I thought I could’ve saved Karen Carpenter’s life had we been friends. But after slogging through this biography, I can’t imagine being friends with the woman Randy Schmidt depicts.

Nadine Cohodas' new book immortalizes one of the greatest musicians of our time, "The High Priestess of Soul," with never-before-shared stories about Nina Simone's childhood and her temperamental career that burned a path through the history of music.

The original burlesque bombshell and all around icon for progressive politics, Gypsy Rose Lee, comes alive in Noralee Frankel's revealing biography, Stripping Gypsy: The Life of Gypsy Rose Lee.

Margot Mifflin's The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman narrates the true, traumatic, and fantastic life of a young girl breaking cultural and racial boundaries in early-America.

Bad Girls Go Everywhere: The Life of Helen Gurley Brown celebrates the original superstar sex-columnist through all of her exuberant conquests and tumultuous shortcomings.