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Biography and Memoir August 2022 |
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| Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings by Chrysta BiltonWhat it's about: Born to Debra, a lesbian single mother, and Jeffrey, a sperm donor and family friend, author Chrysta Bilton's upbringing was anything but "normal," and in early adulthood she discovered there was more to Jeffrey than met the eye.
Read it for: a compelling chronicle of family secrets and shocking revelations.
For fans of: the Netflix documentary Our Father. |
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| Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional by Isaac FitzgeraldWhat it is: a conversational memoir-in-essays from Isaac Fitzgerald, founding editor of BuzzFeed Books.
What's inside: ribald tales of Fitzgerald's freewheeling coming of age, which included stints as a fireman, a smuggler, and a porn star; the author's reckoning with the toxic masculinity of his youth.
Book buzz: Dirtbag, Massachusetts has been named a TIME Best Book of the Summer and a Chicago Tribune Summer Pick. |
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| The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by CJ HauserWhat it is: an expansion of novelist CJ Hauser's titular (and viral) 2019 essay about a nature expedition she took after calling off her wedding.
What's inside: 17 funny and reflective essays that explore love and selfhood, peppered with thought-provoking metaphors and musings on the author's favorite pop culture touchstones.
Reviewers say: "a thrillingly original deconstruction of desire and its many configurations" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Split Decision: Life Stories by Ice-T & Spike and Douglas CenturyThe premise: In 1980s Los Angeles, then-aspiring rapper Ice-T and his friend Spike had a lucrative gig robbing jewelry stores, until Ice-T decided to pursue his music career full time and Spike wound up in prison.
Why you might like it: Told from both Ice-T and Spike's perspectives, this compelling dual memoir candidly reveals how the pair's choices led them down divergent paths in life.
Try this next: Dawn Turner's Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood. |
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| Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World's First... by Kathy Kleiman Who it's about: the six women who built the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the world's first modern computer, in 1945.
Why you should read it: This inspiring group biography reveals the trailblazing -- yet overlooked -- accomplishments of women in STEM.
For fans of: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and Code Girls by Liza Mundy. |
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| Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien LewisWhat it's about: American entertainer and expatriate Josephine Baker's role as a spy for the French Resistance during World War II.
Read it for: a compelling and well-researched tale of wartime courage, supplemented with recently discovered letters and diaries.
Did you know? Agent Josephine has been optioned for a series adaptation starring actor and singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe. |
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| The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas ContrerasHow it began: After a bicycle accident spurred a brief bout of amnesia, author Ingrid Rojas Contreras learned that her Mami had also suffered from amnesia as a child, and that after the latter's recovery, she had the ability to see ghosts.
What happened next: Rojas Contreras and Mami returned to their native Colombia to disinter the remains of Rojas Contreras' grandfather, Nono, a curandero whose gifts they now shared.
What sets it apart: This moving blend of family history and Colombian history offers lyrical reflections on trauma, healing, and the power of storytelling. |
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| Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. SánchezWhat it is: a frank and witty memoir-in-essays from poet and novelist Erika L. Sánchez (I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter).
Topics include: Sánchez's upbringing as the daughter of working-class Mexican immigrants in Chicago; navigating depression and a stint in a psychiatric hospital; relationship woes; motherhood.
Want a taste? "I called a suicide hotline, but no one answered, which I didn't know was a thing." |
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| The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights... by Ron SheltonWhat it is: Bull Durham writer and director Ron Shelton's memoir chronicling the making of the 1988 Oscar-nominated baseball movie.
What's inside: gossip about the film's cast and crew; insights on his creative process and his career as a minor-league infielder in the 1960s.
Reviewers say: "a lively, witty master class in screenwriting and film direction, much in the cheeky spirit of Bull Durham" (Library Journal). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Atlantic County Library System | 40 Farragut Avenue, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Phone: (609) 625-2776 | www.atlanticlibrary.org
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|  | Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson
Atlantic County Board of Commissioners, Maureen Kern, Chairwoman |
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