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Biography and Memoir April 2018
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Biography Reference Bank
This database contains biographical full-text articles, page images and abstracts from today’s leading magazines and journals, providing the most current coverage of more than half a million individuals' lives and work.
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A to Z World Travel
Contains travel guides for over 200 world cities. Each guide contains helpful information about a particular city's food and restaurants, climate and weather, embassies/consulates, health and medical services, travel essentials, money and banking, electrical and telecommunication requirements, and more.
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An Evening with the Author Alan Levenson Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 pm Downtown Library, 46th Star Room The complex and dramatic story of Joseph is the most sustained narrative in Genesis. Many call it a literary masterpiece and a story of great depth that can be read on many levels. In a lucid and engaging style, Alan T. Levenson brings the voices of Philo, Josephus, Midrash, and medieval commentators, as well as a wide range of modern scholars, into dialogue about this complex biblical figure.
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Water Conservation Program Tuesday, May 1, 6:00 pm Northwest Library, Meeting Room BLearn about water use efficiency best management practices to maximize water conservation at your home. Robert Reaves, Water Conservation Coordinator, will provide tips on how to best use irrigation, rain barrels, and drought resistant plants for your landscape. Don't forget to check out our resources on gardening and water conservation when you come!
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| Renoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon by Catherine HewittDigital Formats: Available as an Overdrive ebook. What it's about: A famous muse to Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, model Suzanne Valadon was an unconventional painter in her own right. Headstrong, impoverished and with no formal training, Valadon rejected the confines of the male-dominated art world, becoming the first woman painter to have her work accepted into the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts.
Reviewers say: "A must for art lovers and scholars, it will also appeal to readers of serious historical biographies" (Library Journal). |
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| Digital Formats: Available as an Overdrive ebook and audiobook.What it's about: Imprisoned for crimes he didn't commit, Anthony Ray Hinton served 30 years in solitary confinement on Alabama's death row, maintaining his innocence and an unshakable faith in God. With the help of the Equal Justice Initiative, Hinton's case was brought to the Supreme Court and he was released from prison in 2015.
Don't miss: Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of the 2014 bestseller Just Mercy, provides a powerful foreword.
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| Digital Formats: Available as an Overdrive audiobook. What it is: an absorbing and comprehensive biography of Founding Father John Marshall, chronicling his professional triumphs as a soldier, statesman, and our longest serving Chief Justice.
Why you should read it: Author Joel Richard Paul humanizes Marshall's legacy by detailing Marshall's strained relationships with cousin Thomas Jefferson and a wife who disliked his workaholic ways.
Further reading: Jean Edward Smith's John Marshall: Definer of a Nation. |
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| What it's about: Raised in a fundamentalist Mormon family who prepped for the "end of days," Tara Westover grew up without an education. Hungering for knowledge, she began educating herself, eventually pursuing an elite academic career at Harvard and Cambridge.
Why you might like it: "With no real comparison memoir" (Library Journal), Educated stands in a class all its own, though fans of The Glass Castle and Hillbilly Elegy should appreciate it.
Read it for: Westover's wrenching, vivid exploration of her family history, rendered in evocative and unsparing prose. |
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| Digital Formats: Available as an Overdrive ebook. What it's about: In his bold debut, Matt Young recounts his experiences as a Marine, from his enlistment at age 18 to his three tours in Iraq. At turns darkly humorous and shocking, Eat the Apple frankly reflects Young's transformation from rebellious teen to damaged man.
What's inside: Now a creative writing professor, Young puts his considerable skills to use in fragmenting the narrative: short chapters are punctuated by drawings, conversations between past and present selves, switching points of view, screenplays, and even an apology letter. |
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| Digital formats: Available as an Overdrive ebook and always available as a hoopla audiobook. What it's about: Former Olympian Amanda Beard chronicles her swimming career and her battles with depression, self-harm, and addiction in this triumphant memoir of resilience and renewal.
About the author: Beard is a seven-time Olympic medalist and one of the youngest Olympic medalists in American swimming history, winning three medals at the age of 14.
Reviewers say: This engaging memoir "resonates with readers by addressing real-life issues, not just those facing Olympic athletes" (Library Journal).
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| What is it: a page-turning and inspirational account of Misty Copeland's rise to ballet stardom, candidly recounting how she overcame bias, self-doubt, and family troubles to become the first African American soloist in the American Ballet Theatre.
Why you should read it: Copeland's prose is as graceful and as self-assured as her dancing.
You might also like: Mallaria Tallchief's self-titled memoir about becoming America's first Native American prima ballerina. |
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| What it is: a fiery and engrossing autobiography in which mixed martial artist champion Ronda Rousey recounts her rocky path to stardom, dispensing advice and encouragement to readers along the way.
Did you know? Rousey was the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo.
Reviewers say: "Rousey is a fierce yet endearing role model -- and a woman possessed" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Digital Formats: Available as an Overdrive ebook and audiobook. What it's about: In the wake of her Alzheimer's diagnosis, Pat Summitt, the NCAA's winningest basketball coach, reveals her triumphs, both personal (raising a son, a drive instilled in her by her father) and professional (eight national championships, a 100% graduation rate of her players).
Is it for you? Summitt's humorous anecdotes about players and recollections of strategies from key games make this a must-read for any sports fan; readers whose lives have been touched by illness will appreciate Summitt's candor in confronting her disease. |
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| What it is: a heartfelt, conversational chronicle of Abby Wambach's perseverance in the face of gender discrimination, homophobia, and substance abuse to become soccer's highest goal scorer of all time (male or female) and one of its most beloved players.
Why you might like it: Forward is as much about Wambach's relationships off the field as it is about hers on the field, as she grapples with balancing private and public selves.
Book buzz: Sheryl Sandberg, bestselling author of Lean In, calls Forward "the powerful story of an athlete who has inspired girls all over the world to believe in themselves."
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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