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The Best Biographies of 2022

Summer Loomis

Summer Loomis has been writing for Book Riot since 2019. She obsessively curates her library holds and somehow still manages to borrow too many books at once. She appreciates a good deadline and likes knowing if 164 other people are waiting for the same title. It's good peer pressure! She doesn't have a podcast but if she did, she hopes it would sound like Buddhability . The world could always use more people creating value with their lives everyday.

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The following are the best biographies 2022 had to offer, according to my brain and my tastes. And I know it might sound like something everyone says, but it was really hard to pick them this year. Like many people, I love “best of” lists for the year, even when I disagree with the titles that make the cut. There is something about narrowing the field to “the best” that makes me excited to read the list and see what I’ve read already and which gems I’ve missed that year. If you want to look back at some of the titles Book Riot chose in 2021, try this best books of 2021 by genre or best books for 2020 . Both will probably quadruple your TBR, but they’re super fun to read anyway.

For 2022 in particular, there were a ton of excellent titles to choose from, in both biographies and memoirs. I am not being polite here but let me just say that it was genuinely hard to choose. To make it easier on myself, I have included some memoirs to pair with the best biographies of 2022 below. If you don’t see your absolute favorite, it’s either because I didn’t like it (I don’t believe in spending time on books I don’t like) or because I ran out of space. And it was most likely the latter!

His Name is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

Samuels and Olorunnipa are two Washington Post journalists who meticulously researched Floyd’s personal history in order to better understand not only his life and experiences before his death, but also the systemic forces that eventually contributed to his murder. While very interesting, this is also a harder read and very frustrating at times as there is so much loss wrapped up into this story. Definitely one of the best biographies of 2022 and one that I think will be read for years to come.

Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird by Gene Andrew Jarrett

This is one of those classic biographies that I think readers will just love diving into. Rich in detail and nuance, it drops readers into Dunbar’s life and times, offering a fascinating look at both the literary and personal life of this great American poet. If you are able to read on audio, you may want to check out actor Mirron E. Willis’s excellent narration.

Didn’t We Almost Have it All: In Defense of Whitney Houston by Gerrick Kennedy

Maybe you’re a huge fan or maybe you don’t know who Whitney Houston was, but either way, you can still read this and enjoy it. Kennedy is very clear that he didn’t set out to write a traditional biography. He wasn’t trying to dig up new “dirt” about the singer or to ask people in her life to reflect back on her now that she has been gone for 10 years. Instead, Kennedy tackles something deeper and possibly harder: to see and appreciate Houston as the fully-formed and talented human being that she was and to understand in full her influence over popular culture and music.

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Finding Me by Viola Davis

If you are also interested in reading a memoir from 2022, you could pair Whitney Houston’s biography with Viola Davis’s book. It was a title I saw everywhere in 2022, but didn’t pick up until the end of the year. My only two cents to add to this strong choice is that I was also just about the last person on earth who hadn’t heard about Davis’s childhood. Please don’t go into this without knowing at least something about what she had to overcome. However, despite all that, I still think it is an excellent and ultimately uplifting read. Content warnings include domestic violence, child endangerment, physical and sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault, drug addiction, and animal death. And also the unrelentingly grinding nature of poverty.

Like Water: A Cultural History of Bruce Lee by Daryl Joji Maeda 

This is a much more academic presentation of Bruce Lee and the myriad of ways he can be “read” in his connections and contributions to American pop culture. If you or someone you know is itching to read an extremely detailed and deeply considered look at Lee’s life, then this is the book for you. If you read on audio, be sure to check out David Lee Huynh’s narration.

We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu

If you want to read something much lighter but still connected to Asian representation in Western movies, you could do worse than Liu’s 2022 memoir. In comparison to other books on this list, this felt like a much lighter read to me, but it is not without some heavier moments. While I am not a superfan of Liu (because I’m not really a superfan of anyone), I did enjoy learning about Liu’s childhood and especially hearing little details like that his grandparents called him a nickname that basically translated to “little furry caterpillar” as a child. I mean, is there anything more adorable for a kid?

The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann by Ananyo Bhattacharya

This is another meaty biography that readers will just adore. Complex and fascinating, von Neumann’s curiosity was legendary and his contributions are so far-reaching that it is hard to imagine any one person undertaking them all. This is a good choice for readers who are fascinated by mathematics, big personalities, and intellectual puzzles.

Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley

This is another best biography of 2022 that many, many readers will want to sink into. The audio is also by the author so you may want to read it that way. Whether someone reads it with eyes or ears (or both!), this book is sure to interest many curious Christie fans. And if Worsley’s biography isn’t enough for you, you may also enjoy this breakdown of why Christie is one of the best-selling novelists of all time or these 8 audiobooks for Agatha Christie fans .

The School that Escaped the Nazis: The True Story of the Schoolteacher Who Defied Hitler by Deborah Cadbury

Cadbury writes a fascinating biography of Anna Essinger, a schoolteacher who managed to smuggle her students out of a Germany succumbing to Hitler’s rise to power and all the horror that was to follow. Essinger’s bravery and clear-eyed understanding of what was happening around her is amazing. This is a thrilling and fascinating biography readers will no doubt find inspirational.

The Escape Artist: The Man who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland

Freedland is a British journalist who has written this thoroughly engrossing book about Rudolf Vrba, a man who managed to escape from Auschwitz. It’s no surprise that this is a very important but difficult read. For those who can manage it, I highly recommend immersing oneself in this historical nonfiction biography about a man who survived some of the darkest events of human history.

That is my list of the best biographies of 2022, with a few memoirs for those who are interested. And now of course, I need to mention several titles I have yet to get to from 2022: Hua Hsu’s Stay True , Zain Asher’s Where the Children Take Us , Fatima Ali’s Savor: A Chef’s Hunger for More , and Dan Charnas and Jeff Peretz’s Dilla Time , to name a few!

Also Bernardine Evaristo published Manifesto: On Never Giving Up in 2022 and somehow it slipped through the cracks of my TBR. I will have to make time for that one soon.

