| Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne BrodeurHow it began: At age 14, Adrienne Brodeur became privy to a life-changing secret: her mother was having an affair with a family friend.
What happened next: For decades, Brodeur served as her mother's confidant, often providing alibis for the clandestine lovebirds. Her complicity would have devastating consequences for her own relationships -- including a romance with her mother's lover's son.
Read it for: a dramatic and page-turning tale of deception. |
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| Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis FoxWhat it is: a suspenseful account of Amaryllis Fox's decade spent working counterterrorism operations for the CIA while also starting a family with her husband, a fellow agent.
Don't miss: Fox's wedding day, during which she muses on the strange and lonely nature of intelligence life: "I walk down the aisle, past work friends whose real names I'll never know."
Media buzz: Academy Award winner Brie Larson is set to play Fox in a forthcoming Apple streaming series. |
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| How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed JonesWhat it's about: Award-winning poet Saeed Jones candidly reflects on his fraught coming-of-age and his struggle to make a life for himself.
Want a taste? "If America was going to hate me for being black and gay, then I might as well make a weapon out of myself."
Book buzz: A Kirkus Prize winner, How We Fight For Our Lives counts Roxane Gay and Jacqueline Woodson among its many fans. |
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| Edison by Edmund MorrisWhat it is: an illuminating and inventive portrait of Thomas Edison that renowned biographer Edmund Morris spent seven years researching, perusing millions of Edison's archival papers stored in a bombproof lab.
What sets it apart: Edison unfolds in reverse chronological order, lending a uniquely mythic air to the richly detailed, you-are-there proceedings.
About the author: The late Edmund Morris won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for 1979's The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. |
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| Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook by Alice WatersWhat it is: a charming memoir from activist, chef, and restaurateur Alice Waters, who opened the famed Berkeley, California locavore hotspot Chez Panisse in 1971.
Featuring: cameo appearances from Julia Child and James Beard.
Is it for you? Though Waters saves the recipes for her other books (including The Art of Simple Food), the evocative descriptions of her culinary coming-of-age are a treat all their own. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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