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New Biographies at Riverside Public Library |
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Newest Books are at the Top Click on a title for more information or to place a hold. |
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Lin-Manuel Miranda : the education of an artist
by Daniel Pollack-pelzner
Traces Miranda's path from a friendly but isolated child to the
winner of multiple Tonys and Grammys for Broadway hits Hamilton
and In the Heights, a global chart-topping sensation for songs in
Disney's Moana and Encanto, and the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize
and a MacArthur Genius Grant.
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107 Days
by Kamala Harris
From the chaos of campaign strategy sessions to the intensity of
debate prep under relentless scrutiny and the private moments that rarely make headlines, Kamala Harris offers an unfiltered look at the pressures, triumphs, and heartbreaks of a history-defining race.
With behind-the-scenes details and a voice that is both intimate
and urgent, this is more than a political memoir—it’s a chronicle of resilience, leadership, and the high stakes of democracy in action.
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Mother Mary comes to me
by Arundhati Roy
The memoir from the legendary author of The God of Small Things
and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness traces the complex relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, a fierce and formidable force who shaped
her life both as a woman and a writer.
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Baldwin : a love story
by Nicholas Boggs
Drawing on new archival material, original research and interviews,
a new biography reveals how profoundly James Baldwin's personal relationships shaped his life and work.
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The invention of Charlotte Brontèe:
a new life
by Graham Watson
Revisits the writer's dramatic life and legacy through the lens
of her friend Elizabeth Gaskell's scandalous tell-all, revealing new
archival material and reexamining the myths, relationships, and
rivalries that shaped Brontë's rise to fame and her complex
personal world.
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We should all be birds : (a memoir)
by Brian Buckbee
A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a
mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man.
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Positive obsession : the life and times of Octavia E. Butler
by Susana M. Morris
Places Butler's story within the cultural, social, and historical
context that shaped her life—the Civil Rights Movement, Black
Power, women's liberation, queer rights, and Reaganomics,
revealing how these influences impacted Butler's personal and intellectual trajectory and shaped the ideas central to her writing.
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All the way to the river : love, loss,
and liberation
by Elizabeth Gilbert
A raw and unflinching memoir of love, addiction, heartbreak,
and transformation from the author of Eat Pray Love traces her
journey from deep friendship to destructive passion and the
hard-won freedom from patterns that once felt impossible
to escape.
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Children of the book : a memoir of
reading together
by Ilana Kurshan
A reflective memoir exploring how shared reading—both sacred
and secular—deepens family bonds, nurtures parenting and
transforms literature from a solitary escape into a meaningful
and lifelong connection between mother and children.
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Backstage : stories of a writing life
by Donna Leon
Blending deep research and vivid memories, this memoir from
the celebrated author of the bestselling Guido Brunetti series
explores the inspirations behind her craft, love for Venice and
opera and eclectic teaching experiences from New Jersey to
Iran and Switzerland.
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Black Moses : a saga of ambition and
the fight for a Black state
by Caleb Gayle
A powerful account of Edward McCabe's bold attempt to establish
a Black-governed state in Oklahoma, exploring how racism,
political resistance and white greed ultimately derailed his vision
of self-determination and opportunity for Black Americans after Reconstruction.
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The Black family who built America :
the McKissacks, two centuries of daring pioneers
by Cheryl McKissack Daniel
Traces six generations from slavery to industry leadership,
chronicling the McKissack family's enduring legacy in architecture
and construction, highlighting their resilience, innovation, and contributions to landmark American projects amid ongoing
challenges of racial discrimination and structural inequality.
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Living in the Present With John Prine
by Tom Piazza
In the spring of 2018, Tom Piazza climbed into a 1977 Coupe de
Ville with the great singer-songwriter John Prine to write an article
for the Oxford American. Their Florida road trip ignited a deep
friendship, full of tall tales over epic meals, long nights playing
guitar and trading songs, and visits back and forth between their
homes in Nashville and New Orleans.
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Hotshot : a life on fire
by River Selby
This powerful memoir of a female firefighter survival traces a
decade spent battling wildfires in a male-dominated field,
confronting trauma addiction and sexism while exploring the
physical demands of firefighting and the broader failures of
wildfire management policy.
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JFK : public, private, secret
by J. Randy Taraborrelli
From the New York Times bestselling Kennedy historian and
author of Jackie: Public, Private, Secret comes the other side of
the story-her husband's: JFK: Public, Private, Secret. In this
deeply researched presidential biography, J. Randy Taraborrelli
tells John F. Kennedy's story in a provocative new way by revealing
how public moments in his life were so influenced by private relationships with not only his family, but also Jackie's. But it's
the secret life that also surprises. As Congressman, Senator and
finally President, JFK was a magnet for women.
