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Biography and Memoir June 2024
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| Did I Ever Tell You? by Genevieve KingstonGenevieve Kingston expands on her 2021 "Modern Love" essay in her affecting debut memoir about the milestone-themed letters and gifts her mother left behind after dying from cancer when the author was 11. For fans of: My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me by Jason B. Rosenthal. |
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| Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life by Nicholas D. KristofTwo-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof chronicles his life and 40-year journalism career in this candid and inspiring memoir. Try this next: Reporter by Seymour M. Hersh. |
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| Power and Glory: Elizabeth II and the Rebirth of Royalty by Alexander LarmanDrawing on previously unpublished materials, the final volume in Alexander Larman's trilogy about the House of Windsor chronicles the British royal family's post-World War II exploits, culminating in the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Further reading: Young Elizabeth: The Making of the Queen by Kate Williams. |
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| The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their... by Karen ValbyKaren Valby's inspiring expansion of her 2021 New York Times article profiles the trailblazing accomplishments of Black ballerinas Lydia Abarca-Mitchell, Gayle McKinney-Griffith, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, and Karlya Shelton-Benjamin, who were among the first company members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem in the 1960s and '70s. Further reading: Dance Theatre of Harlem: A History, A Movement, A Celebration by Judy Tyrus and Paul Novosel. |
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| Small Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy by Ali VelshiJournalist and MSNBC correspondent Ali Velshi details over 100 years of his family's history in activism and resistance in this sweeping memoir that "provides a crash course in Indian diasporic history" (Kirkus Reviews). For fans of: An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice by Khizr Khan. |
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| Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis ChinAsian American Writers' Workshop cofounder Curtis Chin's nostalgic debut chronicles his coming-of-age in 1980s Detroit, where he worked at his family's beloved Chinese restaurant and navigated his growing attraction to other boys. Try this next: Savor: A Chef's Hunger for More by Fatima Ali. |
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Care Of : Letters, Connections, and Cures
by Ivan Coyote
"In the early days of the coronavirus lockdown, like every artist and creator, writer and storyteller Ivan Coyote was faced with a calendar full of cancelled shows and a heart full of questions that all rhymed with what now? To keep busy while figuring out what to write about next, Ivan began to answer the backlog of mail and correspondences that had come in while they were on the pre-pandemic road: emails, letters, direct messages on social media, soggy handwritten notes found tucked under the windshield wiper of their car after a gig, all of it. In Care Of, Coyote combines the most moving and powerful of these letters with the responses they've sent in the months since the lockdown. Taken together, they become an affirming and joyous reflection on manyof the themes and ideas central to Coyote's beloved work as an author and storyteller--a giant love letter to the idea of human connection and the power of truly listening to each other."
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| Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya HPseudonymous Lamya H's Stonewall Book Award-winning debut offers a moving account of the author's experiences as a queer Muslim woman who immigrated to the United States as a teen and found strength from stories in the Quran. Try this next: Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar. |
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| Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto by Edafe OkporoActivist Edafe Okporo's thought-provoking memoir offers an affecting account of how the author sought asylum in America after fleeing from his native Nigeria in 2016, where he was ostracized and received death threats for being gay. Try this next: From Here by Luma Mufleh. |
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| In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life by Amy SchneiderJeopardy! contestant Amy Schneider, the show's most decorated woman champion, shares her unlikely path toward becoming a "Famous Celebrity Trans Person" in this funny and nonlinear memoir-in-essays featuring chapter titles styled like Jeopardy! questions. Try this next: Form of a Question by Andrew Rostan. |
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