| The Correspondents: Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II by Judith MackrellWhat it is: an engaging collective biography spotlighting six women journalists during World War II who braved the front lines -- and workplace sexism -- to break barriers in their profession.
Why you might like it: This evocative you-are-there account offers a richly detailed portrait of wartime courage, supplemented with diary entries, private correspondence, and other archival materials.
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Windswept & Interesting : My Autobiography
by Billy Connolly
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. 'It's the first time I've done this. Other people have written about me - or for me - but this time it's just my own life in my own words'.
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No cure for being human : and other truths I need to hear
by Kate Bowler
When she discovers that she has cancer at the age of 35, the author searches for a way forward as she mines the wisdom—and absurdity—of our modern “best life now” advice industry, learning how to deal with her diagnosis on her own terms.
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What Have I Done? : Motherhood, Mental Illness & Me
by Laura Dockrill
Now, she wants to break down the silence around postnatal mental health, shatter the idealised expectations of perfect motherhood, and show all new struggling parents that they are not alone. Praise for What Have I Done?'This moving book was a pleasure to read and I didn't want to put it down.
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| Orwell's Roses by Rebecca SolnitWhat it's about: how Nineteen Eighty-Four author George Orwell's love of nature and gardening informed his life, work, and antifascist politics.
Read it for: a fresh perspective on an influential writer, featuring lyrical and thought-provoking insights from author Rebecca Solnit (Recollections of My Nonexistence), including a visit to the Hertfordshire cottage where Orwell planted roses in 1936.
Reviewers say: "A fine Orwell biography with equally fine diversions into his favorite leisure activity" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei; translated by Allan H. BarrWhat it is: a revealing family history chronicling Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei's early life in exile alongside his father, poet Ai Qing, during Mao Zedong's regime, as well as his commitment to creative freedom in the face of political authoritarianism.
Why you should read it: Ai's moving memoir explores the pair's artistic evolution as they navigated the turbulence of the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath.
Featuring: reproductions of some of Ai's artwork. |
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Stranger care : a memoir of loving what isn't ours
by Sarah Sentilles
The author shares what she learned from fostering a newborn — about injustice, about mistakes, and about how to better love and protect people outside of our immediate families. Also available in eBook.
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Prison Break
by Arthur Taylor
The extraordinary life and crimes of New Zealand's most infamous escapee. Also available in eBook and Large Print.
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Gone Bush: a Life in the Backcountry and Beyond
by Paul Kilgour
Gone Bush is about a lifetime of walking the backcountry. It tells stories of the eccentric characters he met along the way, some of the 1200 huts he's visited, and his most unforgettable journeys, including his 'long walk home' from deepest Fiordland to the top of Golden Bay. It's also a book about the powerful effects of being in the natural environment, doing what matters and living authentically. --Publisher information
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Come Back to Mona Vale: Life and Death in a Christchurch Mansion
by Alexander McKinnor
Alexander McKinnon's explorations of his family's past is the record of a beautiful and grand (yet gradually crumbling) manor interwoven with social history - with a sense of the Gothic, of obsession, and of a tight-knit circle where secrets wreak a terrible climax leading to a form of inter-generational haunting.--Publisher information.
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| My Broken Language by Quiara Alegría HudesWhat it's about: Pulitzer Prize-winning In the Heights playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes' Jewish Boricua upbringing in 1980s West Philadelphia. Also available in Large Print.
Topics include: Hudes' struggles to embrace her mixed-race identity; tensions over her white-passing privilege; finding her creative voice.
Read it for: an evocative portrait of the community that inspired Hudes' art; a lyrical and resonant exploration of family, identity, and memory. |
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| Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure by Menachem KaiserWhat it's about: journalist Menachem Kaiser's quest to reclaim his Polish Jewish grandfather's apartment building, which was seized by Nazis in the early days of World War II. Also available in eBook.
Who it's for: Fans of family histories that reveal long-buried secrets will appreciate Kaiser's compelling account.
Reviewers say: "Superbly written, this page-turner reads like a gripping adventure novel" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| And Now I Spill the Family Secrets: An Illustrated Memoir by Margaret KimballWhat it is: illustrator Margaret Kimball's candid account of her family's history of mental illness. Only available in eBook.
Art alert: Realistic black-and-white illustrations, which often depict empty interiors, complement the tension and intimacy of Kimball's prose.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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