20 must-read celebrity memoirs

Regarding the most iconic figures of the ‘90s, no one comes close to Pamela Anderson. She was the beauty standard and made a show about a bunch of lifeguards worth watching for fans worldwide. Of course, life wasn’t always grand, as she soon became a tabloid cover star due to a certain home video being made public. It wasn’t the best of times, but Pamela Anderson breaks all of that and more down in her deeply personal memoir, Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth.

Full House was a staple of almost every home in America in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and everyone knew Andrea Barber as Kimmy Gibbler, the best friend next door who could be a little extra. Thanks to the Netflix reboot of Fuller House in 2016, she had a huge comeback, but what had she been up to? Barber opens up about not only life after Full House but dealing with mental health issues, New Kids On The Block, and so much more in Full Circle: From Hollywood to Real Life and Back Again.

Queer Eye was the show the world didn’t know it needed until it arrived in 2018. Netflix gifted the world with one of the most genuinely heartfelt programs on television. With it came not relatable stories of people receiving life-changing makeovers and five hosts bringing a unique perspective to the table. One of them is Karamo Brown. He used his role on the show to bring a new layer of emotion to each episode and plenty of tears. So with his book, Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope, it would be wise to have tissues nearby.

Born to Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson Cooper could’ve just sat back and lived a luxurious life, but as he recounts in Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival, that was never what he wanted. Instead, he paved his path in life, and in his memoir, he intertwines personal stories with his experiences covering some of the wildest news events in modern times, from war zones to hurricane aftermaths.

Nerds everywhere know Felicia Day as she’s appeared in everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Mystery Science Theater 3000. However, her web series, The Guild, made her a fan favorite at comic conventions near and far. While You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir does dive into her acting, her life before fame is really captivating. Home-schooled, meeting people in real life from the internet when it was still very new, and so much more, will have readers hooked until the very end.

Usually, the thing people want to know when a Saturday Night Live cast member drops a book is their time on the show, but with Rachel Dratch, that’s just the cherry on top of her interesting life. In Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle, Dratch gives readers an inside look at what it was like when what she thought was just a fun time with a guy turned into a pregnancy in her mid-40s.

When it comes to fashion, no one is doing it quite like Queer Eye’s Tan France. He went from there to co-hosting Next in Fashion, and in between his two hit Netflix series, he found time to pen Naturally Tan: A Memoir. The book gives insight into everything from how he got to where he is in the fashion industry and dealing with homophobia and racism throughout his life.

It has been a minute since Kelsey Grammer dropped So Far…, but it is such a great read, it had to be included. To the world, Grammer is television gold. He went from an add-in on Cheers to having his own hit spin-off series, Frasier, in the ‘90s. Not to mention he’s voiced Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons since 1990. Being that So Far… came out in 1995, a lot of his career is missing, but what’s there instead is his start and a cascade of personal tragedies that are hard to believe.

Those of a particular age know Melissa Joan Hart as everything from “Clarissa” to “Sabrina,” but in her memoir, fans get to know the actress that made the ‘90s that much better. Was it always the best for her? Well, she had some reckless moments, as does any young adult with fame and money, but she explains it all and then some.

Without Mindy Kaling, The Office may’ve been a little less funny, as she was behind many of the most notable episodes in the series’ nine-season run. She gets into life in Scranton and what it was like being one of the few non-white people at Dartmouth, how Matt Damon and Ben Affleck played a role in her career, and more in one of the most charismatic memoirs out there.

Once it’s cracked open, it’s hard to put down as former iCarly star Jennette McCurdy’s story is one of the most enthralling yet heartbreaking ever told. Plus, it’s hard not to be interested in a book titled, I’m Glad My Mom Died.

Those who shopped at Hot Topic religiously in the 2000s know who Andrew McMahon is all too well. He went from Something Corporate to Jack’s Mannequin and, today, fronts Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. He’s a staple in music, but three months before Jack’s Mannequin’s debut in 2005, McMahon went to the hospital with what he thought was laryngitis and left with a cancer diagnosis. Not the best of news, but this piano man made it through and delivered an inspired memoir after the storm.

Many believe fame and money would rid them of their problems, but former Nickelodeon star Josh Peck proves that those things may add to one’s disdain for life and themselves. He leaves nothing unsaid about all that, and then some in Happy People Are Annoying.

It’s easy enough to like Amy Poehler because she is undoubtedly one of the funniest people on Earth, but Yes Please allows fans to see a whole new side of the award-winning actress that she doesn’t show off too often in her performances.

A year before Issa Rae took HBO by storm with Insecure, she released The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. In it, she uncovers all the ways she’s approached family, college, and her career as an, well, the title says it, awkward Black girl. That includes what went into her YouTube web series that initially got her name out there.

The landscape of television in the 21st century would not have been the same without Shonda Rhimes. From Grey’s Anatomy to Bridgerton, she’s had a hand in creating and producing some of the most addicting series to date, but there was a point in her life when she wasn’t doing much else but work. So she decided to start saying yes to more opportunities in her personal and professional life and then took it all down in Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person.

Seth Rogen approached Yearbook the only way that would’ve felt natural: with comedy and a whole lot of weed, as he recounts his life from spending time at Jewish summer camps to his wild ride through Hollywood.

Months before Alex Trebek passed away after an almost two-year battle with cancer, he released The Answer Is…. In it, the Jeopardy host recounted nearly every detail of his journey, so much so that it served as a reminder of why he was one of the most comforting people ever to grace the small screen.

There is a lot of heart in Queer Eye, but there are also a lot of comical moments, and that’s in part due to Jonathan Van Ness. The hair and makeup maven of the series never fails to make anyone they come across feel seen, heard, and loved, and that’s why audiences quickly feel for Jonathan Van Ness on screen. Off-screen, though, Jonathan Van Ness has had quite the journey and reveals in Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love that not every journey is all about the good times.

Mara Wilson lived out every kid’s dream in the ‘90s. She was not only the titular character in Matilda  but also starred alongside Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire. However, while many admired her career, she was dealing with the loss of her mother. Wilson tells of how her Matilda costars, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, helped during that time, recounts life away from Hollywood as an adult, and touches on another loss, Williams.