Staff Picks
#BroaderBookshelf 2021:Read a Book by a Journalist (Biographies and Memoirs)
- Chantal W.
- Thursday, April 01, 2021
Collection
One of our #BroaderBookshelf Challenge prompts for 2021 is to read a book written by a journalist. Here is a list of biographies, autobiographies and memoirs authored by journalists to get you started.
The Enemy of the People
A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America
Published in 2019
"From CNN's veteran Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, an explosive, first-hand account of the dangers he faces reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in President Trump's war on truth."--Publisher's description.
Obama
The Call of History
Published in 2017
"'His first line in the history books was written the day he won office as the first African-American president, but he was determined to offer more than simply a new complexion in the Oval Office.' So writes Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times, about the 44th president of the United States. In this vivid and in-depth illustrated account of Barack Obama's years in office, Baker chronicles a period of great hope, tumult, accomplishment and, yes, failure. This is the story of a young president who took on the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, forged a controversial health care program, watched anxiously in the Situation Room after approving the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and endured mid-term election defeats. In a presidency buffeted by one crisis after another, he struggled with the Syrian civil war, a Russian invasion of its neighbor, the rise of the Islamic State, and, at home, often violent racial strife and a recalcitrant Congress. Inspiring in a crowded stadium yet diffident behind the scenes, Obama was a master politician who loathed politics. To many, he was an enigma, often seen through the lens of the observer--a liberal zealot to the right, an overeager compromiser to the left. 'I am like a Rorschach test,' he once noted. But he was the dominant figure of his age. After eight eventful years, he would never be the same--and neither would his country."--Jacket.
The Taliban Shuffle
Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Published in 2011
A wisecracking foreign correspondent recounts her experiences in Afghanistan and Pakistan while sharing cautionary observations about the region in its first post-Taliban years and the responsibilities of the U.S. and NATO.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Published in 1997
The author, former editor of French Elle magazine, describes surviving the rare stroke to the brain stem that left him with locked-in syndrome. With his mind intact in a nearly totally paralyzed body, he was able to communicate only with his left eye. By turns wistful, mischievous, angry, and witty, Bauby bears witness to his determination to live as fully in his mind as he had been in his body. Again and again he uses his imagination to experience an "inexhaustible reservoir of sensations," keeping in touch with himself and the life around him. Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the French publication of his book. This book is his testament to life under the most challenging of circumstances.
My Time to Speak
Reclaiming Ancestry and Confronting Race
Published in 2020
"An inspiring, timely, and conversation-starting memoir from the barrier-breaking and Emmy Award-winning journalist Ilia Calderón-the first Afro-Latina to anchor a high-profile newscast for a major Hispanic broadcast network in the United States-about following your dreams, overcoming prejudice, and embracing your identity"-- Provided by publisher.
The Night of the Gun
A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life, His Own
Published in 2008
Cronkite's War
His World War II Letters Home
Published in 2013
A giant in American journalism in the vanguard of "The Greatest Generation" reveals his World War II experiences in this National Geographic book.
All About the Story
News, Power, Politics, and the Washington Post
Published in 2020
"At a time when the role of journalism is especially critical, Leonard Downie, the former executive editor of the Washington Post writes about his nearly 50 years at the newspaper and the importance of getting at the truth"-- Provided by publisher.
Living with a Wild God
A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth About Everything
Published in 2014
"In middle age, Ehrenreich came across the journal she had kept during her tumultuous adolescence and set out to reconstruct that quest, which had taken her to the study of science and through a cataclysmic series of uncanny-or as she later learned to call them, "mystical"-experiences. A staunch atheist and rationalist, she is profoundly shaken by the implications of her life-long search. Part memoir, part philosophical and spiritual inquiry, LIVING WITH A WILD GOD brings an older woman's wry and erudite perspective to a young girl's uninhibited musings on the questions that, at one point or another, torment us all. Ehrenreich's most personal book ever will spark a lively and heated conversation about religion and spirituality, science and morality, and the "meaning of life." Certain to be a classic, LIVING WITH A WILD GOD combines intellectual rigor with a frank account of the inexplicable, in Ehrenreich's singular voice, to produce a true literary achievement"-- Provided by publisher.
