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Biography and Memoir February 2017
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Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams
by Mark Ribowsky
Before Elvis was King, country music's ruler was Hiram King "Hank" Williams, known for his mournful lyrics. A spinal defect inflicted so much pain on him, he could only keep going on pills; his mother and his first wife caused him so much misery, he could only sing unforgettable songs. Then he died in the backseat of a baby-blue Cadillac at age 29. In Hank, biographer Mark Ribowsky provides a riveting portrait of the Alabama-born musician, acclaimed as the author of "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'," and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Library Journal says this is "probably the greatest biography yet" of the star termed the "Hillbilly Shakespeare."
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Spider from Mars : my life with Bowie
by Mick Woodmansey
The last surviving member of David Bowie’s band The Spiders From Mars, which helped launch his Ziggy Stardust persona and made him a star, shares never-before-told stories and photographs; offers details of the album sessions; and recalls the wild tours, eccentric characters and the rock ‘n roll excess that drove the band apart.
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Rise : how a house built a family
by Cara Brookins
Tells the amazing story of a woman who, having escaped an abusive marriage but having no home to live in, enlisted the help of a small bank loan and a work crew consisting only of her and her four children to build a family home from the ground up, in the amazing story of the healing of a broken family.
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Three days in January : Dwight Eisenhower's final mission
by Bret Baier
Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor and the host of the #1 rated Special Report With Bret Baier explores the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower through the lens of his last three days in office in January 1961, revealing Ike to be a model of strong yet principled leadership that is desperately missing in America today.
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African Americans' Biographies
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| Negroland: A Memoir by Margo JeffersonIn this "page-turning, provocative" (Library Journal) memoir, journalist Margo Jefferson explains that "Negroland" isn't a place, but rather a social category or class whose elite members enjoy significant advantages. Coming of age in the 1960s, Jefferson witnessed her parents' aspirations as they modeled the ideals of Negroland. However, the societal and political changes arising from feminism, black pride, and other movements of the era led her to question her parents, the ideals of Negroland, and herself. Candid and moving, this book offers an eye-opening consideration of the challenges facing African American women. |
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| Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning MarableAlthough The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the product of an extensive collaboration between Malcolm and Alex Haley, appeared before Malcolm's 1965 assassination, the book was inaccurate and incomplete. In this updated biography, historian Manning Marable draws on materials that have become available since Malcolm's death and on interviews with people close to Malcolm. Marable's insightful narrative presents startling details of Malcolm's life and death and offers a keen analysis of the Civil Rights movement and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X was a finalist for the 2011 NBCC award for biography. |
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| Barack Obama: The Story by David MaranissIn this exhaustively researched, "authoritative" (Kirkus Reviews) account, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss explores the lives of Barack Obama's forebears and relates Obama's life up to age 27. Visiting Kansas, the home state of Obama's mother's family, and Kenya, his father's homeland, Maraniss sheds light on the influences that formed the man who became the 44th President of the U.S. Then he paints a vivid portrait of the young Obama's childhood, boarding school years in Hawaii, higher education, and community organizing work before entering law school. For a recent assessment of Obama's legacy as President, take a look at Jonathan Chait's Audacity. |
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| The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne TheoharisThough her December 1, 1955 act of civil disobedience that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott is often presented as an ordinary incident with extraordinary consequences, Rosa Parks had been preparing for years for the moment when she refused to yield her seat on a bus to a white passenger. In The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, political scientist Jeanne Theoharis carefully documents the work Parks had already done as a Civil Rights activist and recounts her contributions to the movement after the bus boycott. Far from being an accidental heroine, Parks was in the forefront of the movement; Theoharis provides a fuller understanding of the changes Parks and other leaders brought to American society. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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