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Biography and Memoir February 2018
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| When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha BandeleWhat it's about: Artist and social justice activist Patrisse Khan-Cullors divulges the story of her life, from her 1980s childhood in suburban Los Angeles to her involvement in founding the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Is it for you? This passionate and candid coming-of-age memoir is for readers with a strong interest in social activism, LGBT issues, and human rights. |
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Monet: Itinerant of Light
by Efa
The life of the great French painter, one of the founders of Impressionism, is narrated in lush comic art reminiscent of his style. From the Salon des Refuses (“Salon of the Rejected”) and many struggling years without recognition, money, and yet a family to raise, all the way to great success, critically and financially, Monet pursued insistently one vision: catching the light in painting, refusing to compromise on this ethereal pursuit. It cost him dearly but he was a beacon for his contemporaries. We discover in this comics biography how he came to this vision as well as his turbulent life pursuing it.
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Rich Man, Poor Man: A Memoir
by Nick Nolte
The three-time Academy Award nominee traces his half century in Hollywood, describing his extreme character-creation efforts as a method actor, the substance abuse issues that have overshadowed his life and his experiences as a father.
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Stalin: Waiting for Hitler 1929-1941
by Stephen Kotkin
The Pulitzer Prize finalist author of Uncivil Society presents a history of the world during the build-up to World War II from the vantage point of Joseph Stalin's sea of power, exploring how in the aftermath of achieving dictatorial power over the Soviet Empire, Stalin formally ordered the systematic collectivization of the world's largest peasant economy.
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The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry
by David L. Carlson
It was a hunting accident—that much Charlie is sure of. That's how his father, Matt Rizzo—a gentle intellectual who writes epic poems in Braille—had lost his vision. It’s not until Charlie’s troubled teenage years, when he’s facing time for his petty crimes, that he learns the truth. Matt Rizzo was blinded by a shotgun blast to the face—but it was while participating in an armed robbery. Newly blind and without hope, Matt began his bleak new life at Stateville Prison. But in this unlikely place, Matt's life and very soul were saved by one of America's most notorious killers: Nathan Leopold Jr., of the infamous Leopold and Loeb. From David L. Carlson and Landis Blair comes the unbelievable true story of a father, a son, and remarkable journey from despair to enlightenment.
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Debussy's Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Époque
by Catherine Kautsky
Debussy’s Paris takes readers on a tour of Belle Époque Paris through detailed descriptions of the city’s delights and the exquisite piano music Debussy wrote to accompany them. Kautsky reveals little known aspects of Parisian life and weaves the music, the man, the city, and the era into an indissoluble whole.
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The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics
by William J. Cooper
The historian author of the award-winning Jefferson Davis, American presents a revisionist profile of the sixth American President to share insights into how his beliefs influenced his fellow Founding Fathers, discussing such topics as his European travels, anti-slavery beliefs and his heroic arguments during the Amistad trial.
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A Small Town Love Story: Colonial Beach, Virginia
by Sherryl Woods
A narrative tribute to the seaside Virginia region of the author's summers, a town that inspired the settings of many of her best-selling novels, shares the stories of the vibrant real characters who helped shape the community.
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Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews
by Jonathan Cott
Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews features over two dozen of the most significant and revealing conversations with the singer, gathered in one definitive collection that spans his career from street poet to Nobel Laureate. First published in 2006, this acclaimed collection brought together the best interviews and encounters with Bob Dylan to create a multi-faceted, cultural, and journalistic portrait of the artist and his legacy. This edition includes three additional pieces from Rolling Stone that update the volume to the present day.
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Because I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages
by Melissa De La Cruz
An uplifting collection of true accounts by women and girls about the obstacles, challenges and opportunities they faced because of their gender includes the stories of successful women in the arts, finance, politics and more as written by such contributors as Victoria Aveyard, Libba Bray and Margaret Stohl.
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The Worrier's Guide to the End of the World: Love, Loss, and Other Catastrophes Through Italy, India, and Beyond
by Torre DeRoche
A funny and heartwarming story of one woman's attempt to walk off a lifetime of fear--with a soulmate, bad shoes, and lots of wine. Torre DeRoche is at rock bottom following a breakup and her father's death when she crosses paths with the goofy and spirited Masha, who is pusuing her dream of walking the world. When Masha invites Torre to join her pilgrimage through Tuscany--drinking wine, foraging wild berries, and twirling on hillsides--Torre straps on a pair of flimsy street shoes and gets rambling.But the magical hills of Italy are nothing like the dusty and merciless roads of India where the pair wind up, provising a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Gandhi along his march to the seaside. Hoping to catch the noble man's fearlessness by osmosis and end the journey as wise, svelte, and kick-ass warriors, they are instead unravelled by worry that this might be one adventure too far. Coming face-to-face with their worst fears, they discover the power of friendship to save us from our darkest moments.
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Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary
by Martha Brockenbrough
A richly illustrated portrait of the Founding Father and first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury describes his experiences as an illegitimate orphan, soldier, friend, philanderer, political firebrand and financial whiz whose groundbreaking policies continue to shape today's American government.
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Girl on Pointe: Chloe's Guide to Taking on the World
by Chloe Lukasiak
The teen media star and clothing designer combines previously unseen photos, inspirational quotes and her personal thoughts on the importance of self-esteem in a guide to navigating life's challenges, from bullying to medical issues.
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Winter
by Karl Ove Knausgaard
A follow-up to Autumn continues the author's autobiographical quartet based on the seasons and collects daily meditations and letters addressed directly to his unborn daughter and how her prenatal development reshaped his perspectives on everyday objects. By the award-winning author of the My Struggle series.
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| The Black Calhouns: From Civil War to Civil Rights with One African American Family by Gail Lumet BuckleyWhat it is: Author Gail Lumet Buckley, the daughter of singer Lena Horne, shares the multi-generational story of her African American family, from former Atlanta house slave Moses Calhoun to the family’s arrival in Brooklyn, New York, and beyond.
Further reading: For another saga of an African American family through several generations, check out Daisy Turner's Kin by Jane C. Beck. |
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| The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff HobbsWhat it's about: the haunting life story of Robert Peace, a brilliant young African American who grew up in the ghettos of 1980s Newark, New Jersey, but made his way into the Ivy League -- only to end up dealing drugs after graduation, which ultimately led to his death.
Author alert: The author of this compelling biography was Robert Peace’s roommate at Yale University.
You might also like: The Sweet Hell Inside, a gripping and sobering portrayal of life for post-Civil War African Americans. |
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| Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education by Mychal Denzel SmithWhat it is: Mychal Denzel Smith (who writes for The Nation) details the story of his life as a young black man coming of age in the United States, from his birth in 1980s Washington, D.C., to his time at the historically black Hampton University, to his life as a social activist.
Read it with: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ National Book Award-winning Between the World and Me, which also provides cultural commentary and probes the issue of race in America. |
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| Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon TweedyWhat it is: Physician Damon Tweedy discusses his experience as an African American in the world of medicine, from his education at Duke University Medical School up to his work as a psychiatrist in North Carolina.
Why you should read it: Tweedy not only shares his personal story but 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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| Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File by John Edgar WidemanWhat it is: a moving and thought-provoking meditation on the 1955 death of teenager Emmett Till and also that of his father, Louis Till, who was executed by the U.S. Army ten years earlier.
What sets it apart: By considering the stories of Emmett Till and his father, Louis, together, author John Edgar Wideman provides a new and thought-provoking narrative while reflecting on race and justice in America.
Further Reading: Mamie Till-Mobley's Death of Innocence or Timothy Tyson's The Blood of Emmett Till. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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