If you still need more titles to explore, try these 50 best biographies or 20 biographies for kids . And to that latter list, I might add that a children’s biography came out about Octavia Butler in 2022 called Star Child by Haitian American author Ibi Zoboi, so you might want to check that out too!

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The Best Reviewed Memoirs and Biographies of 2022

Featuring buster keaton, jean rhys, bernardine evaristo, kate beaton, and more.

We’ve come to the end of another bountiful literary year, and for all of us review rabbits here at Book Marks, that can mean only one thing: basic math, and lots of it.

Yes, using reviews drawn from more than 150 publications, over the next two weeks we’ll be calculating and revealing the most critically-acclaimed books of 2022, in the categories of (deep breath): Fiction ; Nonfiction ; Memoir and Biography; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror; Short Story Collections; Essay Collections; Poetry; Mystery and Crime; Graphic Literature ; and Literature in Translation .

Today’s installment: Memoir and Biography .

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

1. We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole (Liveright) 17 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Mixed • 1 Pan

“One of the many triumphs of Fintan O’Toole’s We Don’t Know Ourselves is that he manages to find a form that accommodates the spectacular changes that have occurred in Ireland over the past six decades, which happens to be his life span … it is not a memoir, nor is it an absolute history, nor is it entirely a personal reflection or a crepuscular credo. It is, in fact, all of these things helixed together: his life, his country, his thoughts, his misgivings, his anger, his pride, his doubt, all of them belonging, eventually, to us … O’Toole, an agile cultural commentator, considers himself to be a representative of the blank slate on which the experiment of change was undertaken, but it’s a tribute to him that he maintains his humility, his sharpness and his enlightened distrust …

O’Toole writes brilliantly and compellingly of the dark times, but he is graceful enough to know that there is humor and light in the cracks. There is a touch of Eduardo Galeano in the way he can settle on a telling phrase … But the real accomplishment of this book is that it achieves a conscious form of history-telling, a personal hybrid that feels distinctly honest and humble at the same time. O’Toole has not invented the form, but he comes close to perfecting it. He embraces the contradictions and the confusion. In the process, he weaves the flag rather than waving it.”

–Colum McCann ( The New York Times Book Review )

2. Thin Places: A Natural History of Healing and Home by Kerri Ní Dochartaigh (Milkweed)

12 Rave • 7 Positive • 2 Mixed

“Assured and affecting … A powerful and bracing memoir … This is a book that will make you see the world differently: it asks you to reconsider the animals and insects we often view as pests – the rat, for example, and the moth. It asks you to look at the sea and the sky and the trees anew; to wonder, when you are somewhere beautiful, whether you might be in a thin place, and what your responsibilities are to your location.It asks you to show compassion for people you think are difficult, to cultivate empathy, to try to understand the trauma that made them the way they are.”

–Lynn Enright ( The Irish Times )

3. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)

14 Rave • 4 Positive

“It could hardly be more different in tone from [Beaton’s] popular larky strip Hark! A Vagrant … Yes, it’s funny at moments; Beaton’s low-key wryness is present and correct, and her drawings of people are as charming and as expressive as ever. But its mood overall is deeply melancholic. Her story, which runs to more than 400 pages, encompasses not only such thorny matters as social class and environmental destruction; it may be the best book I have ever read about sexual harassment …

There are some gorgeous drawings in Ducks of the snow and the starry sky at night. But the human terrain, in her hands, is never only black and white … And it’s this that gives her story not only its richness and depth, but also its astonishing grace. Life is complex, she tell us, quietly, and we are all in it together; each one of us is only trying to survive. What a difficult, gorgeous and abidingly humane book. It really does deserve to win all the prizes.”

–Rachel Cooke ( The Guardian )

4. Stay True by Hua Hsu (Doubleday)

14 Rave • 3 Positive

“… quietly wrenching … To say that this book is about grief or coming-of-age doesn’t quite do it justice; nor is it mainly about being Asian American, even though there are glimmers of that too. Hsu captures the past by conveying both its mood and specificity … This is a memoir that gathers power through accretion—all those moments and gestures that constitute experience, the bits and pieces that coalesce into a life … Hsu is a subtle writer, not a showy one; the joy of Stay True sneaks up on you, and the wry jokes are threaded seamlessly throughout.”

–Jennifer Szalai ( The New York Times )

5.  Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo (Grove)

13 Rave • 4 Positive

“Part coming-of-age story and part how-to manual, the book is, above all, one of the most down-to-earth and least self-aggrandizing works of self-reflection you could hope to read. Evaristo’s guilelessness is refreshing, even unsettling … With ribald humour and admirable candour, Evaristo takes us on a tour of her sexual history … Characterized by the resilience of its author, it is replete with stories about the communities and connections Evaristo has cultivated over forty years … Invigoratingly disruptive as an artist, Evaristo is a bridge-builder as a human being.”

–Emily Bernard ( The Times Literary Supplement )

1. Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

14 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Rundell is right that Donne…must never be forgotten, and she is the ideal person to evangelise him for our age. She shares his linguistic dexterity, his pleasure in what TS Eliot called ‘felt thought’, his ability to bestow physicality on the abstract … It’s a biography filled with gaps and Rundell brings a zest for imaginative speculation to these. We know so little about Donne’s wife, but Rundell brings her alive as never before … Rundell confronts the difficult issue of Donne’s misogyny head-on … This is a determinedly deft book, and I would have liked it to billow a little more, making room for more extensive readings of the poems and larger arguments about the Renaissance. But if there is an overarching argument, then it’s about Donne as an ‘infinity merchant’ … To read Donne is to grapple with a vision of the eternal that is startlingly reinvented in the here and now, and Rundell captures this vision alive in all its power, eloquence and strangeness”

–Laura Feigel ( The Guardian )

2. The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland (Harper)

12 Rave • 3 Positive

“Compelling … We know about Auschwitz. We know what happened there. But Freedland, with his strong, clear prose and vivid details, makes us feel it, and the first half of this book is not an easy read. The chillingly efficient mass murder of thousands of people is harrowing enough, but Freedland tells us stories of individual evils as well that are almost harder to take … His matter-of-fact tone makes it bearable for us to continue to read … The Escape Artist is riveting history, eloquently written and scrupulously researched. Rosenberg’s brilliance, courage and fortitude are nothing short of amazing.”

