Ask HN: What biographies/memoirs to read in 2018?

Two works lauded by many that lived up to the hype for me by changing my understanding of science and the modern world are

David Wootton's biography of Galileo: http://www.watcheroftheskies.org/

Janet Browne's biography of Darwin: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/10/biography.high...

For one of interest to entrepreneurs that is not immediately obvious is the autobiography of Henry Bessemer [1]. The problems he faced (and solved) getting his inventions used still has value today [2].

1. https://archive.org/details/sirhenrybessemer00bessuoft

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bessemer

This one:

"A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market" by Edward O. Thorp

http://www.edwardothorp.com/books/a-man-for-all-markets/

I really liked:

https://goo.gl/Wb8YoH When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - Goodreads

https://goo.gl/gzGxAo Dying: A Memoir by Cory Taylor - Goodreads

Here are few great ones http://cherrypick.club/post/QmxvZ1Bvc3QtLS00Ng==

Shrill by Lindy West and Hunger by Roxane Gay. They are both memoirs by excellent women writers talking about being a woman and about being fat in American society.

Biographies I enjoyed in 2017:

"The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism"

"Worldly Philosopher The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman"

'Shoe Dog' added in my list

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

“Skunk Works” by Ben Rich.

It’s showing its age a little bit in places, but seems as pertinent as ever.

Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson is a gem.