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The aviator and the showman : Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the
marriage that made an American icon
by Laurie Gwen Shapiro
The riveting and cinematic story of a partnership that would
change the world forever In 1928, a young social worker and hobby
pilot named Amelia Earhart arrived in the office of George Putnam,
heir to the Putnam & Sons throne and hitmaker, on the hunt for the
right woman for a secret flying mission across the Atlantic. A partnership--professional and soon otherwise--was born. The Aviator
and the Showman unveils the untold story of Amelia's decade-long marriage to George Putnam, offering an intimate exploration of
their relationship and the pivotal role it played in her enduring
legacy.
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Mailman : my wild ride delivering the
mail in Appalachia and finally finding
home
by Stephen Starring Grant
Steve Grant was laid off in March of 2020. He was fifty and had
cancer, so he needed health insurance, fast. Which is how he found himself a rural letter carrier in Appalachia, back in his old hometown. One hell of a raconteur, Steve Grant has written an irreverent,
heartfelt, and often hilarious tribute to the simple heroism of daily service, the dignity and struggle of blue-collar work, the challenge
and pleasure of coming home again after twenty-five years away,
and the delight of going the extra mile for your neighbors, every
day.
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Desi Arnaz : the man who invented
television
by Todd S. Purdum
Chronicles the life of a trailblazing Cuban American who
revolutionized television and brought laughter to millions as
Lucille Ball's beloved husband on I Love Lucy, leaving a legacy
that continues to influence American culture today.
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My childhood in pieces : a stand-up
comedy, a Skokie elegy
by Edward Hirsch
From the award-winning poet, dark comic microbursts of prose
deliver a whole childhood, at the hands of a not quite middle-class Jewish family whose hardboiled American brutality and wit were
the forge of a poet's coming of age "My grandparents taught me
to write my sins on paper and cast them into the water on the
first day of the New Year. They didn't expect an entire book."
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A different kind of power : a memoir
by Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Ardern grew up the daughter of a police officer in
small-town New Zealand, but as the 40th Prime Minister of her
country, she commanded global respect for her empathetic
leadership that put people first. This is the remarkable story of
how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt made political history
and changed our assumptions of what a global leader can be.
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Big dumb eyes : stories from a simpler mind
by Nate Bargatze
Nate Bargatze used to be a genius. That is, until the summer
after seventh grade when he slipped, fell off a cliff, hit his head
on a rock, and "my skull got, like, dented or something." Before
this accident, he dreamed of being "an electric engineer, or a doctor
that does brain stuff, or a math teacher who teaches the hardest
math on earth." Afterwards, all he could do was stand-up comedy.
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Class clown : the memoirs of a professional wiseass : how I went 77 years without growing up
by Dave Barry
In Class Clown, Dave Barry takes us on a hilarious ride, starting
with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for entertainment.
There was no internet, and preparing for nuclear war by hiding
under a classroom desk. After literally getting elected class clown
in high school, he went to college, where, as an English major, he
read snippets of great literature when he was not busy playing in
a rock band (it was the sixties).
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John Hancock : first to sign, first to
invest in America's independence
by Willard Sterne Randall
A revealing portrait of the Revolutionary leader, exploring his
rise from modest beginnings to wealthy merchant, his pivotal yet overlooked role in the American Revolution, his political rivalries
and his influence on key events that shaped the United States.
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The 10 : a memoir of family and the
open road
by E. A. Hanks
From the quiet expanses of White Sands National Park to the
bustling streets of New Orleans, and the Texas-Mexico border to
the swamps of the Florida panhandle, she interacts with the
amazing breadth and diversity of the people that call these places
home. Reckoning with the past, the present, her memories, and
herself, Hanks brings us along a beautiful voyage towards
understanding how the stories we tell about the places we're
from ultimately become the stories we tell about the people
we are.
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How to lose your mother : a daughter's memoir
by Molly Jong-Fast
A darkly funny and deeply honest memoir exploring a daughter's complex relationship with her famous, elusive mother, the impact of dementia, blending humor, heart and raw reflection on loss, family and identity.
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Claire McCardell : the designer who set women free
by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson
"Claire McCardell forever changed fashion-and most importantly, the lives of women. She shattered cultural norms around women's clothes, and today much of what we wear traces back to her ingenious, rebellious mind. McCardell invented ballet flats and mix-and-match separates, and she introduced wrap dresses, hoodies, leggings, denim, and more into womenswear. Filled with personal drama and industry secrets, this story reveals how Claire McCardell built an empire at a time when women rarely made the upper echelons of business. At its core, hers is a story about our right to choose how we dress AND how we live.
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Joy goddess : A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance
by A'Lelia Perry Bundles
"Dubbed the "joy goddess of Harlem's 1920s" by poet Langston Hughes, A'Lelia Walker, daughter of millionaire entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and the author's great-grandmother and namesake, is a fascinating figure whose legendary parties and Dark Tower salon helped define the Harlem Renaissance. In Joy Goddess, A'Lelia's radiant personality and impresario instincts -- at the center of a vast, artistic social world where she flourished as a fashion trendsetter and international traveler -- are brought to vivid and unforgettable life"
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