Up Till Now: The Autobiography
by William Shatner, with David Fisher
Thomas Dunne Books, 2008
Get a Life!
by William Shatner, with Chris Kreski
Atria, 1999
You've gotta hand it to Shatner. He's made quite a cottage publishing industry for himself. Just at my local library alone, they list 52 items "authored" by him, although that does include some duplicates.
The latest work to ebb forth from the pen of yet another Shatner ghostwriter, Up Till Now will help the uninitiated reader to put the great one's life in perspective. Yes, as a matter of fact, Shatner did quite a lot of work both before and after Star Trek. Not that it will matter a century hence, for if he's remembered for anything at all, it will be as T. J. Hooker (kidding).
I skipped around a good bit in this book, mainly reading the Star Trek stuff and a few other bits and pieces. Given the quantity of stuff Shatner's "written" about Star Trek it's hard to imagine that he hasn't covered this junk in a host of other books. But I wouldn't know since I haven't read them.
I found it a little hard to swallow the premise of Get A Life, which Shatner came out with about a decade ago, but what do I know? It chronicles his alleged discovery of the vast world of Star Trek fandom, which he claims to have never really delved into previously. Well, maybe so and maybe not, but the result - as with Up Till Now - is an innocuous and reasonably entertaining way to while away a few hours.
For a good summary of Star Trek autobiographies, refer to this article at TrekMovie.