–Laurie Hertzel ( The Star Tribune )

3. I Used to Live Here Once: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys by Miranda Seymour (W. W. Norton & Company)

11 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Pan

“…illuminating and meticulously researched … paints a deft portrait of a flawed, complex, yet endlessly fascinating woman who, though repeatedly bowed, refused to be broken … Following dismal reviews of her fourth novel, Rhys drifted into obscurity. Ms. Seymour’s book could have lost momentum here. Instead, it compellingly charts turbulent, drink-fueled years of wild moods and reckless acts before building to a cathartic climax with Rhys’s rescue, renewed lease on life and late-career triumph … is at its most powerful when Ms. Seymour, clear-eyed but also with empathy, elaborates on Rhys’s woes …

Ms. Seymour is less convincing with her bold claim that Rhys was ‘perhaps the finest English woman novelist of the twentieth century.’ However, she does expertly demonstrate that Rhys led a challenging yet remarkable life and that her slim but substantial novels about beleaguered women were ahead of their time … This insightful biography brilliantly shows how her many battles were lost and won.”

–Malcolm Forbes ( The Wall Street Journal )

4. The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

9 Rave • 5 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Grisly yet inspiring … Fitzharris depicts her hero as irrepressibly dedicated and unfailingly likable. The suspense of her narrative comes not from any interpersonal drama but from the formidable challenges posed by the physical world … The Facemaker is mostly a story of medical progress and extraordinary achievement, but as Gillies himself well knew—grappling daily with the unbearable suffering that people willingly inflicted on one another—failure was never far behind.”

5. Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis (Knopf)

8 Rave • 6 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Keaton fans have often complained that nearly all biographies of him suffer from a questionable slant or a cursory treatment of key events. With Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life —at more than 800 pages dense with research and facts—Mr. Curtis rectifies that situation, and how. He digs deep into Keaton’s process and shows how something like the brilliant two-reeler Cops went from a storyline conceived from necessity—construction on the movie lot encouraged shooting outdoors—to a masterpiece … This will doubtless be the primary reference on Keaton’s life for a long time to come … the worse Keaton’s life gets, the more engrossing Mr. Curtis’s book becomes.”

–Farran Smith Nehme ( The Wall Street Journal )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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Best Biographies of 2022

OCT. 18, 2022

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

by Jon Meacham

An essential, eminently readable volume for anyone interested in Lincoln and his era. Full review >

OCT. 25, 2022

by John A. Farrell

An exemplary study of a life of public service with more than its share of tragedies and controversies. Full review >

AUG. 30, 2022

by Michael Broers

An outstanding addition to the groaning bookshelves on one of the world’s most recognizable leaders. Full review >

NOV. 8, 2022

by Kerri K. Greenidge

A sweeping, insightful, richly detailed family and American history. Full review >

FEB. 1, 2022

by Dan Charnas

A wide-ranging biography that fully captures the subject’s ingenuity, originality, and musical genius. Full review >

JULY 26, 2022

by Philip Short

Required reading for anyone interested in global affairs. Full review >

NOV. 15, 2022

by Brigitta Olubas

An absorbing, well-crafted profile of a supremely gifted writer. Full review >

SEPT. 6, 2022

by Katherine Rundell

Written with verve and panache, this sparkling biography is enjoyable from start to finish. Full review >

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Best Biographies

Award winning biographies of 2022, recommended by sophie roell.

Five Books Expert Recommendations

In telling stories of lives that are often very different from our own and yet connected to us by our common humanity, biographies are some of the most compelling nonfiction books around. Five Books editor Sophie Roell rounds up some of the biographies that have won or been shortlisted for prizes in 2022.

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts

Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane by Paul Auster

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland

Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell

Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South by Winfred Rembert

1 All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner

2 the last king of america: the misunderstood reign of george iii by andrew roberts, 3 burning boy: the life and work of stephen crane by paul auster, 4 the escape artist: the man who broke out of auschwitz to warn the world by jonathan freedland, 5 super-infinite: the transformations of john donne by katherine rundell, 6 chasing me to my grave: an artist's memoir of the jim crow south by winfred rembert.

The National Book Critics Circle award for biography and the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

The Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography

The LA Times book prize for biography

Biographies Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction

The Pulitzer Prize for Biography

The 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Biography (which also includes works of autobiography) went to Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South by the late Winfred Rembert (1945-2021) . Rembert was from a family of field labourers in Cuthbert, Georgia and taught himself to paint at the age of 51 using leather tooling skills he learned in prison. In the preface, he writes that he had been scared to draw attention to what happened to him in Cuthbert during his lifetime, and so he only composed his memoir as he was dying. It’s a wrenching tale told in a very direct and touching way. The book also includes pictures of his paintings—of cotton fields, of his mother giving him away as a baby.

December 17, 2022

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

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Best of the Year: The 15 Best Bios and Memoirs of 2022

From ruminations on addiction and recovery to genre-bending blends of biography and cultural criticism, these are 2022's best memoirs.

This list is part of our Best of the Year collection, an obsessively curated selection of our editors' and listeners' favorite audio in 2022. Check out The Best of 2022 to see our top picks in every category.

There are few stories more compelling or more intimately told than those soul-baring memoirs that seek not just to recount the experiences of one's own life but to draw some greater commentary on the big existential questions. What does it mean to be human? What is our purpose in being here? How much of who we are is purely self-determined? How much is an amalgamation of all those who have left an impact on us? Like all great autobiographies, the very best memoirs of 2022 muse on those questions, contemplating everything from the impact of art and culture on identity to navigating the labyrinthine worlds of grief and illness, addiction and recovery. Exceptional in both their prose and narration, these listens represent a few of the year's best memoirs.

