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Biography and Memoir September 2018
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| From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-SteinFor five years, Beck was a part of the elite team of men and women who accompanied the president wherever he went, recorder and mic in hand. She got to know everyone from the White House butler to the secret servicemen, advance team, speechwriters, photographers, and press secretaries. On whirlwind trips across time zones, she forged friendships with a tight group of fellow travelers in the bubble -- young men and women who, like her, left their real lives behind to hop aboard Air Force One in service of the president. But as she learned the ropes of protocol, Beck became romantically entangled with one of the President's closest aides, who was already otherwise engaged... Set against the backdrop of the White House, this is the story of a young woman finding friends, falling in love, getting her heart broken, finding her voice as a writer, and finding herself in the process. |
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My girls : a lifetime with Carrie and Debbie by Todd FisherComplemented by previously unseen photos and memorabilia, a personal tribute to the lives of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds shares poignant stories of the author's experiences growing up with his sister and their mother among Hollywood royalty.
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| Crux: A Cross-Border Memoir by Jean GuerreroStraddling the line between truth and fantasy, journalist Guerrero's memoir reads like a fever dream, full of mystery, magic, and not a little madness. The author blends an intriguing mix of factual reporting and near mythical storytelling as she digs into her father's past-his childhood trauma, addiction, paranoia, and eventual absence. Like Guerrero, readers start to wonder where the truth lies: Is her father the victim of a cruel government experiment? Is he schizophrenic? Is he cursed by a plague traced back to Guerrero's great-grandmother? The facts are confounding; they make you want to believe. In telling her family history, Guerrero seeks to find herself as much as the father she lost. |
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Hunting the truth : memoirs of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld
by Beate Klarsfeld
A pair of European activists present the dramatic story of their work as Nazi hunters, describing their respective upbringings as survivors of persecution and their 50-year effort to expose, apprehend and prosecute Nazi war criminals, from torturer Klaus Barbie to Gestapo chief Kurt Kischka. Illustrations. Index.
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| No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicolAs MacNicol's engaging and honest memoir opens, she is on the cusp of celebrating her fortieth birthday, and she is conflicted. A writer in New York, she is mostly happy, but, single and childless in a society that has told her marriage and children are of utmost importance for women, she feels incomplete. Even though she isn't sure that she wants either of these things, and even though she has deep and meaningful friendships, she has difficulty moving beyond a feeling of failure. Over the course of the next year, she becomes the go-to person for both her sister, unexpectedly alone with three small children, and her mother, beset by Parkinson's. These challenges help MacNicol see that her life hasn't just happened to her: she has chosen it, and she enjoys it. No typical forty-something, MacNicol is relatable, and the joy she finds in her life, lived on her own terms, is striking. |
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| Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Conflict Photographer, and Their Journey Back... by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O'ReillyWhat it's about: Marine sergeant Thomas J. Brennan and war photographer Finbarr O'Reilly met in 2010 during a Taliban attack, striking up a friendship after O'Reilly photographed Brennan's injuries.
What sets it apart: In this ode to the healing power of friendship, alternating chapters recount the men's battle-weary postwar life, providing unique perspectives on post-traumatic stress disorder and the will to survive. |
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| The Bridge Ladies by Betsy LernerWhat it is: a moving chronicle of how a New Haven, Connecticut women's bridge club helped author Betsy Lerner reconcile with her estranged mother.
Read it for: Engaging profiles of the five bridge club members reveal how their shared hobby has sustained them through more than 50 years of personal triumphs and tragedies.
You might also like: Becky Aikman's Saturday Night Widows: The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives. |
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| Jackie's Girl: My Life with the Kennedy Family by Kathy McKeonWhat it is: a charming account of Irish immigrant Kathy McKeon's decade serving as Jacqueline Kennedy's live-in assistant and governess following President Kennedy's 1963 assassination.
Don't miss: Kennedy's loyalty and generosity to her staff inspired a deep friendship and devotion that endured even after McKeon left her employ.
Is it for you? McKeon's humorous (and occasionally sobering) reflections offer a personal peek into the post-Camelot era, perfect for those fascinated by the Kennedy dynasty. |
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| The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art by Sebastian SmeeWhat it is: an absorbing collective biography charting the the intimate friendships and dramatic rivalries among eight modern artists, including Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
Author alert: Sebastian Smee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for the Washington Post.
Try this next: Mary Gabriel's Ninth Street Women, which profiles five trailblazing women who revolutionized the modern art scene. |
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| Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. WoodWhat it's about: the unlikely friendship between two of America's Founding Fathers, whose disparate personalities and conflicting ideologies often put them at odds.
Did you know? Adams and Jefferson died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826.
About the author: Historian Gordon S. Wood is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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