I've never read biographies and I'd like to start

[Hoolahoophop]

I'm trying the 50 book challenge this year. So far iv read 3
Mrs England by Stacy Halls
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Passing by Nella Larsen

I've never really got into biographies by id like to splatter a few in between the easy reads I enjoy and a few classics.

I've just got into audiobook so think biographies might be good for the walk to work.

I've reserved Michelle Obarma, Louis Therox and Dave Grohl from the library as I was scanning through and they caught my eye.

Can anyone recommend biographies that are easy reading, funny and uplifting. Maybe someone inspiring in a gentle way. I'm a Mum, an accidental business woman (who procrastinates terribly, so could do with some kick up the arse inspiration).

Or someone who takes a completely opposite path, a homespun natural healer of mystic!

Any ideas. Thanks

@PersonIrresponsible

You could try mine if you're looking for inspirational...I walked across America whilst forty-sob-sob-sob something, fat, funny and four years sober. Oh, and then there was the small matter of a pandemic starting..

Hence, living in a tent in the wilderness seemed perfectly reasonable after the world went to hell in a handbag.

Previously I had hiked from the sofa to the fridge and back. It's available in Paperback and on Kindle.

]]

That sounds so exciting, I'd love to do that, how did you find the trip??

I quite often like to listen to audiobooks when walking the dog.

Ones I have recently enjoyed have been:

"Me"- Elton John autobiography. Not especially an Elton John fan (don't dislike him, either) , but what a fascinating life. Full of anecdotes and funny stories but also quite thoughtful at times about, for example, his addictions and his relationship with his mother.

"Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Journey" by Albert Lansing. It really was an incredible story - very gripping and all true.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" by Peter FitzSimmons. A saga of sex, sedition, mayhem and mutiny, and survival against extraordinary odds. Covers the events leading up to the mutiny - and what happened next.

I really enjoyed a biography called Cold Cream by someone called Ferdy Mount. He was a Fleet Street journalist who later became Margaret Thatcher's speechwriter although that's only a very small part of the book, and he wasn't a fan of hers. It's a very funny and interesting read.

David Attenborough’s Life on Air; Betty Boothroyd’s autobiography is really interesting; my favourite is Marc Almond’s “Tainted Life”

@magicstar1 I'm also a fan of old movies and Hollywood icon biographies, just reading one of Bette Davis' books. She's fabulous.

Open Andre Agassi's autobiography is fantastic. I am not a fan of tennis or any sports at all but that was a great read.

The Right Sort of Girl - Anita Rani. Fantastic autobiography.

The Mitford Girls by Mary S Lovell was a really interesting read!

How not to be a Boy by Robert Webb.

I loved this, its an autobiography but you get so much more from it than that.

Seconding Open by Andre Agassi, it's a brilliant read.

I also enjoyed Airhead, by Emily Maitlis

Not a biography but I think you'd enjoy Hamnet.

What is Mrs England like?

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey is my favourite ever autobiography

Peter O’Toole. Loitering with intent.

Anne Glenconner excellent. Then if you aren’t sick of Princess Margaret by then, Ma’am Darling by Craig Brown is a hilarious book about her as seen through the eyes of 99 (iirc?) other people

I really enjoyed Hungry by Grace Dent and Till The Cows Come Home by Sara Cox.

Yes to Andre Agassi and Elton John. I really enjoyed PD James' Time to be in Earnest: A fragment of autobiography but I love her style of writing anyway.

If you like Succession, Brian Cox's autobiography (the actor, not the scientist) is a good read.

There's a lot of good tips above. Trying to think of others.

I liked "I am, IAM, I am" by Maggie O'Farrell. It's basically a list of the times she almost died but a mix of funny and scary.

Are you interested in sports at all? There are lots of sports autobiographies but you kind of need to be interested a bit in the sport.

I also liked Dirt about motley crue. It's not a band I like but they take turns to write their view on events and have such different takes on it. So dysfunctional but interesting in a way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shirley Ballas Behind the Sequins, if you are a Strictly fan.

I've read hundreds of biographies and bay far the most interesting was Jane Fondas. Wow has she had a fascinating life.

Educated - Tara Westover
Just Ignore Him - Alan Davies

@Aworldofmyown

Educated - Tara Westover Just Ignore Him - Alan Davies

Oh yes, Educated is amazing, more of a memoir but so interesting. One of the biggest ever hits at our book club.

I like comedians:

Michael McIntyre
Jason manford
Peter Kay

I found Piers Morgan’s book about his time as a newspaper editor and the Blair years interesting and well written.

@PersonIrresponsible Your book sounds good but the price! Most Kindle books are £2.99 or less.