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2005 Biography, autobiography, and journals

This category includes the obvious biographies (Plutarch's Lives) and autobiographies (Ben Franklin's), and also autobiographical novels (Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings), diaries (Anne Frank's) and journals (Thoreau's Walden). In this category, as with other categories, we erred on the side of inclusion. This list has been updated for 2005.

#1 Walden Henry David Thoreau Library holdings: 23,551 Bibliographic records: 477 Rank on complete list: 41 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#2 Lives Plutarch Library holdings: 22,084 Bibliographic records: 966 Rank on complete list: 47 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#3 Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank Library holdings: 19,541 Bibliographic records: 339 Rank on complete list: 63 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#4 Autobiography Benjamin Franklin Library holdings: 17,505 Bibliographic records: 573 Rank on complete list: 76 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#5 History of Prophets and Kings Tabari Library holdings: 15,599 Bibliographic records: 181 Rank on complete list: 100 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#6 Life of Samuel Johnson James Boswell Library holdings: 15,126 Bibliographic records: 482 Rank on complete list: 109 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#7 Van Gogh Vincent Van Gogh Library holdings: 13,993 Bibliographic records: 373 Rank on complete list: 129 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#8 Confessions Saint Augustine Library holdings: 13,976 Bibliographic records: 730 Rank on complete list: 131 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#9 Travels of Marco Polo Marco Polo Library holdings: 11,472 Bibliographic records: 327 Rank on complete list: 190 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#10 Autobiography Benvenuto Cellini Library holdings: 10,529 Bibliographic records: 254 Rank on complete list: 224 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#11 Commentaries on the Gallic War Julius Caesar Library holdings: 10,515 Bibliographic records: 680 Rank on complete list: 225 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#12 Diary Samuel Pepys Library holdings: 9,729 Bibliographic records: 227 Rank on complete list: 268 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#13 Lives of the Most Eminent Painters and Sculptors Giorgio Vasari Library holdings: 9,395 Bibliographic records: 125 Rank on complete list: 280 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#14 Story of My Life Helen Keller Library holdings: 9,137 Bibliographic records: 155 Rank on complete list: 297 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#15 Profiles in Courage John F. Kennedy Library holdings: 8,950 Bibliographic records: 65 Rank on complete list: 311 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#16 Log Christopher Columbus Library holdings: 8,861 Bibliographic records: 117 Rank on complete list: 320 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#17 Rembrandt Rembrandt [van Rijn] Library holdings: 8,859 Bibliographic records: 241 Rank on complete list: 321 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#18 Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X Library holdings: 8,470 Bibliographic records: 39 Rank on complete list: 351 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#19 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou Library holdings: 8,130 Bibliographic records: 43 Rank on complete list: 377 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#20 True History of the Conquest of New Spain Bernal Díaz del Castillo Library holdings: 7,958 Bibliographic records: 201 Rank on complete list: 393 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#21 Confessions Jean Jacques Rousseau Library holdings: 7,915 Bibliographic records: 330 Rank on complete list: 401 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#22 Out of Africa Isak Dinesen Library holdings: 7,906 Bibliographic records: 74 Rank on complete list: 403 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#23 Roughing It Mark Twain Library holdings: 7,895 Bibliographic records: 160 Rank on complete list: 404 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#24 Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt Library holdings: 7,776 Bibliographic records: 50 Rank on complete list: 416 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#25 Voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin Library holdings: 7,583 Bibliographic records: 160 Rank on complete list: 434 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#26 Education of Henry Adams Henry Adams Library holdings: 7,365 Bibliographic records: 79 Rank on complete list: 458 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#27 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave Frederick Douglass Library holdings: 7,132 Bibliographic records: 96 Rank on complete list: 497 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#28 Worldly Philosophers: The Lives Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers Robert L. Heilbroner Library holdings: 7,061 Bibliographic records: 27 Rank on complete list: 511 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#29 Lives of the Caesars Suetonius Library holdings: 6,870 Bibliographic records: 351 Rank on complete list: 550 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#30 Black Boy Richard Wright Library holdings: 6,794 Bibliographic records: 83 Rank on complete list: 567 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#31 In Cold Blood Truman Capote Library holdings: 6,501 Bibliographic records: 94 Rank on complete list: 626 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#32 Black Like Me John Howard Griffin Library holdings: 6,467 Bibliographic records: 46 Rank on complete list: 636 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#33 Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Meriwether Lewis Library holdings: 6,462 Bibliographic records: 30 Rank on complete list: 637 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#34 Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant Library holdings: 6,263 Bibliographic records: 79 Rank on complete list: 679 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#35 Up From Slavery Booker T. Washington Library holdings: 6,203 Bibliographic records: 96 Rank on complete list: 693 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#36 Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians Nicolas Slonimsky Library holdings: 6,105 Bibliographic records: 6 Rank on complete list: 728 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#37 Apologia Pro Vita Sua John Henry Newman Library holdings: 6,083 Bibliographic records: 137 Rank on complete list: 736 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#38 Roots Alex Haley Library holdings: 5,971 Bibliographic records: 83 Rank on complete list: 760 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#39 All Creatures Great and Small James Herriot Library holdings: 5,970 Bibliographic records: 45 Rank on complete list: 761 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#40 Travels with Charley John Steinbeck Library holdings: 5,969 Bibliographic records: 44 Rank on complete list: 762 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#41 Tuesdays With Morrie Mitch Albom Library holdings: 5,962 Bibliographic records: 43 Rank on complete list: 767 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#42 Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Howard Pyle Library holdings: 5,947 Bibliographic records: 116 Rank on complete list: 777 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#43 Kon-Tiki Thor Heyerdahl Library holdings: 5,938 Bibliographic records: 81 Rank on complete list: 783 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#44 John Adams David G. McCullough Library holdings: 5,907 Bibliographic records: 17 Rank on complete list: 789 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#45 Autobiography Mark Twain Library holdings: 5,902 Bibliographic records: 51 Rank on complete list: 790 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#46 Actes and Monuments John Foxe Library holdings: 5,762 Bibliographic records: 292 Rank on complete list: 833 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#47 New Life Dante Alighieri Library holdings: 5,727 Bibliographic records: 312 Rank on complete list: 842 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#48 Heart of a Woman Maya Angelou Library holdings: 5,723 Bibliographic records: 11 Rank on complete list: 844 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#49 Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand Library holdings: 5,707 Bibliographic records: 18 Rank on complete list: 848 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#50 Diaries Joseph Goebbels Library holdings: 5,523 Bibliographic records: 51 Rank on complete list: 907 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#51 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig Library holdings: 5,517 Bibliographic records: 52 Rank on complete list: 910 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#52 Facts About the Presidents Joseph Nathan Kane Library holdings: 5,479 Bibliographic records: 4 Rank on complete list: 924 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#53 Iacocca Lee Iacocca Library holdings: 5,474 Bibliographic records: 26 Rank on complete list: 925 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#54 All Things Wise and Wonderful James Herriot Library holdings: 5,460 Bibliographic records: 40 Rank on complete list: 932 Find this title in an OCLC library near you
#55 Hiding Place Corrie Ten Boom Library holdings: 5,444 Bibliographic records: 50 Rank on complete list: 938 Find this title in an OCLC library near you