Biography and Memoir

From SJCPLSubjectGuides

Biography Links


Write your own Bio/journaling links

Biography, Memoir, What's the Difference?

Biography, in general, is someone's life story, written by another person. It is usually supported by documentation (letters, legal papers, etc.) proving the facts that they present, unless they are unauthorized biographies, in which case, anything goes.

Autobiography is the story of someone's life, written by themselves. It also is supported by documentation.

Memoir is sometimes considered the same as autobiography, but it is less formal, less well-documented, and often, about only a segment of a person's life.

Journals or diaries are usually the most informal of all, written for the author and not for an audience. They are not organized in story form, but have individual entries, usually in date order, and are considered support documents for other types of biography.

Contents


Biography resources @ your library

From the new shelf


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J.Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography

First Samurai: the Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel Taira Masakado / Karl F. Friday

W.A.R.: An Unauthorized Biography of Axl Rose

Best sellers, award winners, classics


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Benjamin Franklin: An American life

Diary of a young girl (Anne Frank)

John Adams



Staff recommendations

Stories of people's lives that our staff couldn't put down. Not all books are in the Biography section.


O'Keeffe and Stieglitz: An American Romance

East to the Dawn: the Life of Amelia Earhart

Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life

Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story

Writing your own life story/journaling

Blogging: Keeping an online journal

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is an online journal. The easiest blogging website to use is Blogger. You fill out a profile about yourself, choose how you want your page to look, and then start writing. Your posts are visible on the internet, and people can add comments, if you allow them.

Blog entries can be focused on life happenings, topics of interest, work, family life, pets. Here is an example:

Tame the Web technology blog


The library has a blog, too - the SJCPL Blog. Click here to check it out!

SJCPL journaling resources

Dear Diary

Before You Forget

Keeping a Journal You Love

Leaving a Trace

Making & Keeping Creative Journals

Making Journals by Hand

Your Autobiography: More than 300 Questions


Photojournaling and Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking Techniques for Beginners

Scrapbook Storytelling

Scrapbooking Traditions

Quilted Memories: Journaling, Scrapbooking and Creating Keepsakes with Fabric

Bookworks: Books, Memory and Photo Albums, Journals and Diaries Made by Hand

The Photo Scribe: A Writing Guide: How to Write the Stories Behind Your Photographs