Popular North American Biography Books
Find biography books written by authors from North America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (95)
1.
635 Tage im Eis: Die Shackleton-Expedition by Alfred Lansing DE
Country: North America / 
United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Set in Antarctica
Das Buch erzählt die Geschichte der gescheiterten Shackleton-Expedition von 1914, die als erste die Antarktis durchqueren sollte. Am Ende machten ihnen für die Jahreszeit unübliche Wetterbedingungen immer wieder einen Strich durch die Rechnung. Ihr Schiff wurde vom Packeis eingeschlossen und sie mussten auf dem Eis überwintern, und letzten Endes sogar das Schiff aufgeben und auf andere Weise versuchen, zurück in die Zivilisation und Hilfe zu finden.
Das Buch erzählt unter Einbindung zahlreicher Tagebucheinträge vom harten Alltag der M&au... continue
2.
84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
"Those who have read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a novel comprised of only letters between the characters, will see how much that best-seller owes 84, Charing Cross Road." -- Medium.com A heartwarming love story about people who love books for readers who love books This funny, poignant, classic love story unfolds through a series of letters between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road. Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a char... continue
3.
999 : The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadam EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
A Pen America Literary Award Finalist A Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee An Amazon Best of the Year Selection The untold story of some of WW2’s most hidden figures and the heartbreaking tragedy that unites them all. Readers of Born Survivors and A Train Near Magdeburg will devour the tragic tale of the first 999 women in Auschwitz concentration camp. This is the hauntingly resonant true story that everyone should know. On March 25, 1942, nearly a thousand young, unmarried Jewish women boarded a train in Poprad, Slovakia. Filled with a sense of adventure and national pride, they left their paren... continue
4.
A Book of Days by Patti Smith EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
A deeply moving and brilliantly idiosyncratic visual book of days by the National Book Award–winning author of Just Kids and M Train, featuring more than 365 images and reflections that chart Smith’s singular aesthetic—inspired by her wildly popular Instagram. In 2018, without any plan or agenda for what might happen next, Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message “Hello Everybody!” Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her Abyssinian cat... continue
5.
A Carnival of Snackery : Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Picking up where his previous volume of diaries, Theft by Finding, left off, David Sedaris chronicles the years 2003-2020.
6.
A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt EN
Country: North America / 
Canada
Canada
Description:
WINNER OF THE HUBERT EVANS NON-FICTION PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE JIM DEVA PRIZE FOR WRITING THAT PROVOKES FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY NATIONAL BESTSELLER A slim but electrifying debut memoir about the preciousness and precariousness of queer Indigenous life. Opening with a tender letter to his kokum and memories of his early life on the Driftpile First Nation, Billy-Ray Belcourt delivers a searing account of Indigenous life that’s part love letter, part rallying cry. With the lyricism and emotio... continue
7.
A Monk Swimming : A Memoir by Malachy McCourt EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The memoirs of Malachy McCourt who left a childhood of poverty in Ireland to live in New York where he carved out a colourful career as a writer and actor - The story of his early life was told in Angela's ashes, by his brother Frank McCourt.
8.
A Peculiar Treasure : An Autobiography by Edna Ferber EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Ferber's stunning first autobiography, in which she recounts her small-town Midwestern childhood and rise to literary fame, all amidst the backdrop of America around the turn of the 20th century. A modest girl growing up one of the only Jewish children in her Midwestern town, Edna Ferber started overcoming the odds at a young age. Pursuing work at the local newspaper as an innocent 17-year-old, she was assigned the night court shift, reporting on drugs and violence, and gradually finding her own voice in standing up to what she witnessed. As she continued to pursue w... continue
9.
Abigail Adams : Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Abigail Adams is often referred to as the wife of one president and the mother of another. Rarely is she described as a woman in her own right. Although her primary focus and concerns were in her role as wife and mother, she lives in history because of her extraordinary letters to her family and to her friends. She was a witness to the gathering storm of the Revolutionary War. She saw the Battle of Bunker Hill from a hilltop near her home, and soldiers marching past her door frequently stopped for a drink of water. Because she was so close to the scene, she was able to give firsthand reports o... continue
10.
An Unfinished Love Story : A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
"Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. Dick was one of the young men of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, and he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Doris was a White House Fellow and worked directly for Lyndon Johnson, later assisting on his memoir. The Goodwins' last great adventure involved opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents and memorabilia Dick had saved for more than fifty years. The voyage of remembrance revived the hope that the youth of today will carry forward th... continue