| Renoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon by Catherine HewittA famous muse to Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, model Suzanne Valadon was an unconventional painter in her own right. Headstrong, impoverished and with no formal training, Valadon rejected the confines of the male-dominated art world, becoming the first woman painter to have her work accepted into the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
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A Colonial Naturalist
by Pamela Hyde
Henry Suter is one of the forgotten German-speaking naturalists who made it their life's work to discover and describe New Zealand's flora and fauna. Leaving behind a failed business in Switzerland, Suter came to New Zealand with his wife and seven children in 1887 expecting to find employment in science. Instead he found poverty and despair. He also found an absorbing natural environment and a vibrant scientific community. Suter never managed to secure permanent employment but found short-term work in New Zealand museums and became a prolific trader of items desired by overseas collectors.
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Lioness : Golda Meir and the nation of Israel
by Francine Klagsbrun
The definitive biography of Golda Meir: the iron-willed leader, chain-smoking political operative, and tea-and-cake-serving grandmother who became the fourth prime minister of Israel and one of the most notable women of our time.
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The promise of Iceland
by Kári GÃslason
In 1990, Kári GÃslason travelled to Iceland to meet his father for the first time. What he finds is not what he expected. Born from a secret liaison between a British mother and an Icelandic father, Kári GÃslason was the subject of a promise a promise elicited from his father to not reveal his identity.Book Annotation
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A river in darkness : one man's escape from North Korea
by Masaji Ishikawa
At thirteen Masaji Ishikawa moved to North Korea, where he and his family became part of the lowest social caste and where he spent the next thirty-six years under the crushing totalitarian regime before escaping to Japan.
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| Educated: A Memoir by Tara WestoverRaised in a fundamentalist Mormon family who prepped for the "end of days," Tara Westover grew up without an education. Hungering for knowledge, she began educating herself, eventually pursuing an elite academic career at Harvard and Cambridge.
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Jane Austen's Transatlantic Sister : The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen
by Sheila Johnson Kindred
In 1807, genteel, Bermuda-born Fanny Palmer (1789-1814) married Jane Austen's youngest brother, Captain Charles Austen, and was thrust into a demanding life within the world of the British navy. Experiencing adventure and adversity in wartime conditions both at sea and onshore, the spirited and resilient Fanny travelled between Bermuda, Nova Scotia, and England. After crossing the Atlantic in 1811, she ingeniously made a home for Charles and their daughters aboard a working naval vessel, and developed a supportive friendship with his sister, Jane.
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| Eat the Apple: A Memoir by Matt YoungIn his bold debut, Matt Young recounts his experiences as a Marine, from his enlistment at age 18 to his three tours in Iraq. At turns darkly humorous and shocking, Eat the Apple frankly reflects Young's transformation from rebellious teen to damaged man.
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Becoming myself : a psychiatrist's memoir
by Irvin D. Yalom
An author and professor of psychiatry at Stanford examines himself and recalls the defining moments of his childhood that marked lessons in his development and helps readers reflect on the origins of their own selves.
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This is just my face : try not to stare
by Gabourey Sidibe
The Oscar-nominated star of Precious and Empire delivers a much-awaited memoir that shares details about her childhood with a polygamous father in Harlem, her gifted mother who supported them by singing in the subway and her own unconventional rise to fame.
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Jenson Button - Life to the Limit : My Autobiography
by Jenson Button
Jenson Button is one of the greatest racing drivers of his generation. His 17 years in Formula 1 have seen him experience everything the sport has to offer, from nursing underpowered cars around the track to winning World Championships and everything in between. Here, Jenson tells his full story for the first time in his own honest, intelligent and eloquent style.
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Plot 29: A Memoir
by Allan Jenkins
Plot 29 is on a London allotment site where people come together to grow. It's just that sometimes what Allan Jenkins grows there, along with marigolds and sorrel, is solace. When I am disturbed, even angry, gardening has been a therapy. When I don't want to talk I turn to plot 29, or to a wilder piece of land by a northern sea. There, among seeds and trees, my breathing slows; my heart rate too. My anxieties slip away. I nurture small plants from seeds, like when I was small and needed someone to care for me.