Ali
A Life
Published in 2017
"The definitive biography of an American icon, from a New York Times best-selling author with unique access to Ali's inner circle. He was the wittiest, the prettiest, the strongest, the bravest, and, of course, the greatest (as he told us over and over again). Muhammad Ali was one of the twentieth century's greatest radicals and most compelling figures. At his funeral in 2016, eulogists said Ali had transcended race and united the country, but they got it wrong. Race was the theme of Ali's life. He insisted that America come to grips with a black man who wasn't afraid to speak out or break the rules. He didn't overcome racism. He called it out. "I am America," he once declared. "I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me--black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me." Ali went from being one of the most despised men in the country to one of the most beloved. But until now, he has never been the subject of a complete, unauthorized biography. Jonathan Eig, hailed by Ken Burns as one of America's master storytellers, breaks new ground and radically reshapes our understanding of the slippery figure who was Muhammad Ali. Eig had access to all the key people in Ali's life, including his three surviving wives and his managers. He also had access to thousands of pages of new FBI and Justice Department files, as well dozens of hours of newly discovered audiotaped interviews from the 1960s. Jonathan Eig's Ali breaks bold new ground, revealing Ali in the complexity he deserves, shedding important new light on his politics and his neurological condition. Ali is a story about race, about a brutal sport, and about a fascinating man who shook up the world"-- Provided by publisher.
Carry on
A Story of Resilience, Redemption, and an Unlikely Family
Published in 2016
"An Emmy-winning ESPN producer describes how she developed a surprising, profound and lasting bond with two disabled African-American, inner-city high school wrestlers after filming a segment about them for television,"--NoveList.
Trailblazer
A Pioneering Journalist's Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America
Published in 2019
Dorothy Butler Gilliam, whose fifty-year-career as a journalist put her in the forefront of the fight for social justice, offers a comprehensive view of racial relations and the media in the US, covering a wide swath of media history--from the era of game-changing Negro newspapers like the Chicago Defender to the civil rights movement, feminism, and our current imperfect diversity.
Personal History
Published in 1998
The longtime owner of the Washington Post recounts her experiences, including how she rebounded from her husband's suicide to command the Post during Vietnam and Watergate
Talking to GOATs
The Moments You Remember and the Stories You Never Heard
Published in 2020
"Sportscaster and sports historian Jim Gray gives the reader a coveted all-access pass as he reviews the best interviews, the best athletes, and the best games in modern sports history. It's like a personal introduction to the characters and careers of these heroes and villains we've known since childhood. He examines how money, celebrity, the media, and power interact, and how sports ... has led to ... transformations in American society"-- Provided by publisher.
The Only Girl
My Life and Times on the Masthead of Rolling Stone
Published in 2018
"A brutally honest, intimate memoir of the first girl on the masthead of Rolling Stone magazine, The Only Girl chronicles the beginnings of Robin Green's career. In this voice-driven humorous careening adventure, Green spills stories of stalking the Grateful Dead with Annie Liebowitz, sparring with Dennis Hopper on a film set in the desert, scandalizing fans of David Cassidy and spending a legendary evening on a water bed in the dorm room of Robert F. Kennedy Jr." -- provided by publisher.
Foreign Correspondent
A Memoir
Published in 2014
"David Greenway, a journalist's journalist in the tradition of Michael Herr, David Halberstam, and Dexter Filkins. In this vivid memoir, he tells us what it's like to report a war up close"-- Provided by publisher.
In Extremis
The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin
Published in 2018
A biography of the war correspondent Marie Colvin.
Once I Was You
A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America
Published in 2020
"Emmy Award-winning NPR journalist Maria Hinojosa shares her personal story interwoven with American immigration policy's coming-of-age journey at a time when our country's branding went from "The Land of the Free" to "the land of invasion.""-- Provided by publisher.
Churchill & Son
Published in 2021
"The intimate, untold story of Winston Churchill's enduring yet volatile bond with his only son, Randolph"-- Provided by publisher.
The Obamas
Published in 2012
Explores the Obama family's transition into the White House, capturing the emotions and personalities beneath the public façade as the president and the First Lady deal with their new roles.
