Biography and Personal Narrative (Fiction and Non-Fiction)
- Memoirs (Overbooked)
- 'Family, friends, food, illness, life changing events and more are featured in these
very personal autobiographical writings.' These books have received starred reviews from
the major reviewing sources. Author, title, publication info, and brief reviews for
95 books, from The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber to Smashed: Growing Up A Drunk Girl
by Koren Zailckas. Updated Feb. 2007.
- Memoirs (Wichita Public Library, KS)
- Author, title, publication year, summary, webcat link for about 130 memoirs, from Shirley Abbott's Womenfolks: Growing
Up Down South to Richard Wright's Black Boy. Updated Jan. 2007.
- Good Reading's Great and Significant Biography/Autobiography (Philip Roddman, Pratt Institute)
- Author, title, publication year only for about 100 auto/biographies, from James Ackerman's Palladio (1966) to WB Yeats' Autobiography (1936).
- Recommended Biographies and Autobiographies (Emily Papagni, Fiction-L)
- Over 20 titles recommended, some old and some current. Compiled Feb. 1999. Also from Fiction-L,
a March 2001 list of about 60 Favorite Biographies,
with summaries.
- The Way We Were (Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO)
- One of Wolfner's bibliographies, a list of about 30 nostalgic memoirs, with
author and summaries of each title, and notation as to sex,
language, violence. From Apes and Angels by Phillip Appleman
to The Year the Lights Came On by Terry Kay.
- Non-Fiction Reads About the Immigrant Experience (University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science)
- Author and title (summaries for a few) for about 80 books about immigrants' experience, listed by country of emigration. Most are
memoirs.
- Memoirs for Discussion (Janice Burwash, Fiction-L)
- Memoirs for book discussion groups. Author and title, some summaries.
About 80 books listed, not organised. Compiled Aug. 2002.
- Sisters & Brothers: Lesbian and
Gay Books for the Nineties: Biographies (Boston Public Library)
- Author, title, summary for about 20 biographies, from Joan Ross Acocella's Mark Morris
to Edmund White's Genet: A Biography. Updated April 2001.
- Biographies of Disabled People (Susan Creed, Fiction-L)
- Lists author and title of 12 biographies. July 2001.
- Page-Turners: Biographies and Memoirs (Tucson-Pima Public Library)
- Author, title, publication date, summary, webcat link for 15 books, from
Jeannette Angell's Callgirl to Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, a Memoir.
(They're not all written by someone named Jeannette.)
- Moving Mountains (Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO)
- One of Wolfner's mini-bibliographies, this one features true stories of people who
overcame adversity. Lists over 65 titles, with author and detailed summary of each book. Updated July 2004.
- Bio-Adversity: People Who have Triumphed Against the Odds (Lynne M. Kennedy, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY)
- TRUE stories. Author, title, publication year, summaries for true-life
stories of "individuals who have overcome physical challenges and
carried on to lead successful, productive lives."
About 30 books, in alpha order by subject's name, from Beethoven by Maynard Solomon to
Gut Feelings: From Fear and Despair to Health and Hope by
Carnie Wilson with Mick Kleber.
- Biography for Men (Marika Zemke, Fiction-L)
- Author and title of about 35 biographies that may appeal to men, from Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
to Yeager: An Autobiography by Chuck Yeager.
- Oh, Grow Up! (Wake County Public Libraries, NC)
- Memoirs of growing up. Author, title, webcat link, and summary for about 10 books, from Running With Scissors: A
Memoir by Augusten Burroughs to Black, White, and Jewish by Rebecca Walker.
- Savory Memoirs (Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library, NY)
- Food-related memoirs. Author and title for about 20 books, in no particular order, from
Sharon Boorstin's Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food and Friendship to
Patricia Volk's Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family.
- Teachers (Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO)
- One of Wolfner's mini-bibliographies, this one features books about inspiring teachers. Lists
about 15 titles, with author and detailed summary of each book.
- Classical Music Memoirs (Suzy Higgins, Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO)
- Lists about 60 biographical or autobiographical books about classical musicians,
with author, title, and summary for each. Compiled June 2002.
- Country Music Biographies and Autobiographies (Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO)
- Lists over 15 titles, with author, title, summary, from Willie: An Unauthorized Biography
of Willie Nelson by Michael Bane to Nickel Dreams: My Life by Tanya Tucker. Compiled July 2002.
- World War II Memoirs: True Stories of Courage (Nancy Mulder, Fiction-L)
- Author, title, summary for about 20 books, from Linda Atkinson's In Kindling
Flame: The Story of Hannah Senesh, 1921-1944 to Nancy Wake's The White Mouse. Compiled Aug. 2002.
- Stage and Screen Biographies (Wolfner Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Jefferson City, MO)
- One of Wolfner's mini-bibliographies, this one features true stories of old time actors and actresses.
Author, title, and detailed summary for 16 books. Compiled Oct. 2001. Similarly,
Stars of the Stage and Screen: 1950s and 1960s,
compiled Feb. 2002, with 15 more books.
- Founding Fathers (Memorial Hall Library, Andover MA)
- 2-page PDF list. Author, title, pub. year, and summary for 14 books,
from Max Byrd's Jackson: a Novel to Mary Lee Settle's I, Roger Williams. Compiled July 2005.
