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Biography and Memoir August 2018
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| In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by Fiona SampsonWhat it is: a perceptive biography of author Mary Shelley, written to coincide with Frankenstein's bicentennial.
Who it's for: readers who appreciate literary histories and episodic storytelling.
What sets it apart: With little surviving primary source material at her disposal, poet Fiona Sampson's resonant, speculative prose "succeeds in bringing an unconventional woman to vivid life" (Publishers Weekly). |
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The Fox Hunt : A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America
by Mohammed Al Samawi
The son of middle-class Shiite doctors in Yemen shares his moving story of love, war and hope that describes his harrowing escape from regional fanaticism and civil unrest through a daring plan engineered on social media by a small group of Western interfaith activists. 100,000 first printing.
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| Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life by Amanda SternWhat it is: a conversational, attention-grabbing memoir of coping with lifelong mental illness, written by novelist Amanda Stern (The Long Haul), who lived with untreated panic disorder for almost 25 years until she was properly diagnosed by a therapist.
Chapters include: the immersive "Countdown to Karen Silkwood," in which Stern invites readers into her head for a detailed day-by-day account of a typical week, demonstrating how she battles her anxieties.
Try this next: Andrea Petersen's On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety. |
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| Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival by Kelly SundbergWhat it's about: In her haunting debut memoir, Kelly Sundberg bravely chronicles her abusive eight-year marriage and the shock, grief, and confusion that accompanied her journey toward healing.
Book buzz: Goodbye, Sweet Girl is an expansion of Sundberg's viral 2014 essay "It Will Look Like A Sunset."
Is it for you? Though the subject matter may be difficult for some readers, Sundberg's invaluable insights and candid prose illuminate various aspects of domestic abuse, including how to recognize the signs. |
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| American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent by Tamer Elnoury with Kevin MaurerWhat it is: a layered and compelling reconstruction of pseudonymous FBI agent Tamer Elnoury's infiltration of an al-Qaeda unit.
Why it's significant: This intimate account provides an insightful look into the worldview of al-Qaeda operatives, perfect for fans of Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower.
Don't miss: Elnoury's reflections on what it means to be a Muslim American patriot and the dangers of enacting xenophobic policy. |
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My American dream : a life of love, family, and food
by Lidia Bastianich
The Emmy Award-winning host of Lidia's Kitchen and best-selling author of Lidia's Celebrate Like an Italian shares a heartwarming, revelatory memoir that traces her impoverished but loving upbringing under Tito's communist regime, her years as a refugee while trying to enter the United States and her early start as a restaurant worker. TV tie-in
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Hang time : my life in basketball
by Elgin Baylor
The 11-time NBA All-Star and 2006 NBA Executive of the Year traces his career in professional basketball, touching on such subjects as the vertical-versus-horizontal strategies that shaped him as both a player and a general manager, his battles against racism and his relationship with the notorious Donald Sterling. 50,000 first printing.
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| Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle KuoWhat it's about: the transformative power of literature, movingly experienced by Teach for America volunteer-turned-law student Michelle Kuo and her former pupil Patrick Browning, who met regularly for book discussions while the latter was in jail on a murder charge.
On the syllabus: the two discussed works by Frederick Douglass, Rita Dove, C.S. Lewis, Marilynne Robinson, Derek Walcott, and Walt Whitman, among others. |
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Reporter : a memoir
by Seymour M Hersh
"A memoir of renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh's life as a reporter"
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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