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Biography and MemoirApril 2016
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"I am a docile ex-Young Pioneer who only this morning left the Soviet Union, a ravaged suitcase on the KGB inspector’s table with twenty kilograms of what used to be my life." ~ from Elena Gorokhova's Russian Tattoo
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| The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor... by Patricia Bell-ScottDespite their markedly different backgrounds, privileged, white First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and poor, African-American Pauli Murray had much in common. Both were brilliant and thoughtful, and both passionately cared about people on the margins of society. After they met in 1934 at a New Deal program for unemployed women, Murray began a correspondence with Roosevelt that grew into a lifelong collaboration and friendship. In this insightful joint biography, historian Patricia Bell-Scott draws on their correspondence and other records to portray each of them as brilliant leaders and the pair of them as groundbreaking social reformers. Be sure not to miss this "absorbing historical page-turner" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became... by Timothy EganDuring the Irish Great Hunger of the 1840s, Thomas Francis Meagher achieved renown for his speeches against English rule. Banished for sedition, he eventually ended up in New York on the eve of the Civil War. He organized an Irish brigade for the Union Army and after the war tried to establish a "New Ireland" in Montana. In this gripping biography, multiple award-winning author Timothy Egan brings to life 19th-century conflicts in both Ireland and the U.S. while vividly detailing Meagher's exploits. American or Irish history buffs, Civil War aficionados, and general biography readers will find that Egan covers previously unexplored territory in The Immortal Irishman. |
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| Rosalie Lightning by Tom HartIn this "beautiful and gut-wrenching" (Library Journal) memoir, acclaimed comics artist Tom Hart reveals his grief and despair at the death of his almost-two-year-old daughter Rosalie. Using a simple drawing style in emotive panels that range from bright and well-defined to gloomy and vague to nearly black, Hart evokes the wonder of Rosalie's short life and expresses his and his wife's dismay at her unexpected death. Hart's loss is personally overwhelming, but he conveys its universal qualities in terms accessible to general readers, as well as familiar to those who have experienced loss. |
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| The Lovers: Afghanistan's Romeo and Juliet: The True Story of How They Defied... by Rod NordlandZakia and Ali, the lovers in this dual biography, grew up in a small community in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan. Though they belonged to different ethnic groups and Muslim traditions, their families readily associated with one another...until as teenagers the couple fell in love. Their desire to marry provoked violent reactions from both families, and the pair eventually fled for their lives. In The Lovers, international affairs journalist Rod Nordland details their story and considers whether Western influences can change other cultures. This compelling and thought-provoking account also discusses the status of women in Afghanistan in the context of Zakia and Ali's story. |
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| 1924: The Year That Made Hitler by Peter Ross RangeAdolf Hitler spent 1924 in jail along with other German Workers' Party members convicted in the failed Beer Hall Putsch. During this time, he read extensively and considered how he could emerge victorious from his political defeat in Bavaria. This is when he wrote his manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In the book 1924, distinguished journalist Peter Range details Hitler's pivotal year, observing how he got a light sentence and early release and how his courtroom rants became the basis for his writing. This detailed, eye-opening analysis of Hitler's evolution into a successful tyrant sheds new light on the man many consider the greatest monster in history. |
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Focus on: Immigrants in America
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| Brotherhood: Dharma, Destiny, and the American Dream by Deepak Chopra and Sanjiv ChopraBrothers Deepak and Sanjiv Chopra immigrated to the U.S. from India to study medicine and became American citizens. In this joint autobiography, they relate their stories in alternating chapters, chronicling each of their paths to successful careers as physicians while reflecting on their Indian childhoods. They describe how they assimilated to American culture and offer insight into the differences in their careers (Deepak is well known for his promotion of alternative medicine, which Sanjiv doesn't embrace). Brotherhood offers an engaging and informative read to biography fans, especially those who want to learn more about the Chopra brothers. |
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| The Poker Bride: The First Chinese in the Wild West by Christopher CorbettDuring the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, many thousands of people from China migrated to the western U.S. One of them, a concubine who took the name Polly, married an Idaho saloonkeeper named Charlie Bemis and lived with him for many years on their isolated farm. In 1923, after Charlie's death, Polly emerged from the ranch and shared her story. In The Poker Bride, journalism professor Christopher Corbett relates Polly's experiences and those of many other Chinese immigrants, especially young women. Fans of immigration history, women's history, and the Gold Rush will want to grab this one. |
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| The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life by Jasmin DarznikIranian-American English Professor Jasmin Darznik knew nothing about her mother Lili's first, arranged, marriage at age 13 in Iran. Jasmin also didn't know that her mother had given birth at age 14 to a sister Jasmin had never met, nor that her mother was divorced before age 20. She discovered all of this after seeing a photograph from that first wedding and questioning her mother about it; Lili eventually sent several cassette tapes telling her story, providing the basis for Darznik's richly detailed, absorbing account of three generations of Iranian women. For another memoir of an Iranian immigrant, try Gelareh Asayesh's lyrical Saffron Sky. |
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| Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy by Carlos EireAuthor Carlos Eire won a National Book Award for his earlier memoir, Waiting for Snow in Havana, which describes his escape from Castro's revolution in 1962. Eire picks up his story in Learning to Die in Miami, where at age 11 he faced linguistic and cultural barriers while coping with homesickness. In this "funny, furious, and heartbreaking" (Booklist) account, he describes how he "killed" his Cuban self in order to become fully American. In addition to offering a compulsively readable book, this memoir provides valuable insight into the immigrant experience. |
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| Russian Tattoo: A Memoir by Elena GorokhovaElena Gorokhova's emigration from Russia in 1980 was enabled by marriage to an American who turned out to be unfamiliar with the concept of fidelity. From this dismal beginning Elena found ways to make her own way, marrying again and having a child (who became a rebellious teenager), bringing her old-style Stalinist mother to the U.S., and gradually adjusting to the wide cultural gaps. Her richly sensory reflections on immigration into a culture of immigrants offer a quietly compelling memoir that will linger in the reader's mind. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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