Memoir Book Reviews - Biographies - Memoirs

Contemporary literature guide, Mark Flanagan, reviews A Million Little Pieces by James Frey and provides his take on the contoversy surrounding this Oprah Book Club pick.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua is a memoir about raising two daughters "the Chinese way."

Bossypants is Tina Fey's memoir about childhood to successful TV comedian.

You might expect Ken Jennings’ Brainiac to be a straightforward memoir from this unlikely celebrity about his record-breaking winning streak on Jeopardy!; however, Brainiac also a history of trivia and a discussion of today’s trivia subcultures, from pub quizzes to quiz bowls.

Breaking Night by Liz Murray - Book Review of Breaking Night by Liz Murray

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler is a series of comic, nonfiction essays about Handler's life. Handler, as always, is candid about her childhood, sexuality, romance and life in general.

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller is a memoir of growing up in Africa.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert is Gilbert's second memoir. Committed picks up where Eat, Pray, Love left off. As in Eat, Pray, Love, Gilbert not only tells her personal story (this time about getting married), but also explores bigger questions. Committed is Elizabeth Gilbert's look at marriage as an institution for better or worse.

Dewey by Vicki Myron is the story of Spencer, Iowa's library cat.

'Eat Pray Love' is Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir of her year traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia in pursuit of pleasure, devotion and balance.

Alexander Waugh is the son, grandson, and great-grandson of prominent British writers. He examines this literary heritage in his memoir, Fathers and Sons, which tells his family’s story through the relationships each had with his father.

Mitch Albom has sold over 30 million copies of Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and For One More Day. Now he's back with his first memoir since Morrie -- the story of two worlds: one Christian, one Jewish; one African-American, one white; one poor, one rich. Over eight years, he got to know two men of faith.

Heat is a fascinating and surprising story of one man’s journey from journalist to kitchen slave to culinary apprentice. Bill Buford’s memoir covers his time working in a first-class New York restaurant and repeated journeys to Italy to apprentice with the country’s best chefs.

Holidays on Ice is a collection of holiday-themed fictional stories and personal essays written by David Sedaris, the best-selling humorist. Holidays on Ice was one of Sedaris’ first works when originally published, and it’s been re-released with the addition of a few passages.

'The House at Sugar Beach' is an astonishing and moving memoir about growing up in Liberia during a violent civil war. Helene Cooper is the daughter of one of Liberia's elite families, but after a coup threw her people out of power she moved to the United States, eventually becoming a journalist.

Bill Bryson is an immensely popular writer who has tackled a wide variety of subjects. The focus of his latest book is something pretty personal: his childhood in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Longest Trip Home is John Grogan's follow up to his popular memoir, Marley and Me. Like Marley & Me, The Longest Trip Home is a memoir of Grogan's experiences.

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard is the story of how the author, an American student living in London, fell in love with her French husband and his country's cuisine. While she writes a good bit about her experiences with food, there are plenty of life's other aspects. Love, in-laws, the health care system, making friends, and politics are among...

Marley & Me by John Grogan tells the story of a badly behaved and loveably loyal Labrador retriever. Find out how this nonfiction bestseller stacks up and whether Marley & Me is worth adding to your bookshelves.

This review of Night, by Elie Wiesel, examines why this account of the Holocaust is so powerful and what purpose it it serves almost half a century after it was first published. Night is an Oprah's Book Club selection, and Wiesel is the 1986 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Picking Cotton is the true story of how Jennifer Thompson-Cannino picked Ronald Cotton out of a line-up as the man who raped her. Cotton was convicted and spent 11 years in prison before DNA evidence showed he was innocent. Picking Cotton is told in Thompson-Cannino and Cotton's alternating voices.

Chris Gardner’s life story is impressive. Despite having never gone to college, and after a period of being homeless, he became a wildly successful stockbroker and wrote his memoir, Pursuit of Happyness. It’s not surprising that Hollywood turned his story into a blockbuster film starring Will Smith.

The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma is about a father and daughter who decide to read together every night until she goes to college.

Some Assembly Required by Anne Lamott is in the same style as her bestselling Operating Instructions, which followed her son's first year. Some Assembly Required is a journal of her first grandson.

'Three Cups of Tea' by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is the alleged story of Mortenson's work building schools in remote villages in Pakistan.

David Sedaris, the incredibly popular author of humorous memoirs including 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' has written a new collection of essays on his life called 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames.' His new book has a slightly more melancholy slant than some of his previous works, but when it’s funny, it’s laugh-out-loud, embarrass-yourself-in-public funny.

The Contemporary Literature Guide weighs in on this memoir.