When most people think of memoirs, their thoughts are of vacuous celebrities talking about their many conquests or  inept presidents' long winded accounts of their few years in office. For the most part, this is true.

The bookshelves and online stores are filled with these books, and they are usually the only ones that ever make it to the best seller list. Far below the top 100 memoirs are books about real people that have gone through real challenges.

These memoirs are their personal accounts of teen pregnancy, jailhouse Christianity and living with the mob. Their books don't get ads in The New York Times or become part of Oprah's book club. Often, the book is just as much about therapy for the writer as it is about entertaining the reader.

One night, my older brother and I were up late watching television and an old episode of Star Trek came on. I had never  heard of it, but my brother said I would probably like it. That was all it took to become a lifelong trekkie.

William Shatner, or simply The Shat, became an icon of masculinity by fighting the good fight and always getting the girl. The heroic Captain James Tiberious Kirk just turned 80 and released his new memoir, “Shatner Rules.”

It's no secret that there was a time when Shatner was not appreciative of the iconic character that made him a household name, which led to a tirade made famous by a now infamous Saturday Night Live skit. In his new book, he talks about his love and hate relationship with the good captain and love of horses. He's learned to take things lightly and not be afraid to make fun of himself.