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Biography and Memoir July 2020
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War doctor : surgery on the front line
by
David Nott
A doctor who has worked in every military conflict zone since the end of the Cold War discusses how he performs life-saving surgery under the most challenging conditions as well as his struggles returning to normal life back home.
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Minor feelings : an Asian American reckoning
by
Cathy Park Hong
An award-winning poet and essayist offers a ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged exploration of the psychological condition of being Asian American. As the daughter of Korean immigrants, Cathy Park Hong grew up steeped in shame, suspicion, and melancholy. She would later understand that these "minor feelings" occur when American optimism contradicts your own reality--when you believe the lies you're told about your own racial identity. With sly humor and a poet's searching mind, Hong uses her own story as a portal into a deeper examination of racial consciousness in America today. This intimate and devastating book traces her relationship to the English language, to shame and depression, to poetry and artmaking, and to family and female friendship. A radically honest work of art, Minor Feelings forms a portrait of one Asian American psyche--and of a writer's search to both uncover and speak the truth.
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Sigh, gone : a misfit's memoir of great books, punk rock, and the fight to fit in
by
Phuc Tran
"For anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlett Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, teenage rebellion, and assimilation, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents. Appealing to fans of coming-of-age memoirs such as Fresh Off the Boat, Running with Scissors, or tales of assimilation like Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Displaced and The Refugees, Sigh, Gone explores one man's bewildering experiences of abuse, racism, and tragedy and reveals redemption and connection in books and punk rock. Against the hairspray-and-synthesizer backdrop of the '80s, he finds solace and kinship in the wisdom of classic literature, and in the subculture of punk rock, he finds affirmation and echoes of his disaffection. In his journey for self-discovery Tran ultimately finds refuge and inspiration in the art that shapes--and ultimately saves--him"
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My wife said you may want to marry me : a memoir
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Jason Rosenthal
The “Journey Through Loss and Grief” TED Talk presenter and co-author of Dear Boy, traces the death of his wife, “Modern Love” columnist Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and his subsequent efforts to cope and honor Amy’s final wish.
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Pelosi
by
Molly Ball
The award-winning TIME Magazine national political correspondent presents an intimate portrait of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that illuminates her leadership, less-recognized career accomplishments and her decisions throughout Donald Trump's impeachment. Illustrations
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My vanishing country : a memoir
by
Bakari Sellers
The CNN analyst and record-setting South Carolina State Representative chronicles the past, present and likely future of the American South, discussing his father's civil rights heroism and the ignored harsh realities of the black working class.
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Assume nothing : a story of intimate violence
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Tanya Selvaratnam
A combination of memoir, reporting, and research, Assume Nothing is an urgent, timely examination of a frightening type of abuse of power. It tells Tanya Selvaratnam’s incredible story, while offering tools and solutions for a problem that persists, dangerously, behind the closed bedroom doors of people we know and love. When Tanya met Eric, they fell quickly and effortlessly in love, fueling each other’s growing political ambitions. But their power dynamic soon took a dark turn, as he criticized Tanya and began to try to control her, even telling her that he would have to kill her if they broke up. Sex turned frighteningly violent. At a friend’s urging, she opened up to a domestic violence expert, who confirmed what Tanya, on some level, already knew: she was in an abusive relationship. She considered avenues for protection—an ethics complaint, a civil claim, going to the police. But a situation that would be dire for most women was even more dangerous for Tanya because her abuser was the attorney general of New York—the top law enforcement officer in the state. She feared he would be tipped off and that he would crush her.
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Galileo and the science deniers
by
Mario Livio
The leading astrophysicist and best-selling author of Brilliant Blunders presents a fresh interpretation of the life of the “father of modern physics” that offers new insights into Galileo’s discoveries and the challenges he faced from religious opponents. Illustrations.
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Hollywood Park
by
Mikel Jollett
What it's about: indie musician Mikel Jollett's traumatic 1970s childhood in the Synanon cult; after escaping, his family battled poverty, mental illness, addiction, and abuse, and Jollett later found solace in music.
Read it for: Jollett's richly detailed account of self-discovery and healing.
