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The Best Biography And Memoir Books of 2021 (A Year-End List Aggregation)

“What are the best Biography and Memoir books released in 2021?” We looked at 187 of the top Biography and Memoir books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 39 books, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Biography and Memoir” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 125+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Our other Best Of 2021 Articles:

• The Best Art, Photography, And Coffee Table Books
• The Best AudioBooks
• The Best Biography And Memoir Books
• The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
• The Best Cookbooks
• The Best Fiction Books
• The Best Books (All Catergories)
• The Best History Books
• The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
• The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
• The Best Nonfiction Books
• The Best Poetry Books
• The Best Science And Nature Books
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
• The Best Young Adult Books

Previous Years: 2020 , 2019 , 2018 , 2017 , 2016 , 2015

Happy Scrolling!

Top 39 Best Biography and Memoir Books From 2021

39.) a ghost in the throat written by doireann ni ghriofa.

Lists It Appears On:

An Post Irish Book Awards Nonfiction Book of the Year – A Guardian Best Book of 2020 – Shortlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize – Longlisted for…

38.) Aftershocks written by Nadia Owusu

In the tradition of The Glass Castle, this “gorgeous” (The New York Times, Editors’ Choice) and deeply felt memoir from Whiting Award winner Nadia Owu…

37.) Allegorizings written by Jan Morris

• Waterstones

Not so long ago, feeling intimations of mortality, Jan Morris embarked on a wholly novel literary enterprise. What began as a series of high-minded le…

36.) Broken Horses: A Memoir written by Brandi Carlile

The critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer, and six-time Grammy winner opens up about faith, sexuality, parenthood, and a life shaped by mus…

35.) Burning Man written by Frances Wilson

• The Guardian

An electrifying, revelatory new biography of D. H. Lawrence, with a focus on his difficult middle years “Never trust the teller,” wrote D. H. Lawrence…

34.) Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South written by Winfred Rembert and Erin I. Kelly

• Barnes & Noble

“A compelling and important history that this nation desperately needs to hear.” -Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy and…

33.) House of Sticks: A Memoir written by Ly Tran

This beautifully written “masterclass in memoir” (Elle) recounts a young girl’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to Queens, New York, “showcas[ing] the t…

32.) Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City written by Andrea Elliott

“Destined to become one of the classics of the genre” (Newsweek), the riveting, unforgettable story of a girl whose indomitable spirit is tested by ho…

31.) Just as I Am: A Memoir written by Cicely Tyson

“In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only succeeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history.” -President Barack Obama…

30.) Maybe I Don’t Belong Here written by David Harewood, David Olusoga

29.) Mike Nichols: A Life written by Mark Harris

An ! A magnificent biography of one of the most protean creative forces in American entertainment history, a life of dazzling highs and vertiginous pl…

28.) My Mess Is a Bit of a Life written by Georgia Pritchett

“Georgia Pritchett is a singularly hilarious person. Her book is a delightful and perfect reflection of her. Its tenderness sneaks up on you and reall…

27.) Names for Light: A Family History written by Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint

Winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, a lyrical meditation on family, place, and inheritance Names for Light traverses time and memory to wei…

26.) On Juneteenth written by Annette Gordon-Reed

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian…

25.) Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks written by Patricia Highsmith

Relegated to the genre of mystery during her lifetime, Patricia Highsmith is now recognized as one of “our greatest modernist writers” (Gore Vidal). B…

24.) Pessoa written by Richard Zenith

Nearly a century after his wrenching death, the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) remains one of our most enigmatic writers. Believing he co…

23.) Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness written by Kristen Radtke

From the acclaimed author of Imagine Wanting Only This–a timely and moving meditation on isolation and longing, both as individuals and as a society …

22.) The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race written by Walter Isaacson

The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compelling” (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennife…

21.) The Copenhagen Trilogy written by Tove Ditlevsen

Called a masterpiece by The New York Times, the acclaimed trilogy from Tove Ditlevsen, a pioneer in the field of genre-bending confessional writing To…

20.) The Madness of Grief written by Reverend Richard Coles

19.) The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music written by Dave Grohl

The #1 So, I’ve written a book.Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities (It’s a piece of cake! Just do…

18.) The Young H.G. Wells written by Claire Tomalin

Tomalin’s The Young H.G. Wells is hard to beat, being friendly, astute and a pleasure to read.” –Michael Dirda, Washington Post “Claire Tomalin’s sho…

