“It’s no harder to think big than it is to think small. The only hard part is giving yourself permission to think that way. Well, I don’t just give you permission, I demand it of you.”
—From Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger, 76 (October 10)

In Making It So by Sir Patrick Stewart, 83, the Star Trek actor tells about growing up poor in northern England, where he discovered a love for the stage that led to fame and acclaim.

Jada Pinkett Smith, 52, unspools her life story, including her marriage with actor Will Smith, in Worthy, focusing on her search for self-worth, which, she told People, “has been a real struggle. … I think that that will be the part that will be most surprising to the reader.” (October 17)

If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos, 60, with cowriter Daphne Young, is the actor’s story of his upbringing within a Greek American family, roles on General Hospital (Remember Blackie? Great hair!) and Full House, as well as his period of alcohol abuse. It’s got “laughs, tears, and some filler, just like life,” Stamos writes. (October 24)

Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones by Dolly Parton, 77, with cowriter Holly George-Warren, is the second book in a trilogy Parton began with 2020’s Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. Her latest is “a look at my life in costume and hair,” she’s said. (October 17)

Take a nostalgia trip to a funkier era with Sly Stone, 80, the musical genius behind Sly and the Family Stone (“Everyday People”), in Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), cowritten with Ben Greenman. The title echoes the band’s 1969 hit song. (October 17)

Willie Nelson, 90, reveals the origins of 160 of his classic tunes in Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs, cowritten with David Ritz, just in time for Nelson’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, on November 3. (October 31)

The long-awaited memoir from Barbra Streisand, 81, My Name Is Barbra, arrives on November 7, with the icon’s tales about her acting aspirations, famous friends (including Marlon Brando), marriage with James Brolin, and remarkable career. —Christina Ianzito