The Best Biographies & Memoirs of September 2017

What Happened, by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Whatever your political leanings and whomever you voted for, there’s no question that last year’s presidential election was historic: for better or for worse, it was a year during which the truth was far, far stranger than fiction. So here’s the first-hand, behind-the-scenes account from one of the two key players in that national drama. Known for her cautious and controlled public demeanor, Clinton has set that all aside to reflect candidly on the campaign. For some, it will be inspiring and cathartic, others engaging. But as a piece of first-hand history, it is a fascinating record of a turbulent time.

Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History, by Katy Tur
Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one with a story to tell about the 2016 election. Katy Tur, part of the first women-led politics teams in history, was on the Donald Trump beat for NBC news. Having made a name as foreign correspondent, the job was a baptism of fire for Tur, who became the villain to Trump’s supporters when he began using her name as a synonym for “fake news.” She survived to tell the story of her experience as a dogged reporter who became news herself.

It Takes Two: Our Story, by Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott
It’s not all politics, not by any means: TV’s popular Property Brothers are following up their earlier bestseller, Dream House, with a more personal memoir that’s packed with the humor and personality that’s made the careers of two of TV’s most popular personalities. They started a business at the age of 7, and bought a house at 18, so there’s quite a story to tell about their early years, alongside plenty of behind-the-scenes details and anecdotes from their multiple HGTV shows.

Unstoppable: My Life So Far, by Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova burst onto the tennis scene at the age of 17 when she won a major upset against Serena Williams back in 2004. She’s been a sensation ever since, even through last year’s controversy over the alleged use of a recently-banned substance. In her first memoir, she’s talking about her childhood in a small Russian town and a father who put everything on the line in order to get the family to Florida, where young Maria might have a chance to develop her obvious natural talent.

Relentless: A Memoir, by Julian Edelman with Tom E. Curran
Julian Edelman has been a major factor in the modern rise and dominance of the New England Patriots, and the timing of the wide receiver’s memoir couldn’t be better: this year’s Super Bowl was one of the most dramatic in history, with the Patriots historically recovering from a 25-point deficit to claim the trophy against the Falcons. Edelman uses that to recount a history of achieving against the odds to become part of one of the greatest line-ups in football history.

Second Nature: The Legacy of Ric Flair and the Rise of Charlotte, by Ric Flair and Charlotte, with Brian Shields
The career of The Nature Boy has spanned 40 years, including a short-lived retirement almost a decade ago. In front of the cameras, he’s been the face of professional wrestling, having won 16 world championships and a bad-guy reputation in a sport in which the villains are at least as beloved as the heroes. This memoir talks about more than wrestling, though: it’s about his personal and family struggles through the decades, as well as of his relationship with his daughter, Charlotte, who has herself risen to become a major WWE star.

I Will Find You: Solving Killer Cases from My Life Fighting Crime, by Joe Kenda
For true-crime buffs, there’ll be no better book than this memoir from Detective Kenda, star of Homicide Hunter. In a career spanning almost 20 years with the Colorado Springs police department, Kenda has investigated 387 murder cases, some routine, but many shocking. Here, he shares some of the darkest and most haunting murders he’s confronted—some still unsolved, and many to graphic for even his television show.

Raising Trump, by Ivana Trump
Donald Trump’s first wife has largely kept herself out of the political fray, but their three children: Eric, Ivanka, and Donald, Jr. have been front-and-center ever since the campaign. Her new memoir tells the story of her childhood in communist Czechoslovakia as well as her marriage and subsequent business career, the focus is on motherhood, and on the raising of Eric, Ivanka, and Donald from childhood into the media and political figures that they’ve become.

Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative, by Craig Shirley
Ronald Reagan biographer and conservative commentator Shirley is uniquely poised to tell the story of Newt Gingrich and his role in the evolution of modern conservatism, having written some of the most important books on the Regan legacy. Shirley covers Gingrich’s life from his Pennsylvania childhood through to the “Gingrich Revolution” of the 1990s and beyond. With stories from Gingrich’s colleagues and with the cooperation of the Speaker himself, the book should be a compelling portrait of a political figure who remains relevant today.

American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent, by Tamer Elnoury with Kevin Maurer
Elnoury is a pseudonym for an FBI agent whose work remains ongoing in the global war on terror. After 911, the undercover agent joined a counterterrorism unit following the attacks on September 11, 2001. Since then, the Arabic-speaking, American Muslim has been tasked with infiltrating terror cells in North America in order to stop terror plots before they happen. It’s a high-stakes story of dangerous undercover efforts and old-fashioned investigative work told by a Muslim on the front lines.
Whose story are you compelled to read this month?