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Biography and Memoir January 2021
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| Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and Womanhood by Christa ParravaniWhat it's about: Faced with mounting bills and a crumbling marriage, struggling West Virginia mom of two Christa Parravani contemplated having an abortion when she became unexpectedly pregnant at age 40.
Read it for: a nuanced take on complex women's healthcare issues.
Food for thought: "I can both want to have had reasonable access to abortion and love and want my son." |
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Who it's about: Cassie Chambers grew up amidst these hollers, and through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. The story delves into the lives of Cassie and the way of life for women in Appalachia. What it's about: Appalachian women face issues that are all too common: domestic violence, the opioid crisis, a world that seems more divided by the day. But they are also community leaders, keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them.
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The dead are arising : the life of Malcolm X by Les PayneWhat it is: A revisionary portrait of the iconic civil rights leader that draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with surviving family members, intelligence officers and political leaders to offer new insights into Malcolm X’s Depression-era youth, religious conversion and 1965 assassination. What's inside: Payne follows Malcolm's exploits as a petty criminal in and Harlem in the 1930s and early 1940s to his religious awakening and conversion to the Nation of Islam in a Massachusetts penitentiary. What reviewers say: "Fascinating and essential.... [Payne] adds invaluably to our understanding of Malcolm’s story."--Washington Post
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Abe : Abraham Lincoln in his times by David S. ReynoldsWhat it is: The award-winning author of Walt Whitman’s America presents an immersive portrait of the 16th President, from his younger life in the decades before the Civil War through his emergence as a progressive political leader and advocate for human justice. What's inside: The music, humor, literature, and fashions of the time and their impact on Lincoln's life are explored as well, and analysis of other important figures such as Lincoln's wife, his assassin, his professional partners, etc., also draw on this culturally focused style. What reviewers say: "A marvelous cultural biography that captures Lincoln in all his historical fullness."--Wall Street Journal
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About the author: USMC combat veteran Beau Wise is the only known American service member to be pulled from the battlefield after losing two brothers in Afghanistan. Told in Beau's voice, Three Wise Men is an American family's historic true story of service and sacrifice. Why you might like it: Beau's story is an engaging read that will leave you feeling moved and inspired.
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Spotlight on: Healthcare Professionals
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| In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope by Dr. Rana AwdishWhat it's about: how critical care physician Rana Awdish coped after an unknown illness hospitalized her seven months into her first pregnancy.
Is it for you? The author's heartwrenching account chronicles her miscarriage, near-death experiences, and the years it took to recover from her maladies.
What sets it apart: Awdish's patient experience prompted her to reflect on how physicians should be more empathetic while providing care. |
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| The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger; foreword by Philip Zimbardo, PhDWhat it is: clinical psychologist and Holocaust survivor Edith Eva Eger's moving memoir detailing how she learned to live with her traumatic past.
Read it for: the author's poignant and hopeful exploration of how her own experiences have helped her in her work with survivors of trauma.
For fans of: Man's Search for Meaning, written by psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl, a friend of Eger's and fellow Holocaust survivor. |
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| The Beauty in Breaking by Michele HarperWhat it's about: emergency room physician Michele Harper's encounters with the patients who changed her life.
Why you might like it: Peppered with anecdotes about her own trials (an abusive father, a painful divorce, being a Black woman in a white male-dominated profession), Harper's candid memoir offers a hopeful, much-needed message of how to heal in times of adversity.
Book buzz: The Beauty in Breaking was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2020. |
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| Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry MarshWhat it is: British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh's affecting and occasionally gruesome account of his three decades in the field.
Who it's for: Readers who prefer their bedside manner with a dose of brutal honesty will appreciate Marsh's blunt and darkly humorous debut.
Want a taste? "I often have to cut into the brain and it is something I hate doing." |
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| Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy, M.D.What it's about: Damon Tweedy discusses his experience as a Black physician in the world of medicine, from his education at Duke University Medical School to his work as a psychiatrist in North Carolina.
Why you should read it: Tweedy's intimate memoir also looks critically at disparities in health care for Black and white Americans.
Reviewers say: “An arresting memoir that personalizes the enduring racial divide in contemporary American medicine” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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