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Constructing a Nervous System

Audible's Memoir of the Year, 2022 To call Margo Jefferson’s exquisite Constructing a Nervous System a memoir is a bit of a misnomer. After all, this skillfully crafted autobiography dances between genres so fluidly, leaping from the personal to deft cultural analysis in a dazzling display of narrative choreography. Jefferson constructs this stunner of a memoir through a literary lens, one that all but embodies the artists she riffs off of and analyzes, developing a story of the self through the creations, personalities, and perspectives of other artists. In a totally unique style that splinters the form of memoir altogether and frequently sees the text in dialogue with itself, this sharp listen illuminates that so much of who we are is built upon what we love and the things we encounter—be it the lasting presence of a late family member or a voice rising from a turntable. — Alanna M.

Told through the perspective of his nine-year-old self, Javier Zamora’s Solito is a moving account of his perilous, exhausting solo journey from El Salvador to the United States, where his parents awaited him. Zamora was entirely reliant on the support and compassion of his fellow migrants to survive—a story that is both his own and shared by many. Zamora is a poet first, and his delivery is pitch-perfect, lending a lyrical cadence and a well of emotion to an already beautifully crafted memoir. His voice, at times quivering, small, or uncertain, much like his young self, is wielded as an instrument of the story, not an appendix, reminding the listener of the human beings behind the statistics and political platforms. — A.M.

Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?

There are some sounds I consider synonymous with my Irish heritage: the slap of ghillies and the clack of reel shoes, the melodic jaunt of lilting or swell of an accordion, and the entrancing lull of a good story. The latter is embodied in Séamas O’Reilly’s tender retrospective on grief, family, and childhood, all amidst the din of the Troubles. However, a dry tearjerker this is not. Instead, whether musing on his father’s unmatched haggling abilities or offering asides on the oddities of death’s theatrics, O’Reilly brings so much joy and soul into his story that it’s impossible not to smile along. There is simply so much love, life, and heart in this rich memoir that you can almost hear it breathing. — A.M.

The Invisible Kingdom

In this deeply researched and insightful memoir, author Meghan O’Rourke illuminates how chronic illness has become the defining medical mystery of our times, and the source of a painful dissonance between the promises of modern medicine and the lived experiences of so many. Drawing on her own health issues as well as her background as a poet, O’Rourke weaves insights from doctors, patients, researchers, and other experts into a captivating and lyrical narrative. The current spotlight that long COVID has thrown on autoimmune and other “invisible” conditions is a central focus of the memoir, and many people will feel seen—and hopefully heard—by the eloquent voice O’Rourke gives to a monumental challenge. — Kat J.

Lost & Found

I’ve always found something peculiar about “loss” as a euphemism for death. Even still, it feels so apt—that sense that something is missing, at first an acute awareness and in time, an understanding of that absence’s permanence. Kathryn Schulz pulls on this thread in her gorgeous memoir Lost & Found , an account of the universality and ubiquity of those two most human experiences—love and death—as filtered through the loss of her father and the life she built with her wife. As someone muddling through a similar grief journey while trying to nurture a relationship of my own, I found a resonant comfort and hope in Schulz’s thoughts on bereavement and all the life there is still left to lead. — A.M.

What My Bones Know

As someone with a mood disorder, I find solace in listens that take new avenues for exploring the complicated and often isolating side effects of mental health conditions. Reconstructing her experiences with guided meditation and using recordings from real therapy sessions, Stephanie Foo takes a highly journalistic approach to dissecting her CPTSD diagnosis in this vulnerable and intelligent memoir. Unpacking how and why her trauma affects her the way it does, What My Bones Know is not only uniquely suited for audio but constructs a creative audio experience that challenged me as a listener in unexpected and illuminating ways. — Haley H.

Quite the Contrary

This juicy and culturally significant listen, which happens to be the memoir of one of my Audible colleagues, is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of gulping down. In Quite the Contrary, Yvonne Durant gradually unfurls the mother of all cocktail-party stories—the intimate account of her love affair with jazz legend Miles Davis—against her equally compelling career trajectory as a rare Black woman making waves in advertising’s competitive heyday. Witty, poignant, and funny, Durant lets us into secret spaces of celebrity, culture, and bygone New York, unforgettably brought to life by narrator Allyson Johnson. — K.J.

His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

This landmark biography from Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa is built on more than 400 interviews conducted in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, offering the most complete portrait of Floyd’s life and legacy to date. Star narrator Dion Graham pairs with the authors to create a powerhouse performance that moves from Floyd’s ancestral roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina to the housing projects of Houston and his death at the hands of Minneapolis police, paying homage to his life while revealing its deep intersections with America’s history of racism and inequality. — H.H.

To fans of Brandon Stanton's street photography project and bestselling book Humans of New York, Stephanie Johnson—better known as Tanqueray—is nothing short of a superstar. So, to finally hear the septuagenarian share more unfiltered, incredible stories about being a burlesque dancer in 1970s New York City—and many other necessary reinventions to survive life's ups and downs—in her own feisty, raunchy, badass way is a milestone storytelling event that is at times hilarious as well as heartbreaking. Millions fell in love with her indomitable spirit by reading about her life on social media, but listening to this legendary lady is unforgettable. As she says: "Make room for Tanqueray, because here I come." — Jerry P.

The Book of Baraka

Told in collaboration with renowned journalist Jelani Cobb, The Book of Baraka combines poetry and prose with the history that helped to shape Ras Baraka, the current mayor of Newark, New Jersey, into the man he is today. It’s the story of a young Black boy’s coming of age as the son of one of the most influential and controversial poets and revolutionaries of the era but also of how that boy would later shape his city—first as a poet, then as an educator, and now, as mayor. As a former resident of Newark myself, I have nothing but praise for Baraka’s accomplishments. But don’t just take it from me. His is a story you definitely don’t want to miss out on, and it should be heard from the mayor himself. — Michael C.

Full disclosure: I’m a sucker for any story involving animals, particularly when those little critters are of the motley variety. Needless to say, I was drawn to Laurie Zaleski’s Funny Farm immediately. An account of running a rescue for beasties ranging from cats to horses? That ridiculously cute cover? Sign me up. What I didn’t expect, however, was a truly affecting memoir that extended far beyond barnyard antics, exploring the depths of Zaleski’s difficult childhood, her mother’s remarkable strength, and carrying on a mission inherited. So sure, come for the adorable furry and feathered friends, but stay for the author’s graceful, heartrending tribute to her late mother and a testament to the redemptive power of caring for others, four-legged or otherwise. — A.M.

