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Biography and Memoir July 2018
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| Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale HurstonWhat it's about: In 1927, author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston interviewed Cudjo Lewis (c. 1841-1935), one of the last known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade; the transcript of their conversation was only recently discovered.
Read it for: Hurston's folkloristic preservation of Lewis's West African vernacular and storytelling.
Is it for you? Lewis' clear account of his capture and enslavement is both graphic and illuminating. |
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Heart berries : a memoir
by Terese Marie Mailhot
"Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder; Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father-an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist-who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame. Mailhot trusts the reader to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain, and what we can bring ourselves to accept. Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story, and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people, and to her place in the world."
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I Can Only Imagine : A Memoir
by Bart Millard
The lead singer of a popular, contemporary Christian band, MercyMe, shares how growing up with an abusive father and having his dreams of being a professional athlete destroyed by a sports injury led him to music and healing through faith, in a book that inspired the motion picture set to released in March 2018. Original. Movie tie-in.
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Focus on: Prison and Captivity
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| A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara CorbettWhat it's about: In 2008, 25-year-old Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout was captured by Somali rebels in Mogadishu and held for ransom for 15 months.
Don't miss: the urgent and evocative prose.
Is it for you? Though the memoir has an upbeat ending, Lindhout's harrowing descriptions of the violence she endured may be too disturbing for some readers. |
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| The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia MuradWhat it is: the raw yet inspiring story of Nadia Murad's escape from captivity by the Islamic State, for whom she was forced to serve as a "sabiya" (or sex slave) after her Yazidi village in Iraq was destroyed in 2014.
About the author: Nadia Murad is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. |
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| Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould SlahiWhat it is: a riveting and reflective account of the human rights abuses perpetuated at the Guantánamo Bay military prison.
What sets it apart: Guantánamo Diary is the first book on the subject to be written by a detainee during his imprisonment.
Book buzz: Written in 2005, Guantánamo Diary remained classified for almost ten years; earlier editions of the book were heavily redacted. This Restored Edition reconstructs previously redacted text and includes a new introduction by Slahi. |
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The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin
What it's about: Imprisoned for crimes he didn't commit, Anthony Ray Hinton served 30 years in solitary confinement on Alabama's death row, maintaining his innocence and an unshakable faith in God. With the help of the Equal Justice Initiative, Hinton's case was brought to the Supreme Court and he was released from prison in 2015.
Don't miss: Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of the 2014 bestseller Just Mercy, provides a powerful foreword.
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| Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan StevensonWhat it's about: In 1994, lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal representation to inmates on Alabama's death row -- many of whom face miscarriages of justice.
Further reading: Stevenson provides the foreword to Anthony Ray Hinton's heartwrenching and hopeful memoir (and Oprah's latest Book Club selection) The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, which chronicles his 30 years of false imprisonment. |
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A lucky child : a memoir of surviving Auschwitz as a young boy
by Thomas Buergenthal
What it's about: A judge at the International Court in The Hague who was rescued from the death camps of Auschwitz at the age of eleven by Soviet and Polish troops presents the story of his extraordinary journey--from the horrors of Nazism to an investigation of modern day genocide.
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Don't give up, don't give in : lessons from an extraordinary life
by Louis Zamperini
What it's about: Published to coincide with the release of Angelina Jolie's film adaptation of Unbroken, a personal account by the World War II survivor describes his postwar adventures and the wisdom he has gleaned from his remarkable experiences.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
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