- Meet the Presidents - In fact and fiction (Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN)
- Author and titles for about 15 historical fiction titles, about 15 contemporary fiction titles,
and 7 non-fiction titles. Updated Jan. 2006.
Novels written like biographies or autobiographies, featuring either real historical
figures or fictitious characters, AND true stories that read like novels.
- Who In the World?: Fictional Biographies (B.J. Seitzer, Durham County Library, NC)
- Provides author, title, summary of each of 24 biographies of historical fiction.
Compiled December 1999.
- Fictional Biographies (Wake County Public Libraries, NC)
- Author, title, one-line summary, webcat link for about 15 novels, from Dawn over Kitty Hawk: A Novel of
the Wright Brothers by Walter J. Boyne to Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min.
- Famous People in Fiction (Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County)
- Summaries, reviews, webcat links, publication years for 11 novels featuring
famous people as characters.
- Biographical Fiction (Overbooked)
- Novels about real people. Author, title, publication info, summaries for about 45 books,
from In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez to Fanny: A Fiction by Edmund White. Updated May 2006.
- Real Women, Real Fiction (St. Charles Public Library, IL)
- Biographical fiction titles, such as Alison Anderson's Hidden Latitudes about Amelia
Earhart and D.M. Thomas's Eating Pavlova about Anna Freud.
Author, title, and subject only (no summaries) for 20 books.
Compiled Feb. 2000.
- Biographical Novels (Halton Hills Public Library -- Georgetown, Ontario, CAN)
- Listed by author, titles of fictional biographies, with links to webcatalog. About 70 books,
from Sholem Asch's The Apostle to Thornton Wilder's Ides of March.
- Biographical Novels (Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN)
- Author, title, and name of featured historical person for about 35 fictionalised biographies.
- Non-Fiction: Autobiography that Reads Like Fiction (Boone County Public Library, Kentucky)
- Title, author, and webcat link for about 20 autobiographies such as Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi,
Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found by Jennifer Lauck, and The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn-Beer.
From same source, Memoirs, with author, title,
and webcat link for about 100 memoirs, from Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie to Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves: the True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter.
- Epistolary Fiction: Novels in Which Letters Are Used To Tell the Story (Madison Public Library, WI)
- Author, title, publication year, and summary for more than 85 novels, from
Cecelia Ahern's P.S., I Love You to
Oswald Wynd's The Ginger Tree. Updated Jan. 2007.
- Dearest Friend: Stories Told in Diaries and Letters (St. Charles Public Library, IL)
- Author and title only (no summaries) for over 40 novels.
- Diaries as Novels (Denver Public Library, CO)
- "These fictional diaries contain the basic elements of a real diary; they are personal records of events, experiences or observations noted daily or at frequent intervals."
Author, title, summary, webcat link for almost 25 books, from Flanders/cite> by Patricia Anthony to
The Box Children by Sharon Wyse. Updated Jan. 2006.
- Dear Reader: Epistolary Novels (Seattle Public Library)
- A selection of novels written in the form of letters and diaries. Author, title, short summary, webcat link,
cover image for about 30 books, from Cecelia Ahern's Rosie Dunne to Helene Hanff's 84, Charing Cross Road (non-fiction).
- Epistolary Fiction (Johnson County Library, KS)
- Stories told in diaries, letters, and email. Provides author, title, webcat link, summary for about 30 books,
from Cecelia Ahern's PS, I Love You to Effie Leland Wilder's Older But Wilder.
- Epistolary Stars (Overbooked)
- 'Fiction written in the form of a series of letters, journal entries, email (or
other forms of 'creative writing').' Author, title, publication info, summaries for about 25 titles,
from Which Brings Me to You by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott to Clara Callan: A Novel by
Richard B. Wright. Updated Feb. 2007.
- Epistolary Fiction (Reader's Advice)
- 'Novels told in the form of letters, diaries, email, etc.'
Author, title, and Amazon link for about 90 novels, from Dannie Abse's The Strange Case of Dr. Simmonds & Dr. Glass
to Ronald Wright's Henderson's Spear. Created Nov. 1999; updated Feb. 2007.
- Fiction in Letter or Diary Format (Jasper County Public Library, IN)
- Authors and titles only (no summaries) for over 35 books in letter/diary format, from
Go Ask Alice to The prophetess by Barbara Wood. Compiled 2002.
- Epistolary Fiction (Auburn Hills Public Library, MI)
- "Novels told wholly or partially in the form of letters, IMs, emails, etc." Author and title
only for about 15 books, from several by Nick Bantock to Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Updated Feb. 2007.
- Personal Narratives: Recent Autobiographies, Memoirs, and Diaries (Anne Chu, Boston Public Library)
- Compiled 2000. Author, title, pub. year, one-line summary. About 80 books listed.
- Fiction in the First Person (Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH)
- Author, title, summary for about a dozen first-person novels,
from Martin Amis's Time's Arrow to Jeanette Winterson's The PowerBook.
- Conversations by Post (Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN)
- Author and titles for about 20 fiction titles and about 15 non-fiction titles. Updated June 2004.
true biography and autobiography