Fatty Fatty Boom Boom

If you’re a fan of true crime podcasts, you probably already know Rabia Chaudry’s euphonic voice—as host of both Undisclosed and Rabia and Ellyn Solve the Case , her skills behind the microphone are well documented. Chaudry's gifts for performance and storytelling shine the clearer in her deeply personal debut memoir. So named in reference to Chaudry’s childhood nickname, Fatty Fatty Boom Boom is an immensely relatable listen for anyone who has ever battled body image issues, a rumination on those most complicated relationships (with both food and family), and a love letter to Pakistani cuisine. — A.M.

Also a Poet

A true blend of biography and memoir, Ada Calhoun’s Also a Poet is a fascinating gem of a listen. Calhoun, the author behind nonfiction listens like Why We Can’t Sleep and St. Marks Is Dead , turns her eye toward a subject matter far closer to home. In examining her strained, complicated relationship with her father, the acclaimed art critic Peter Schjeldahl, Calhoun comes across an unexpected connection between them: the late bohemian poet Frank O’Hara. Twisting in its exploration of family, legacy, and art, this Audible Original—which features exclusive archival audio of artistic giants—is an evocative act of catharsis. — A.M.

Corrections in Ink

Journalist Keri Blakinger has dedicated much of her career to shining a light on the stark realities of criminal justice in America. Her ongoing work with nonprofit news collective The Marshall Project aims to provide a better quality of life for prisoners, with Blakinger advocating for inmate safety and well-being while underscoring their oft-disregarded humanity. But Blakinger’s focus isn’t merely academic—as detailed in Corrections in Ink , she’s lived through the prison system herself. Employing well-crafted, blazing prose and narration marked by an uncommon frankness, she recounts her battle with addiction and subsequent incarceration. Listening to her story is sometimes difficult, painful even, but that’s part of its power—this is a courageous, contemplative memoir poised to change the conversation. — A.M.

Dirtbag, Massachusetts

Kidlit author Isaac Fitzgerald rocketed into the capital-L literary landscape with this astounding memoir-in-essays, its instantly iconic title matched by an unforgettable voice. With his origins firmly in Massachusetts, Fitzgerald grew up with a love of literature and a bohemian sensibility that transcended his rough-and-tumble background and its narrow presentation of masculinity. That foundation serves him well in this fiercely honest, vulnerable, and rowdy collection of reminiscences that range from Boston to Burma (now Myanmar), connecting the dots from Fitzgerald’s former lives as an altar boy, fat kid, and small-time criminal to lightning-bolt musings on religion, race, body image, and family. Both literally and literarily speaking, his voice is one to savor. — K.J.

Best of the Year: The 14 Best Celebrity Memoirs of 2022

Despite the glitz and glamour, these celebrity memoirs take us through the highs and lows of the human experience.

Editors Select: April 2024

14 editors, 14 new listens—from fiction to memoirs to thrillers, check out our most anticipated listens of the month.

The birth of "Quite the Contrary"

Debut memoirist and Audible editor Yvonne Durant goes behind the scenes of how the true story of her great love and pioneering career came to life as an Audible Original.

• Best of 2022
• Best of the Year

The best books of 2022

From Hanya Yanagihara’s epic novel to a brilliant memoir by Bono … Guardian critics pick the year’s best fiction, politics, science, children’s books and more. Tell us about your favourite books in the comments

Hanya Yanagihara’s follow-up to A Little Life, Percival Everett’s biting satire and Ali Smith’s playful take on lockdown – Justine Jordan reflects on a year in fiction. Read all fiction

Children’s books

Imogen Russell Williams picks the best titles for children and teenagers, from a spooky tale by Philip Pullman to the long-awaited new novel from SF Said – plus books for young readers by Oliver Jeffers and Maggie O’Farrell. Read all children’s books

Crime and thrillers

Cosy crime from Ajay Chowdhury, a new Rebus novel and a handful of excellent debuts – Laura Wilson rounds up the best page-turners. Read all crime and thrillers

Science fiction and fantasy

A verse novel written in Orcadian Scots, a unique UFO story and a distinctive time-travel tale from the author of Station Eleven – Adam Roberts selects five of the best science fiction and fantasy books. Read all science fiction and fantasy

Biography and memoir

Fiona Sturges chooses the best memoirs, from Alan Rickman’s posthumous diaries to Michelle Obama’s follow-up to Becoming, as well as compelling biographies of Agatha Christie and John Donne. Read all biography and memoir

History and politics

Reflections on the British empire, urgent stories of deadly migrant routes and a Nobel peace prize-winner’s thoughts on the future of democracy – Alex von Tunzelmann ’s choice of books about our past and present. Read all history and politics

Jonathan Liew picks five of the year’s best books about sport, including a thought-provoking history of Black footballers and a fascinating biography of Geoffrey Boycott. Read all sport

With subjects ranging from the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic to the potential of digital virtual worlds, Alok Jha selects the year’s top science books. Read all science

Black and queer communities are centred in much of this year’s poetry, including Joelle Taylor’s account of butch lesbian counterculture and Warsan Shire’s captivating take on home and identity – Rishi Dastidar chooses the best collections. Read all poetry

Graphic novels

James Smart picks out the finest comics and graphic books, from thoughtful memoirs to vividly illustrated fiction. Read all graphic novels

Bono’s autobiography, oral histories of hip-hop and heavy metal and a smart reflection on Black women in pop – Alexis Petridis ’s pick of books about music and musicians. Read all music

Rachel Roddy on the best food books of the year, from stories of growing up in a Chinese takeaway to pressure cooker recipes and a guide to snacking. Read all food

To browse all of the Guardian’s best books of 2022 visit guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply.