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The Enigma of Kidson: The Portrait of an Eton Schoolmaster
by Jamie Blackett
A highly personal portrait of Eton master, Michael Kidson (1929-2015) by former pupil Jamie Blackett. Kidson was a deeply unconventional schoolmaster with a passion for his subject, a brilliant didactic style, breath-taking rudeness, eccentric mannerisms and catchphrases, a maverick attitude towards authority, and above all, a deep empathy, loyalty and dedication towards his boys. He had an extraordinary influence on his pupils - David Cameron, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Johnnie Boden, Nicky Henderson, Matthew Pinsent, 'Lupin' and Dominic West to name but a few.
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Mr. Lear : a life of art and nonsense
by Jennifer S Uglow
dward Lear's poems follow and break the rules. His many drawings that accompany his verse are almost hyper-real, as if he wants to free the creatures from the page. They exist nowhere else in literature, springing only from Lear's imagination. Lear lived all his life on the borders of rules and structures, of disciplines and desires. He depended on patrons and moved in establishment circles, yet he never belonged among them and mocked imperial attitudes.
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It takes two : our story
by Jonathan Scott
The celebrity designers from the popular HGTV series Property Brothers and Brother vs Brother present a follow-up to their best-selling Dream Home to share never-before-revealed tales of their childhood, their rise to fame and how their combined talents for entertaining and renovating enabled their success.
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Fenella Fielding: Do You Mind If I Smoke?
by Fenella Fielding
Tells the story of Fenella Fielding's remarkable 65-year career in theatre, radio, TV, and film. Best known for her 1960s film appearances in classic comedies such as Carry On Screaming, Doctor in Clover, and Carry On Regardless, Fielding's sublime talents also brought her success in serious roles on the stage, including title roles in Hedda Gabler and Colette. Spiced with star-studded anecdotes and personalised with moving stories about innocence and experience, the early struggles of an aspiring actress, and later professional rivalries, Do You Mind If I Smoke? is a witty, warm, and wonderfully recounted memoir of an extraordinary life.
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| In the Water They Can't See You Cry: A Memoir by Amanda BeardFormer Olympian Amanda Beard chronicles her swimming career and her battles with depression, self-harm, and addiction in this triumphant memoir of resilience and renewal. Beard is a seven-time Olympic medalist and one of the youngest Olympic medalists in American swimming history, winning three medals at the age of 14.
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Golden Girls: Celebrating New Zealand's Six Female Olympic Gold Medallists
by Margot Butcher
It is ironic that New Zealand, first country to give women the vote, and a nation of avid sports fans, has never celebrated the achievements of its 'Golden Girls', those dedicated and talented women who achieved the pinnacle of sporting success - an Olympic Gold medal. So far we have six - and their achievements are finally are being honoured, as one of the lead-in events for the 2012 London Olympics. From long jumper Yvette Williams (now Yvette Corlett) to windsurfer Barbara Kendall, cyclist Sarah Ulmer, rowers Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell to shot-putter Valerie Vili, the courage, strength and sheer guts of these extraordinary women are combined as their stories, achievements and sporting records are brought together in a single volume.
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| Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty CopelandA page-turning and inspirational account of Misty Copeland's rise to ballet stardom, candidly recounting how she overcame bias, self-doubt, and family troubles to become the first African American soloist in the American Ballet Theatre.
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| My Fight, Your Fight by Ronda RouseyA fiery and engrossing autobiography in which mixed martial artist champion Ronda Rousey recounts her rocky path to stardom, dispensing advice and encouragement to readers along the way. Rousey was the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo.
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Lydia Ko: Portrait of A Teen Golfing Sensation
by Michael Donaldson
The secrets behind one of the golf world's most successful young star. Lydia Ko's ascendency to the top of the women's golf world has been stunning. The youngest woman to win a golf major - and then the youngest player of either sex to go on and win two - Lydia Ko continues to amaze the world with her golfing feats. She became the number 1 women's player at just 17 and has cemented her dominance of the game by never finishing far from the top of the leaderboard.
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Valerie: The Autobiography
by Valerie Adams
Valerie Adams is without question one of the greatest field athlete New Zealand has ever produced - and, if you're looking for confirmation of that fact, you need only scan the giant shot putter's astonishing list of achievements. Valerie Adams' story, though, does not just revolve around all the success she has achieved over the past eight or ten years. Her story is one of struggle, dedication and an incredible single-mindedness - all life experiences which have seen her become one of the great sporting champions. On top of that, she has become one of this country's great role models, most especially for young Pacific Islanders.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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