|
Biography and Memoir September 2020
|
|
|
|
| The Growing Season: How I Built a New Life -- and Saved an American Farm by Sarah FreyWhat it's about: Growing up impoverished in rural Illinois, Sarah Frey always longed to leave her family farm, until a change of heart at age 18 inspired her to save the business from foreclosure.
About the author: Now known as "America's Pumpkin Queen," Frey is the CEO of the billion-dollar Frey Farms, one of the country's largest produce suppliers.
Who it's for: Aspiring entrepreneurs and fans of rags-to-riches stories will enjoy this heartwarming and inspiring read. |
|
|
Uncrowned queen : the life of Margaret Beaufort, mother of the Tudors
by Nicola Tallis
What it is: A portrait of Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort details her critical role in the ending of the War of the Roses, the ascendancy of Henry VII and the political and ceremonial affairs of late-15th-century England.
Why you might like it: Against a lavish backdrop of pageantry and ambition, court intrigue and war, historian Nicola Tallis illuminates how a dynamic, brilliant woman orchestrated the rise of the Tudors.
|
|
|
Hell and other destinations : a 21st-century memoir
by Madeleine Korbel Albright
What it is: 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.
Is it for you? "This passionately told account of Albright's "afterlife" will inspire readers to become involved in the issues meaningful to them. Recommended for all interested in politics, leadership, and women's studies." (Library Journal)
|
|
|
Galileo and the science deniers
by Mario Livio
What it's about: 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.
Reviewers say: "Livio argues that the distinction we make between the humanities and the sciences is false and damaging, and that Galileo illuminates a better balance between the two. A refreshing perspective on Galileo's legacy." (booklist)
|
|
|
Me & Patsy kickin' up dust : my friendship with Patsy Cline
by Loretta Lynn
What it's about: Country artist Loretta Lynn and her daughter share the previously undisclosed story of Lynn's deep bond with fellow music legend, Patsy Cline, to discuss such topics as their creative collaborations and Cline's untimely death.
Why you might like it: Full of laughter and tears, this eye-opening, heartwarming memoir paints a picture of two stubborn, spirited country gals who'd be damned if they'd let men or convention tell them how to be.
|
|
|
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir
by Natasha Trethewey
What it's about: When she was 19 years old, Natasha Trethewey's former stepfather murdered her mother.
How she coped: Years later, Trethewey returned to the scene of the crime, where she found the long-buried answers to questions lingering from childhood.
Try this next: Readers stirred by this lyrical and unflinching portrait of family violence will want to check out Blood by Allison Moorer.
|
|
|
Demagogue : the life and long shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy
by Larry Tye
What it is: Draws on unprecedented access to personal and professional records and recently unsealed transcripts to share insights into McCarthy’s complicated personality and contradictory views, tracing his wartime heroics and the rise of his controversial anti-communist campaigns.
Track the facts: "The firebrand senator’s battles with the press, his political vendettas, his disdain for facts, and his dismissal of his campaign’s human costs are documented in appalling detail, but Tye is an even-handed reporter, tracking the truth of stories advanced by both McCarthy's devotees and detractors." (Booklist)
|
|
|
In the Shadow of the Valley
by Bobi Conn
What it's about: Surviving despite being poor, female and cloistered in 1980s Appalachia, the author, in this clear-eyed and compassion memoir, shares her journey to worth, autonomy and reinvention in a community marginalized, desperate and ignored.
Is it for you? Reviewers call it, "An engaging read that will connect with fans of Tara Westover's Educated and those interested in the ability of the human spirit to overcome adversity." (Library Journal)
|
|
| Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented... by Charles KingWhat it is: a sweeping group biography of the women who studied cultural anthropology under Franz Boas in the early 20th century.
Why you might like it: This engaging history explores how these trailblazing scientists challenged notions of Western cultural superiority.
On the roster: Ruth Benedict, Ella Cara Deloria, Margaret Mead, and Zora Neale Hurston. |
|
| Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy WickendenWhat it's about: In 1916, two well-to-do best friends, Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood, left their homes in Auburn, New York to teach in the remote settlement of Elkhead on the Colorado frontier.
Author alert: Dorothy Wickenden is the executive editor of The New Yorker and the granddaughter of Dorothy Woodruff; she conducted interviews and used letters and newspaper articles to inform this fascinating fish-out-of-water tale. |
|
|
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
by Azar Nafisi
What it's about: Describes growing up in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the group of young women who came together at her home in secret every Thursday to read and discuss great books of Western literature, explaining the influence of Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, and other works on their lives and goals.
About the author: Azar Nafisi is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. She won a fellowship from Oxford and taught English literature at the University of Tehran, the Free Islamic University and Allameh Tabatabai University in Iran. She was expelled from the University of Tehran for refusing to wear the veil and left Iran for America in 1997.
|
|
|
The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, Father of the...
by David N. Schwartz
Who it's about: Italian physicist and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi, whose scientific breakthroughs included building the first atomic reactor that would be used in the Manhattan Project.
Reviewers say: "a rewarding, expert biography" (Kirkus Reviews); "scrupulously researched and lovingly crafted" (Publishers Weekly).
Further reading: Bettina Hoerlin and Gino Segrè's The Pope of Physics: Enrico Fermi and the Birth of the Atomic Age.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contactthe Winfield Public Library 630-653-7599, 0S291 Winfield Rd.
Winfield, IL 60190
|
|
|