17.) Three Girls From Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood written by Dawn Turner

• Library Journal

A “beautiful, tragic, and inspiring” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) memoir about three Black girls from the storied Bronzeville section of Chicag…

16.) Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement written by Tarana Burke

Searing. Powerful. Needed. –Oprah “Sometimes a single story can change the world. Unbound is one of those stories. Tarana’s words are a testimony to…

15.) Will written by Will Smith

“The best memoir I’ve ever read.” -Oprah Winfrey One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about…

14.) Yearbook written by Seth Rogen

#2 * – “Rogen’s candid collection of sidesplitting essays . . . thrives at both explaining and encapsulating a generational comedic voice.”–The Washi…

13.) 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows written by Ai Weiwei

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE – In Ai Weiwei’s widely anticipated memoir, “one of the most important artists working in the world today” (Financial T…

12.) Orwell’s Roses written by Rebecca Solnit

“An exhilarating romp through Orwell’s life and times and also through the life and times of roses.” –Margaret Atwood “A captivating account of Orwel…

11.) Poet Warrior written by Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her…

10.) Real Estate written by Deborah Levy

An NPR Best Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Book of the Year A Millions Most Anticipated Book of 2021 A USA Today Book Not to Miss Real Estate…

9.) The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym written by Paula Byrne

8.) The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation written by Anna Malaika Tubbs

Tubbs’ connection to these women is palpable on the page — as both a mother and a scholar of the impact Black motherhood has had on America. Through …

7.) Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted written by Suleika Jaouad

A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission to re-entry into “normal” li…

6.) Punch Me Up to the Gods written by Brian Broome

WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR – A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ PICK – A TODAY SUMMER READING LIST PICK – AN ENTERTAI…

5.) Taste: My Life Through Food written by Stanley Tucci

From award-winning actor and food obsessive Stanley Tucci comes an intimate and charming memoir of life in and out of the kitchen. Stanley Tucci grew…

4.) Seeing Ghosts written by Kat Chow

NAMED ONE OF BARNES AND NOBLE’S BEST BOOKS OF 2021 For readers of Helen Macdonald and Elizabeth Alexander, an intimate and haunting portrait of grief …

3.) Somebody’s Daughter written by Ashley C. Ford

“This is a book people will be talking about forever.” –Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed “Ford’s wrenchingly brilliant…

2.) Beautiful Country written by Qian Julie Wang

A TODAY SHOW #READWITHJENNA BOOK CLUB PICK! – The moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world–an inca…

1.) Crying in H Mart written by Michelle Zauner

A Best Book of 2021: Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, Wall Street Journal, and more From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and…

The 125+ Additional Best Biography and Memoir Books Released In 2021

14 best biography and memoir book sources/lists, related posts.

The Best Books of 2023 – Science Fiction And Fantasy (A Year-End List Aggregation)

The Best Books of 2023 – Graphic Novels And Comics (A Year-End List Aggregation)

The Best New Biographies of 2023

CJ Connor is a cozy mystery and romance writer whose main goal in life is to make their dog proud. They are a Pitch Wars alumnus and an Author Mentor Match R9 mentor. Their debut mystery novel BOARD TO DEATH is forthcoming from Kensington Books. Twitter: @cjconnorwrites | cjconnorwrites.com

View All posts by CJ Connor

Read on to discover nine of the best biographies published within the last year. Included are life stories of singular people, including celebrated artists and significant historical figures, as well as collective biographies.

The books included in this list have all been released as of writing, but biography lovers still have plenty to look forward to before the year is out. A few to keep your eye out for in the coming months:

• The World According to Joan Didion by Evelyn McDonnell (HarperOne, September 26)
• Einstein in Time and Space by Samuel Graydon (Scribner, November 14)
• Overlooked: A Celebration of Remarkable, Underappreciated People Who Broke the Rules and Changed the World by Amisha Padnani (Penguin Random House, November 14).

Without further ado, here are the best biographies of 2023 so far!

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Ellen and William Craft were a Black married couple who freed themselves from slavery in 1848 by disguising themselves as a traveling white man and an enslaved person. Author Ilyon Woo recounts their thousand-mile journey to seek safety in the North and their escape from the United States in the months following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act.

