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Biography and Memoir March 2026 |
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| Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America by Howard BryantSports journalist Howard Bryant's affecting history details how trailblazing Black actor Paul Robeson and Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson's differing political ideologies often put them at odds with each other, culminating in Robinson's 1949 appearance at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he testified against Robeson. For fans of: The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. by Peniel E. Joseph.
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The Hours Are Long, But the Pay Is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music
by Rob Miller
In this memoir, Rob Miller, co-founder of Chicago's storied Bloodshot Records, tells the story of the unlikely evolution of Bloodshot from a list scribbled on a cocktail napkin into an internationally renowned home for roots music, soul, Americana, and alt-country, as well as the story of his own evolution from shy, dorky Detroit teenager to DIY label owner. Credited with launching the careers of celebrated musicians such as Neko Case and the late Justin Townes Earle, as well as resurrecting the careers of forgotten legends such as soul singer Andre Williams, Bloodshot had an almost 30-year run as an anchor of Chicago's vibrant independent music scene from the 1990s into the early 2020s. Throughout, the label remained fiercely independent, resisting efforts to pigeonhole their sound or succumb to the music industry's hit machine mentality. With the 2021 sale of Bloodshot, Miller stepped away from the work that defined his life for decades. Written with wry self-deprecation and full of anecdotes from the trenches of indie music, the book offers a scabrous critique of Big Music and a unique behind-the-scenes look at a little label that could-- Provided by publisher.
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Watching Evil Dead: Unearthing the Radiant Artist Within
by Josh Malerman
One night, bestselling author Josh Malerman--then just an aspiring writer--watched Sam Raimi's Evil Dead with his fiancée and two friends. It was a gathering that could've gone unnoticed, another date night with a movie, but for Malerman, it became a landmark. It changed the course of his life, and it will inspire you to reflect on your own journey and to discover existing triumphs that are within you already. Describing the course of the night, Malerman reflects on his life, from his career as a musician to his stack of rough drafts, written prior to ever being published--and on how meeting the love of his life, a fellow creative, opened him to new experiences and new ways of viewing the world they now quest through together. Malerman deploys his own story/to help readers not only write their unwritten stories but celebrate their uncelebrated/ victories: to find their voice, their vision, and their joie de vivre. By simply describing an uncommon and uncanny night, /he/ guides aspiring writers beyond the blank page to the immortal life of the writer--
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Always Game: A Maine Woman's Life of Outdoor Adventure
by Christi Elliott
Always Game demonstrates the power and happiness of an outdoor life.-Steven Rinella, author and host of the MeatEater PodcastChristi Elliott's passion for hunting and fishing, her curiosity and enthusiasm at tackling new experiences, and her dynamic personality have made her a powerful force in the Maine outdoors world. Judy Camuso, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, has called Elliott a movement, a phenomenon, a powerhouse and credited her with driving the increase in women obtaining hunting licenses. In Always Game, Elliott recounts her youth in Downeast Maine, highlights early adventures like hiking the Appalachian Trail, and takes readers along as she learns, sometimes through heartbreak, how to hunt and fish--including the training of her beloved dog, Argos. Elliott describes herself as an experience hunter who jumps at chances to try new things. Whether she is trapping beaver in Southern Maine, hunting moose in Washington County, fly fishing in Baxter State Park, or chasing tuna in rough seas an hour or so off the coast of Maine, her characteristic optimism shines through. Along the way, Christi has battled self-doubts and experienced the challenges of breaking into sports long dominated by men. Those challenges prompted her to create the Maine Women Hunters group as a welcoming place for like-minded women to learn and join in the fun. More than classic hunting and fishing tales, Always Game introduces a fresh voice in outdoor recreation and highlights the joy, pain, and wonder inherent in the sport.
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| The Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza GriffithsNovelist and poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths (Promise) grapples with the twin tragedies of the highly publicized and near-fatal attack on her new husband Salman Rushdie and, less than a year earlier, the sudden death of her closest friend, poet Kamilah Aisha Moon, who ironically passed away on Griffiths’ wedding day. For another emotional memoir about enduring wrenching loss, try Elizabeth Gilbert’s All the Way to the River.
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| Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J. MannBiographer William J. Mann's (Bogie & Bacall) well-researched true crime account offers fresh insights on the 1947 murder of actress Elizabeth Short, who posthumously came to be known by the moniker "Black Dahlia." Further reading: Sisters in Death: The Black Dahlia, the Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter by Eli Frankel.
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Year of the Water Horse: A Memoir
by Janice Page
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE A warm and witty memoir about the ever-changing relationships between mothers, mothers-in-law, and daughters that traverses two continents and multiple generations of two disparate yet connected families. Janice Page hails from Braintree, Massachusetts and a large Catholic brood. Her parents had a complicated marriage. Her five siblings each have their own sagas, and there is a destructive genetic force within the family's blood lines that causes much heartbreak. And then there is the large Chinese family of Janice's husband, James, equally cinematic and sweeping with a rich and complex history of its own. There is a daring wartime escape, a lost child, immigration to a new world, and a bittersweet reunion after decades of separation. Janice first met James fresh out of college while waitressing at Mandarin Garden, the only Chinese restaurant of its kind in Braintree. He had just arrived in America from Taiwan. As they work to bridge the divide between them--emotionally, culturally, and geographically--they begin to build their lives together. From Taiwan to Los Angeles, from her mother's bipolar disorder to the language barrier with her mother-in-law, Janice finds herself constantly searching for the feeling of home. Janice believes she can close the circle when she embarks on her own journey to become a mother. Like so many journeys, Janice's own journey to motherhood is filled with twists, turns, and surprises, leading to a baby girl from James's ancestral region of China. Janice and James might finally close a circle that had been open for generations on both sides and find home at last. Filled with humor and heart, wisdom and healing, Year of the Water Horse is a profound and compelling story with a deeply satisfying ending that will resonate long after the final page.
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Joan Crawford: A Woman's Face
by Scott Eyman
Film historian Scott Eyman unveils a comprehensive and evenhanded biography of Joan Crawford, an original “femme fatale” of Hollywood’s golden age. Noted for her unfaltering work ethic over a five-decade career, Crawford was closely guarded about her private life. Eyman unearths sources that highlight her impoverished upbringing, multiple marriages, and the allegations of abuse of her adopted children in this “juicy Hollywood saga” (Library Journal).
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| Michelangelo and Titian: A Tale of Rivalry and Genius by William E. WallaceArtistic competition bears creative fruit in art historian William E. Wallace’s dramatic tale of how the two giants of Italian Renaissance painting inspired each other to ever greater heights of accomplishment. Although they only met on two occasions, Wallace’s “captivating study” (Publishers Weekly) shows how each single-monikered master kept tabs on his rival through the intrigue-rich courts of local nobles and patrons, to the benefit of all.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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