| Anatomy of Innocence: Testimonies of the Wrongfully Convicted by Laura Caldwell and Leslie S. Klinger, editorsIn this anthology, well-known mystery writers relate the experiences of 15 innocent people who were convicted of serious crimes and served time in prison before being exonerated. The short "as told to" biographies by authors such as Lee Child, Sara Paretsky, and S.J. Rozan vividly detail the perversion of justice in each case; the book's editors add contextual information. For a full-length memoir recounting a similar experience, try Damien Echols' Life after Death. |
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Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom
by Thomas E. Ricks
A dual portrait of Winston Churchill and George Orwell focuses on the pivotal years from the mid-1930s through the 1940s, describing how both suffered nearly fatal injuries before their vision and campaigns inspired action to preserve democracy throughout the world.
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Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It
by Charlamagne Tha God
The co-host of 105.1's "The Breakfast Club" shares his unlikely success story as a troubled youth-turned-influential radio personality, outlining unstinting views about how embracing one's truths is an essential part of achieving success and happiness.
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| Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage by Dani ShapiroHourglass 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. |
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| Born Both: An Intersex Life by Hida ViloriaIn 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. |
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They Left Their Homelands
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| The Perfect Gentleman: A Muslim Boy Meets the West by Imran AhmadFrom an early age, Pakistani immigrant Imran Ahmad had to struggle to fit in to English culture. In The Perfect Gentleman, Ahmad chronicles his family's immigration, his coming of age, and his eventual success in international business consulting. His low-key, self-deprecating humor provides a light tone as he discusses serious matters, making this a charming as well as enlightening account of cultural accommodation. |
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| The Distance Between Us: A Memoir by Reyna GrandeIn The Distance Between Us, award-winning novelist Reyna Grande chronicles her childhood in Mexico and eventual emigration to the U.S. Becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college, Grande achieved success that's light-years away from the deprivation and abandonment that characterized her early years. Her memoir brings to life her traumas and triumphs, recapitulating themes from her novels, Across a Hundred Mountains and Dancing with Butterflies. |
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| Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma LakshmiBest-known for her work as a judge on television's Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi, originally from Madras, India, portrays her sense of taste as an aspect of navigating a complex world. While on camera, she's a woman of few words, but this candid memoir includes details of her marriage to (and divorce from) Salman Rushdie, her love affair with billionaire Teddy Forstmann, her health struggles, and her joy in her daughter. |
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