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel

Written over a period of 11 years with exclusive journalistic access to the subject, author Michael Finkel explores the motivations, heists, and repercussions faced by the notorious and prolific art thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Of special focus is his relationship with his girlfriend and accomplice, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus.

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

While recently published, King: A Life is already considered to be the most well-researched biography of Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. published in decades. New York Times bestselling journalist Jonathan Eig explores the life and legacy of Dr. King through thousands of historical records, including recently declassified FBI documents.

Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters by Lynnée Denise

This biography is part of the Why Music Matters series from the University of Texas. It reflects on the legendary blues singer’s life through an essay collection in which the author (also an accomplished musician) seeks to recreate the feeling of browsing through a box of records.

Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang

Historian Leah Redmond Chang’s latest book release focuses on three aristocratic women in Renaissance Europe: Catherine de’ Medici, Elizabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots. As a specific focus, she examines the juxtaposition between the immense power they wielded and yet the ways they remained vulnerable to the patriarchal, misogynistic societies in which they existed.

Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang

Anna May Wong was a 20th-century actress who found great acclaim while still facing discrimination and typecasting as a Chinese woman. University of California professor Yunte Huang explores her life and impact on the American film industry and challenges racist depictions of her in accounts of Hollywood history in this thought-provoking biography.

Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century by Jasmine Brown

Written by Rhodes Scholar and University of Pennsylvania medical student Jasmine Brown, this collective biography shares the experiences and accomplishments of nine Black women physicians in U.S. history — including Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black American woman to earn a medical degree in the 1860s, and Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.

Larry McMurtry: A Life by Tracy Daugherty

Two years after the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s death, this biography presents a comprehensive history of Larry McMurtry’s life and legacy as one of the most acclaimed Western writers of all time.

The Kneeling Man: My Father’s Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. by Leta McCollough Seletzky

Journalist Leta McCollough Seletzky examines her father, Marrell “Mac” McCollough’s complicated legacy as a Black undercover cop and later a member of the CIA. In particular, she shares his account as a witness of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel.

Are you a history buff looking for more recommendations? Try these.

• Best History Books by Era
• Books for a More Inclusive Look at American History
• Fascinating Food History Books

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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 11 best books of 2021, according to Barnes & Noble — from award-winning novels to popular non-fiction

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

• Every year, Barnes & Noble releases its top 10 Best Books of the Year .
• This year, the bookseller selected 11 incredible fiction and nonfiction titles to read in 2021.
• Want more books? Check out the best books of 2021, according to Goodreads .

Every year, Barnes & Noble picks the 10 best books of the year that were celebrated for their incredible messages, gripping stories, and timely importance to our society. This year, B&N chose 11 titles because 2021 "had so many blockbuster reads [it] couldn't stop at 10!"

The selections span all genres and age groups, from a historical fantasy novel for middle school readers to a beautiful memoir for adults. If you're looking for an amazing book to grab before the end of 2021, here are the 11 best books of the year, according to Barnes & Noble.

11 of the best books of the year, according to Barnes & Noble: 

"the lyrics" by paul mccartney.

"The Lyrics" by Paul McCartney, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $60

"The Lyrics" is an astounding personal collection of lyrics, notes, and photographs surrounding 154 Paul McCartney songs. Perfect for any Paul McCartney or Beatles fan, these lyrical commentaries breathe new life into his classics with handwritten texts, paintings, and hundreds of previously unseen photographs that illuminate the songs, the artist, and those who inspired both. 

"Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr

"Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $18.57

This novel is both a historical and futuristic science fiction/fantasy story that connects five characters across hundreds of years through their relationship to a book: "Cloud Cuckoo Land." The book they find is about a shepherd named Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so he can reach a paradise in the sky. As each character finds this book, from a 15th century orphan to a young teen on a futuristic interstellar ship, their stories converge in this complex yet grippingly fascinating read.

"The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich

"The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $22.99

"The Sentence" is a contemporary ghost story about Tookie, a bookstore employee, and Flora, a ghost who is lingering in Tookie's bookstore. This rich and emotional novel begins on All Souls' Day in 2019 and ends on All Souls' Day in 2020, with the fictional characters experiencing the devastating real-life events that occurred in Minnesota during that time.

