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Literary Hot Goss

englishpete's profile picture englishpete Host

4 participants (111 books)

01 Jan 2025—31 Dec 2025

Overview

Read books throughout the year related to the personal lives of famous writers. As sophisticated  or trashy as you prefer. Range of books can include biographies/autobiographies, memoirs, semi-autobiographical elements found in their fiction, author’s private journals, essays, letter collections, travelogues, etc. 

Challenge Books

All books added
Hemingway and Gellhorn: The Untold Story of Two Writers, Espionage, War, and the Great Depression by Jerome Tuccille

Hemingway and Gellhorn: The Untold Story of Two Writers, Espionage, War, and the Great Depression

Jerome Tuccille

284 pages • first pub 2011 (editions)

nonfiction biography history informative medium-paced
Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue by

Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue

256 pages • missing pub info (editions)

nonfiction essays health literary psychology self help emotional slow-paced
Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression by Nell Casey

Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression

Nell Casey

320 pages • first pub 2001 (editions)

nonfiction essays psychology informative reflective sad slow-paced
The Thirsty Muse: Alcohol and the American Writer by Tom Dardis

The Thirsty Muse: Alcohol and the American Writer

Tom Dardis

292 pages • first pub 1989 (editions)

nonfiction reflective medium-paced
A Drinking Companion: Alcohol and Writers' Lives by Kelly Boler

A Drinking Companion: Alcohol and Writers' Lives

Kelly Boler

176 pages • first pub 2004 (editions)

nonfiction biography funny informative medium-paced
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts

Maxine Hong Kingston

224 pages • first pub 1976 (editions)

nonfiction classics feminism memoir challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
Why She Wrote: A Graphic History of the Lives, Inspiration, and Influence Behind the Pens of Classic Women Writers by Lauren Burke, Hannah K. Chapman

Why She Wrote: A Graphic History of the Lives, Inspiration, and Influence Behind the Pens of Classic Women Writers

Lauren Burke, Hannah K. Chapman

256 pages • first pub 2021 (editions)

nonfiction history informative inspiring fast-paced
Ghost of the Hardy Boys: The Writer Behind the World's Most Famous Boy Detectives by Leslie McFarlane

Ghost of the Hardy Boys: The Writer Behind the World's Most Famous Boy Detectives

Leslie McFarlane

304 pages • first pub 1976 (editions)

nonfiction autobiography biography reflective medium-paced
Page Fright: Foibles and Fetishes of Famous Writers by Harry Bruce

Page Fright: Foibles and Fetishes of Famous Writers

Harry Bruce

351 pages • first pub 2009 (editions)

nonfiction informative reflective slow-paced
Famous Writers I Have Known by James Magnuson

Famous Writers I Have Known

James Magnuson

320 pages • first pub 2014 (editions)

fiction contemporary funny mysterious reflective fast-paced