| Inferno: A Doctor's Ebola Story by Steven HatchIn November 2013, American Dr. Steven Hatch went to work at a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia; by June 2014 the Ebola virus had killed several of his colleagues. In vivid, compelling detail, Hatch describes his experiences in Liberia, calling his memoir a "horror story." He reviews West Africa's history of colonialism, post-colonial dictatorships, and lagging technology that made the region vulnerable to the epidemic. His compassionate writing evokes empathy for the Africans, who were often reduced to anonymity by Western journalists as they recounted the heroism of volunteer American and European health workers. In a starred review, Booklist declares that this powerful work "deserves sharp notice" for its analysis of the events. |
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Harlem to Hollywood
by Billy Vera
Chronicles the life and career of the singer, songwriter, and music historian, from his childhood with his famous family to his early success as a staff songwriter and his resurgence as a band leader in the 1970s and 1980s.
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The Outrun
by Amy Liptrot
After a life of heavy drinking in London, the author returns home to Orkney at the age of 30, and finds that the unbridled nature of the Outrun has the natural healing she needs to put her on the path to recovery.
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Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry
by Marcus Thompson
A longtime Warriors insider traces the inspirational story of the NBA star shooter to offer insight into his personal life and achievements as both an athletic leader and role model for kids.
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The Engagement Game: Why I Said "I Don't" to Marriage and "I Do" to Me
by Joi-Marie McKenzie
Ambitious, confident, and successful, Joi-Marie believes she has it all figured out. At 28 years old, she has an enviable job as a producer, covering entertainment in New York City. Her close-knit family is loving and encouraging, and her boyfriend, Adam, is as close to perfect as you can get -- except for the fact that he won't propose. After receiving a laundry list of advice on how to secure a proposal--even researching how to cook "engagement chicken"-- Joi-Marie realizes that, in the process of trying to attain her perfect life, she has slowly become a person she doesn't recognize. With this discovery, she must make a decision: pretend to be someone she's not in order to have the life she envisioned...or have the courage to be herself and find her happily ever after in a way she never expected.
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Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray
by Rosalind Rosenberg
Euro-African-American activist Pauli Murray was a feminist lawyer who played pivotal roles in both the modern civil rights and women's movements, and later become the first woman ordained a priest by the Episcopal Church. Born in 1910 and identified as female, she believed from childhood that she was male. Jane Crow is her definitive biography, exploring how she engaged the arguments used to challenge race discrimination to battle gender discrimination in the 1960s and 70s. In the early 1970s, Murray provided Ruth Bader Ginsberg with the argument Ginsberg used to persuade the Supreme Court that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution protects not only blacks but also women--and potentially other minority groups--from discrimination helping to propel Ruth Bader Ginsberg to her first Supreme Court victory for women's rights and greatly expanding the idea of equality in the process. Murray accomplished all of this as someone who would today be identified as transgender but who, due to the limitations of her time, focused her attention on dismantling systematic injustices of all sorts, transforming the idea of what equality means.
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| Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember: The Stroke That Changed My Life by Christine Hyung-Oak LeeAfter suffering a stroke at age 33, author Christine Hyung-Oak Lee spent days in the hospital and months recording her memories in a notebook, preserving thoughts that her mind could only briefly retain. In this memoir, Lee recounts the issues she dealt with during her recovery and afterwards: she looked well but wasn't, and she came to recognize problems in her relationships that she had ignored. She also developed a new, healthier relationship with her body. Expanded from her viral Buzzfeed essay, Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember offers an inspiring and thought-provoking chronicle of self-discovery. |
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Ernst Kantorowicz: A Life
by Robert E. Lerner
This is the first complete biography of Ernst Kantorowicz (1895-1963), an influential and controversial German-American intellectual whose colorful and dramatic life intersected with many of the great events and thinkers of his time. Drawing on many new sources, including numerous interviews and unpublished letters, Robert E. Lerner tells the story of a major intellectual whose life and times were as fascinating as his work.
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Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne Du Maurier
by Tatiana de Rosnay
A nonfiction debut by the best-selling author of Sarah's Key traces the life and achievements of classic novelist Daphne du Maurier, sharing creative insights into the master writer's life at different ages and her enduring influence in literature.
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Becoming Leonardo: An Exploded View of the Life of Leonardo da Vinci
by Mike Lankford
Unlike anything ever written before about the Renaissance genius, a fascinating journey into the life of a ferociously dedicated loner transports readers back to a world of war and plague and court intrigue, of viciously competitive famous artists, and of murderous tyrants with exquisite tastes in art.
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Super Freak: The Life of Rick James
by Peter Benjaminson
Examines the life of the music legend, including his excessive lifestyle, his brushes with the law, and his musical genius.
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The Man Who Designed the Future: Norman Bel Geddes and the Invention of Twentieth-Century America
by Barbara Szerlip
A history of American innovation follows a polymath with humble origins who found himself at the center of the worlds of industry, advertising, theater and even gaming, designing everything from the first all-weather stadium to Manhattan’s most exclusive nightclub to Futurama, the prescient 1939 exhibit that envisioned how America would look in the not-too-distant future.