"Under the Whispering Door" by T.J. Klune

"Under the Whispering Door" by T.J. Klune, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $21.30

Wallace Price finally believes he may be dead when the reaper collects him from his own funeral and takes him to a small village in the mountains, where he meets a tea shop owner named Hugo. With only seven days before Hugo must take him to cross over to the afterlife, Wallace is determined to do everything he never had a chance to do before he died in this contemporary fantasy intertwined with a magical, queer love story. 

"Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead

"Harlem Shuffle" by Colson Whitehead, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $17.75

In 1960s Harlem, Ray Carney is a respectable furniture salesman with a wife and a second baby on the way. When his cousin, Freddie, falls into a plan to rob a wealthy hotel, Ray volunteers his assistance, thrusting him into a heist that doesn't go as planned, complicates his entire life, and risks his safety and reputation. 

"The 1619 Project" by Nikole Hannah-Jones

"The 1619 Project" by Nikole Hannah-Jones, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $24.99

In 1619, one year before the Mayflower would arrive on the shores of the future United States, another ship landed on the shores of Virgina, carrying 20-30 enslaved people from Africa, and launching an era of slavery on American soil that would last 250 years. "The 1619 Project" is an essential reframing of history that centers around the devastating legacy of slavery, oppression, and resistance and the ways in which racism came to permeate nearly every aspect of American history and society. 

"Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner

"Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $16.16

When Michelle Zauner was 25, her mother's terminal cancer diagnosis changed her life forever and forced her to reckon with her Korean American identity in a desperate attempt to stay connected to her mother. A talented musician, Michelle had previously drifted from her roots, but quickly turned to food to keep her mother's memory alive in this powerful and heartbreaking memoir. 

"Pony" by R. J. Palacio

"Pony" by R. J. Palacio, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $14.22

"Pony" is a historical, middle-grade adventure novel about a 12-year-old boy named Silas who is woken in the middle of the night to see his father being taken away by three horsemen. With only his ghostly companion named Mittenwool, and a stray horse named Pony by his side, Silas sets off on a perilous, life-changing mission to find his father. 

"Call Us What We Carry" by Amanda Gorman

 "Call Us What We Carry" by Amanda Gorman, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $14.53

Amanda Gorman is most famous for her presidential inaugural poem, "The Hill We Climb," and returned in 2021 to release this stunning poetry collection. With themes of identity, grief, and memory, these poems continue to solidify Amanda Gorman as a breathtaking and unstoppable voice in American poetry.

"You Will Get Through This Night" by Daniel Howell

"You Will Get Through This Night" by Daniel Howell, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $14.60

"You Will Get Through This Night" is a nonfiction read about mental health that offers both a personal and professional perspective on how to survive the hardest mental health days. Splitting the book into three chapters — This Night, Tomorrow, and The Days After — Daniel Howell wants readers to not just survive the hard nights but properly care for our mental health so we may thrive in the future. 

"Burnt Toast and Other Disasters" by Cal Peternell

"Burnt Toast and Other Disasters" by Cal Peternell, available at Amazon , Bookshop , and Barnes & Noble , from $19.78

Cal Peternell is a chef and artist who wants to help disastrous home cooks transform their leftovers, less-than-desirable ingredients, or seemingly ruined dinner attempts into delicious meals. In "Burnt Toast and Other Disasters," Cal teaches readers who don't have the kitchen tools, ingredients, or budgets of master chefs how to make something special from burned, packaged, or lackluster food.  

• Main content

Here's How to Get Free Kids' Books from Barnes & Noble's Summer Reading Program

Can get a free book for reading and reacting to others — I see no downsides here.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

• Book retailer Barnes & Noble has announced the details of its 2024 Summer Reading Program.
• Kids can receive a free book, from a list of selected titles, if they participate.
• The program runs from July 1, 2024 to August 31, 2024.

That's why I'm grateful to events like Barnes & Noble's Summer Reading Program , which will at least give our family a little reward for all that work. In this case, a free book.

The details of the program are simple. The program is open to kids who are in grades 1 through 6. Kids who fall into that age range just have to follow three easy steps to reap their reward. The first is that kids have to read a total of eight books. There's no specific list, it can be any gripping yarns of their choosing. If you have a reader like mine at home, that should be the easy part.

In addition to finishing the books, kids also have to fill out a reading log with the titles of their books, and what their favorite parts were. You can find the reading logs on the Barnes & Noble corporate website , both in English and in Spanish . Adults can download them and print as many as they need, and hand them over to kids to fill in. In the journal, the blank space where kids have to describe their favorite part looks like it can accommodate one sentence, so they're not writing huge book reports or anything.

