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Biography and Memoir March 2020
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Mary Ball Washington: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother
by Craig Shirley
What it's about: how "Honored Madam" Mary Ball Washington's prickly relationship with her eldest son George Washington shaped him as a man, politician, and president.
Who it's for: readers seeking fresh perspectives about figures on the periphery of history.
Reviewers say: "a sharp and fully dimensional view of the singular Mary Bell Washington" (Kirkus Reviews).
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Once more to the rodeo : a memoir
by Calvin Hennick
Five years into fatherhood, Calvin Hennick is plagued by self-doubt and full of questions. How can he teach his son to be a man, when his own father figures abandoned him? As a white man, what can he possibly teach his biracial son about how to live as a black man in America? And what does it even mean to be a man today, when society’s expectations of men seem to change from moment to moment? In search of answers, Calvin takes his young son on the road, traveling across the country to the annual rodeo in his small Iowa hometown. Along the way, a stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame turns into an impromptu lesson about racism and segregation. In Niagara Falls, a day of arcade games and go-karts unexpectedly morphs into a titanic struggle between father and son. A stop in Chicago rips the scars off of old wounds. And back in Iowa, Calvin is forced to confront the most difficult question of all: What if his flaws and family history doom him to repeat the mistakes of the past?
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Uncanny Valley
by Anna Wiener
What it is: a fast-paced memoir of author Anna Wiener's experiences working for a series of Silicon Valley startups.
Why you might like it: Though she's careful to avoid naming her former workplaces, Wiener's dishy context clues will have readers eager to figure it out for themselves.
Read it for: a glimpse of tech industry life that's equal parts humorous ("perks" included an office theme park and speakeasy) and horrifying (Wiener and other female employees were told to "trust karma" when they were passed up for promotions).
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Mighty Justice : My Life in Civil Rights
by Dovey Johnson Roundtree
In Mighty Justice, trailblazing African American civil rights attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree recounts her inspiring life story that speaks movingly and urgently to our racially troubled times. From the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, to the segregated courtrooms of the nation’s capital; from the male stronghold of the army where she broke gender and color barriers to the pulpits of churches where women had waited for years for the right to minister—in all these places, Roundtree sought justice. At a time when African American attorneys had to leave the courthouses to use the bathroom, Roundtree took on Washington’s white legal establishment and prevailed, winning a 1955 landmark bus desegregation case that would help to dismantle the practice of “separate but equal” and shatter Jim Crow laws. Later, she led the vanguard of women ordained to the ministry in the AME Church in 1961, merging her law practice with her ministry to fight for families and children being destroyed by urban violence.
Dovey Roundtree passed away in 2018 at the age of 104. Though her achievements were significant and influential, she remains largely unknown to the American public. Mighty Justice corrects the historical record.
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Father of lions : one man's remarkable quest to save the Mosul Zoo
by Louise Callaghan
An award-winning journalist puts a human face on life under ISIS, told through the prism of the Mosul Zoo. Father of Lions is the powerful true story of the evacuation of the Mosul Zoo, featuring Abu Laith the zookeeper, Simba the lion cub, Lula the bear, and countless others, faithfully depicted by acclaimed, award-winning journalist Louise Callaghan in her trade publishing debut. Combining a true-to-life narrative of humanity in the wake of war with the heartstring-tugging account of rescued animals, Father of Lions will appeal to audiences of bestsellers like The Zookeeper’s Wife and The Bookseller of Kabul as well as fans of true animal stories such as A Streetcat Named Bob, Marley and Me, and Finding Atticus.
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Vanity fair's women on women
by Radhika Jones
The editor of Vanity Fair looks back on 35 years of the magazine’s features on iconic women, written by women, including pieces on Michelle Obama, Maureen Dowd, Tina Turner, Gloria Steinem, Princess Diana, Rhianna and many more.
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Hill women : finding family and a way forward in the Appalachian Mountains
by Cassie Chambers
"Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is the poorest county in Kentucky and the second poorest in the country. Buildings are crumbling and fields sit vacant, as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women are finding creativeways to subsist in their hollers in the hills. Cassie Chambers grew up amidst these hollers, and through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Cassie's Granny was a child bride who rose before dawnevery morning to raise seven children. Despite her poverty, she wouldn't hesitate to give the last bite of pie or vegetables from her garden to a struggling neighbor. Her two daughters took very different paths: strong-willed Ruth--the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county--stayed on the family farm, while spirited Wilma--the sixth child--became the first in the family to graduate high school, then moved an hour away for college. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish school. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated from the larger world. Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County, both while Wilma was a student and after. With her "hill women" values guiding her, Cassie went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her knowledge and opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved back home to help her fellow rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services. Appalachian women face issues that are all too common: domestic violence, the opioid crisis, a world that seems more divided by the day. But they are also community leaders, keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Cassie uses these women's stories paired with her own journey to break down the myth of the "hillbilly" and illuminate a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future"
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A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman's Harrowing Escape...
by Françoise Frenkel
Starring: Berlin-based Polish Jewish bookseller Françoise Frenkel, who fled the Nazis in 1939 and spent the next four years evading capture in occupied France.
Read it for: a nail-biting tale of courage and survival.
What sets it apart: Originally published to little fanfare in 1945 Switzerland, Frenkel's memoir lingered in obscurity until a copy resurfaced in 2010, leading to its English language publication nearly 75 years after its initial release.
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Love unknown : the life and worlds of Elizabeth Bishop
by Thomas J. Travisano
Shedding new light on one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century, this biography shows how she was able to marry her talent for life with her talent for writing in order to create a brilliant array of poems, prose and letters. Illustrations.
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The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison
by John F. Callahan and Marc C. Conner, editors
What's inside: a chronological collection of six decades of correspondence written by National Book Award-winning author Ralph Ellison that offer an intimate glimpse into his life and career.
Why you might like it: Co-edited by Ellison's literary executor John F. Callahan, these previously unpublished letters are supplemented with richly contextualized introductions and footnotes.
Don't miss: Ellison's frequent musings to fellow black intellectuals Richard Wright and Albert Murray about life, work, and politics.
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Virginia Woolf : and the women who shaped her world
by Gillian Gill
A portrait of the complex literary master draws on the perspectives of the extraordinary women closest to her, from her French-Anglo-Indian great-grandmother to the aunt who helped inspire Woolf’s literary ambitions.
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Lit : a memoir
by Mary Karr
The best-selling author of The Liar's Club reveals a new piece of her life during which, shortly after giving birth to a child she adored, she drank herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide before a surprising spiritual awakening led her to sobriety.
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| A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness... by Patrick J. Kennedy and Stephen FriedWhat it's about: former Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy's battles with bipolar disorder and painkiller addiction.
Why you might like it: Kennedy's candid call to action will resonate with readers hoping for an empathetic approach to mental health policy and advocacy.
Don't miss: the resource guide that concludes the book. |
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| Air Traffic: A Memoir of Ambition and Manhood in America by Gregory PardloHow it began: In 1981, Gregory Pardlo's father was among the 11,000 federal employees fired by President Reagan in the wake of the air traffic controllers strike. Faced with limited employment options, he descended into alcoholism, a path Gregory and his brother would later follow.
Read it for: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Pardlo's lyrical reflections on the trappings of family legacy and black masculinity.
Want a taste? "Alcoholism was the Muzak of our familial dysfunction. Most of the time, we didn't even notice it." |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Iredell County Public Library 201 North Tradd Street Statesville, North Carolina 28677 704-878-3090www.iredell.lib.nc.us/ |
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