Biography and Memoir
June 2017
As I was growing up, I did a lot of talent shows.  I won fifteen Sunday nights straight in a series of talent shows in Macon. I showed up the sixteenth time and they wouldn't let me go on.  Whatever success I had was through the help of the Lord."
Otis Redding
 
Recent Releases
Otis Redding : An Unfinished Life
by Jonathan Gould

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the artist’s performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, this definitive biography traces his short life and career from his childhood in Georgia, his recording contract with Stax and the plane crash that took his life.
Captain Fantastic: Elton John's Stellar Trip Through the '70s
by Tom Doyle

In time for Elton John's 70th birthday, author Tom Doyle presents a thoroughly researched biography, covering the rock star's glittering successes, his difficulties with drugs, struggles with his homosexuality, and spectacular conflicts with collaborators. Captain Fantastic capitalizes on interviews with John and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin to create a vivid and insightful portrait of the man inside the elaborate costumes.
The Outrun
by Amy Liptrot

After a decade of desolate work weeks and long-lasting hangovers in London, author Amy Liptrot, a native of the Orkney Islands off Scotland's coast, completes addiction rehab and returns to the severe landscape of her childhood. In this lyrical memoir, she describes finding peace in a place where the winds are so strong that they can move tons of rock. Fans of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea will be enthralled.
Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage
by Dani Shapiro

Hourglass presents a thoughtful, intimate consideration of novelist Dani Shapiro's marriage. Having grown tired of making up stories, she looks for truth in the minutiae of her life: her husband's new rifle; the clutter and dilapidation of their house; the diary (which she had completely forgotten) from their honeymoon. Drawing the reader irresistibly into her world, she reveals the universality of individual experience.
The awkward thoughts of W. Kamau Bell : tales of a 6' 4", African American, heterosexual, cisgender, left-leaning, asthmatic, Black and proud blerd, mama's boy, dad, and stand-up comedian
by W. Kamau Bell

A memoir and manifesto by the comedian, hit podcast host and star of United Shades of America shares intersectional progressive views on forefront issues ranging from race relations and law enforcement to right-wing politics and parenthood.
Born Both: An Intersex Life
by Hida Viloria

In Born Both, author Hida Viloria provides an up-close account of he/r life as an intersex person and a chronicle of he/r activism. Although s/he was raised as a girl, s/he learned at age 20 that he/r genitalia were not typically female, eventually discovering the intersex community. This courageous memoir offers affirmation for intersex people and their friends and family, as well as information for intersex advocates.
Sign up for Adult Summer Reading June 6, 2017 at the Info desk.
Avon Lake Public Library
32649 Electric Blvd.
Avon Lake, Ohio 44012
440-933-8128
alpl.org