Ali, Fatima with Tarajia Morrell. Savor: A Chef's Hunger for More. Ballantine. Oct. 2022. 384p. ISBN 9780593355190. $28. MEMOIR

A fan favorite on Bravo’s Top Chef, Pakistani American chef/restaurateur Ali discovered before the show aired that she had a rare form of bone cancer, which soon became terminal. She dedicated the last year of her life to traveling the world, eating amazing food, spending time with loved ones, and writing this meditation on being a chef, a daughter, and a queer woman.

Bee, Vanessa A. Home Bound: An Uprooted Daughter's Reflections on Belonging. Astra House. Oct. 2022. 256p. ISBN 9781662601330. $28. MEMOIR

Born in Cameroon, adopted by her aunt and the aunt’s white French husband, taken to the United States and back to Europe after her parents’ divorce, settled in Reno, NV, as a teenager amid the financial and housing crises, accepted to Harvard law at age 20, then divorcing her husband and abandoning her evangelical Christian faith upon graduation, Bee now pursues a career in economic justice. Understandably, she formats her memoir around her own definition of the word home.

Bush, Cori. The Forerunner: A Memoir. Knopf. Oct. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9780593320587. $25.99. MEMOIR

A St. Louis nurse, pastor, and community organizer, Bush was encouraged by community leaders to run for office after providing medical care to frontliners while protesting during the Ferguson Uprising occassioned by the shooting of MIchael Brown Jr. The first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress, she offers a call to action illuminated by her experiences as a minimum-wage worker, unhoused parent, and survivor of domestic and sexual violence.

Glenn, Ruth M. Everything I Never Dreamed: A Memoir. Atria. Oct. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781982196004. $28. MEMOIR

After being shot three times by a husband who routinely beat her, Glenn vowed that if she survived she would dedicate herself to combating domestic violence. Now she’s the CEO and president of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Her memoir considers why men beat and kill women, why women and children are devalued, and how domestic violence can be demystified.

Hill, Jemele. Uphill: A Memoir. Holt. Oct. 2022. 256p. ISBN 9781250624376. $27.99. CD. MEMOIR

Born to a teenage mother and heroin-addicted father, Hill found escape from intergenerational trauma in writing, moving determinedly from diarist to newspaper reporter to Emmy Award–winning host of ESPN’s SportsCenter to staff writer for the Atlantic. Here she reflects on work, the women in her family, and the ferocious reaction to her calling Donald Trump a white supremacist. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Kadlec, Jeanna. Heretic: A Memoir. Harper. Oct. 2022. 272p. ISBN 9780358581819. $27.99. CD. MEMOIR

Married to the pastor’s son but recognizing that she was queer, Kadlec knew she had to leave behind the evangelical church and her Midwestern working-class upbringing. Here she shows how each reinforced the other while considering how conservative Christianity ultimately undermines politics and society. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Manning, Chelsea. Untitled. Farrar. Oct. 2022. 272p. ISBN 9780374279271. $28. MEMOIR

After recounting a difficult childhood and her pride in joining the military, Manning chronicles her 2010 decision to leak 720,000 classified military documents while working in U.S. Army intelligence and declaration of her gender identity as a woman after being convicted of the unlawful possession and distribution of these materials. She also pleads for greater government accountability. Originally scheduled for July 2020; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

Ryan, April. Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem. Amistad: HarperCollins. Oct. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9780063210196. $27.99. MEMOIR

A White House correspondent for more than three decades who was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2017, Ryan reflects on the watershed year 2020—when the United States elected its first Black woman vice president—as she celebrates the resilience of Black women and recalls her own triumphs and challenges. With a 60,000-copy first printing.

Samatar, Sofia. The White Mosque. Catapult. Oct. 2022. 336p. ISBN 9781646220977. $27. MEMOIR

A scholar of African and Arabic literature, British Fantasy/World Fantasy award winner Satamar recounts her journey through Uzbekistan to the site of the Christian village Ak Metchet (“The White Mosque”), built in the late 1800s by German-speaking Mennonites traveling from Russia. Along the way, she reflects on her own identity as daughter of a Swiss Mennonite and a Somali Muslim, raised as a Mennonite of color in the United States.

Sullivan, Margaret. Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life. St. Martin’s. Oct. 2022. 288p. ISBN 9781250281906. $28.99. MEMOIR

Over her four-decade career, Sullivan moved from intern to editor in chief at the Buffalo News, became the first woman appointed public editor at the New York Times, and now serves as the Washington Post's media columnist. Here she offers an insider’s view of U.S. news reporting and an argument that public faith in the press must be restored. With a 125,000-copy first printing.

Thompson. Debra. The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging. S. & S. Sept. 2022. 272p. ISBN 9781982182465. pap. $18.99. MEMOIR

Moving to the United States in 2010, McGill University political scientist Thompson felt she was reconnecting with her ancestors, who had escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. She follows up decade-long travels across the United States—at a time when Black Lives Matter and Donald Trump were emerging—with this meditation on the meaning of home and of being a Black person in North America today.