James Whale by James L Curtis. This is a great read mostly because Whale lived such an interesting life.

Can you recommend something you enjoyed?

just started Hollywood: a Third Memoir by Larry McMurtry.

this book was pretty close to wasted time. a little name dropping that was mildly interesting but nothing worth taking your time for.

Started yesterday Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. a page turner so far. I'm about half way through it.

A Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. Outstanding. the book was longer than I expected but I enjoyed it. Brittain wrote some novels also but they are hard to find. I suspect they are probably dated. The autobio covers from about 1900 to 1925 so it is dominated by the first WW and the people close to her who died in the fighting.

Really enjoyed The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, 5 stars for me.  Much has been written about this one so I won't dwell on it except to say it's the best I've read to date except for the other five star book I've read for this challenge: Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General by Bill O'Reilly.  Learned so much about Patton, too. 

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin. Even though Pepin is French his story is uniquely American. He made himself from humble beginnings to success by hard work.

started Brother Sister: Gertrude and Leo Stein by Brenda Wineapple. sort of a dual bio. I'm about 1/4 through. Very interesting so far and Gertrude hasn't settled in Paris yet.

reading now Up From Slavery by Booker T Washington. I'm reading a Penquin edition that has a good intro by a guy who wrote a bio of BTW. The intro has some interesting insights about BTW.

Joe and Me by James Prosek. a memoir about a young boy who becomes close to an old man who is an avid outdoorsman. Mostly fishing, a little hunting. Interesting exchange between inexperienced boy and experienced old man. Prosek is an artist so there are some very nice pictures scattered throughout. I think this would be a great gift for a fisherman.

Long Ago in France by M F K Fisher. great memoir. I have read this at least 3 times. a fun read. short book. only 155pp with a 4 page afterword tacked on.

Genet by Brenda Wineapple. a bio of Janet Flanner. really enjoying this. One of my favorite periods. 1920's and 30's Paris and American expatriates in that time.

Just finished Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick which is not really a biography but is so worth reading that I will share it here.  Thanks Charles for your continuing contributions to this thread.  I so appreciate it. 

I have read a few of N Philbrick's books. The first one I read was In the Heart of the Sea, then Sea of Glory and then Mayflower. Liked all of them.

Not so Wild a Dream by Eric Sevareid. autobio or perhaps memoir would be better. Excellent book. long book. Sevareid was an unusual guy. born early in the 20th century and lived through most of it and remembers it all.

Max Perkins: Editior of Genius by A Scott Berg.

Charles:  I have to find that one. 1978 National Book Award?  I knew about him in conjunction with Thomas Wolfe, where Wolfe would bring a trunk of manuscript to Perkins' doorstep and the editor would have to turn it into a book.

And there's a movie??? How did I miss that? And it's only 500 pages, not nearly the doorstop the Lindbergh bio was.

Perkins never worked on Wolfe's alone. He always worked with Wolfe. I'm waiting for the time when they broke up. I'm about 1/2 way in the book and they are working on a second book of Wolfe's. I have an interesting book of Perkins' letters that I have read twice so I know some of the details of the life. I have also read Papa Hemingway by A E Hotchner and there is a little about Perkins in there. That is a great memoir also.

The bio I have of Perkins is old and has underlining and writing in it so I will not be able to post it here.

p.s. I read the Lindbergh bio. There was nothing in there about Lindbergh's other family in Germany. Unless Berg has since revised the book. That was a good read though. I enjoyed it.

Staying Tuned: a Life in Journalism by Daniel Schorr. Barely started but it's a page turner so far.

I miss his commentaries. He is still relevant today.

A Native's Return: 1945-1986 by William Shirer. This is the 3rd volume of his memoir of his life. This is the only one of the books I have ever seen. It's interesting so far.

Branch Rickey by Jimmy Breslin. one of the Penquin Lives series. This is a very short skim over Rickey's life. It would be good for someone who knows little about Rickey and Jackie Robinson.

The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism by Stanley Cloud and Lynne Olson. Sort of a group biography of a unique group of journalist.

Affection and Trust: the Personal Correspondence of Harry Truman and Dean Acheson. These letters are from the period after Truman and Acheson left office. They are just private citizens. There is a nice introduction by David McCullough.

Summers with Juliet by Bill Roorbach. memoir. the story of a love affair and how it progresses.

David Brinkley: a Memoir by David Brinkley.