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Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II
by Becky Aikman
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. In a faraway land, these "spitfires" lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams.
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Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness
by David Attenborough
Award-winning broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough and longtime collaborator Colin Butfield present a powerful call to action focused on our planet's oceans, exploring how critical this habitat is for the survival of humanity and the earth's future. Through personal stories, history and cutting-edge science, Ocean uncovers the mystery, the wonder, and the frailty of the most unexplored habitat on our planet-the one which shapes the land we live on, regulates our climate, and creates the air we breathe. This book showcases the oceans' remarkable resilience: they can, and in some cases have, recovered the fastest, if we only give them the chance. Drawing a course across David Attenborough's own lifetime, Ocean takes readers on an adventure-laden voyage through eight unique ocean habitats, countless intriguing species, and the most astounding discoveries of the last 100 years, to a future vision of a fully restored marine world-one even more spectacular than we could possibly hope for. Ocean reveals the past, present and potential future of our blue planet. It is a book almost a century in the making, but one that has never been more urgently needed.
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Manual Not Included by Hilaria BaldwinThere's no set of instructions when it comes to navigating the challenges life throws at us. However, by sharing our narratives and finding our commonality, we can better deal with what comes our way. After meeting her husband, actor Alec Baldwin, Hilaria found joy and purpose entering the public eye, where she sought to build community and connection with others. She also faced the challenges of the uglier, more toxic parts of the spotlight, living under a warped magnifying glass. Through the ups and downs, Hilaria leaned into wisdom and support offered by others, learning that optimism, kindness, and a sense of humor can put life into perspective. And additionally learning that we are not alone, that we are more alike than we are different. In Manual Not Included, Hilaria writes about the relatable, hard-earned insights she's gained from her experiences as an individual, a partner, and a parent--from feeling empowered, to having a fulfilling relationship, to being as good a mother as possible, all while still being a work in progress. Within chapters about love, motherhood, and friendship, Hilaria offers up her candid stories around common themes facing women--from feeling like you're too much and also not enough, to grappling with the expectation to be a "good girl," and to striving for unattainable perfection. While there is no one right way to live, by sharing what we've learned along the way, with compassion and without judgment, we can each create our own perfectly imperfect manual.
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Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up
by Dave Barry
Well, it’s about time. At the age of 77, Pulitzer Prize–winning humor writer and novelist Barry has written a memoir. And it’s a hell of a lot of fun. It’s got its serious side—the early sections, in which he writes about his family and about his early struggles to figure out who he was, are rather touching—but it’s mostly a funny look at the life of a guy who (as he says) writes booger jokes for a living. He talks about some of his most well-known newspaper columns, how it feels to be hated by Neil Diamond’s fans, winning a major award (and wondering whether he deserved it), playing in a rock band with Stephen King, and watching an actor playing a guy named “Dave Barry” in a sitcom very loosely based on his life. He seems genuinely humble, genuinely astonished at how he’s made an entire career out of writing funny stuff, and genuinely a nice guy. Hilariously funny, too. And we’re not making this up.
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The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football by Bill BelichickNo one embodies winning more than Bill Belichick, the greatest football coach of all time. Over the past fifty years, Belichick has been a man of notoriously few words, believing that a coach should keep a low profile. After he left the Patriots in 2024, he briefly became a coach without a team. He spent that year writing down the principles he learned from his father, Navy football, and from his forty-nine-year coaching career.
Belichick’s philosophy goes far beyond football. He presents a whole-year, whole-life, whole-mindset approach to greatness that encompasses preparation, motivation, confidence, and leadership. The principles in this book are adaptable to wherever you work. No matter where you are on the ladder, they will help you think like a leader in anticipation of being one. Drawing on decades of studying the greats of the game, handling colorful personalities and egos, and playing for the highest stakes in sports, Belichick shares memorable examples and practical takeaways from his lived experience. Winning is not about being perfect—it’s about growth. And you will improve only as much as you recognize where you’re weak. Belichick owns up to mistakes like deciding to go for it on 4th and 13 in the 2008 Super Bowl. Then he breaks down how to learn from your mistakes like a leader does—an approach that sustained him throughout his early career challenges and ultimately brought him to the top of the sport.
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My Father's House: An Ode to John James Conyers Jr., Congress's Longest-Serving Black American by John James ConyersA respectful, thoughtful, yet clear-eyed reframing of a national hero's personal and political odyssey, My Father's House is John Conyers III's love letter to his father and a record of his own journey. Conyers reveals a towering figure in modern American political history and an ordinary family man; a leader whose work in Washington necessitated his many absences as a father from a son coming of age in Detroit. John Conyers III introduces us to John James Conyers, Jr. the legislator, who changed lives and made history, and of his equity-focused work that remains to be done. We meet Conyers the politician and mentor who worked with and counselled a network of powerbrokers--often from the family home on Seven Mile Road in the Motor City--including President Bill Clinton, Congressmen Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Charlie Rangel, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, feminist Gloria Steinem, entertainer-activists Harry Belafonte, Berry Gordy, Stevie Wonder, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Chris Tucker, Vivica Fox, and a slew of other players in Washington, DC, and across the nation.