Then, the fun part: Between July 1, 2024 and August 31, they can turn in their reading logs at any Barnes & Noble store to receive their free book. Sadly, they don't get their pick of anything in the store. There's a pre-selected list, with a little more than 10 titles for grades 1 and 2, grades 3 and 4 and grades 5 and 6. There are more options for the older kids, but the lists are diverse enough that there should be something to appeal to every reader.

The best part: The eight books that the kids read don't have to be from Barnes & Noble. They can be books that have been lying around in your home, books from the library, even books from other bookstores. Everything counts!

The free books include classics that parents might remember like The Boxcar Children or A Wrinkle in Time , new hits like The Princess in Black and Dog Man , books for Minecraft fans and beloved authors like Rick Riordan and Kate DiCamillo. Who knows — maybe they'll walk away with a new (non- Wings of Fire ) obsession. (Please? The next one doesn't come out until December!) And if they're looking for inspiration for what to read to count toward their eight-book requirement? They can always check out the Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Award winners.

Books on Barnes & Noble's Free Book List

The Good Egg and the Talent Show

The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

@media(max-width: 64rem){.css-o9j0dn:before{margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-right:0.625rem;color:#ffffff;width:1.25rem;bottom:-0.2rem;height:1.25rem;content:'_';display:inline-block;position:relative;line-height:1;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}} All the Best Books to Read Next

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• On the Move

Barnes & Noble Education stock jumps after shareholders approve $95M investment

utah778/iStock via Getty Images

Barnes & Noble Education ( NYSE: BNED ) said on Wednesday its shareholders had approved its previously announced equity and refinancing transactions with Immersion Corp ( NASDAQ: IMMR ).

Shares of the school-bookstore operator jumped 10% in after-hours trading.

Last month, the company had announced an agreement with Immersion Corp ( IMMR ) along with certain shareholders and strategic partners to receive $95 million of new capital through a $50 million equity investment and $45 million fully backstopped equity rights.

The company added that its shareholders had also approved the appointment of five new directors to its board of directors, and the re-appointment of two existing directors, Kathryn Eberle Walker and Denise Warren.

The appointments to Barnes & Noble Education's ( BNED ) board include Eric Singer, president, CEO and chairman of Immersion's ( IMMR ) board, Emily Hoffman, Sean Madnani, William Martin, and Elias Nader.

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Opinion | Laura Washington: New Barnes & Noble stores…

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Opinion | Laura Washington: New Barnes & Noble stores in Chicago signal that books are back

A new Barnes & Noble bookstore is opening on Wednesday near the bustling corner of Clark and Diversey in Chicago. The Lincoln Park location will occupy about 8,000 square feet in a recently closed Urban Outfitters store.

Barnes & Noble plans another outlet at a massive space in a former historic bank building at 1601 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park. The bookseller will open two other locations in the Chicago area — Oswego, and Northbrook.

“We generally want a bookstore everywhere. Every community, we think, needs a bookstore,” Janine Flanigan told Crain’s Chicago Business. “We were really missing the Chicago market,” she added.

Flanigan, Barnes & Noble’s senior director of store planning and design, told WTTW-Ch. 11: “Barnes & Noble is experiencing a period of tremendous growth right now, and we are opening stores across the country.”

The new stores will capitalize on the reemergence of books as a popular touchstone of entertainment and enlightenment. Books are back.

Smaller, independent booksellers have been feeling the buzz since the pandemic forced us to stay at home with few options  read, watch TV or just twiddle our thumbs.

Now, corporate entities such as Barnes & Noble have realized a trend is afoot. Behemoths move slowly. This one is finally figuring out that to remain relevant, it needs to expand the books footprint. When the big guys start investing, you know a big page has turned.

Barnes & Noble closed all its stand-alone stores in the Chicago area years ago. Now the company is diving back in, with the prospect of more stores to come.

Books may not be a leading economic indicator, but something is happening here. Book sales are up, a very hopeful sign.

In the United States, “print book sales have improved, and unit sales now consistently surpass 700 million per year,” according to consumer data and research firm Statista. While audio and e-books have a share of the market, the ink-and-paper version “remains the most popular book format among U.S. consumers, with 65 percent of adults having read a print book in the last twelve months,” Statista reported earlier this month.

