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Biography and Memoir August 2026 |
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| Fully Baked: A Messy Memoir by Rosebud BakerIn comedian and former SNL writer Rosebud Baker’s Fully Baked, she reflects on an upbringing colored by dysfunction and tragedy, and how the experience taught her the value of laughter in the face of trauma. Baker’s “joke-dense” (Booklist) debut recounts her tumultuous journey to discovering her talent for standup and, eventually, choosing sobriety, marriage, and motherhood -- heavily laced with her trademark sarcasm and dark humor. For fans of: What in the World?! by Leanne Morgan. |
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| Gowanus Crossing: A Brooklyn Boyhood by Vincent CoppolaJournalist and debut memoirist Vincent Coppola takes a trip back to 1960s Gowanus, Brooklyn, the tough-as-nails Italian American neighborhood of his youth. With gritty lyricism, Coppola captures a tightly knit place where outsiders were mistrusted, people feared the police and the mafia equally, the Catholic church held absolute sway, and family life was hardly less chaotic. For another lively work of urban history, try Talkin’ Greenwich Village by David Browne. |
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Grandma Joy and Me: A Journey of Healing, One National Park at a Time
by Brad Ryan
A heartrending, transformative true story following Brad Ryan and his grandmother Joy Ryan as they embark on a seven-year journey to visit every US National Park. Raised in Appalachia, Grandma Joy lived a life shaped by constraints and hardships, while Brad grappled with the weight of family rifts and unresolved pain. Together, they embarked on a quest not only to witness the majesty of America's wild landscapes but also to heal generations of struggles and misunderstandings. Over seven years, they sought to visit all sixty-three US National Parks. From the towering peaks of Denali to the otherworldly beauty of the Everglades, each park became a classroom, teaching them profound lessons about nature, resilience, and each other. Grandma Joy and Me follows a seven-year adventure of intergenerational healing, wherein a grandmother and grandson find themselves released from the injustices--real and imagined--that had long held them hostage. An emotionally charged exploration of love, forgiveness, and resilience, this unique bond between a young man and his ninety-three-year-old grandmother--the oldest person to visit every US National Park--is more than just any travel tale; it is a testament to what makes us deeply human.
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Gutted: How an Old House Remodeled Me
by Maida Korte
Fans of Under the Tuscan Sun and House Lessons will love Gutted, a witty, big-hearted tale of trading city lights for leaky pipes--and discovering that sometimes the best renovations happen on the inside.What if the only way to rebuild your life is to begin by tearing down the walls?When a successful designer, entrepreneur, and lifelong city dweller hesitantly agrees to follow her husband's dream of country living, she doesn't expect to be undone by a sagging Victorian farmhouse and the relentless wind howling through uninsulated walls. But as holes are patched and rooms slowly take shape, something surprising happens: space opens up. Not just in their crumbling home, but in her heart.
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Lifeguard: A Love Story
by Janet Fash
An unforgettable memoir from New York City's first female lifeguard chief, this coming-of-age story plunges into the rough-and-tumble, sun-soaked world of Rockaway Beach in the 1970s and 1980s. The first time I ever saw a lifeguard get horned was in the summer of 1974. So begins the singular story of Janet Fash, the first female lifeguard chief at Rockaway Beach. Janet never expected to be a lifeguard, but when she got recruited by a friend to join the New York City lifeguarding corps, she never looked back. Rockaway Beach, her first post, had it all: sun, sand, and the imperative to be the best. After all, people's lives are on the line. Lifeguard: A Love Story is a singular memoir about Janet's life on the beach. Rockaway is considered the most dangerous post in the city, with unpredictable rip currents and packed beaches. But it's also the envy of lifeguards everywhere--a beach where all the action happens, where you're as likely to save three lives before lunch as you are to stop the hot dog vendor from getting robbed.
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The Love Producer: My Unscripted Journey from a Reality TV Career to My Own Happily Ever After
by Julie Laplaca
For fans of reality television and those who like to understand how it's made, the book is a real treat. It's also a first-rate memoir--dramatic, passionate, and heartbreakingly honest. --Booklist A former Bachelor producer flips the script in this vulnerable memoir about her own journey to finding love after her job turned into a real-life rom-com. Julie LaPlaca spent years crafting some of reality TV's most iconic and swoon worthy romances, from hot tub heartbreaks to heartfelt proposal speeches. But behind the scenes, her own love life was unraveling. The end of a five-year relationship, one too many bad dates, and months on the road left her wondering if she'd ever get the happy ending she helped curate for others. Then came the headlines. The tabloids speculated Julie was the love interest of the very Bachelor she was producing. Suddenly, her life mirrored her own creation, as she was pulled into the spotlight, started to question her feelings, and lines became blurred between her and the show's leading man.
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Mr. Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles
by Philip Norman
Captivating . . . . tells a great story . . . . a rip-roaring yet empathic rock history.--Publishers Weekly (starred review) The definitive, comprehensive biography of Brian Epstein--the man who built the Beatles--by eminent Beatles biographer Philip Norman There will never be another pop manager like Brian Epstein, the young record retailer from Liverpool behind the 20th century's greatest romance. Having achieved his much-derided aim of making the Beatles bigger than Elvis, Brian went on to make them bigger than any earthly instrument could measure. Only a handful of years older, he nonetheless referred them as The Boys, protecting and pampering them like the children he could never hope to have. Brian's achievement in a profession in which he had no experience, and for which nor rulebook existed, remains jaw-dropping. A devout classical music fan, he was nonetheless solely responsible for a new genre of pop that was to change its course, and Britain's international image, forever--yet, disgracefully, earn him no public honor nor even thanks.
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The Traveler: One Man's Quest for Humanity from the South Seas to Revolutionary Paris
by Andrea Wulf
From an early age, it was clear that George Forster possessed a brilliant mind. At just ten years old, he became a botanist when he accompanied his irascible father, Reinhold, on a wild expedition to Russia. By the time he was twelve, they had moved to London and the young boy soon became the breadwinner by publishing translations of the most popular travel accounts of the day. Then, in 1772, at the age of seventeen, George Forster joined Cook's second voyage, the most daring expedition of the time. The HMS Resolution set sail with orders to find what was then the hypothetical southern continent of Antarctica, stopping at the islands of the South Pacific-- including New Zealand, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tahiti, and Easter Island--along the way. The Resolution carried the ambitions of the most powerful empire in the world, but Forster brought an understanding that was far ahead of his day.
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| When the Revolution Comes: A Fight for the Future of the Working Class by Chris SmallsWhen Chis Smalls, an employee at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, figured out that he was repeatedly passed over for advancement opportunities because he was Black, he staged a walkout and was fired for it. But that was only the beginning. Smalls’ autobiography recounts his founding of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) to combat unfair pay and poor working conditions at the only unionized Amazon warehouse in the country. For other inspiring examples of labor activism, try Get on the Job and Organize by Jaz Brisack. |
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Contact the Reference Dept. at 847-720-3230 for more great books! |
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