Bundles, A’Lelia. Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance. Scribner. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9781416544425. 288p. $28.99. BIOGRAPHY

Bundles (On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker) is Walker’s biographer and great-great-granddaughter. She writes a biography of Walker’s daughter, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance and the United States’ first high-profile Black heiress.

Gradvall, Jan. The Story of ABBA: Melancholy Undercover. St. Martin’s. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9781250379856. 304p. $30. BIOGRAPHY

Award-winning Gradvall, who was instrumental in founding the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and is close with ABBA, writes a musical biography of the band, its music, and its members’ personal lives and upbringings.

Jong-Fast, Molly. How To Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir. Viking. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9780593656471. 256p. $28. MEMOIR

Jong-Fast, a writer at Vanity Fair and host of the podcast Fast Politics, offers a memoir about her famous mother (the author Erica Jong), their intense relationship, and her complicated childhood.

Moennig, Kate & Leisha Hailey. So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All. St. Martin’s. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9781250361363. 256p. $32. MEMOIR

Moennig and Hailey, stars of The L Word, write a performing-arts memoir that also focuses on their personal lives, covering topics like finding family and creating groundbreaking TV. With a 350K-copy first printing.

Randall, Willard Sterne. John Hancock: First To Sign, First To Invest in America’s Independence. Dutton. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9780593472149. 288p. $34. BIOGRAPHY

Randall (distinguished scholar in history and professor emeritus, Champlain Coll.) offers a biography of John Hancock that focuses particularly on his role in the American Revolution.

Tameez, Zaakir. Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation. Holt. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9781250362551. 640p. $35.99. BIOGRAPHY

Tameez (a third-year student at Yale Law School, where he is an editor of the Yale Law Journal) writes a biography of Charles Sumner, the author of the 14th Amendment and one of the key figures who championed the end of enslavement.

Wallis, Michael. Belle Starr: The Truth Behind the Wild West Legend. Liveright. Jun. 2025. ISBN 9781631494772. 544p. $32.99. BIOGRAPHY

Bestselling Wallis (Billy the Kid) focuses on Belle Starr, the infamous outlaw known as the Bandit Queen, star of “wanted” posters. Wallis challenges accepted history and offers a nuanced view of Starr’s life and choices.