For fans of: candid memoirs of surviving cults (like Ruth Wariner's The Sound of Gravel) and family dysfunction (like Tara Westover's Educated).
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Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs
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Jennifer Finney Boylan
What it is: a funny and moving ode to the dogs that have helped author Jennifer Finney Boylan navigate pivotal moments in her life, including the death of her father and her gender transition.
Want a taste? "Everything I know about love I learned from dogs."
Is it for you? Readers unfamiliar with Boylan's life and work may want to start with her bestselling memoir She's Not There, which chronicles her transition in greater depth.
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House lessons : renovating a life
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Erica Bauermeister
In this memoir-in-essays, New York Times bestselling author Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in the eccentric town of Port Townsend, WA, and in the process takes readers on a journey into the ways our spaces subliminally affect us, ultimately showing us how to make our houses (and lives) better.
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A honeybee heart has five openings : a year of keeping bees
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Helen Jukes
A new homeowner describes her emotional and rewarding journey over the course of a year, after she was given a colony of honeybees as a gift and learned how to care for and live alongside the fascinating creatures. Illustrations.
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I Want You to Know We're Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir
by
Esther Safran Foer
What it's about: As the child of Holocaust survivors reticent to discuss their experiences, Esther Safran Foer grew up with lingering questions about her family history. After learning that her father's first family (including Esther's half-sister) had been killed by Nazis, Esther traveled to Ukraine in search of answers -- and catharsis.
Read it if: you liked Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, a fictionalization of his mother's heartwrenching journey to Ukraine.
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The house of Kennedy
by
James Patterson
A revelatory portrait of the Kennedys explores how the dual mottos, “To whom much is given, much is expected” and “Win at all costs” shaped generations of life inside and outside the family.
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Hell and other destinations : a 21st-century memoir
by
Madeleine Korbel Albright
Revealing, funny and inspiring, the six-time New York Times bestselling author and former Secretary of State—one of the world’s most admired and tireless public servants—reflects on the final stages of her career and how she has blazed her own trail in her later years.
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The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life by Janice Kaplan How it began: Journalist Janice Kaplan vowed one New Year's Eve to practice being grateful for one full year.
How she did it: Kaplan kept a "gratitude journal," surveyed experts including psychologists and medical doctors, and interviewed people who have overcome adversity.
Try this next: For another humorous memoir of embracing a new outlook on life, read Shonda Rhimes' inspiring Year of Yes. | | Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years by David Litt What it is: a witty chronicle of author David Litt's five-year tenure as a speechwriter for President Obama.
Read it for: an engaging behind-the-scenes look at some of the highs (writing four White House Correspondence Dinner speeches) and lows (making careless diplomatic gaffes) of an illustrious gig.
Author alert: Litt's latest book, the optimistic political history Democracy in One Book or Less, hit bookshelves in June. | | Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum by Jennifer Cook O'Toole What it is: an inspirational guide that urges readers -- and the medical establishment -- to reevaluate stereotypical ideas about what autism looks like, especially the ways gender can affect the expression of autistic traits.
Why it's important: Author Jennifer Cook O'Toole encourages readers to view autism as more of a difference than a "disease," and reveals how her diagnosis at age 34 came as a relief instead of something negative. | | Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen What it's about: Anna Quindlen's examination of her changing family dynamics as she goes from parent to grandparent and must recalibrate her relationship with her child and her own understanding of herself.
Want a taste? "Those who make their opinions sound like the Ten Commandments see their grandchildren only on major holidays and in photographs."
About the author: Pulitzer Prize winner Quindlen is also known for her fiction, including Still Life with Breadcrumbs and Object Lessons. | | Where I Come From: Life Lessons from a Latino Chef by Aarón Sánchez What it's about: MasterChef star Aaron Sanchez's culinary coming-of-age and influences, including legendary New York restaurateur Zarela Martinez (his mother), and New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme.
Recipes include: Bacalao-Stuffed Sweet Plantains with Crema Mexicana; Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed Mole; Seafood Stew with Coconut and Chipotle.
Reviewers say: "Sánchez's fans will relish this richly told life story of a chef celebrating his roots" (Publishers Weekly). | |
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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