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Who Knew by Barry DillerWriting in his own singular voice, Barry Diller delivers both an astute and entertaining business memoir and a surprisingly frank coming-of-age story. After starting his career in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency, Diller went on to have one of the most extraordinary ascents in show business history, inventing the TV Movie of the Week for ABC at age twenty-seven, becoming CEO of Paramount Pictures at age thirty-two, and launching the Fox TV network at age forty-four. Along the way, Diller oversaw the production of classic films such as Saturday Night Fever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Grease, and hit TV shows such as The Simpsons, Married... with Children, and Cops. He successfully made the leap from chief executive to entrepreneur when he bought Home Shopping Network, founded IAC, and grew it into a multi-billion-dollar e-commerce business with such breakout brands as Match, Tinder, Angi, and Expedia. Barry Diller's book is about much more than business. It is a remarkably honest and entertaining account of his personal journey and a fascinating tour through show business and digital media.
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Karen: A Brother Remembers
by Kelsey Grammer
Karen by Kelsey Grammer delves into the deeply personal and tragic story of the author's sister, Karen, who was brutally murdered at the age of 18. Kelsey was just 20 years old and studying theater at Juilliard in New York when his younger sister, a recent high school graduate, moved to Colorado Springs, where she was kidnapped by several men who had intended to rob the Red Lobster where she worked. They instead kidnapped Karen, raped her repeatedly, and ultimately stabbed her to death. Through this memoir, Grammer poignantly recounts the memories of his sister and the impact her loss had on his life and family. With raw honesty, Grammer explores the profound grief and devastation that followed Karen's death, as well as the long and arduous journey toward healing. He bravely confronts the pain of losing a loved one to senseless violence, offering readers a glimpse into the complexities of coping with such a profound loss. Karen also serves as a testament to Grammer's resilience and determination to transform tragedy into a source of inspiration and empowerment. In sharing his story, Grammer aims to help others who have experienced similar loss, offering them solace and encouragement on their own paths toward healing. Karen is not merely a memoir of loss, but a powerful testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit and the capacity for hope in the face of such overwhelming and devastating loss. This book is a moving tribute to a life cut tragically short, a testament to the enduring bond between siblings, and a message of hope at a time when we need it the most.
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How to Be Well: Without Spending All Your Money and Losing Your Mind by Amy LaroccaA groundbreaking cultural, political, and personal exploration of the multi-billion dollar wellness industry and the ways it's shaping our thinking about health and self-care. Peleton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashweganda. Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion dollar behemoth that touches us all. In this urgently needed book, journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the movement and reckons with its promises and profits. How did we get here and how did the idea of wellness become integrated with women's lives? How to Be Well takes readers into the communities that swear by their activated charcoal toothpaste and green juice enemas, explaining what each of these practices really are-and what the science says. Larocca holds a magnifying glass to alternative medicine and nouveau lifestyle prescriptions, delivering an incisive assessment of how the wellness industry embodies our (gendered, class-based, racialized) perceptions of care and self-improvement, and how it preys upon our unshakeable fear of the unknown. She traces the history of how the beauty and fashion industries has peddled snake oil to women for decades--and why we keep coming back for more. A nuanced portrait of the weird world of wellness, How to Be Well lays bare the ways in which the simple notion of caring for oneself has become a seriously big business.
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Is a River Alive? by Robert MacfarlaneHailed in the New York Times as "a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler," Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law. Macfarlane takes readers on three unforgettable journeys teeming with extraordinary people, stories, and places: to the miraculous cloud-forests and mountain streams of Ecuador, to the wounded creeks and lagoons of India, and to the spectacular wild rivers of Canada--imperiled respectively by mining, pollution, and dams. Braiding these journeys is the life story of the fragile chalk stream a mile from Macfarlane's house, a stream who flows through his own years and days. Powered by dazzling prose and lit throughout by other minds and voices, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, challenge perspectives, and remind us that our fate flows with that of rivers-and always has.
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Centerville Library
111 W. Spring Valley Rd
Centerville, OH 45458
(937) 433-8091
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Woodbourne Library
6060 Far Hills Ave Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 435-3700
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Creativity Commons
895 Miamisburg Centerville Rd
Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 610-4425
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