The celebrity memoir boom that began at the end of 2023 hasn’t shown signs of slowing — which is good news for those who enjoy cracking open the spine of a book filled with deeper insights into a favorite famous face.
As readers everywhere begin tearing through titles on their summer reading lists, three upcoming memoirs by Black celebrities may be worth adding to the pile.
Later this summer, “Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (Or Just Me?)” by none other than “Insecure” alum Jay Ellis arrives in bookstores. Emmy winner Uzo Aduba recently announced “The Road Is Good: How a Mother’s Strength Became a Daughter’s Purpose,” expected this fall. And “Girls Trip” producer Will Packer has penned “Who Better Than You?: The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big,” slated for release in 2025.
“Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (Or Just Me?)”
According to a release to theGrio, Ellis, 42, takes readers back to his childhood and adolescence in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, in his literary debut, due out from One World on July 30, 2024. Growing up a military brat constantly moving from one place to the next, Ellis, constantly the new kid with a reputation for being a mischievous only child, had to get creative when it came to companionship and entertainment. Accordingly, he created an imaginary friend named “Mikey.”
“Story after story, the one common denominator in all of it was my imaginary friend, Mikey,” Ellis told People magazine while discussing his upcoming release. “With Mikey popping up in so many of my memories, I started asking questions: Where do imaginary friends come from? Why? What purpose do they serve? What happened to Mikey? Why did he come to me in the first place?”
“The Road Is Good: How a Mother’s Strength Became a Daughter’s Purpose”
Pulled from her family history through anecdotes from her mother, aunts, and uncles and her own personal research from trips to Nigeria, Aduba, 43, will deliver the world a portrait paying homage to her late mother, Nonyem, and the Black immigrant experience when “The Road Is Good” is released on September 10, 2024.
“I hope the book shows readers that, despite the challenges we all inevitably face, there is good to be sought and found in the world,” Aduba told People. “That life holds so much for each of us. That each life is a story and no matter how big or small, long or short, it has an impact.”
“Who Better Than You?: The Art of Healthy Arrogance and Dreaming Big”
Looking to level up creatively or otherwise? Well, you may not have to any further than Packer’s upcoming release. “Who Better Than You?” was written for anyone “ready to make a major transition” in their career but who may not have all of the necessary resources to make the change they seek. The book will detail the tools Packer, 50, has gained throughout his career, from the days he was a college student trying to sell a micro-budget indie film to his grand success today.
“This is without question my most personal project to date,” Packer told People.
He continued, “I wrote ‘Who Better Than You?’ to reach anyone with a dream! My nearly three decades on the front lines in Hollywood have shown me it’s never too late or too hard to figure out what it is you want in life and go for it successfully.”