Genre Starter List: Biographies

Welcome back to another installment of the Genre Starter List series! Biographies tell the story of a significant person’s life. There are a lot of fascinating individuals whose life stories you can read, and we have several here in the library! Here are some biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs that you can get from the Logos. 

*All descriptions written by Darius Mullin. 

American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin 

The landmark biography of the “father of the atomic bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s 2023 blockbuster film, Oppenheimer.  

All My Knotted-Up Life by Beth Moore 

Christian author and founder of Living Proof Ministries Beth Moore tells edifying and encouraging stories from her own life in this recent memoir.  

What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley and Ed Fotheringham 

“I can be president of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both!” –Theodore Roosevelt 

This fun picture book tells of the exploits of President Theodore Roosevelt’s bold and adventurous daughter, Alice. This book is also part of our currently ongoing March Book Madness 2024! 

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson  

Bryan Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama-based non-profit organization that provides good legal representation to the people who need it most and otherwise wouldn’t get it. In Just Mercy, Stevenson pairs data with anecdotes from his early years as a lawyer to paint a moving picture. 

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, John L Sherrill, and Elizabeth Sherrill 

The incredible autobiographical story of Corrie ten Boom’s experience hiding Jews from Nazis during the Holocaust and the German occupation of Holland. 

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker 

Tony Dungy is a Christian, former NFL player, and head coach, whose leadership style took the Indianapolis Colts to victory in Super Bowl XLI and led Dungy to become the first black head coach to win the big game. In Quiet Strength, Dungy tells stories from his life and reveals the principles that accompanied him along the way.  

The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder 

The classic Little House series includes eight autobiographical children’s novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder, an American pioneer who grew up in the latter half of the 19^th century. Farmer Boy, the only of these books about the childhood of Almonzo Wilder (Laura’s future husband), is currently a part of March Book Madness 2024! 

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly 

“The untold story of the Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race.” The basis for a major motion picture, Hidden Figures recounts the exciting stories of the “human computers” who helped overcome discrimination to help America get to the moon. 

Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson 

The shocking tale of Dmitri Shostakovich, a composer who endured one of the most brutal sieges of human history: the Nazi siege of Leningrad during World War II. Shostakovich would go on to write the “Leningrad Symphony,” a work that simultaneously encouraged and eulogized his fellow citizens.  

Autobiography of Mark Twain 

The great American humorist and storyteller tells his own story in his own words, published posthumously so that he could really speak his mind. “You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography,” Twain told a friend.  

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder 

Tyler Feder will have you laughing at one page and crying at the next in this memoir about the author’s mom who, well, died. The graphic novel format makes this a surprisingly impactful work.  

Choosing Brave by Angela Joy and Janelle Washington 

This 2022 book tells the story of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old black boy who was brutally murdered in 1955, and Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett’s mother, who was the catalyst for her son’s wrongful death to become a rallying point for the civil rights movement.  

Against All Odds by Travis “Thi’sl” Tyler 

Rapper, label founder, and motivational speaker Thi’sl—a former gang member and drug dealer before becoming a Christian—tells his life story in this gripping autobiography. 

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller 

Everyone has heard of Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing at the young age of 19 months. Here, you can read about Keller’s remarkable life in her own words.  

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 

The American founding father tells his own story in this short, fascinating autobiography.  

Darius Mullin’s reviews reflect his personal opinions and not necessarily those of the library or university. 

March Book Madness 2024: Week 2

Announcer: We are ready for Week 2 of March Book Madness 2024. You were introduced to our Mystery and Realistic Fiction genres last week, but now it’s time to move in a different direction. Rachel and Darius will be presenting their selections for Historical Fiction and Biography/Memoir. Rachel is up first with Historical Fiction. Rachel, can you introduce yourself, tell us some about your genre, and give the readers some information about your classic pick?

Rachel: Hi. Yes, I’m Rachel, the Circulation Manager of the Logos, and I’m excited to help introduce this next genre. Historical Fiction is a genre that I read a lot, and simply put, it is a fictional story based during a specific time period or event that took place in the past.  While reading, you must be careful not to mix fact with fiction, though.

Without further ado, my classic pick is Meet Felicity by Valerie Tripp. It is the first book in the American Girl series based in Colonial Williamsburg and is set around the time of the Revolutionary War. Felicity is nine years old. In this book, she falls in love with a beautiful horse named Penny and seeks to save her from her cruel owner. The series continues with five more books, and you will see Felicity learn to manage some difficult choices as she grows up.  This is a series that I owned growing up, and I even had the doll to go along with it. Felicity having a similar hair color to mine has always been something I’ve loved about her.

Announcer: American Girls are a true classic in my eyes. I love that we have so many of the originals in our collection. What is your contemporary pick?

Rachel: My contemporary pick is a book that I often recommend, and it is The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Ada, a young girl with a twisted foot, lives in London during World War II. Her mother has often verbally abused her and doesn’t see her worth. When the opportunity arises for the children to be taken to safety in the countryside, Ada’s mother only wants to send her younger brother, Jamie, because she doesn’t think anyone would want to take her with her disability. Ada sneaks away with Jamie, and they end up being placed with a woman named Susan Smith. The story that follows is one that you don’t want to miss.

Announcer: I like that both selections are based around different wars. Which of the two do you think will advance?

Rachel: This is a tough one for me because I love them both. However, I think Meet Felicity being part of a series will help it to advance.

Announcer: Thank you, Rachel. We’ll move now to Darius with the Biography/Memoir genre. Darius, why don’t you introduce yourself and tell us some about your genre, as well as your classic pick?

Darius: I’m Darius, the Evening Circulation Supervisor here at the Union University Library. I’m excited to have the chance to comment on my third March Book Madness! The genre I get to introduce to you today is Biography/Memoir: simply put, these are stories from a person’s life. A biography (or self-written autobiography) aims to tell the story of a person’s life, while memoirs are specific memories from maybe only a portion of a person’s life. Biographies and memoirs are similar enough that we’ve combined them into one category for our purposes.

The classic pick for this category is Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House series. This book is a bit of an outlier in the author’s work, since it’s not about herself, but instead the boy who would become her husband: Almanzo Wilder. I remember my dad reading this one out loud to me when I was probably about the same age as the main character!

Announcer: Sounds like a great pick. What is your contemporary selection? Could you tell us about it and your predicted winner?

Darius: The Biography/Memoir contemporary pick is What to do about Alice? by Barbara Kerley and Ed Fotheringham. This book is a Sibert Honor Book and tells the exciting story of Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice. We featured it in a What to Read Wednesday last year!

Even though it’s a great one, I think Farmer Boy is more likely to advance into the Elite Eight this year. I think there are probably many readers who, like me, grew up with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s work.

Announcer: We’ll see if either of these predictions hold true when our voting begins in March. Tune in next week for Round 3!