Indelible Ink
The Trials of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of America's Free Press
Published in 2016
In 1733, struggling printer John Peter Zenger scandalized colonial New York by launching the New-York Weekly Journal, which assailed the British governor as corrupt and arrogant -- a direct challenge to the prevailing law against "seditious libel", which criminalized any criticism of the government. Fronting for a group of powerful antiroyalist politicians, Zenger was jailed for nine months before his landmark trial in August 1735, when he was brilliantly defended by Philadelphia lawyer Alexander Hamilton. In this book, Richard Kluger recreates this dramatic clash that marked the birth of press freedom in America and its role in vanquishing colonial tyranny.
The Eternal Nazi
From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim
Published in 2014
"The compelling story of the hunt for Aribert Heim, whose decades-long flight from justice turned a mid-level SS officer and concentration camp doctor into the most wanted Nazi war criminal in the world Dr. Aribert Heim worked at the Mauthausen concentration camp for only a few months in 1941 but left a horrifying mark on the memories of survivors. According to their testimony, Heim euthanized patients with injections of gasoline into their hearts. He performed surgeries on otherwise healthy people. Some recalled prisoners' skulls set out on his desk to display perfect sets of teeth. In the chaos of the postwar period, Heim was able to slip away from his dark past and establish himself as a reputable doctor in the resort town of Baden-Baden. He was tall, handsome, a bit of a charmer, and quickly settled down with a wife and children in peace and comfort. But certain rare individuals in Germany were unwilling to let Nazi war criminals go unpunished. Among them was a police investigator named Alfred Aedtner, who turned finding Heim into an overriding obsession; his quest took him across Europe and across decades, and into a close alliance with legendary Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. This is the incredible story of how Aribert Heim evaded capture, living in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, praying in Arabic, beloved by an adopted Muslim family, while inspiring a manhunt that outlived him by many years. He became the "Eternal Nazi," a symbol of Germany's evolving attitude toward the sins of its past, which finally crested in a desire to see justice done at almost any cost"-- Provided by publisher.
In the Garden of Beasts
Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Published in 2011
The bestselling author of "Devil in the White City" turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler's rise to power. The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.
The Splendid and the Vile
A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Published in 2020
"The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers a fresh and compelling portrait of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold the country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally-and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless." It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it's also an intimate domestic drama set against the backdrop of Churchill's prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London. Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports-some released only recently-Larson provides a new lens on London's darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents' wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela's illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the cadre of close advisers who comprised Churchill's "Secret Circle," including his lovestruck private secretary, John Colville; newspaper baron Lord Beaverbrook; and the Rasputin-like Frederick Lindemann. The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today's political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when-in the face of unrelenting horror-Churchill's eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together."-- Provided by publisher.
Coming Full Circle
From Jim Crow to Journalism
Published in 2020
"Wanda Smalls Lloyd's Coming Full Circle: From Jim Crow to Journalism-with a foreword by best-selling author Tina McElroy Ansa-is the memoir of an African American woman who grew up privileged and educated in the restricted culture of the American South in the 1950s-1960s. Her path was shaped by segregated social, community, and educational systems, religious and home training, a strong cultural foundation, and early leadership opportunities. Despite Jim Crow laws that affected where she lived, how she was educated, and what civil rights she would be denied, Lloyd grew up to realize her childhood dream of working as a professional journalist. In fact, she would eventually hold some of the nation's highest-ranking newspaper editorial positions and become one of the first African American women to be the top editor of a mainstream daily newspaper. Along the way she helped her newspapers and other media organizations understand how the lack of newsroom and staff diversity interfered with perceptions of accuracy and balance for their audiences. Her memoir is thus a window on the intersection of race, gender, culture and the media's role in our uniquely American experiment in democracy. How Lloyd excelled in a profession where high-ranking African American women were rare is a memorable story that will educate, entertain, and inspire. Coming Full Circle is a self-reflective exploration of the author's life journey from growing up in coastal Savannah, Georgia, to editing roles at seven daily newspapers around the country, and circling back to her retirement in Savannah, where she now teaches journalism to a new generation"-- Provided by publisher.
