Ask HN: What biographies/memoirs to read in 2018?

'Shoe Dog' added in my list

Two works lauded by many that lived up to the hype for me by changing my understanding of science and the modern world are

David Wootton's biography of Galileo: http://www.watcheroftheskies.org/

Janet Browne's biography of Darwin: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/10/biography.high...

Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson is a gem.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Shrill by Lindy West and Hunger by Roxane Gay. They are both memoirs by excellent women writers talking about being a woman and about being fat in American society.

For one of interest to entrepreneurs that is not immediately obvious is the autobiography of Henry Bessemer [1]. The problems he faced (and solved) getting his inventions used still has value today [2].

1. https://archive.org/details/sirhenrybessemer00bessuoft

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bessemer

“Skunk Works” by Ben Rich.

It’s showing its age a little bit in places, but seems as pertinent as ever.

Biographies I enjoyed in 2017:

"The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism"

"Worldly Philosopher The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman"

This one:

"A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market" by Edward O. Thorp

http://www.edwardothorp.com/books/a-man-for-all-markets/

I really liked:

https://goo.gl/Wb8YoH When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - Goodreads

https://goo.gl/gzGxAo Dying: A Memoir by Cory Taylor - Goodreads

Here are few great ones http://cherrypick.club/post/QmxvZ1Bvc3QtLS00Ng==