These 10 bingeable celebrity memoirs make the perfect juicy summer read

USA Today

06-06-2025

These 10 bingeable celebrity memoirs make the perfect juicy summer read
Hot weather is the perfect season for some hot gossip.
Don't forget a juicy celebrity memoir in your beach bag this summer – there's nothing like a little industry drama to keep you company in the sand. Or, if nonfiction isn't your thing, check out some of the fiction titles on our summer most anticipated list.
This year has seen plenty of binge-worthy new memoirs, like Jeremy Renner's retelling of his near-fatal snowplow accident, Brooke Shields' meditations on aging and Joan Didion's previously unpublished diary entries while in therapy.
Celebrity memoirs to binge this summer
This list has something for everyone, with never-before-seen stories from Hollywood A-listers to content creators to sports icons.
'Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old' by Brooke Shields (out now)
Brooke Shields' latest memoir is a vulnerable conversation about aging and womanhood. In 'Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old,' she argues that we need to destigmatize menopause and increase options for women who 'suffer in silence,' like hormone therapy and intervention. Her memoir touches on motherhood, friendship in middle adulthood, ambition and medical discrimination, including a nonconsensual surgery she experienced.
'Uptown Girl' by Christie Brinkley (out now)
Christie Brinkley's memoir packs in a lot, from her early modeling days to her romance with Billy Joel to her survival of a helicopter crash in 1994 and finding out her ex-husband Peter Cook cheated on her with an 18-year-old. Come for the charming story behind the song 'Uptown Girl,' and stay for an intimate look at Brinkley's passions and career.
'Matriarch' by Tina Knowles (out now)
'Matriarch' gives an inside look into the life of the businesswoman, designer and mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. Tina Knowles shares her battle with breast cancer, the ups and downs of her marriage, discovering Beyoncé's talent and the early days of the 'Cowboy Carter' singer's relationship with Jay-Z.
'The Next Day' by Melinda French Gates (out now)
'The Next Day: Transitions, Changes and Moving Forward' feels like 'a walk with a smart friend, one who takes counsel and shares hard-won advice,' USA TODAY's Laura Trujillo writes. Melinda French Gates takes readers through the transition period after her 27-year marriage to Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates ended, also touching on motherhood, guilt and childhood heroes.
'Paper Doll' by Dylan Mulvaney (out now)
The actress and content creator's debut memoir gives readers a more intimate glimpse behind her 'Days of Girlhood' social media series and transition. Dylan Mulvaney unpacks the transphobia, backlash, acceptance and, ultimately, joy in this reflection of her pre- and post-transition life.
'We All Want to Change the World' by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (out now)
'We All Want to Change the World' is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 20th book, and it looks back on America's protest movements through the years, from free speech and civil rights to Black Lives Matter. Read for an intimate look at Abdul-Jabbar's first-hand activism experience, including when he met Martin Luther King Jr.
'When the Going Was Good' by Graydon Carter (out now)
Perfect for Hollywood gossip lovers, this memoir from the former head of Vanity Fair has plenty of name drops and insider lore. Among the biggest revelations are the story of how the Oscars' afterparty 'institution' was born and how disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein got banned from it.
'So Gay for You' by Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig (out now)
If you loved 'The L Word,' check out this memoir from the actors who played Shane and Alice. In 'So Gay for You,' Hailey and Moennig write about their early auditioning days and time on the show, bringing readers into their lasting friendship and what it was like to be the faces of lesbian culture in the early 2000s.
'Nice Girls Don't Win' by Parvati Shallow (out July 8)
You've seen her on "Survivor" and "The Traitors,' but now reality show star Parvati Shallow reveals more about her real life. Before she won a million dollars at 25 after winning "Survivor," she grew up in a Florida commune run by a tyrannical female guru. She's endured the death of her brother, a divorce and public scrutiny. In her memoir, she aims to show readers how she rebuilt her life through radical self-acceptance and self-love.
'Sister Wife' by Christine Brown Woolley (out Sept. 2)
Christine Brown Woolley became famous as the third wife of polygamist Kody Brown on TLC's show 'Sister Wives.' In this candid tell-all, she reveals how her journey from the child of practicing polygamists in Utah, to reality TV to a new life away from polygamy and the world she once knew.
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at [e-mail].