The 25 Best New Celebrity Memoirs of 2023

Prince Harry's Spare was full of jaw-dropping revelations, weird tales, and a peek behind the curtain of what life is like in the British royal family. Ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer, Spare was Harry's side of his life story, and how he dealt with grief and healing. "I don’t think my father or brother will read the book. I really hope they do. But I don’t think they will," Prince Harry said in an interview around publication. While the British royal family may not have read it, one thing's for sure: The world certainly did.

Kerry Washington's Thicker than Water recounts her upbringing and career as an actress and activist. "Writing a memoir is, by far, the most deeply personal project I have ever taken on," she said. "I hope that readers will receive it with open hearts and I pray that it offers new insights and perspectives, and invites people into deeper compassion — for themselves and others."

Barbra Streisand's long-anticipated memoir finally hit the shelves this November, featuring a revealing look into her life and career, and charming anecdotes about everything from Yentl to Princess Diana.

Richard E. Grant arrived in London from Swaziland in 1982 to pursue his dreams as an actor. Along the way, he fell in love with the renowned dialect coach, Joan Washington. For forty years, the two embarked on life together–highs and lows of Hollywood, parenting, and all. When Washington passed away in 2021, she left him with a challenge: find a "pocketful of happiness in every day.” Written like diary entries, this memoir is written in honor of that challenge. Grant shares the details of his life's experiences from the pain of losing his beloved wife, to their memories spent together, from his roles in Withnail and I to his thrilling Oscar Award nomination thirty years later for Can You Ever Forgive Me?

"I just feel for so long I've been misunderstood and underestimated," Paris Hilton told NPR about writing Paris: The Memoir. "And I feel that the past over two decades in this industry, my story has been told by other people. And I was just ready to get real and tell my truth." In a wide-ranging book, the biggest truths lay in Hilton's teenage years, and the her experiences with the so-called troubled teen industry.

Elliot Page shot to fame as a pregnant teen in Juno, but his public experience as a young starlet did not line up who he truly was: A queer, trans person. "I didn’t think I could write a book. Books, particularly memoirs, have really shifted my life, offered me inspiration, comfort, been humbling, all of those things," Page said. "And I think this period of not just hate, about our healthcare, it felt like the right time. Trans and queer stories are so often picked apart, or worse, universalized." What resulted was an intimate, resonant look at Page's journey from child star to today.

Britney Spears gets honest in her memoir, a moving and brave tale of "freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope."

Sir Patrick Stewart's memoir, Making It So, like many of the other revealing celebrity books on this list, details his childhood through his journey to acclaim on stage and screen. "I never had the time to do it. But then my agent, early in 2020, said, 'Look, Patrick, there is no work. It’s going to be a shut down everywhere, and it could last for months. This is the only window, so why not give it a go? If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just return the advance, and you can go back to doing jigsaw puzzles,'" he recounted.

American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, now 70, reflects on her childhood in the Deep South, and the experiences that shaped her unforgettable music. "I’ve held back from talking about my childhood over the decades of my life," Williams writes. "I’ve written songs about it instead." Now, she finally takes pen to paper to share her stories.

Chita Rivera, born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, turned 90 earlier this year—and wow has the legendary actress lived a full life. In this wide-ranging, entertaining memoir written with journalist Patrick Pacheco, the three-time Tony Award winner reflects on her nine decades, and writes about her life on stage and screen. "It was the next stage for me to write it down. And it was God’s way of reminding me this is the life I had or have. I got so busy that I didn’t remember that I had a wonderful, wonderful life," she tells the AP. And yes, Chita is as wonderful as she is.

Jada Pinkett Smith dives deep into her life—from her childhood in Baltimore to her marriage with Will Smith. As her husband (or are they even married) wrote in the blurb, "I went through so many emotions reading this book. Reconnecting to one's ancestors and truly feeling, not only hearing, their stories are fertile ground for true ecstatic embodiment of the self. We have to know where we've been to see where we're going."

Minka Kelly shot to fame as Lyla on Friday Night Lights, but never shared her personal story. Now, as the title promises, she's telling her readers everything—including her childhood traumas. "I decided to tell my story because the media has written a narrative of me, based on the men they have seen me with, whether I’ve dated them or not," she told The Cut. An unflinching, no-holds-barred look at her life and career.

Henry Winkler is more than "The Fonz," his character from Happy Days. His memoir covers his big break and career, but also his mental health journey and therapy.

Pamela Anderson sets the record straight in Love, Pamela, aptly subtitled "a memoir of prose, poetry, and truth." In the pages of her memoir, she recounts everything from her childhood in Vancouver to the abuse she faced throughout her career. The book came out around the same time as Pamela, a Love Story dropped on Netflix—making 2023 Anderson's year to reclaim her narrative.

Not quite a memoir, but a book written by two celebrities that we felt was worthy of inclusion: Laura Dern and her mom, Diane Ladd, co-wrote Honey, Baby, Mine. The book stemmed from conversations about love, death, marriage, art, and legacy the two had on long walks following a scary health diagnosis for Ladd. As the publisher notes, "The result is a celebration of the power of leaving nothing unsaid that will make you want to call the people you love the most and start talking."

Aurora James—activist, fashion designer, and founder of the Fifteen Percent Pledge—tells her story of how she got to where she is today in Wildflower. As T&C noted in our favorite books of spring 2023, "James recounts a peripatetic childhood, brushes with the law, and disenchantment with the fashion industry, but also her inspiring ability to find a path that combined her creative genius and desire to give back. Wildflower is true to its name, sharing a story of someone who bloomed despite obstacles and dedicated herself to beauty inside and out even when doing so wasn't so simple."

To mark his 90th birthday, Willie Nelson goes behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs. Energy Follows Throughout is not just a classic memoir—it's full of never-before-seen photos and various ephemera of Nelson's. As the publisher notes, "Willie is disarmingly honest—what do you have to lose when you’re about to turn 90? —meditating on the nature of songwriting and finding his voice, and the themes he’s explored his whole life."

Andrew McCarthy, member of the Brat Pack, is now a dad. In this follow up to his memoir Brat: An '80s Story (and in his second career as a travel writer), he sets out on the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile walk across Spain, with his son Sam (also an actor now). In this funny, moving memoir, McCarthy writes about his first time walking the Camino de Santiago, and the second time with his son. Part father-son bonding, part travelogue, all very emotional.

In Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones's new memoir, aptly titled Leslie F*cking Jones, the comedian doesn't hold back in recounting her experiences with racism and misogyny in the comedy world. "It’s not easy being a woman in comedy, especially when you’re a tall-ass Black woman with a trumpet voice. I have to fight so that no one takes me for granted, and no one takes advantage. These are the stories that explain why," she explains.

Geddy Lee, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Rush bassist, opens up in his memoir My Effin' Life. In the pages, he lets readers in on his childhood—he was born Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, named for his grandfather who was murdered in the Holocaust—and on the rise of Rush.