Last year was big for the celebrity memoir.
There was Britney Spears' tell-all "The Woman in Me" exposing the nefarious details of the pop singer's conservatorship and intimate relationship with Justin Timberlake, along with Prince Harry's royal shake-up "Spare." We also enjoyed Pamela Anderson's "Love, Pam," an intimate retelling of her story of exploitation and abuse. All these personal stories created an insight into the vulnerable plight of famous people whilst also humanizing their experiences.
This year's celebrity memoirs are also promising to be just as page-turning as last year's triumphs. So play your favorite song to lip-sync for "The House of Hidden Meanings" by RuPaul or gear up for the late Princess Diana's younger brother Charles Spencer's book "A Very Private School."
Here's a list of nine of the most anticipated celebrity memoirs this year:
01
"Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself" by Crystal Hefner (Grand Central Publishing, Jan. 23)
"Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself" by Crystal Hefner (Jan. 23, 2024) (Grand Central Publishing)Starting the year off with a bang, Crystal Hefner will be releasing her tell-all of her experiences as the 21-year-old woman who became the third wife of the controversial Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner until he died in 2017.
The book is said to be a "raw and unflinching look at the objectification and misogyny of the Playboy mansion," detailing Hefner's experience living inside the mansion and how the alluring lifestyle sold to her had a dark side filled with control and cutthroat competition for attention. The memoir also details Henfer's rare personal experiences with her husband's final days.
02
"Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew" by Patti Davis (Liveright, Feb. 6)
"Dear Mom and Dad: A Letter About Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew" by Patti Davis (Feb. 6, 2024) (Liveright Publishing)Pattis Davis – most known for being the first daughter of former President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan – recalls her childhood filled with celebrities and complicated familial dynamics through letters addressed to her parents exploring the weighty significance of their existence.
The memoir is said to reexamine the Reagan family dynamics, which suffered "in an increasingly dysfunctional family drama," while casting an "empathetic" and truthful perspective on her parents. Her father, "the eternal lifeguard, who saved 77 people, yet failed to create a coherent AIDS policy." And her mother who could never escape her "own tortured youth." Davis is said to share the details of her parents' highly edited public personas and distant personalities. Nothing is more complex than being the child of two actors who later led the country from the White House.
03
"What Have We Here?" by Billy Dee Williams (Knopf, Feb. 13)
"What Have We Here?" by Billy Dee Williams (Feb 13, 2024) (Knopf)Calling all "Star Wars" fans, Lando is back — kinda. The legendary actor Billy Dee Williams tells the story of his early life filled with love in Harlem during the neighborhood's Black cultural awakening.
The memoir follows Williams through his extensive and impressive career through the changing racial landscape in the arts. He recalls landing what he calls "the role of a lifetime: co-starring alongside James Caan in 'Brian’s Song.'" But most importantly, he shares his experience as the first Black character in the Star Wars universe, playing Lando Calrissian in George Lucas’s "The Empire Strikes Back."
04
"Burn Book: A Tech Love Story" by Kara Swisher (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 27)
"Burn Book: A Tech Love Story" by Kara Swisher (Feb. 27, 2024) (Simon & Schuster)Journalist Kara Swisher has been covering ever-evolving technology since the dot.com boom in the 1990s. Her work is said to stoke fear in tech CEOs like Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg who once said "It is a constant joke in the Valley when people write memos for them to say, ‘I hope Kara never sees this.’”
Her new memoir is an accumulation of her life's work as a reporter but also deep insights into her personal life and a "necessary recounting of tech’s most powerful players" like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates."
05
"The House of Hidden Meanings" by RuPaul (HarperCollins, March 5)
"The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir" by RuPaul (March 5, 2024) (HarperCollins/Dey Street Books)You know him from his long-running and revolutionary drag competition reality television show "RuPaul's Drag Race," but the show's creator and host trades his fabulous wigs and make-up for a pen and paper (or most likely, a computer). In his new memoir, he strips away all the performance and tells his life story which begins as a queer Black kid in San Diego to "forging an identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York."
RuPaul's memoir is an insight into the behind-the-scenes world of drag but most crucially, it allows us "introspection of his life, relationships and identity."
06
"A Very Private School" by Charles Spencer (Simon & Schuster, March 12)
"A Very Private School: A Memoir" by Charles Spencer (March 12, 2024) (Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books)The royal family drama never ends. While last year's bombshell "Spare" rocked the book and royal world, this memoir is from one of Prince Harry's relatives — actually his late mother Princess Diana's younger brother Charles Spencer.
The memoir is about Spencer's first-hand experience of "a culture of cruelty" at the first boarding school he was sent to as a child. Spencer takes his audience through his privileged childhood through letters and diaries from the time period, reflecting "hopelessness and abandonment he felt at aged eight." It is said to be a "candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood."
07
"One Way Back" by Christine Blasey Ford (St. Martin’s, March 19)
"One Way Back: A Memoir" by Christine Blasey Ford. (Mar. 19, 2024) (St. Martin's Press)In 2018, Christine Blasey Ford showed true American bravery when she testified in front of the Senate that current Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh had alledged sexually assaulted her in prep school during the 1980s.
Her memoir recounts the months Ford spent "trying to get information into the right hands without exposing herself and her family to dangerous backlash," which unfortunately did happen even with her careful preparation. The memoir is said to reveal new details about the "leadup to her testimony and its overwhelming aftermath" that rocked a nation. "One Way Back" tells the story behind the headlines straight from the scientist's mouth herself.
08
"You Never Know: A Memoir" by Tom Selleck (HarperCollins, May 7)
"You Never Know: A Memoir" by Tom Selleck (HarperCollins, May 7, 2024) (HarperCollins/Dey Street Books)Tom Selleck, the iconic actor known for playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series "Magnum, P.I.," which he won an Emmy for in 1985, is ready to share about his accidental and successful career in acting.
Starting at business school and a basketball court at the University of Southern California, the actor was not prepared for the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle but he shaped up to be one of the most successful actors in the industry. His memoir is said to share Selleck's close friendships with A-listers like Frank Sinatra, Carol Burnett and Sam Elliott.
09
"Rise of a Killah" by Ghostface Killah (Macmillan, May 14)
"Rise of a Killah" by Ghostface Killah (May 14, 2024) (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan)The Wu-Tang Clan rapper and group co-founder, Ghostface Killah, also known as Dennis Coles is one of hip-hop's genre shapers. In the '90s, the group broke all genre rules and took their music to the streets. Wu-Tang is known for being the foundation for modern-day hip-hop. Just ask artists like SZA.
Coles' memoir explores his most meaningful moments as a longtime writer and performer. The book is said to go "back to the creative ferment that led to Ghost’s first handwritten rhymes." It also highlights the group's "early successes to the pinnacle of Ghost’s career touring."
