Books – Detail

Click on a genre link to see the matching books; click again to return to the full Athenaeum Bookshelf.

The Allure of Elsewhere: A Memoir of Going Solo
Karen Babine

One woman’s cross-country journey to explore the hold family history has on our lives, and the power of new stories to shape what lies ahead.

257 pp. - Biography

The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Michelle Young

A riveting and stylish saga set in Paris during World War II, The Art Spy uncovers how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save the world's most treasured masterpieces.

390 pp. - Biography

Change the Recipe: Because You Can't Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs
José Andrés, Richard Wolffe

A unique collection of life lessons from renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés.

Instant New York Times Bestseller

195 pp. - Biography

Clotilde Brewster: Pioneering Woman Architect
Laura Fitzmaurice

Described by composer Ethel Smyth as brilliant, sociable, amusing and utterly original, Clotilde Brewster defied all the odds by becoming the first woman to work internationally as an architect. This book examines how her early years in Italy so crucially influenced her choice of career and follows her fascinating journey through architecture and the high-society world of her clients.

192 pp. - Biography

I Regret Almost Everything
Keith McNally

The entertaining, irreverent, and surprisingly moving memoir by the visionary restaurateur behind such iconic New York institutions as Balthazar and Pastis.

New York Times Bestseller

303 pp. - Biography

I Seek a Kind Person: My Father, Seven Children, and the Adverts that Helped Them Escape the Holocaust
Julian Borger

This gripping family memoir of grief, courage, and hope tells the hidden stories of children who escaped the Holocaust, building connections across generations and continents.

285 pp. - Biography

I'm Not Your Muse: Uncovering the Overshadowed Brilliance of Women Artists & Visionaries
Lori Zimmer

An illuminating exploration of 31 incredible women—across art, architecture, dance, literature, and more—whose culture-defining contributions have, until now, been overshadowed by their role as "muses" to history's better-known men.

188 pp. - Biography

Mark Twain
Ron Chernow

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain

#1 New York Times Bestseller!

1,174 pp. - Biography

Mornings With My Cat Mii
Mayumi Inaba

The perfect gift for cat lovers: a beloved Japanese modern classic that chronicles the author's twenty-year bond with her cat, meditating on solitude, independence, companionship, the writing life, and how cats can change our lives.

180 pp. - Biography

Notes to John
Joan Didion

An extraordinary work from the author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights.

208 pp. - Biography

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put
Annie B. Jones

In her first book, the popular From the Front Porch podcast host and independent bookstore owner challenges the idea that loud lives are the ones that matter most, reminding us that we don't have to leave the lives we have in order to have the lives of which we've always dreamed.

220 pp. - Biography

Orlando: A Biography
Virginia Woolf

Written for the charismatic, bisexual writer Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is one of Woolf's most popular and accessible novels, a playful mock biography of a chameleon-like historical figure that is both a wry commentary on gender and, in Woolf's own words, a "writer's holiday" that delights in its ambiguity and capriciousness.

272 pp. - Biography

Promised Lands: Hadassah Kaplan and the Legacy of American Jewish Women in Early Twentieth-Century Palestine
Sharon Ann Musher

Promised Lands provides a window into the lives of American Jewish women in both New York City’s Upper West Side and Palestine during the interwar period.

263 pp. - Biography

The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards
Jessica Waite

A lyrical exploration of mental health, single parenthood, and betrayal that demonstrates that the most moving love stories aren’t perfect—they’re flawed and poignantly real.

309 pp. - Biography

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin
Sue Prideaux

An original and revealing portrait of the misunderstood French Post-Impressionist artist.

Shortlisted for the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize

401 pp. - Biography

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