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Biography and Memoir March 2026 |
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The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB
by Gordon Corera
The story of how one man--a librarian for the KGB--became a traitor to the intelligence agency, stealing the most prized Soviet-era archives and smuggling them to the West. How do you steal a library? Not just any library but the most secret, heavily guarded archive in the world. The answer is to be a librarian. To be so quiet, that no-one knows what you are up to as you toil undercover and deep amongst the files. The Spy in the Archive tells the remarkable story of how Vasili Mitrokhin--an introverted archivist who loved nothing more than dusty archives--ended up changing the world. It is an edge-of-the-seat thriller, with vivid flashbacks to Mitrokhin's earlier time as a KGB idealist prepared to do what it took to serve the Soviet Union and his growing realization that the communist state was imprisoning its own people. At its heart is Mitrokhin's determination to take on the most powerful institution in the world by revealing its darkest secrets. This is narrative nonfiction at its absolute best.
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Lost: Amelia Earhart's Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life
by Rachel Hartigan
Unravel one of history's greatest mysteries in this spellbinding narrative exploring three leading theories of Amelia Earhart's tragic disappearance. When Amelia Earhart's plane disappeared in 1937, the clues poured in, attracting wild conspiracies about her tragic fate. In Lost, former National Geographic reporter Rachel Hartigan delves into Earhart's disappearance, introducing a host of eccentric characters who have become obsessed with finding the truth. Did the great aviator crash land near the Marshall Islands, only to be captured by Japanese soldiers? Or did she run out of fuel and crash into the ocean? The theories lead Hartigan from the pilot's birthplace of Atchison, Kansas to an expedition on a remote Pacific Island, where forensic dogs attempt to recover a potential sample of Earhart's DNA. As tantalizing new evidence mounts, Hartigan and her fellow investigators descend deeper into a world of conspiracy and obsession. Through its irresistible characters and prodigious research, Lost reveals not just why we remember Amelia Earhart as a trailblazer and adventurer, but why unsolved mysteries keep us forever searching for answers.
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Notes on Heartbreak: A Memoir
by Annie Lord
You never forget your first love--or your first true heartbreak. Annie Lord is going through a devastating breakup after a five-year relationship with someone she thought she'd be with forever. Try as she might, she can't stop reliving the past, obsessively examining every moment that led to this point. The answers, when they come, will surprise her as much as anyone. Notes on Heartbreak is an engrossing and emotionally evocative account of love and loss that will resonate with anyone who has ever nursed a broken heart, been in a codependent relationship, or has come to understand that romantic partnerships are infinitely more complex than what we experience in the moment. It is a deeply personal and insightful book about the best and worst of love and how it can upend our lives: the euphoria and the desolation, the beauty and the cruelty.
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| Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China by Jung ChangIn Fly, Wild Swans, Chinese British memoirist and historian Jung Chang channels harrowing memories of her childhood during China’s Cultural Revolution. Years later she was banished from her native country after publishing an unsparing biography of Mao Zedong, a ruling which prevents her from returning to visit her dying mother. Readers may wish to pair this book with Chang’s previous bestselling memoir Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.
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| Bernie for Burlington: The Rise of the People's Politician by Dan ChiassonPoet, journalist, and Burlington, Vermont native Dan Chiasson remembers growing up in the small city that a young Brooklynite named Bernie Sanders adopted as his hometown. Chiasson recalls that Sanders was seen as a tad eccentric when he first ran for mayor, yet he was able to garner support on complex local issues while earning a reputation as a fearless underdog’s champion. For fans of: Pete Buttigieg’s Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future.
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Jess and Norma: A Lifetime of Laughter and Our Unbreakable Bond
by Jessica Asquith
The hilarious and heartwarming autobiography from social media's favorite grandma and granddaughter. Hi I'm Jess, and if you follow us on social media, you'll already know my Nan, Norma. In this book, we want to open up about the personal events that have shaped our unbreakable bond - from the adventures we've been on to the great loves and losses we've experienced. We receive so many questions about Nan's earliest memories, her childhood and her marriage to my granddad Michael, and it has been incredibly special to record these cherished stories together. Through the highs and the lows, Nan's candid reflections on the world have ensured we've shared enough laughter for a lifetime. We've written this for everyone who has found comfort in our videos. We hope it brings a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. With love, Jess and Norma xx
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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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A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides
by Gisèle Pelicot
The sexual assault that stunned the world. A courageous woman's rallying call for shame to change sides. For the very first time, Gisele Pelicot tells her story. In 2024, Gisele Pelicot waived her right to anonymity in her legal fight against her ex-husband and the fifty men accused of sexually assaulting her, a courageous decision that inspired millions of people around the world. Only four years prior, Gis le had made the shattering discovery that her partner, Dominique Pelicot, had been secretly drugging and raping her, and inviting strangers to also abuse her in their home for nearly a decade. In A Hymn to Life, Gisele tells her story for the very first time, not as victim, but as witness. As Gisele transcends the unfathomable traumas of her past, against all odds, she emerges with a renewed sense of passion and reverence for her life. Part memoir, part act of defiance, A Hymn to Life is a moving story of survival, testimony, and courage, and an unforgettable portrait of a woman who broke her silence, reclaimed her voice, and forced a reckoning.
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| The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution by Gregory E. O'MalleyHistorian Gregory E. O’Malley’s biography of freedom seeker David George is a tale that seems too incredible to be true. In an eventful, inspiring life that took him from the U.S. colonies to the Caribbean to Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone, George would escape slavery multiple times and eventually become a family man and respected minister in a “story that reads like fiction” (Library Journal). For fans of: Flee North: A Forgotten Hero and the Fight for Freedom in Slavery’s Borderland by Scott Shane.
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| After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan's Memory Palace by Robert PolitoBiographer Robert Polito refutes the popularly accepted version of Bob Dylan’s late-career output in After the Flood. Although critical reception of his work has been up and down over the last few decades, Polito instead asserts that Dylan has produced some of the most challenging work of his life in this time frame, including powerful retellings from the Great American Songbook, two books, paintings, and over 3,000 concerts. Try this next: I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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1188 S. Livermore Avenue | Livermore, CA 94550 | (925) 373-5500
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