To shake his terrifying memories of the war in Iraq, veteran Brian Castner began writing them down. "The Long Walk," the memoir that grew out of those personal explorations, was published last month by Doubleday. Its painfully intimate details are delivered in a terse language that only could have formed via immersion in the chaos of urban warfare -- just one of the reasons Castner’s book is already being compared to the two landmarks of American military memoir: Michael Herr’s "Dispatches" and Tim O’Brien’s "The Things They Carried." [via The Wall Street Journal]

Under the auspices of Simon & Schuster, ABC correspondent Lynne Sherr will write the authorized version of the astronaut Sally Ride’s life. She'll work closely with Ride’s family -- who will give her full access to records and memories -- and with Tam O’Shaughnessy, the space traveler’s little known partner of twenty-seven years. Sherr’s informative Ride will be published in 2013. [via Washington Post]

Following the example of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, the Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus, pop beauty and clever business woman Beyoncé Knowles will direct, star in, and produce a documentary film -- one covering her own life. While a twenty-minute sample of the part confessional, part live musical footage has been shopped to Hollywood studios, we have yet to hear when production will begin. [via LA Times]

The good news is that Elvis Costello has written a 60,000-word memoir. The bad news is that it’s in the form of seventeen essays written to accompany Rhino Records’ 2001–2006 reissue of his entire 1977-1996 catalog -- and omitted from the latest packaging by Universal Music, which now owns the rights to his first eleven albums. If you were fan enough to acquire Rhinos’ initial offering, you won’t need to join to rest of us in clamoring for their release in book form. [via Philly.com]

After ending her twenty-four-year marriage to Rolling Stones’ guitarist Ron Wood, Jo Wood is planning a revealing memoir -- which will include details on the teenage waitress for whom he left his marriage. Despite years of weathering the stereotypical behavior of an aging rock star, Mrs. Wood remains affectionate, if no longer accommodating. Although she claims abiding love for her husband, she insists she’ll do nothing to hid the details of her life with him, giving us what promises to be a sweetly honest peek at the domestic life of a Rolling Stone. [via London Evening Standard]