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Biography and Memoir March 2019
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| Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine by Emily BernardWhat it is: A lyrical memoir in essays that examines author Emily Bernard's relationship to her blackness and her Southern heritage.
Topics include: Bernard's interracial marriage and adoption of twin girls from Ethiopia; her grandmother's Jim Crow-era Mississippi childhood.
Want a taste? "I am black -- and brown, too. Brown is the body I was born into. Black is the body of the stories I tell." |
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| Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future by Pete ButtigiegWhat it's about: The inspiring political rise of two-term South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, a former Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Navy veteran who recently announced his 2020 presidential bid.
Did you know? Buttigieg is the first openly gay Democratic candidate to run for president.
Try this next: For another engaging memoir by a young Democratic politician and Afghanistan veteran, try Jason Kander's Outside the Wire: Ten Lessons I've Learned in Everyday Courage. |
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Hello, Friends! : Stories from My Life and Blue Jays Baseball
by Jerry Howarth
What it's about: An honest memoir about life, family, and baseball from the longtime, legendary Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcaster.
Featuring: Stories about everyone from Dave Stieb, Jack Morris, Duane Ward, Roberto Alomar, and Joe Carter to John Gibbons, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, and the late Roy Halladay. Hello, Friends is a must-read for sports fans everywhere.
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| Joy Enough by Sarah McCollWhat it's about: The year Sarah McColl spent grappling with her mother's impending death from cancer and the dissolution of her own marriage.
For fans of: Candid memoirs of loss, such as Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and C.S. Lewis' A Grief Observed.
Why you might like it: Despite its difficult subject matter, Pushcart Prize nominee McColl's introspective debut is ultimately hopeful. |
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| Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison --Solitary Confinement, A Sham Trial... by Jason RezaianWhat it is: A powerful, briskly paced memoir chronicling Iranian American journalist Jason Rezaian's 18-month imprisonment in Tehran.
What happened: Arrested on trumped-up espionage charges, Rezaian's release was used as a bargaining chip in Iran's nuclear deal negotiations with the Obama administration.
Read it for: Frank discussions concerning U.S.-Iran relations and Rezaian's complicated relationship with his family's homeland. |
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| Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf by Helene CooperWho it's about: Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the 24th Liberian President and Africa's first female elected head of state.
Topics include: Sirleaf's exile following her failed presidential run during the First Liberian Civil War; her handling of the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Is it for you? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Helene Cooper's mostly flattering biography spares her subject from in-depth criticisms. |
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The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi : British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun
by Vicki Mackenzie
What it's about: A fascinating biography of Freda Bedi, an English woman who broke all the rules of gender, race, and religious background to become both a revolutionary in the fight for Indian independence and then a Buddhist icon.
Her First: She was the first English woman to be accepted by Gandhi into his elite band of Satyagrahi, delivering rousing speeches to thousands of Indians urging them to revolt, and then was imprisoned for subversion.
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| The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville by Clare MulleyWhat it is: The previously untold story of Polish-born Christine Granville, the first woman to serve as a British intelligence officer during WWII.
Don't miss: Granville's heroic (and suspenseful) feats, which included skiing the Carpathian Mountains to deliver intel, parachuting into occupied France to aid the Resistance, and bribing the Gestapo to release three of her compatriots scheduled for execution.
For fans of: Ian Fleming's James Bond novels; Granville is rumored to be the inspiration for the first Bond Girl, Casino Royale's Vesper Lynd. |
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Out Standing in the Field : A Memoir by Canada's First Infantry Officer
by Sandra Perron
What it's about : In her revealing and moving memoir, Sandra Perron, Canada's first female infantry officer and a member of the Royal 22nd Regiment--the legendary "Van Doos"--describes her fight against a system of institutional sexism.
Don't Miss: Her military experience, however, wasn't all negative. Through two deployments to Bosnia and Croatia, Perron forged lasting friendships with men and women, serving her country with courage and compassion, and her determination helped pave the way for women's inclusion in the Armed Forces.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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