I Was Told to Come Alone
My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad
Published in 2017
"The journalist who broke the "Jihadi John" story draws on her personal experience to bridge the gap between the Muslim world and the West and explain the rise of Islamic radicalism. Souad Mekhennet has lived her entire life between worlds. The daughter of a Turkish mother and a Moroccan father, she was born and educated in Germany and has worked for several American newspapers. Since the 9/11 attacks she has reported stories among the most dangerous members of her religion; when she is told to come alone to an interview, she never knows what awaits at her destination. In this compelling and evocative book, Mekhennet seeks to answer the question, "What is in the minds of these young jihadists, and how can we understand and defuse it?" She has unique and exclusive access into the world of jihad and sometimes her reporting has put her life in danger. We accompany her from Germany to the heart of the Muslim world -- from the Middle East to North Africa, from Sunni Pakistan to Shia Iran, and the Turkish/ Syrian border region where ISIS is a daily presence. She then returns to Europe, first in London, where she uncovers the identity of the notorious ISIS executioner "Jihadi John," and then in Paris and Brussels, where terror has come to the heart of Western civilization. Too often we find ourselves unable to see the human stories behind the headlines, and so Mekhennet - with a foot in many different camps - is the ideal guide to take us where no Western reporter can go. Her story is a journey that changes her life and will have a deep impact on us as well. "-- Provided by publisher.
You Can't Make This Up
Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television
Published in 2014
An eight-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster interweaves the story of his life and career with lively tales of major events and engaging figures in modern sports, from the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" finals to the 1989 World Series earthquake.
Race Against Time
A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era
Published in 2020
"An award-winning investigative reporter shares the real-life detective story of how Klansmen came to justice in notorious unsolved civil rights cold cases--decades after they had gotten away with murder"-- Provided by publisher.
Mary McGrory
The First Queen of Journalism
Published in 2015
"A wildly entertaining biography of the trailblazing Washington columnist and the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Before there was Maureen Dowd or Gail Collins or Molly Ivins, there was Mary McGrory. She was a trailblazing columnist who achieved national syndication and reported from the front lines of American politics for five decades. From her first assignment reporting on the Army-McCarthy hearings to her Pulitzer-winning coverage of Watergate and controversial observations of President Bush after September 11, McGrory humanized the players on the great national stage while establishing herself as a uniquely influential voice. Behind the scenes she flirted, drank, cajoled, and jousted with the most important figures in American life, breaking all the rules in the journalism textbook. Her writing was admired and feared by such notables as Lyndon Johnson (who also tried to seduce her) and her friend Bobby Kennedy who observed, "Mary is so gentle - until she gets behind a typewriter." Her soirees, filled with Supreme Court justices, senators, interns, and copy boys alike, were legendary. As the red-hot center of the Beltway in a time when the newsrooms were dominated by men, McGrory makes for a powerfully engrossing subject. Laced with juicy gossip and McGrory's own acerbic wit, John Norris's colorful biography reads like an insider's view of latter-day American history and one of its most enduring characters."--provided by publisher.
Eliot Ness
The Rise and Fall of an American Hero
Published in 2014
A wide-ranging portrait of the legendary leader of the Untouchables traces his years after his famous confrontation with Al Capone, documenting his efforts to end corruption in Cleveland and his achievements throughout the Torso Murderer case.
Take a Stand
Lessons from Rebels
Published in 2016
"Renowned journalist Jorge Ramos shares insights and experiences from his long career in journalism with interviews with such luminaries as Fidel Castro, Barbara Walters, Desmond Tutu, Spike Lee, Hugo Chavez, Bill Gates, and Richard Branson"-- Provided by publisher.
Save Me the Plums
My Gourmet Memoir
Published in 2019
The journalist and author chronicles her groundbreaking tenure as editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and her work with legendary fellow epicureans to transform how America thinks about food.
Every Day I Fight
Published in 2015
"A memoir about Scott's fight against cancer"-- Provided by publisher.