• 2022 in Culture
• Best books of the year

Most viewed

The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022

Gripping novels, transporting poetry, and timely nonfiction that asked us to look deeper Andrew R. Chow, Lucy Feldman, Mahita Gajanan, Annabel Gutterman, Angela Haupt, Cady Lang, and Laura Zornosa

A Heart That Works

All the lovers in the night, all this could be different, an immense world, ancestor trouble, anna: the biography, bitter orange tree, the book of goose, butts: a backstory, calling for a blanket dance, the candy house, carrie soto is back, chef's kiss, civil rights queen, constructing a nervous system, cover story, the crane wife, the daughter of doctor moreau, dirtbag, massachusetts, ducks: two years in the oil sands, easy beauty, eating to extinction, the emergency, the employees, the escape artist, everything i need i get from you, the extraordinary life of an ordinary man, the family outing, fellowship point, fiona and jane, the furrows, getting lost, half american, the hero of this book, his name is george floyd, honey & spice, how far the light reaches, the hurting kind, i came all this way to meet you, i'm glad my mom died, if an egyptian cannot speak english, if i survive you, index, a history of the, the invisible kingdom, learning to talk, lesser known monsters of the 21st century, liberation day, life between the tides, the light we carry, lost & found, lucy by the sea, the man who could move clouds, maps of our spectacular bodies, the marriage portrait, mouth to mouth, the naked don't fear the water, night of the living rez, nightcrawling, now is not the time to panic, nuclear family, olga dies dreaming, our missing hearts, the rabbit hutch, the revolutionary: samuel adams, scattered all over the earth, the school for good mothers, shrines of gaiety, signal fires, siren queen, south to america, strangers to ourselves, ted kennedy: a life, this time tomorrow, time is a mother, tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, the trayvon generation, under the skin, when we were sisters, woman without shame, the world keeps ending, and the world goes on, young mungo.

by Rob Delaney

by Abdulrazak Gurnah

by Mieko Kawakami

by Sarah Thankam Mathews

by Maud Newton

by Nuar Alsadir

by Amy Odell

by R.F. Kuang

by Jokha Alharthi

by Yiyun Li

by David Quammen

by Heather Radke

by Oscar Hokeah

by Jennifer Egan

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

by TJ Alexander

by Tomiko Brown-Nagin

by Margo Jefferson

by Susan Rigetti

by CJ Hauser

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

by Lydia Millet

by Isaac Fitzgerald

by Kate Beaton

by Chloé Cooper Jones

by Dan Saladino

by Elif Batuman

by Thomas Fisher

by Olga Ravn

by Jonathan Freedland

by Kaitlyn Tiffany

by Paul Newman

by Jessi Hempel

by Alice Elliott Dark

by Viola Davis

by Jean Chen Ho

by Namwali Serpell

by Annie Ernaux

by NoViolet Bulawayo

by Tochi Onyebuchi

by Matthew F. Delmont

by Elizabeth McCracken

by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

by Bolu Babalola

by Sabrina Imbler

by Ada Limón

by Jami Attenberg

by Jennette McCurdy

by Noor Naga

by Jonathan Escoffery

by Amy Bloom

by Dennis Duncan

by Meghan O’Rourke

by Hilary Mantel

by George Saunders

by Adam Nicolson

by Michelle Obama

by Kathryn Schulz

by Elizabeth Strout

by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

by Bernardine Evaristo

by Maddie Mortimer

by Maggie O’Farrell

by Isaac Butler

by Antoine Wilson

by Matthieu Aikins

by Morgan Talty

by Leila Mottley

by Kevin Wilson

by Joseph Han

by Xochitl Gonzalez

by Celeste Ng

by Tess Gunty

by Stacy Schiff

by Yoko Tawada

by Jessamine Chan

by Sarah Weinman

by Kate Atkinson

by Dani Shapiro

by Imani Perry

by Jay Hopler

by Rachel Aviv

by John A. Farrell

by Emma Straub

by Sara Freeman

by Ocean Vuong

by Gabrielle Zevin

by Elizabeth Alexander

by Hernan Diaz

by Linda Villarosa

by Blake Crouch

by Julia May Jonas

by Fatimah Asghar

by Sandra Cisneros

by Franny Choi

by Douglas Stuart

This project is led by Lucy Feldman and Annabel Gutterman, with writing, reporting, and additional editing by Andrew R. Chow, Mahita Gajanan, Angela Haupt, Cady Lang, Rachel Sonis, and Laura Zornosa; photography editing by Whitney Matewe; art direction by Victor Williams; video by Erica Solano; audience strategy by Alex Hinnant, Kari Sonde, and Kim Tal; and production by Nadia Suleman.

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Wrapping up the year in books: The best of 2022

• Deep Read ( 6 Min. )
• By Monitor reviewers

December 20, 2022

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers,” wrote Charles William Eliot in “The Happy Life” in 1896. 

He could have been describing our choices for the best books of the year.

Why We Wrote This

With gratitude for our community of readers, the Monitor’s reviewers share their favorite titles this year. We hope the list will serve as a guide to books that build awareness, encourage compassion, and demonstrate our shared humanity.

The list includes thoughtful novels to accompany you on everything from a long plane flight to your daily commute. You’ll find nonfiction books that unfold mysteries, grapple with moral complexities, and highlight unusual facets of historical figures. 

Books offer a world of knowledge and entertainment at your fingertips. They are truly “the quietest and most constant of friends.”

Fellowship Point,  by Alice Elliott Dark

Alice Elliott Dark’s exquisitely written, utterly engrossing novel “Fellowship Point,” set in Maine’s gorgeous but threatened coastal landscape, explores the beauty and tensions of a lifelong friendship between two women whose choices have taken them down different paths. The result is a deftly woven narrative about caring for the places and people we love, and an affirmation that change and growth are possible at any age. Full review here . 

I Must Betray You,  by Ruta Sepetys

“Trust no one,” whispers Cristian Florescu’s beloved grandfather; they’re words to survive by in the fear-fueled Romania of 1989. In her deft portrayal of a teenager turned reluctant informer, Ruta Sepetys makes the case that trust, coupled with selfless courage, is the key to cracking autocratic rule. A well-researched nail-biter, the novel transcends its young adult genre. Full review here . 

