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)

51.

Maid : Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Evicted meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land's memoir about working as a maid, a beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in America. Includes a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich. At 28, Stephanie Land's plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephani... continue

52.

Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia by Elizabeth Burgos, Rigoberta Menchú, Elisabeth Burgos-Debray ES

0 Ratings
Description:
Este libro recoge los conocimientos que Rigoberta Menchú tiene y trasmite a la etnóloga Elizabeth Burgos sobre las costumbres y creencias de la comunidad en la que nació y el proceso que la hizó comenzar la lucha por la emancipación., así como la vida, historia y leyendas de los indígenas de Guatemala.

53.

Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A moving memoir about the legendary author’s relationship with her own mother. Emma Watson’s Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick! The story of Maya Angelou’s extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling autobiographies. But now, at last, the legendary author shares the deepest personal story of her life: her relationship with her mother. For the first time, Angelou reveals the triumphs and struggles of being the daughter of Vivian Baxter, an indomitable spirit whose petite size belied her larger-than-life presence—a presence absent during much of A... continue

54.

Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers EN

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Description:
From the best-selling author of The Circle - the gripping true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana'a by civil war Mokhtar Alkhanshali is twenty-four and working as a doorman when he becomes fascinated with the rich history of coffee and Yemen's central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral home to tour terraced farms high in the country's rugged mountains. He collects samples and organizes farmers and is on the verge of success when civil w... continue

55.

Mountains Beyond Mountains : The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder EN

Rating: 4.5 (16 votes)
Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 20th Anniversary Edition, with a new foreword by the author • “[A] masterpiece . . . an astonishing book that will leave you questioning your own life and political views.”—USA Today “If any one person can be given credit for transforming the medical establishment’s thinking about health care for the destitute, it is Paul Farmer. . . . [Mountains Beyond Mountains] inspires, discomforts, and provokes.”—The New York Times (Best Books of the Year) In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of m... continue

56.

No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley by Rita Marley EN

Rating: 5 (2 votes)
Country: North America / Cuba flag Cuba
Description:
Bob Marley is the unchallenged king of reggae and one of music's great iconic figures. Rita Marley was not just his wife and the mother of four of his children but his backing singer and friend, life-long companion and soul mate. They met in Trenchtown when he was 19 and she was 18, and she was very much part of his musical career, selling his early recordings from their house in the days before Island Records signed up the Wailers. She shared the hard times and the dangers - when Bob was wounded in a gunfight before the Peace Concert, Rita was shot in the head and left for dead. Their marriag... continue

57.

Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats by Courtney Gustafson EN

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Description:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An intimate memoir about the importance of community and care in a world that can feel impossibly broken—and a story about accidentally going viral while tending to a colony of feral cats. When Courtney Gustafson moved into a rental house in the Poets Square neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona, she didn’t know that the property came with thirty feral cats. Focused only on her own survival—in a new relationship, during a pandemic, with poor mental health and a job that didn’t pay enough—Courtney was reluctant to spend any of her own time or money caring for the wayward a... continue

58.

Poor Richard by James Daugherty EN

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Description:
A biography of Benjamin Franklin from his birth in Boston in 1706 through his years as printer, statesman, inventor, author, and reformer.

59.

Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History by Kate Schatz EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Description:
Educational and inspirational, this gift-worthy New York Times bestseller from the authors of Rad American Women A-Z, is a bold, illustrated collection of 40 biographical profiles showcasing extraordinary women from across the globe. Rad Women Worldwide tells fresh, engaging, and amazing tales of perseverance and radical success by pairing well-researched and riveting biographies with powerful and expressive cut-paper portraits. The book features an array of diverse figures from 430 BCE to 2016, spanning 31 countries around the world, from Hatshepsut (the great female king who ruled Egypt peac... continue

60.

Riff : The Shake Keane Story by Philip Nanton EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Riff explores the turbulent life of the musician and poet Shake Keane who migrated from St Vincent to London in the 1950s where became a significant figure on the free form jazz scene and innovative poet. He returned home before moving to New York City. This biography reveals the many features of this trend-setting but troubled Caribbean icon.