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Original poster

Best autobiography you have read

137 replies

newnameagain1976 · 01/01/2024 21:16

Im going to try and read more this year. I enjoy autobiographies. Can anyone recommend a good one please?

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EverythingIsComputer · 03/12/2025 22:29

I’ve enjoyed Kathy Burke’s book recently

Freebus · 03/12/2025 20:26

Verse, Chorus, Monster by Graham Coxon of blur - he's done a surprising amount of stuff.

Currently reading An Education by Lynn Barber. Funny , interesting, unsentimental.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt kid by Bill Bryson. About his childhood and teenage years. Very funny and also interesting stuff about 50s America.

outerspacepotato · 03/12/2025 17:57

Becoming by Michelle Obama. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. She really brought the reader into her life and made it come alive. Well written by a strong and intelligent woman who's had an interesting life.

deeahgwitch · 03/12/2025 17:03

RoundSquareWithTriangles · 02/03/2025 19:33

Just putting this message here, so I can find this thread again later. Smile

I was wondering 🤔

Toddlerteaplease · 03/12/2025 16:26

BarbaraBuncle · 05/01/2024 14:27

Lady In Waiting by Anne Glenconner. She was Lady In Waiting and friend to Princess Margaret, but had a tough life - difficult marriage and some horrible tragedies.

I’m reading her books at the moment. I’ve really enjoyed them. She comes across as such a lovely lady. Yes she is privileged, but she’s really had to go through some awful times.

RoundSquareWithTriangles · 02/03/2025 19:33

Just putting this message here, so I can find this thread again later. Smile

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 08/02/2024 06:35

The Kindness of Strangers - Kate Adie

Elodie09 · 07/02/2024 22:23

Bruce Springsteen’s was terrific. It was searingly honest and I loved it.
I’ve found Fiona Hill’s memoir fascinating too. It’s called There’s nothing for you here. She is from County Durham and
was Trumps Russia advisor and testified at his first impeachment.

FluffyFanny · 07/02/2024 22:20

I really enjoyed Toast (Nigel Slater) and Paul O'Grady

ponia · 07/02/2024 22:14

Jane Fonda's autobiography is absolutely fascinating. She's had several lives in one and she's very honest about her mistakes and struggles. I read it 15 years ago and I still think of her words of wisdom sometimes.

donteatthedaisies0 · 07/02/2024 22:11

Not something I read often but Joan Collins was good .

whinsome · 07/02/2024 22:10

I haven’t listened to/read that many at all, but I really enjoyed ‘Let It Go’ by Dame Stephanie Shirley. An inspiring female IT pioneer.

Newmum738 · 07/02/2024 21:52

Patrick Swayze

LadyWithLapdog · 07/02/2024 21:50

I read the Miriam Margolyes one, after seeing it recommended on here. I respect her, and I liked the writing, direct and without flourishes etc, but I didn’t quite warm up to her.

HappyHedgehog247 · 07/02/2024 21:36

Angela's ashes
educated by Tara Westover
An unquiet mind
a heartbreaking work of staggering genius
running with scissors
i never promised you a rose garden (mental health)

MabelFurball · 07/02/2024 21:30

I am currently reading "Is that it" by Bob Geldof. He writes really well about his upbringing in Ireland, getting together with Paula and then the lead up to Live Aid. The book was written in 1986 so obviously won't include his life after Paula but it is a really interesting read.

BarbaraBuncle · 28/01/2024 17:31

Agree Miriam Margolyes's autobiography is very good. She's a fascinating person, who's done a lot in her life, and it makes for a very good (but sometimes slightly uncomfortable) read. She has some strong, and sometimes very funny, opinions, often about people she's met and worked with. I like her very much and still like her after reading her book. Thoroughly recommended.

WhatWouldJeevesDo · 28/01/2024 16:40

Ahna65 · 28/01/2024 07:54

Any recommendations for autobiographies that are particularly good in audiobook form? I enjoyed Michelle Obama’s on Spotify , but some narrators can be irritating!

Miriam Margolyes ‘This much is True’. I also rather enjoyed Stephen Fry reading ‘Moab is my Washpot’

Ahna65 · 28/01/2024 07:54

Any recommendations for autobiographies that are particularly good in audiobook form? I enjoyed Michelle Obama’s on Spotify , but some narrators can be irritating!

Aworldofmyown · 27/01/2024 22:58

Minnie Driver
Educated - Tara Westover

hopelessatthinkingupusernames · 27/01/2024 22:50

Couple that haven’t been mentioned yet:

know my name by Chanel Miller
a heart that works by Rob Delaney

notawittyname1954 · 24/01/2024 19:21

not exactly an autobiography but Jarvis Cocker's Good Pop Bad Pop. Loved it. Clearing out his loft but raises memories of his life related to the objects. An easy but interesting read.

regenerate · 22/01/2024 05:42

Perfectlystill · 21/01/2024 22:05

Ahh I saw it in my Amazon basket this morning and thought what on earth is that and deleted it!

Have just bought a new book can't justify it but will add to basket for next time and let you know!

any you have read since then you recommend as we seem to have similar taste in books! thanks

SheerLucks · 22/01/2024 02:39

Duff McCagen from Guns and Roses' autobiography just blew me away last summer. The way Guns and Roses just made it from nothing and his subsequent long journey to sobriety is such an inspiring read. I follow him and his wife on Instagram now and they're amazing.

Also the absolute template for rock autobiography is Marianne Faithful's. That she basically sat on a wall on heroin in London for two years before pulling herself together is worth the price alone.

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