Glory,  by NoViolet Bulawayo

“Glory” depicts the anguish, absurdity, and grind of life in a fictional African autocracy. Each well-drawn character – from the ancient despot and his sycophants, to the rapacious successor, to exhausted citizens – is an animal. The engrossing allegory delivers a powerful emotional punch, along with keen political and social commentary.

Properties of Thirst,  by Marianne Wiggins

Marianne Wiggins’ sweeping novel tells of a California ranching family in the 1940s and the building of Manzanar camp, where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. A story of family, responsibility, and the tug of heritage, it applauds decency and determination while weighing the roles of individuals in collective wrongs. Full review here .

Recitatif,  by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison’s only short story, “Recitatif,” written in 1980, is a brilliant, provocative experiment that tests readers’ deep-seated racial preconceptions. It’s about two poor girls who room together in a state shelter when they’re 8, and then run into each other years later. One girl is white, the other Black, but Morrison deliberately, masterfully obfuscates which is which. Full review here . 

Remarkably Bright Creatures,  by Shelby Van Pelt

An octopus befriends a widow and helps her solve the mystery of her son’s disappearance in Shelby Van Pelt’s feel-good debut novel. The story requires a willingness to throw disbelief overboard, but the author brings together a group of lonely outsiders into the equivalent of a big, communal hug. Full review here . 

Honor,  by Thrity Umrigar

In Thrity Umrigar’s engrossing (and sometimes graphic) novel of modern-day India, an interfaith couple, an honor killing, a court case, and an American-born Indian journalist seeking justice all come together in two brave love stories that honor the desire for unconditional acceptance.

Small World,  by Jonathan Evison

Jonathan Evison’s Dickensian-style retelling of America’s history is a modern classic. His love for his characters glows in portrayals of Irish and Chinese immigrants, Native Americans, and enslaved people all yearning to belong. The book is a vast yet intimate tale about the American dream, and the people for whom the vision is yet unfulfilled.

Lucy by the Sea,  by Elizabeth Strout

At the start of the pandemic, Lucy Barton is whisked from New York City to coastal Maine by her ex-husband, who is concerned for her health. As days stretch into months, Lucy reflects on her life and her daughters, and finds lovingkindness, forgiveness, and healing through nature and new friendship.

Calling for a Blanket Dance,  by Oscar Hokeah

Oscar Hokeah brings to life a kaleidoscope of characters from an unforgettable Native American family. His depiction of Indigenous cultures honors their strength of community with remarkable love and healing humor, sending out a vital drumbeat of hope for future generations.

Lessons in Chemistry,  by Bonnie Garmus

“Children, set the table. Your mother needs a moment to herself.” It’s 1961, and these brisk, bold words close “Supper at Six,” America’s hit TV cooking show hosted by Elizabeth Zott. Brilliant and determined, the 30-something chemist would rather work in a research lab; the story of why she doesn’t, her efforts to return there, and the social toll of the era’s noxious sexism roils and rivets in this potent debut novel. Full review here . 

Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver’s beautifully written novel is told in the voice of Damon, nicknamed Demon Copperhead, who struggles first with the failed foster care system and later with opioids, in a small rural community in Appalachia. Ever the survivor, Damon and the other boys learn to rely on one another. “We were our own messed-up little tribe,” he observes. Kingsolver thrusts the reader into the midst of real-world circumstances – especially the opioid epidemic – and she compassionately demands that we not look away. Full review here .

The Last Slave Ship,  by Ben Raines

Ben Raines made headlines in 2019 when he discovered the remains of the Clotilda, the last ship to bring enslaved people to America. His gripping, affecting book chronicles his search for the vessel in the swamps of Alabama and tells the stories of its captive passengers and their descendants. Full review here . 

And There Was Light,  by Jon Meacham

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian’s majestic biography presents Abraham Lincoln as an imperfect man with a strong moral core. Growing and evolving as he struggled to lead the country through calamitous times, the 16th president has ample wisdom for our age. Full review here .

A Man of Iron,  by Troy Senik

Grover Cleveland was the only American president to have held office in two non-consecutive terms (1885-89 and 1893-97). Author Troy Senik argues that Cleveland was not only a great man but one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, a man of unwavering high convictions and rock-solid moral character. Readers might argue with Senik, but they’ll have a blast reading his book – and they might end up agreeing with him. Full review here .

Learning America,  by Luma Mufleh

In her riveting debut, Jordanian-born Luma Mufleh describes how her encounter with a group of refugee boys playing soccer in a Georgia parking lot led to her founding of the Fugees Academy schools, which serve refugee children who’ve been resettled in the United States. Full review here . 

After the Romanovs,  by Helen Rappaport

One of the effects of the Romanov dynasty’s fall in 1917 was a flood of Russian refugees into Europe, including the arrival of aristocrats, artists, writers, and intellectuals who landed in Paris at the height of the city’s creative ferment. Helen Rappaport tells their stories with marvelous skill and empathy. Full review here . 

The Hawk’s Way,  by Sy Montgomery

Sy Montgomery, whose 2010 book “The Soul of an Octopus” made her a favorite of animal-book readers, turns her formidable descriptive passion to hawks and the world of falconry. The book breathes with glorious prose and challenging insights that make it fit to stand alongside classics like T.H. White’s “The Goshawk” or Helen Macdonald’s “H is for Hawk.” Full review here .

Black Snow,  by James M. Scott 

In March 1945, a U.S. bombing raid devastated Tokyo. While it may have shortened World War II, more than 100,000 Japanese people – mostly civilians – were killed. Was it justified? James M. Scott raises profound moral questions about the military strategy. Full review here .

Life on the Mississippi,  by Rinker Buck

Travel writer Rinker Buck built a flatboat and traveled from Pittsburgh to New Orleans on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. His goal was to better understand how river transport – for good and ill – made America’s westward expansion possible. Full review here . 

Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet,  by Michael Meyer

In the last days of his life, Benjamin Franklin changed his will and funded a 200-year experiment: He left the cities of Boston and Philadelphia money to be lent to help tradesmen start businesses. In this engaging book, Michael Meyer skillfully weaves together a biography of Franklin and his heirs with the story of what happened to the money. Full review here . 

