I have been pretty liberal with my definition of biography. You might say I chose anything biographical. Some readers might quibble that a few are really histories with biographical elements. It seems to me that a book that has a person's name in the title is biographical enough for the list and certain to interest a biography reader.
As always, the lists agree and disagree. Every list has titles that all the other lists have overlooked or excluded. The biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable is included in eight of the eleven lists. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie is in seven lists, and In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson appears in six lists. The most recognized memoirs are Blue Nights by Joan Didion and Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III, both making six lists.Some review sources thought there were many notable biographies and only a few worthy memoirs, while some others were more taken with the year's memoirs. The result is there should be something here for everyone.
Compiling this master list has become a little more difficult as some of the review sources have generated their lists in pieces. If you see a mistake, please let me know and I will correct the master list.
As always, I hope this help you in your book selecting this winter. Enjoy. Happy New Year.
Amazon Best Books of 2011
Biography
(I did not stick to Amazon's categorizations. Some of these titles were in its history list instead of the biography list.)
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Memoirs
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe
Then Again by Diane Keaton
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
Audiofile's Best Audiobooks of 2011
Biography
Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Malcolm X by Manning Marable
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Memoirs
Chapters from My Autobiography by Mark Twain
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
No Biking in the House without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene
Barnes & Noble Best Books 2011
Biography
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes
In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Machiavelli: A Biography by Miles J. Unger
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz
Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein by Julie Salamon
Memoirs
Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Reading My Father: A Memoir by Alexandra Styrom
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes
Wilder Life : My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
Booklist Editors' Choices 2011
(Some titles were in categories other than biography)
Biography
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
The Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock by David Margolick
Huston: Courage and Art by Jeffrey Meyers
The Mirage Man: Bruce Ivins, the Anthrax Attacks, and America's Rush to War by David Willman
Obama on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President by Justin A. Frank
The Paper Garden: An Artist (Begins Her Life's Work) at 72 by Molly Peacock
Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark by Brian Kellow
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean
Verdi's Shakespeare: Men of the Theater by Garry Wills
Memoirs
Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon by Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa and Mim Eichler Rivas.
The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska by Colleen Mondor
Goodreads Choice Awards
Biography
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
Dressmaker of Khair Khana : Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady
In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal
A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother by Janny Scott
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Memoirs
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yunavitch
The End of Boys by Peter Brown Hoffmeister
Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself by Rachel Lloyd
Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life by Michael Moore
Life Itself by Roger Ebert
The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
My Lucky Life in and out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke
The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - A Love Story by Ree Drummond
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma
Seal Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin
A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
Then They Came for Me : A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival by Maziar Bahari
This Is Gonna Hurt : Music, Photography, and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx by Nikki Sixx
Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Matthew Logelin
Wilder Life : My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie
Kirkus Book Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011
Biography
Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin
Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story by Jim Dent
Howard Cosell: The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports by Mark Ribowsky
Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman by Patricia Bosworth
Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music - the Definitive Life by Tim Riley
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution by Mary Gabriel
Mightier Than the Sword: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America by David S. Reynolds
Tolstoy: A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett
Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein by Julie Salamon
Memoirs
Bento's Sketchbook by John Berger
Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life by Mary Johnson
Witness to an Extreme Century: A Memoir by Robert Jay Lifton
Your Voice in My Head: A Memoir by Emma Forrest
Library Journal Best Books 2011 Top-Ten
Biography
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz
Library Journal Best Books 2011 More of the Best
Biography
Becoming Dickens: The Invention of a Novelist by Douglas Fairhurst
Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin Avery
Nica’s Dream: The Life and Legend of the Jazz Baroness by David Kastin
Memoirs
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Library Journal Best Books 2011 Memoirs
Cabin: Two Brothers, a Dream, and Five Acres in Maine by Lou Ureneck
Fiction Ruined My Family by Jeanne Darst
The Girl's Guide to Homelessness by Brianna Karp
I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl: A Memoir by Kelle Groom
Love at First Bark: How Saving a Dog Can Sometimes Help You Save Yourself by Julie Klam
The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir by Meir Shalev
Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
Library Journal Librarians’ Best Books of 2011
Memoirs
The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke
The Orchard: A Memoir by Theresa Weir
New Yorker's Reviewers' Favorites of 2011
Biography
The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe by Peter Godwin
George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis
Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India by Joseph Lelyveld
The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth-Century History by Emma Rothschild (about the Johnston family)
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Mightier Than the Sword: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America by David S. Reynolds
Modigliani: A Life by Meryle Secrest
Molotov's Magic Lantern: Travels in Russian History by Rachel Polonsky
Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark by Brian Kellow
Memoirs
What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes
New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2011
Biography
And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields
Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane by Andrew Graham-Dixon
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned by John A. Farrell
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis
Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India by Joseph Lelyveld
In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
The Keats Brothers: The Life of John and George by Denise Gigante
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark by Brian Kellow
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orleans
Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
Memoirs
Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son by Ian Brown
The Memory Chalet by Tony Judt
My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonmte
One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir by Binyavanga Wainaina
[sic]: A Memoir by Joshua Cody
To a Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron
Publishers Weekly Best Books 2011
Biography
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin
Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961 by Paul Hendrickson
In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution by Mary Gabriel
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orleans
Memoirs
Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Life Itself by Roger Ebert
The Long Goodbye: A Memoir by Meghan O’Rourke
One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir by Binyavanga Wainaina
Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
Townie: A Memoir by Andre Dubus III
Washington Post Best Books of 2011
Biography
And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields
Branch Rickey by Jimmy Breslin
Caravaggio by Andrew Graham-Dixon
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie
Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra F. Vogel
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady
Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961 by Paul Hendrickson
The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life by Bettany Hugh
In the Garden of the Beast: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution by Mary Gabriel
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden
A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother by Janny Scott
Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War by Hal Vaughan
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Story of Charlotte's Web: E.B. White's Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic by Michael Sims
The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA by Joby Warrick
Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage
Memoirs
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
The Foremost Good Fortune: A Memoir by Susan Conley
The Last Resort: Taking the Mississippi Cure by Norma Watkins
Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert
The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
Small Memories: A Memoir by Jose Saramago
Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso
3 comments:
Thanks for this list, Rick!
Are you going to PLA?
Sarah MN Librarian
I hope you like the list. I will be at PLA. See you there?
Yes, I will be there! At all of the book programs . . .
Sarah MN Librarian
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