In Pursuit of Disobedient Women
A Memoir of Love, Rebellion, and Family, Far Away
Published in 2020
"In 2015, Dionne Searcey was covering the economy for The New York Times, living in Brooklyn with her husband and three young children. Saddled with the demands of a dual-career household and motherhood in an urban setting, her life was in a rut. She decided to pursue a job as the paper's West Africa bureau chief, landing with her family in Dakar, Senegal, where she found their lives turned upside down. They struggled to figure out how they fit into this new region, and their new family dynamic where she became the main breadwinner flying off to work as her husband stayed behind to manage the home front. In Pursuit of Disobedient Women follows Searcey's sometimes harrowing, sometimes rollicking experiences as she works to get Americans to pay attention to the region during the rise of Trump. She is gone from her family for sometimes weeks at a time, often risking her safety while covering stories like Boko Haram-conscripted teen girl suicide bombers or young women in small villages shaking up social norms by getting out of bad marriages. Ultimately, Searcey returns home to reconcile with skinned knees and school plays that happen without her and a begrudging husband thrown into the role of primary parent. Life, for Searcey, as with most of us, is a balancing act. She weaves a tapestry of women living at the crossroads of old-fashioned patriarchy and an increasingly globalized and connected world. The result is a deeply personal and highly compelling look into a modern-day marriage and a world most of us have barely considered"-- Provided by publisher.
Never Settle
Family, Football, and the American Soul
Published in 2019
"The amazing and blessed life of popular ESPN reporter and correspondent for College GameDay, Marty Smith, whose mission in this thoughtful and funny memoir is to return fans to the true soul of sports in this country"-- Provided by publisher.
The Rise of Barack Obama
Published in 2008
Photojournalist Pete Souza documents the meteoric rise of the charismatic Barack Obama from his first day in the U.S. Senate up to the Pennsylvania presidential primary. Souza, who also accompanied the senator to seven countries including Kenya, South Africa, and Russia, had access to photograph the senator and presidential candidate in private and public moments during Obama's rise to political stardom. Most of these have not been seen before. Souza provides extended commentary about each photo to place it in context, and describe the scene and participants.--From publisher description.
When Harry Met Minnie
A True Story of Love and Friendship
Published in 2021
A memoir of love and loss, of being in the right place at the right time, and of the mysterious ways a beloved pet can bring people together, from CBS Sunday Morning News correspondent and multi-Emmy-Award-winning Martha Teichner. A chance encounter with an old acquaintance changed Martha Teichner's world. As fate would have it, her friend knew someone who was dying of cancer, from exposure to toxins after 9/11, and desperate to find a home for her dog, Harry. He was a Bull Terrier--the same breed as Martha's dear Minnie. Would Martha consider giving Harry a safe, loving new home? After Martha agrees to meet Harry and his owner Carol, what begins as a transaction involving a dog becomes a deep and meaningful friendship between two women with complicated lives and a love of Bull Terriers in common. Through the heartbreak and grief of Carol's illness, the bond that develops changed Martha's life, Carol's life, Minnie's life, Harry's life. Martha considers the ways our stories are shaped by the people we meet, and the profound love we can find by opening our hearts to unexpected encounters.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Published in 1998
Records the experiences of a free-lance writer who embarked on a zany journey into the drug culture.
On All Fronts
The Education of a Journalist
Published in 2020
"The recipient of multiple Peabody and Murrow awards, Clarissa Ward is a world-renowned conflict reporter. In this strange age of crisis where there really is no front line, she has moved from one hot zone to the next. With multiple assignments in Syria, Egypt, and Afghanistan, Ward, who speaks seven languages, has been based in Baghdad, Beirut, Beijing, and Moscow. She has seen and documented the violent remaking of the world at close range. With her deep empathy, Ward finds a way to tell the hardest stories. On All Fronts is the riveting account of Ward's singular career and of journalism in this age of extremism. Following a privileged but lonely childhood, Ward found her calling as an international war correspondent in the aftermath of 9/11. From her early days in the field, she was embedding with marines at the height of the Iraq War and was soon on assignment all over the globe. But nowhere does Ward make her mark more than in war-torn Syria, which she has covered extensively with courage and compassion. From her multiple stints entrenched with Syrian rebels to her deep investigations into the Western extremists who are drawn to ISIS, Ward has covered Bashar al-Assad's reign of terror without fear. In 2018, Ward rose to new heights at CNN and had a son. Suddenly, she was doing this hardest of jobs with a whole new perspective"-- Provided by publisher.