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These books will give you juicy behind the scenes details about these celebrities, and their guiding philosophy for life.
1. Yes Please! By Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler has spent her career playing characters that make us laugh — from her SNL days, through movie roles in comedies like Mean Girls, Baby Mama, and Sisters to her leading role as Leslie Knope on Parks & Recreation — but she put the characters aside and got deeply personal in her 2014 memoir, Yes Please. In the book, Poehler recounts her life and career with her signature sharp sense of humor, providing incisive pieces of wisdom along the way.
2. Life Will Be the Death of Me: . . . And You Too! By Chelsea Handler
This funny, sad, super-honest New York Times bestseller chronicles the comedian’s “Year of Self-Sufficiency” following the election of President Donald Trump.
She underwent therapy to deal with President Donald Trump’s election and finally came to terms with the grief she was too young to process when her oldest brother, Chet, who died on a trip to the Grand Tetons after promising the little sister who adored him he’d be home soon.
Handlers’ hilarious book is all about becoming more self-sufficient, self-aware, and politically active.
3. ‘Will’ by Will Smith
Part autobiography, part self-help book, Will Smith’s first memoir is more than just a chronicling of his own inspiring journey from West Philadelphia to rap stardom to Hollywood fame. With the help of Mark Manson, the author of the multi-million-copy bestseller “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,” Smith paints a candid portrait of his life in the public eye, along with the genuine wisdom and profound self-knowledge he’s learned on the way.
4. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling
In this hilarious instant classic, the creator of The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood.
Kaling recounts her growth from the shy, bookish child of immigrants to off-Broadway sensation to the youngest writer on the staff of the hit NBC sitcom The Office.
5. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
This 2016 memoir by Anna Kendrick, comprises “a collection of autobiographical essays”.
The book covers Kendrick’s childhood in Maine, her Broadway career as a teenager, her film career, and performing and presenting at the Academy Awards.
6. Open Book by Jessica Simpson
As Jessica’s inaugural book, Open Book debuted at # 1 in three categories of the New York Times bestseller list, became a unanimously critically acclaimed global bestseller, and was included in Time’s 100 Must Read Books of 2020 and Rolling Stone’s Best Music Books of 2020.
Open Book reflects on the 41-year-old’s career as well as some painful memories, including the sexual abuse she suffered as a child and her drinking problem. She also examines the darker side of her early fame days as a singer, when she was constantly—and at times, brutally—compared to her counterparts like Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera.
7. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Becoming was the highest-selling book published in the United States in 2018, setting the record 15 days after its publication, with over two million copies sold.
Becoming is a warm, intimate coming-of-age story of a strong-minded girl who grew up to become one of the most powerful and influential black women in the country.
Described by the author as a deeply personal experience, the book talks about her roots and how she found her voice, as well as her time in the White House, her public health campaign, and her role as a mother.
8. ‘Unfinished’ by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s memoir, Unfinished, is a moving story of her rise to fame — and of her life before anybody knew her name.
Unfinished offers insights into Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s childhood in India; her formative teenage years in the United States; and her return to India, where against all odds as a newcomer to the pageant world, she won the national and international beauty
From her childhood in India, growing up as a teenager in the states and then moving back to her home country as a beauty pageant tar, Jonas’s rise to fame has been far from ordinary. In her best-selling memoir, the actress reflects on her challenges and triumphs as she doggedly pursued her calling, while sharing honest stories about her father’s death, her marriage with Nick Jonas and her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
9. Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits by Reese Witherspoon
Academy Award-winning actress, producer, and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon invites you into her world, where she infuses the southern style, parties, and traditions she loves with contemporary flair and charm.
Witherspoon describes the book as her Southern lifestyle book: her tips on everything from hairstyling to dancing to cooking, with a focus on strong women.
10. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
This number one bestseller from former president Barack Obama is a frank and personal account of his search for identity.
It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. It illuminates not only Obama’s journey, but also our universal desire to understand our history and what makes us who we are.
11. Seriously, I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
With the winning, upbeat candor that has made her show one of the most popular and honored daytime shows playing, beloved talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres shares her views on life, love, and American Idol.
“I’ve experienced a whole lot the last few years and I have a lot to share. So I hope that you’ll take a moment to sit back, relax and enjoy the words I’ve put together for you in this book. I think you’ll find I’ve left no stone unturned, no door unopened, no window unbroken, no rug unvacuumed, no ivories untickled. What I’m saying is, let us begin, shall we?” — Ellen Degeneres
12. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
In Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, comedian and television personality Trevor Noah gives a heartfelt and funny recounting of his experiences growing up in South Africa as an oppressed person.
13. Sleepwalk With Me by Mike Birbiglia
You might recognize this comedian from his small part in Orange is the New Black and movies such as Hot Pursuit and Trainwreck, but his best role is in Sleepwalk With Me, based on his sharp book of the same name. It includes a must-read story about his surprisingly scary struggle with sleepwalking.
14. Why Not Me by Mindy Kalling
In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares insightful, deeply personal stories about falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, and believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.
15. Decoded by Jay-Z
This 2011 autobiography and memoir of rapper Jay-Z, combines lyrics, their explanations, an dotes, reflections, and autobiographical information.
The book follows very rough chronological order, while switching from current stories to Jay-Z’s story of growing up in the Marcy Projects. The autobiographical portion focuses on growing up impoverished which led to him to drug dealing during the crack epidemic fights, and a need to share the hustlers’ story during the beginnings in rap. His reflections on those harsh times shaped who he is and how artists are shapeed by such experiences.
16. Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance is a thoughtful—but funny (of course)—look at the contemporary world of dating. And Ansari teamed up with an NYU sociologist to help him take a deeper dive into the technology-infused world of ~modern romance~. Get ready to learn something—and to have a serious laugh.
17. Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance by Simone Biles
In Courage to Soar, the official autobiography from four-time Olympic gold-winning and record-setting American gymnast Simone Biles, Simone shares how her faith, family, passion, and perseverance has made her one of the top athletes and gymnasts in the world–and how you too can overcome challenges in your life.
18. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy Schumer
In The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, Amy mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationships, and sex and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is—a woman with the courage to bare her soul to stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.
The book also addresses subjects such as gun violence in the United States, sexual assault and consent and domestic violence.
19. I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kelvin Hart
Actor and comedian Kevin Hart grew up in North Philadelphia. His father was a drug addict who was in and out of jail. His brother was a crack dealer and petty thief. And his mother was overwhelmingly strict, beating him with belts, frying pans, and his own toys. In his literary debut, he takes the reader on a journey through what his life was, what it is today, and how he’s overcome each challenge to become the man he is today.