Last month, the Tribune reported that the independent booksellers market is enjoying a “revival.” We can never have enough bookstores.

“There are dozens of independent bookstores across Chicagoland, each with distinct book recommendations and storefronts that owners say reflect the communities they’re in,” the Tribune reported.

Bring it on. Independent booksellers are the beating heart of culture and community.

The city’s North Side hosts numerous examples. There are long-standing gems such as Unabridged Books in Lakeview and Women and Children First in Andersonville. On the South Side, there’s 57th Street Books in Hyde Park.

These stores have weathered the ups and downs in the business for decades. They know their market and serve it well.

Booksellers hold a special place in my heart. I love the idea behind the 1917 tome by Christopher Morley, “Parnassus on Wheels,” the saga of a traveling bookstore. Now, that’s a lark!

Books demand attention, and we should heed the call. The Barnes & Noble opening is an auspicious moment. The marketplace is acknowledging that there are attractive brick-and-mortar alternatives to the dime-a-dozen discount books online.

Books are best when sold in places where readers can converse with the authors, meet other readers and pick up book recommendations.

The new Barnes & Noble outlets may stoke fears of unwanted competition among the smaller independents. No worries. The smalls bring a unique blend of neighborhood character and charm, a place where readers get the personal touch. The biggies offer the scale and diversity the independents can’t match.

It’s all good. Evangelizing books is a cause to celebrate. They are a precious comfort and a formidable tool. In these times, we are in dire need of both.

As you gear up for summer leisure and vacation time, may the books be with you.

Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at  [email protected] .  Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected] .

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Barnes & Noble is back in Chicago with new Lincoln Park location

New Barnes & Noble also set to open in Wicker Park

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Barnes & Noble is officially open in Lincoln Park.

The world's largest retail bookstore chain cut the ribbon on Wednesday at its new store near the busy corner of Diversey and Clark Street.

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"I think it's a really fun addition to this block," customer Colleen Dempsey said. "We got Trader Joe's, Starbucks, Stan's Donuts. We just lost the Foxtrot on the corner but I think it really does bring back something to this street."

The new store opened next to its former location that closed in 2008 occupying 8000 square feet in a recently shuttered Urban Outfitters.

"You can expect any genre. We've been able to fit everything from every interest area in the store including a full kids section," Barnes & Noble Lead Bookseller Rebecca Woods said.

The company said it's experiencing a period of tremendous growth, opening more stores across the country and in the Chicago area.

Three other Chicago-area locations are opening this summer in Wicker Park, Oswego and Northbrook.

RELATED | Barnes & Noble opening in Wicker Park in former Noel State Bank building

The new openings may signal a shift towards readers who want physical books in their hands.

"There's absolutely a reemergence of people wanting to hold a book," Barnes & Noble Senior Bookseller Ryan Trimble said. "I think something similar to Barnes & Noble, it's something that never fully went away."

The Lincoln Park location is the only Barnes & Noble open in the city, since the Clybourn store shut down last year.

The newest location will be open seven days a week.

Author Jeneva Rose was part of the ribbon cutting event, according to the store's website.

RELATED | Barnes and Noble closing its location downtown Naperville after 25 years

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I have been a super loyal fan of this store since the other location and this new one as well. My family and me are premium members so we enjoy the benefits and discounts of shopping frequently here and I buy several books and lots of gifts for myself that you can't find anywhere else. Customer service here is exceptional. They are extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful for getting books that are one of a kind and rare. I have these books that are just keepers and the ones where I can read them over and over for reference over the course of my lifetime. They are classics and absolutely worth every penny. I spend easily over $100 every time I come here because the topics are so unique. I cannot wait to come back here again and shop. I have been reading a lot and the knowledge from these books are priceless. They seriously improved my life and it is an investment for yourself and most of these things can be given as gifts. Location is sparkling clean and beautiful. Huge thank you to making this one of my favorite stores, if not probably my favorite.

