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Biography and Memoir January 2021
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Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics
by Dolly Parton
What it is: Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 175 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics.
What sets is apart: Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished images from Dolly Parton's personal and business archives.
Read it for: A landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend.
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Filthy Beasts: A Memoir
by Kirkland Hamill
What happens: Following a hostile exit from New York's upper-class society, newly divorced Wendy and her three sons are exiled from the East Coast elite circle. Wendy's middle son, Kirk, is eight when she moves the family to her native Bermuda, leaving the three young boys to fend for themselves.
Reviewer's say: "A keenly observed, fascinating window into the life of extreme privilege and a powerful story of self-acceptance, Filthy Beasts is a stunning, deeply satisfying story about how we outlive our upbringings" (Kirkus Reviews).
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I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are
by Rachel Bloom
What it is: A collection of laugh-out-loud funny essays, all told in the unique voice (sometimes singing voice) that made her a star; Rachel writes about everything from her love of Disney, OCD and depression, weirdness, and Spanx to the story of how she didn't poop in the toilet until she was four years old.
About the author: Co-creator of the CW musical dramedy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, she earned a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for her performance as "Rebecca Bunch" as well as an Emmy Award for the show's songwriting. She has sold out Radio City Music Hall and The London Palladium and recently had a residency at the Just for Laughs comedy festival. She starred in the movie Trolls World Tour as "Barb" and will be writing the music and lyrics for The Nanny on Broadway.
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The Luckiest Man: Life With John McCain
by Mark Salter
What it is: A deeply personal and candid remembrance of the late Senator John McCain from one of his closest and most trusted confidants, friends, and political advisors.
Why you might like it: Salter draws on the storied facets of McCain's early biography as well as the later-in-life political philosophy for which the nation knew and loved him, delivering an intimate and comprehensive account of McCain's life and philosophy.
Want more? Mark Salter has collaborated with John McCain on all seven of their books, including The Restless Wave, Faith of My Fathers, Worth the Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, Character Is Destiny, Hard Call, and Thirteen Soldiers.
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Spotlight on: Healthcare Professionals
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In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind
by Eric R. Kandel
What it's about: The author relates how his own study of memory converged with four distinct disciplines to give rise to the development of a new science of the mind that has changed our understanding of learning, memory, and mental illness.
Read it for: A deft mixture of memoir and history, modern biology and behavior, it brings readers from Kandel's childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna to the forefront of one of the great scientific endeavors of the twentieth century: the search for the biological basis of memory.
Reviewers say: “A stunning book” (Oliver Sacks).
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When Breath Becomes Air
by Paul Kalanithi
What it is: At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live.
What sets it apart: This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question, "What makes a life worth living?"
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| Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry MarshWhat it is: British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh's affecting and occasionally gruesome account of his three decades in the field.
Who it's for: Readers who prefer their bedside manner with a dose of brutal honesty will appreciate Marsh's blunt and darkly humorous debut.
Want a taste? "I often have to cut into the brain and it is something I hate doing." |
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| Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy, M.D.What it's about: Damon Tweedy discusses his experience as a Black physician in the world of medicine, from his education at Duke University Medical School to his work as a psychiatrist in North Carolina.
Why you should read it: Tweedy's intimate memoir 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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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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