There are hundreds of biographies and memoirs about/by bi+ and fluid people in the world, but the Bi Pan Library does not yet have the resources to catalogue them all online. This page currently only lists the books we have physically collected. We keep an enormous spreadsheet of book titles and authors for future collection, so if you have a book or author we should check in to, please fill out our media suggestion form (or use our contact form if you’d like to donate a physical copy). If you’re curious how books make it onto our shelves, you can read the library’s inclusion criteria here.
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BIOGRAPHY
MARGARET WISE BROWN: aWAKENED BY THE MOON
leonard s. marcus
“In this moving biography, Marcus portrays Brown’s complex character and her tragic, seesaw life. Her literary achievement and groundbreaking discoveries about small children’s emotional needs were offset by tormented romances”
Barry and Alice : Portrait of a Bisexual Marriage
Barry Kohn
“Presenting an intimate, detailed portrait of their relationship, Barry and Alice describe with candor and sensitivity their personal lives and life-style, and they talk about the important role bisexuality has come to play in their marriage.”
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday
Angela Y. Davis
“Angela Davis provides the historical, social, and political contexts with which to reinterpret the performances and lyrics of Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday as powerful articulations of an alternative consciousness profoundly at odds with mainstream American culture.”
Dusty! Queen of the Postmods
Annie J. Randall
“In this penetrating look at her music and career, Annie J. Randall shows how Springfield’s contributions transcend the narrow limits of those descriptions and how this middle-class former convent girl became perhaps the unlikeliest of artists to achieve soul credibility on both sides of the Atlantic.”
In the Great Green Room: the Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown
Amy Gary
“For decades children and their parents around the world have cuddled together to read Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Few know that these classic works were part of a publishing revolution led by Margaret Wise Brown, who was renowned not only for her prolific writing and creative genius, but also for her stunning beauty and thirst for adventure.”
Marlene
C. W. Gortner
“A lush, dramatic biographical novel of one of the most glamorous and alluring legends of Hollywood’s golden age, Marlene Dietrich—from the gender-bending cabarets of Weimar Berlin to the lush film studios of Hollywood, a sweeping story of passion, glamour, ambition, art, and war.”
Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, & Heretics
Jason Porath
“Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous “pretty pink princess” stereotype on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries, and more who refused to behave and meekly accept their place.”
Rough Amusements: The True Story of A’Lelia Walker, Patroness of the Harlem Renaissance’s Down-Low Culture
Ben Neihart
“Neihart takes us into the heart of A’Lelia’s world-gay Harlem in the 1920s. In tracing its cultural antecedents, he delves into the sexual subculture of nineteenth-century New York.”
The Secret Life of Tyrone Power: The Drama of a Bisexual in the Spotlight
Hector Arce
“A revelation of the fate of a bisexual living part of his life covertly and part of it in the glaring Hollywood limelight. Here are his complicated romances with Lana Turner, Judy Garland, and Linda Christian, as well as clandestine affairs with members of the same sex.”
Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy
Leslie Brody
“The story of Louise Fitzhugh’s hidden life and of the creation of her masterpiece, which remains long after her death as a testament to the complicated relationship between truth, secrecy, and individualism.”
MEMOIR
Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy
Chitra Ramaswamy
“A memoir exploring each of the nine months of Chitra’s pregnancy, Expecting is a book of intimate, strange, wild and lyrical essays that pay tribute to this most extraordinary and ordinary of experiences. “
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Charles M. Blow
“New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow mines the compelling poetry of the out-of-time African-American Louisiana town where he grew up — a place where slavery’s legacy felt astonishingly close, reverberating in the elders’ stories and in the near-constant wash of violence.”
The Fixed Stars
Molly Wizenberg
“Molly Wizenberg found herself drawn to a female attorney she hardly knew. Married to a man for nearly a decade and mother to a toddler, Wizenberg discovers that the trajectory of our lives is rarely as smooth or as logical as we’d like to believe.”
