Celebrity Biographies and Memoirs Worth Reading

Who doesn’t love a juicy celebrity memoir? We love the mix of glamourous parties and glimpses behind the scenes of our favorite movies or magazines, like who was secretly in love and who openly hated each other. The information that Jessica Simpson and Sally Field reveal about their relationships with their costars was wow! Equally compelling is the glimpse into the mundane details of people’s lives-what Karl Lagerfeld ate for breakfast at his country house or Busy Phillips house hunting stories. There’s something about peeking behind the curtain and into the minds of people that we may think we know that’s so fascinating.

We put together a list of some of our favorite biographies and memoirs and some that we haven’t read yet but that we can’t wait to dive into. Let us know if you have any more recommendations in the comments!

Writers and Style Icons

Save Me The Plums by Ruth Reichl

Working in PR, I love a deep dive into the New York media world. Ruth Reichl’s book recounts her time as the Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine, charting how she got there, what happened when she was there, and why it all ended. There are so many celebrity chefs, NYC media names and famous restaurants that get name-dropped, but also great behind the scenes insight into the way a magazine and Conde Nast works. - D

I Feel Bad about My Neck by Nora Ephron

The creator of some my favorite movies, I already knew Ephron had an amazing sense of humor going into the books. But I loved her perspective on aging and romance and New York and just life in general. - E

Lee by Lee Radziwill

This is such a beautifully made book, the cover is an amazing linen textures and it’s full of pictures and letters and reminiscences about Lee Bouvier’s life. It’s a gorgeous coffee table book, but also gave me such an insight into her childhood, marriage and family. - E

The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley

I love that these this book follows Lee’s on our list because one of the things that I learned about in Talley’s book was his close freindship with Lee. Talley had a genius for befriending people and forming long relationships with notoriously private or difficult people like Lee or Karl Lagerfeld. It was so interesting to follow his journey from a young southern boy to New York to Vogue and then his exit from Vogue and his next steps. - E

Funny Women

Bossypants by Tina Fey

This is a collection of essays that brings glimpses into Fey’s life from childhood to how she got the scar on her cheek to backstage in her early days of being a writer at SNL. Some of it’s more humourous than informative, but I really enjoyed it and breezed through it quickly. - E

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

With so many books from comedic women, Amy’s is the same fun, quick, read with essays that you can enjoy one a time, but also has much more of an advice and motivational angle. She shares funny stories about her life and how she built her career, but with a total cool girl, big sister “learn from my mistakes” vibe. - D

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) and Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

It’s no surprise that Mindy’s book sounds exactly like her and is hilarious, after all she started her career as a comedy writer. This book charts her unlikely journey to Hollywood success, from her childhood in the Boston suburbs as the child of immigrants, to her off-off-Broadway show where she dressed up as Ben Affleck, and then her eventual Hollywood career. - D

This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philips

I had liked Busy Philips since her Dawson’s Creek days, but really became a fan when I started following her on Instagram a few years ago. I could not get enough of her stream of consciousness narration of her life and this book goes deeper into her past, discussing early traumas, big life moments and pretty raw stuff about her marriage and parenting. - D

Musicians and Movie Stars

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

One of my favorite books of 2020, this gave a very intimate look into Jessica’s life and career, revealing the toll that fame had on her, her family, and how she has grown from it. Jessica airs quite a bit of dirty laundry without getting too mean and gossipy - it felt like she could have gone even harder on Nick Lachey for example, or other exes, although John Mayer definitely comes out looking like a huge jerk. Like the Britney Spears documentary, it really reframed how these young female stars were talked about and treated by the public and press and definitely made me a Jessica fan. Hot tip: listen to the audiobook, hearing Jessica read it is the best! - D

The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

Mariah is one of my favorites, but she is also kind of an enigma, although an at times, very shady enigma. This book has so many details about how she grew up, and just how bad it was, plus all the tea about her marriage to Tommy Mattola, which I always have felt like she was way too polite about. Mariah definitely isn’t diving deep emotionally here or giving up on her signature obliviousness, but there are interesting details! - D

Inside Out by Demi Moore

Demi Moore is one of those people that I feel like I know a lot about because of her presence in the tabloids for so many years, and this book peels back the layers of her early life and traumas, to show what has driven her often dramatic and gossip-worthy personal life. - D

In Pieces by Sally Field

I knew very little about Field’s life, but pictured it being the chipper and cute version of her that we saw in the movies. However, this blew apart all of the those preconceived notions and I teared up multiple times reading this book. This follows her growth from her very dysfunctional relationships with her parents and her early commercial success on TV to continuous determination to learn the craft of acting and then her marriage and starting her own family. Field is so open and vulnerable in this book and it was very compelling and emotional to read. - E

Bravolebrities

One Day You’ll Thank Me by Cameran Eubanks

I just started this collection of essays about life and motherhood from our favorite ex-Souther Charmer and I’m so excited about it. I love her no nonsense mom perspective on Instagram and this has that in spades as well as more personal stories from her days on Real World and Bravo and insight into her marriage and family. - E

Most Talkative and the Andy Diaries by Andy Cohen

These are light and fun reads about Cohen’s life behind the scenes at Bravo, and his freindships and experiences with celebrities and pop culture icons. He does talk about some serious topics like coming out, but it’s mostly a breezy read with some name dropping of celebrity freinds and parties and lots of Real Housewives. I was amazed at how many drugs he has taken while still working and achieving so much! -E

What Remains by Carole Radziwill

The book that was the subject of much debate on RHONY (was there a ghost writer or not??), this explores Carole’s life before housewives, when her marriage to Anthony Radziwill, their close relationship with his cousin, JFK Jr and his wife Carolye Bessette, and then Anthony’s passing from cancer shortly after their deaths. I felt so much for Carole while reading this book and really enjoyed her depiction of her early life and marriage and those relationships. -E

Drinking and Tweeting by Brandi Glanville

Brandi is messy but fun, and I would say this book is just like it’s author. A quick and fun read that spills the details on her infamous divorce, her plastic surgery and dating experiences and how she got there. -E