They have lil bit of everything, got a few gifts and it's in a plaza w Sephora, Sugar Fish, See's Candy, Mendocino, Cpk, Ralphs. Fun spot for a bookstore. Even signed up for a free member reward and get $5 ea time I've purchased. Nerdy vibe

Small Barnes and Noble with cozy chairs sprinkled throughout but no designated reading area or cafe like in some Barnes and Noble. Cashier was super kind and helpful when I needed to return an online order. Even though it's small, there still seemed to be a ton of options in any genre. Very clean and has bathrooms. Free and easy parking, as it's in a little shopping area. Not a local bookstore but better than Amazon I'd say :)

I walked a size of room at Bookstore but many book, card, art supplies, more toy was best quality at Marina Del Rey.

See all photos from Melissa A. for Barnes & Noble

This is probably one of the nicest, cleanest bookstores I've been to in a very long time. Everything seemed pristine from the entrance all the way to the back. This is definitely more of a "neighborhood" bookstore than a chain store. They typically only have a few copies of each title, but whether it's biography, fiction, kids, etc. they have a very eclectic selection of books. My only complaint is the physical media, such as DVDs and movies is practically non-existent, and the vinyl selection is almost 10 times the size of the film section, which is very surprising. Nonetheless, the customer service was phenomenal and extremely enjoyable. I would absolutely come back to this location again .

New Barnes and really do like the new location. However, much like the old location I notice Jazmine still has the same attitude towards me and my S.O. for some bizarre reason? At the old location she was always very rude to me and now at this new location nothing has changed and it's very confusing as to what I even did lol. The rest of the staff are great as usual and at least offer me a bag or say hi when I walk up. At this point if I see Jazmine is working I'll probably just leave. Makes me feel very unwelcome here sadly. (I still recommend the store though! Just avoid that poor, cranky woman.)

I am currently sitting in another Barnes and Noble bookstore in studio city CA and frequent visits this United Kingdom book chain is excellent and I have memories of the Santa Monica store from years ago I enjoy reading and seek out vintage and first edition books and those signed by authors This store is now a rarity as many smaller stores are gone - probably because of such larger store chains though Barnes and Noble may be contributing to such demise it fills the gap created as an oasis for the serious readers I am amazed that with media being what it is that people are still reading books at all Thankfully they are and Barnes and Noble are contributing to that objective -Mr. Randazzo

1 other review that is not currently recommended

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They Revolutionized Shopping, With Tea Sandwiches on the Side

In “When Women Ran Fifth Avenue,” Julie Satow celebrates the savvy leaders who made Bonwit, Bendel’s and Lord & Taylor into retail meccas of their moment.

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WHEN WOMEN RAN FIFTH AVENUE: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion, by Julie Satow

In 1980, Donald J. Trump made the front page of The New York Times after assaulting a pair of scantily clad women at a Fifth Avenue department store .

That the women were made of stone and were attached to the building of Bonwit Teller, in the process of being razed and replaced by Trump Tower , was of little comfort to the trustees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which had been promised these Art Deco bas-relief beauties — long hovering over pedestrians, now shattered.

The sculptures’ significance was allegorical as well as architectural: Department stores, though erected mostly by men, have always been feminine domains. “The Ladies’ Paradise” is the English title of Émile Zola’s 1883 novel, set at a store modeled after Le Bon Marché, still standing in Paris despite the ravages of e-commerce. Patricia Highsmith framed her 1952 lesbian romance “The Price of Salt” at the fictional Frankenberg’s, based on Bloomingdale’s .

Now Julie Satow has written a group biography of the department-store doyennes who ran the show — and these places in their heyday really were a form of theater — for the male founders and owners whose names adorned the facades.

She nimbly braids together the stories of Hortense Odlum of Bonwit, which moved locations but basically disappeared by 2000; Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel, shuttered since 2019 ; and Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor, which after slow decline was delivered a definitive death blow by the pandemic. Cover the stores’ coffins in the faded iconography of their shopping bags: respectively, a spray of violets , brown and white stripes and a single red rose .

It was clever to convene these three queens from different periods, along with shorter sketches of figures farther from Fifth Avenue, like the Black entrepreneur Maggie Walker, who in 1905 opened the St. Luke Emporium for her community in segregated Richmond, Va.; and Beatrice Fox Auerbach of G. Fox in Hartford, Conn., the inspiration for the savvy scion Rachel Menken of Menken’s on “Mad Men.”

Each might not have sustained a biography of her own, though Odlum did write a dissembling memoir, “A Woman’s Place,” long out of print, from which Satow draws. Considered in aggregate, they are a force. You can imagine them milling around the great perfume counter in the sky. After “ Suffs ,” maybe “Spritzes”?

