MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

Beautiful Country

Qian Julie Wang (Doubleday, out Tuesday) It is 1994, and sevenyear-old Qian has arrived in New York. In her native China, the girl’s parents were professors; here, her undocumented family works in sweatshops in Chinatown. As she struggles to find a new life in a strange country, Qian finds magic in books and delights in the everyday: New York City pizza, treasures left in the trash and Rockefeller Center at Christmas time.

Mellencamp Paul Rees (Atria Books, out Sept. 14)

The definitive biography of American rock legend John Mellencamp and a look at what shaped him and his music over the past few decades. Includes exclusive interviews with friends, family and colleagues.

Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography

Laurie Woolever (Ecco, out Sept. 28) Laurie Woolever, Bourdain’s longtime assistant, interviewed hundreds of Bourdain’s closest friends and colleagues for this oral biography of this muchmissed man, who left us in 2018. The book is truly a labor of love.

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Dave Grohl (Dey Street Books, out Oct. 5) The legendary Nirvana and Foo Fighters rocker tells his stories in this hotly anticipated memoir. He compares the experience of writing it to “listening back to a song that I’ve recorded and can’t wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the KISS posters on my wall as a child.”

Will

Will Smith and Mark Manson (Penguin Press, out Nov. 9) From West Philadelphia to incredible careers in TV, music and film, Will Smith has done it all. In this honest memoir, written with help from the bestselling author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--k,” Smith explains his own emotional education — and what others can learn from it.

My Body

Emily Ratajkowski (Metropolitan Books, out Nov. 9) Since she became famous in her early 20s, actress/model Emily Ratajkowski has been an unapologetic feminist and activist and quick to speak up about sexuality, our society’s commodification of female beauty and more. She shares more of her thoughts in this book of thoughtful, provocative essays.