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The Middlepause: On Life After Youth
by Marina Benjamin
The author weighs the losses and opportunities of women's middle years, taking inspiration from literature, science, philosophy and her own experience and ultimately offering a path toward a contented middle life.
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Sam Shepard: A Life
by John J. Winters
This comprehensive biography of the prolific and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actor, author and director describes his struggles with anxiety, insecurity and alcohol, as well as his tumultuous and romantic relationships with Patti Smith and Jessica Lange.
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Peggy Seeger: A Life of Music, Love, and Politics
by Jean R. Freedman
Born into folk music's first family, Peggy Seeger has blazed her own trail artistically and personally. Jean Freedman draws on a wealth of research and conversations with Seeger to tell the life story of one of music's most charismatic performers and tireless advocates. Here is the story of Seeger's multifaceted career, from her youth to her pivotal role in the American and British folk revivals, from her instrumental virtuosity to her tireless work on behalf of environmental and feminist causes, from wry reflections on the U.K. folk scene to decades as a songwriter. Bracingly candid and as passionate as its subject, Peggy Seeger is the first book-length biography of a life set to music.
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Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty
by John B Boles
A comprehensive biography of a Founding Father depicts him as an architect, scientist, bibliophile, paleontologist, musician and gourmet and offers new insight into his actions and thoughts about race, abolition, democracy and patriarchal responsibility.
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| Grace Notes: My Recollections by Katey SagalBest known for her role as Peggy Bundy on television's Married...with Children, Katey Sagal has experienced a varied career in show business as a singer-songwriter and actress. In Grace Notes, she chronicles her life in conversational vignettes about growing up, her relationships with her parents (both of whom died young), her own illness with cancer, her addictions, and her friends and family. This book is for readers who appreciate insightful memoirs about the authors' lives, as well as for Sagal's fans. For another reflective autobiography that omits superficial gossip, check out Linda Ronstadt's Simple Dreams. |
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Focus on: Athletes and Competitors
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| Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott and Tim BrownMajor League Baseball star Jim Abbott was born with no right hand, but became one of the most celebrated pitchers in the game. In Imperfect, Abbott reflects on his life, which has included starring for the University of Michigan, pitching for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the 1988 Olympics, and going straight to a Major League team without first playing in the Minors. This modest and candid account provides not just Abbot's record of growing up with a disability, but an absorbing baseball autobiography that will also appeal to general biography fans. |
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| When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson with Jackie McMullanBasketball greats Larry Bird and Magic Johnson first played together in a 1978 college all-star game, where they learned that their different playing styles and personalities produced equally stunning results. Fans (if they're old enough) still remember the 1979 NCAA championship game featuring the methodical blond from Indiana State and the flashy African American from Michigan State -- but that was only a prelude to their spectacular NBA performances with the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, respectively. As 1980s NBA stars, they were credited with restoring the popularity of professional basketball. Hoops fans and sports biography lovers will find their joint memoir a "captivating look" (Kirkus Reviews) at their lives and careers. |
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| Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile by Nate JacksonFor six years, Nate Jackson played for the Denver Broncos, sometimes as a tight end, sometimes as a wide receiver. He was never a household name, but considering that he came from a Division III school, he was living the dream of many a football player. In his candid and often witty memoir (his writing skills got him gigs at Slate and The New York Times, among others), he shares the highs and lows of his time with the NFL. Football fans might want to compare his experiences with those found in the 2015 memoir NFL Confidential by "Johnny Anonymous." |
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| Pin Action: Small-Time Gangsters, High-Stakes Gambling, and the Teenage Hustler Who... by Gianmarc ManzioneFew people pay attention to professional bowling, and even fewer know about the 1960s and '70s phenomenon of action bowling, where teenaged bowling hustlers could make big bucks...as long as they didn't run afoul of the Mob. In Pin Action, Gianmarc Manzione brings action bowling to life and vividly depicts Ernie Schlegel, a former hustler who succeeded in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Profiling other colorful bowlers (such as Joe the Kangaroo and Bernie Bananas), gangsters, and gamblers, Manzione weaves a gritty and absorbing tale of a nearly forgotten sport and one of its most fascinating practitioners. |
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| Find a Way by Diana NyadDistance swimmer Diana Nyad (who had already swum 28 miles around Manhattan) tried in 1978 to swim between Florida and Cuba, failing on that occasion and (years later) on three more. Her initial attempts at the Cuba-Florida transit were stymied by weather, dehydration, hypothermia, asthma, and jellyfish. In Find a Way, Nyad recounts her life, details her training methods, and explains her strategy for long open-water swims. At age 64, on August 31, 2013, she set out again from Havana, completing the crossing to Key West in 53 hours. This absorbing sports memoir offers a "gripping example of the strength of the human spirit" (Library Journal). |
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Never be without a book you love! |
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