The Must-Read Celebrity Memoirs of 2023

by Gina Warner, founder of Badass Women’s Book Club

Two of THE MOST anticipated celebrity memoirs are coming out this month!
First…

The Woman in Me
by Britney Spears

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history. Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last. You can read more and get your copy here.

And next…

My Name is Barbra
by Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music. In My Name Is Barbra, she tells her own story about her life and extraordinary career, from growing up in Brooklyn to her first star-making appearances in New York nightclubs to her breakout performance in Funny Girl on stage and winning the Oscar for that performance on film. Then came a long string of successes in every medium in the years that followed. The book is, like Barbra herself, frank, funny, opinionated, and charming. You can read more and get your copy here.

In honor of those two, here are some more recent celebrity releases worth checking out…

Madonna: A Rebel Life
by Mary Gabriel

With her arrival on the music scene in the early 1980s, Madonna generated nothing short of an explosion, taking the nation by storm with her liberated politics and breathtaking talent. But Madonna was more than just a pop star. Everywhere, fans gravitated to her as an emblem of a new age, one in which feminism could shed the buttoned-down demeanor of the 1970s and feel relevant to a new generation. Deftly tracing Madonna’s story from her Michigan roots to her rise to super-stardom, master biographer Mary Gabriel captures the dramatic life and achievements of one of the greatest artists of our time. You can read more and get your copy here.

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You
by Lucinda Williams

Lucinda Williams’s rise to fame was anything but easy. Raised in a working-class family in the Deep South, she moved from town to town, totaling twelve different places by the time she was eighteen. Her mother suffered from severe mental illness and was in and out of hospitals. And when Williams was about a year old, she had to have an emergency tracheotomy—an inauspicious start for a singing career. But she was also born a fighter, and she would develop a voice that has captivated millions. In Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, Williams takes readers through the events that shaped her music. Her fighting spirit is evident and led to hard-won success that spans seventeen Grammy nominations and a legacy as one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time. You can read more and get your copy here.

Honey, Baby, Mine
by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd

Laura Dern and Diane Ladd always had a close relationship, but the stakes were raised when Diane developed a sudden life-threatening illness. Diane’s doctor prescribed long walks to build back her lung capacity. The exertion was challenging, and Laura soon learned the best way to distract her mom was to get her talking and telling stories. Their conversations along the way began to break down the traditional barriers between mothers and daughters. In Honey, Baby, Mine, Laura and Diane share these conversations, as well as reflections and anecdotes, taking readers on an intimate tour of their lives. Complementing these candid exchanges, they have included photos, family recipes, and other mementos. The result is a celebration of the power of leaving nothing unsaid that will make you want to call the people you love the most and start talking. You can read more and get your copy here.

Talking to My Angels
by Melissa Ethridge

Over the past twenty years, Melissa Etheridge has been blessed with success, love, joy, contentment, freedom, and release. She became a mother again, recorded eleven albums, toured the world, performed at the Grammy Awards, won an Oscar, discovered her one true love, and underwent a profound spiritual awakening. She also experienced illness, incomparable loss, heartache, guilt, shame, and devastating grief. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, endured two contentious and public break ups, and witnessed the devastating disintegration and death of her son, Beckett, to opioid addiction. Yet through it all, Melissa found the strength and courage to carry on. Talking to My Angels is a profoundly honest look into her inner life as a woman, an artist, a mother, and a survivor. You can read more and get your copy here.

Thicker than Water
by Kerry Washington

While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question. In Thicker than Water, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds—as a mother, daughter, wife, artist, advocate, and trailblazer. Chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey thus far, she reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and, with it, a deeper sense of belonging. You can read more and get your copy here.

And, finally, if you like the subject of celebrities and especially celebrity memoirs, the Celebrity Memoir Book Club podcast is worth checking out! You can listen to it here.

Gina Warner, founder of the Badass Women’s Book Club, is a voracious reader, a relentless recommender, an unabashed self-improvement enthusiast, and a passionate believer in the power of women’s stories to change lives.  You can learn more about her work and the Badass Women’s Book Club here.