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things
Jenny Lawson
“In Furiously Happy, a humor memoir tinged with tragedy and pathos, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest.”
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
Carrie Brownstein
“Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl is the deeply personal and revealing narrative of Brownstein’s life in music, from ardent fan to pioneering female guitarist to comedic performer and luminary in the independent rock world.”
I Might Regret This: Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff
abbi jacobson
“A collection of anecdotes, observations and reflections–all told in the sharp, wildly funny, and relatable voice that has endeared Abbi to critics and fans alike.”
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir
Jenny Lawson
“Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor.”
Lady Sings the Blues
Billie Holiday
“The fiercely honest, no-holds-barred autobiography of Billie Holiday, the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensation.”
Many Love: a Memoir of Polyamory and Finding Love(S)
Sophie Lucido Johnson
“In this bold, illustrated memoir, a young woman shares both a personal and sociological take on modern, “unconventional” love, exploring her own transformation from serial monogamist to proud polyamorist.”
Mean
Myriam Gurba
“Myriam Gurba’s debut is the bold and hilarious tale of her coming of age as a queer, mixed-race Chicana.”
Not My Father’s Son
Alan Cumming
“With ribald humor, wit, and incredible insight, Alan seamlessly moves back and forth in time, integrating stories from his childhood in Scotland and his experiences today as the celebrated actor of film, television, and stage.”
Out East: Memoir of a Montauk Summer
John Glynn
“A gripping portrait of life in a Montauk summer house–a debut memoir of first love, identity and self-discovery among a group of friends who became family.”
Overshare: Love, Laughs, Sexuality, & Secrets
Rose Ellen Dix & Rosie Spaughton
“Delve deep into the unfiltered highs and lows of Rose and Rosie’s life: family relationships, secrets of a happy marriage, struggles with OCD and anxiety, finding love and navigating the world as a gay couple. Get ready to laugh, cry, cringe and OVERSHARE.”
The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me
Keah Brown
“From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America.”
So Much I Want To Tell You: Letters to My Sister
Anna Akana
“Anna Akana opens up about her own struggles with poor self-esteem and reveals both the highs and lows of coming-of-age. Witty and real, Anna breaks things down in a way only a big sister can.”
SOLDIER: A POET’S CHILDHOOD
June Jordan
“A profoundly moving childhood memoir by noted poet, essayist, teacher, and journalist June Jordan documenting her childhood as a gifted daughter whose immigrant parents struggled in order to provide her with the educational and social opportunities not available to them.”
Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Spiritual Memoir
Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew
“A woman’s coming-of-age journey through the rugged landscape of Wales to the reflective quiet of a retreat center. Along the way she questions and explores the depth of her Methodist faith as she comes to terms with her bisexual identity.”
Trans Mission My Quest To A Beard
Alex Bertie
“Alex is an ordinary teenager: he likes pugs, donuts, retro video games and he sleeps with his socks on. He’s also transgender… throughout this book, Alex will share what it means to be in his shoes, as well as his personal advice to other trans teens.”
Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame
Mara Wilson
“Tackling everything from what she learned about sex on the set of Melrose Place, to discovering in adolescence that she was no longer “cute” enough for Hollywood, Mara Wilson charts her journey from accidental fame to relative (but happy) obscurity.”
Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience
Anuradha Bhagwati
“A raw, unflinching memoir by a former US Marine Captain chronicling her journey from dutiful daughter of immigrants to radical activist effecting historic policy reform.”
What the Mouth Wants: A Memoir of Food, Love and Belonging
Monica Meneghetti
“This mouthwatering, intimate, and sensual memoir traces Monica Meneghetti’s unique life journey through her relationship with food, family and love.”
Without Stopping
Paul Bowles
“Paul Bowles, the acclaimed author of The Shelterlng Sky, offers moving, powerful, subtle, and fascinatlng insights into his life, his writing, and his world.”
You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures
Alan Cumming
“A magical concoction of the mischievous, tender, whimsical, and debauched real-life adventures of Alan Cumming, told in his own words and pictures.”