Stutz, who died in 2005 , is still remembered by a certain cadre of Manhattan aristocracy, and her portrayal is fleshed out by interviews conducted by the author, who has contributed to The Times (including the Styles section, where I used to work) and previously wrote a book about the Plaza hotel.

Not that “fleshed out” is a phrase readily applied to Stutz, who these days would have almost certainly been canceled for fat-shaming; under her oversight, Bendel’s only stocked up to the equivalent of a contemporary size 6. But she also revolutionized retail with a winding “street of shops” that opened inside the store in 1959 (“Street of Flops,” sneered the then-president of Bergdorf Goodman after he toured it). At a weekly open call known as the Friday Morning Lineup, young artisans vied for a coveted spot in her inventory as if trying to get into a nightclub.

Shaver had arrived in New York long before, from Arkansas by way of Chicago, on a lark with her sister, who would design popular and weird Little Shaver dolls featured in Lord & Taylor’s Christmas windows.

Hired by the store’s president, a third cousin of her mother’s, Dorothy worked her way up through the ranks (eventually getting his job) and changed its practices: opening the Bird Cage , a famous restaurant serving tea sandwiches; introducing the kind of personal shopping refined to a high art by Betty Halbreich at Bergdorf ; promoting American designers in a French-obsessed era; and, in general, establishing “that department stores could rival galleries, and even museums, as cultural arbiters,” Satow writes. Abashed to be granddaughter to a Confederate who joined the Ku Klux Klan, Shaver also used her power to promote racial equality, up to a point.

The Debbie Downer of the trio is Odlum, devastated after her husband, a Wall Street tycoon who’d bought Bonwit, left her for a manicurist at Saks (and later aviator). A salon colleague asserted in his own memoir that the scandal was the basis for the Clare Boothe Luce play “The Women.”

Odlum supervised innovations including moving hats (“harmless whimsies,” a.k.a. impulse purchases) from an upper floor to prominence, a club for men to ogle lingerie models while their wives shopped, and a best-selling novel by the head of advertising that romanticized the life of an assistant buyer.

“A big store adds such a lot of glitter and fun to the prosy business of everyday living,” read one line. This was certainly true when Salvador Dalí was commissioned to do displays, and crashed a bathtub filled with dirty water through Bonwit’s window in a fit of artistic pique.

Odlum married three more times but remained bitter, blaming her workload for trouble rearing her children. “When my grandmother died,’’ a grandson tells Satow, “I remember my father saying something along the lines of, ‘Well, the old witch is finally dead.’”

There is in fact something Oz-like about the Technicolor world of the department store, with its pneumatic tubes that swooshed cash and sales slips up to the ceiling; the display director who took one mannequin, Cynthia, everywhere, including El Morocco; the limitless variety of goods ranging even, at one store in Oklahoma City, to babies for adoption.

If the suburban mall did this institution damage, the 24-7 grand bazaar of the internet made it a ghost town. Satow’s book has one longing for that delightful hush when the gates rolled down, the doormen went home and shopping gave way to sleepytime.

WHEN WOMEN RAN FIFTH AVENUE : Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion | By Julie Satow | Doubleday | 320 pp. | $32.50

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

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Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) define a position on the Earth’s surface. Coordinates are angular units. The canonical form of latitude and longitude representation uses degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). GPS systems widely use coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes, or in decimal degrees.

Latitude varies from −90° to 90°. The latitude of the Equator is 0°; the latitude of the South Pole is −90°; the latitude of the North Pole is 90°. Positive latitude values correspond to the geographic locations north of the Equator (abbrev. N). Negative latitude values correspond to the geographic locations south of the Equator (abbrev. S).

Longitude is counted from the prime meridian ( IERS Reference Meridian for WGS 84) and varies from −180° to 180°. Positive longitude values correspond to the geographic locations east of the prime meridian (abbrev. E). Negative longitude values correspond to the geographic locations west of the prime meridian (abbrev. W).

UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system divides the Earth’s surface into 60 longitudinal zones. The coordinates of a location within each zone are defined as a planar coordinate pair related to the intersection of the equator and the zone’s central meridian, and measured in meters.

Elevation above sea level is a measure of a geographic location’s height. We are using the global digital elevation model GTOPO30 .

Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia