour, Andrew Collins wrote When Did It All Go Right, and Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, about growing up in those times.

JacobReesMogadishu · 27/09/2020 13:49

Also.

Unnatural causes by Richard Shepherd was fascinating. Home Office/police pathologist who has been involved in some quite high profile cases over decades.

Also Sue Black's first book, she's a forensic anthropologist who travels the world to disaster zones examining the bodies as well as helping the police with murder trials, etc.

JacobReesMogadishu · 27/09/2020 13:45

Piers morgan's book based around his time as editor of the Mirror was very interesting.

madderose · 27/09/2020 13:42

Oh and David Nott- amazing

madderose · 27/09/2020 13:41

I agree with Maggie O'Farrell
Lady Anne Glenconner
Robert Webb
Michelle Obama

Also

Claire tomalin
rose tremain
Cheryl strayed

ComicePear · 27/09/2020 07:16

I love autobiographies, my stand outs are:

Both of Viv Albertine's books
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Educated by Tara Westover
Wild by Cheryl Strayed

soloula · 26/09/2020 21:26

David Attenborough - Life on Air

Elderflower14 · 26/09/2020 21:24

Just remembered another...And David's Desert Island Discs is the best one I have ever listened to...

Autobiography recommendations
Mandalalorianna · 26/09/2020 21:13

Martine Wright.

GinisLife · 26/09/2020 21:12

Michelle Obama. She is now my girl crush

Disfordarkchocolate · 26/09/2020 21:02

Don't read Frank Skinner's, put me right off him!

Kote · 26/09/2020 20:27

The only celebrity memoirs I have enjoyed are:

  • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  • Becoming by Michelle Obama

Both are brilliant.

Non-celebrity are generally much more interesting IMO:

  • Educated by Tara Westover
  • When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi (surgeon - utterly heartbreaking but so worth the read)
  • This Is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay (diaries of a junior doctor)
  • I Am I Am I Am - Maggie O'Farrell (author's 17 experiences of/with death)
  • The Year of Living Danishly - Helen Russell
  • Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons From the Crematory - Caitlin Doughty
Blackcountryexile · 25/09/2020 22:29

@Elderflower14
I hope your mum enjoys the book. Chatsworth is the most beautiful place.

toucancancan · 25/09/2020 19:14

Steve Coogan's is fantastic

chocolateoranges33 · 25/09/2020 18:51

I enjoyed Miranda Harts. A funny and light hearted read.

Elderflower14 · 25/09/2020 16:59

@Blackcountryexile
Thankyou... My Mum says she would like the Kick book for Christmas... She loves anything to do with Chatsworth...

Elderflower14 · 25/09/2020 16:50

Johnnie Walker from Radio 2
Bruce Springsteen
Elton John
I'm going to ask my sister to get me Vinnie Jones book for Christmas...

PoetaDeLosSandwiches · 25/09/2020 16:48

Motherwell by Deborah Orr, sometimes funny but also heartbreaking.

Aworldofmyown · 25/09/2020 16:44

I recently listened to Demi Moore's Autobiography, its really good!