The King’s Shadow,  by Edmund Richardson

In the 1830s, a private in the army of the East India Company wandered into Afghanistan and made a series of breathtaking archaeological discoveries. When the Anglo-Afghan wars broke out, he was imprisoned and his notes were lost. In this thrillerlike nonfiction account, author Edmund Richardson reclaims the legacy of Charles Masson. Full review here . 

A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman,  by Lindy Elkins- Tanton

Planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton tells how she overcame obstacles to lead the NASA mission that will send a rocket to explore the massive asteroid Psyche in 2023. Her beautiful and inspiring memoir illuminates the challenges faced by women in science. Author Q&A here . 

Slaves for Peanuts,  by Jori Lewis

Jori Lewis resurrects voices silenced by history in this sumptuous journey beginning in 19th-century Senegal. Traveling down the coast of West Africa, the story sweeps through medieval kingdoms to bustling colonial capitals. By digging through historical archives and oral histories, Lewis unearths a neglected part of the Atlantic slave trade, all wrapped around the humble peanut crop.

Index, A History of the,  by Dennis Duncan

Dennis Duncan leads an erudite and entertaining tour of a topic you’ve probably given little thought to, tracing the index from its roots in the ancient world to medieval Europe and up to the computer age. The book is brimming with fun facts but also makes deeper points about how humans create meaning. Full review here . 

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Review another year in the books: best reads of 2021, circus trains, calligraphy, and coming of age: december’s 10 best books, mystery, movies, and arthur miller enliven november’s 10 best books, share this article.

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Fans send prayers to beloved author with brain cancer

• Updated: Apr. 18, 2024, 12:27 p.m. |
• Published: Apr. 18, 2024, 12:05 p.m.

Sophie Kinsella, a bestselling author of the "Shopaholic" series, updated fans on social media about her undergoing treatment for a rare form of brain cancer. Associated Press

• Katherine Rodriguez | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Sophie Kinsella , a bestselling author of the “Shopaholic” series , updated fans on social media about her undergoing treatment for a rare form of brain cancer.

“I’ve wanted for a long time to share with you a health update and I’ve been waiting for the strength to do so,” she wrote on Instagram and X on Wednesday.

“At the end of 2022 I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer. I did not share this before because I wanted to make sure that my children were able to hear and process the news in privacy and adapt to our ‘new normal,’” she continued.

Fans on X rushed to offer their thoughts and prayers to the author.

“This is shocking and sad, but you’re brave and strong. I wish you all the best as you tackle this difficult journey. As both a reader and an author, I adore your books & devour them! Like most, I got hooked on your hilarious Shopaholic series. Peace, love, hugs, & prayers,” a fellow author wrote on X.

“Omg, I’m so sorry to hear this. Sending all my love to you, praying for things to get better soon and the light and love you put into your books and that we feel when we read it will come right back at you,” one fan wrote on X.

“Wishing you the best as you go through this journey. Your books have been a source of strength, comfort and entertainment to me over the years. I hope to read many more books from you in the future. My prayers to your family as they go through this with you,” another fan commented on X.

Kinsella, who lives in the U.K. with her husband and children, said she is receiving “excellent care” in London and has undergone “successful surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which is still ongoing.”

Her most recent release was the book “The Burnout.”

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Sophie Kinsella, ‘Shopaholic’ Author, Says She Has Brain Cancer

The author of the best-selling book series said she had been undergoing treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor, after a diagnosis in 2022.

By Emily Schmall and Dani Blum

Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling English author of the “Shopaholic” book series, revealed on social media on Wednesday that she had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive and often fatal form of brain cancer.

Kinsella said that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022, but waited to make the diagnosis public so her children could “hear and process the news privately and adapt to our ‘new normal.’” She added that her condition was stable after a successful operation and ongoing chemotherapy and radiation at University College Hospital in London.

Kinsella, whose real name is Madeleine Wickham, has written a string of hit novels, starting with “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in 2000, about a financial journalist in London with a serious shopping addiction. About a decade later, a movie starring Isla Fisher based on the original novel and a sequel was released.

Since the smashing success of the first novel, nine sequels following the life of the protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood have been released, earning Kinsella, 54, a loyal following and a reigning position among authors of romantic comedy books.

Kinsella said that readers’ response to her latest novel, “The Burnout,” had “buoyed” her during a difficult time undergoing treatment. The novel, about a couple of worn-out office workers who meet at a dilapidated British seaside resort, was published last year.

Glioblastoma is an extremely aggressive brain tumor. There is no cure, and most patients do not survive beyond one and a half to two years. “It’s such a terrible, devastating disease,” said Dr. Wajd Al-Holou, a neurosurgeon at University of Michigan Health. The condition is relatively rare ; the National Brain Tumor Society estimated that more than 14,490 Americans were expected to receive a glioblastoma diagnosis in 2023.

Doctors typically try to remove as much of the tumor as possible in surgery, and patients also receive chemotherapy and radiation to try to slow the growth of the cancer. The tumor often grows back.

Glioblastoma most frequently occurs among people between the ages of 50 and 70, Dr. Al-Holou said, and is more common in men than women, for reasons doctors do not fully understand. Doctors are also not certain what causes gliobastoma.

“It’s completely random, it’s out of nowhere,” said Dr. Viviane Tabar, chair of the department of neurosurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Symptoms can develop rapidly and vary depending on where in the brain the tumor is located. People can experience headaches that become more severe over a short period, blurred vision, weakness in an arm or leg, difficulty speaking, memory loss, nausea and vomiting and seizures. Sometimes, people’s personalities seem to change, Dr. Al-Holou said.

Kinsella’s longtime publisher, The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House Books, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An earlier version of this article misidentified the city where the novel “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is set. It is London, not New York.

How we handle corrections

Emily Schmall covers breaking news and feature stories and is based in Chicago. More about Emily Schmall

Dani Blum is a health reporter for The Times. More about Dani Blum