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Biography and Memoir September 2018
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| From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-SteinWhat it is: a gossipy chronicle of Beck Dorey-Stein's five-year tenure as a White House stenographer during the Obama administration.
Is it for you? Dorey-Stein's funny and touching reflections focus more on workplace relationships (including an affair with a senior staffer) than political intrigue.
Reviewers say: "[This] breezy page turner is essentially Bridget Jones goes to the White House" (The New York Times). |
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| No One Tells You This by Glynnis MacNicolWhat it's about: On the eve of her 40th birthday, Glynnis MacNicol grappled with her ambivalence over society's expectations for women of a certain age (getting married, having children) and feeling like a failure for not wanting those things.
Reviewers say: "a funny, frank, and fearless memoir" (Kirkus Reviews).
Want a taste? "I had known early on that I did not want my mother's life. If anything, I actively unwanted it." |
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| The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela; edited by Sahm VenterWhat it is: an illuminating collection of 255 letters written by anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela during his 27-year imprisonment.
Why it's significant: Editor Sahm Venter's meticulous annotations complement Mandela's resonant prose, providing rich context to the spheres -- both personal and political -- that Mandela stayed active in throughout his incarceration.
Don't miss: Mandela's letters to his own captors, in which he advocates for stronger prisoners' rights. |
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| The Bridge Ladies by Betsy LernerWhat it is: a moving chronicle of how a New Haven, Connecticut women's bridge club helped author Betsy Lerner reconcile with her estranged mother.
Read it for: Engaging profiles of the five bridge club members reveal how their shared hobby has sustained them through more than 50 years of personal triumphs and tragedies.
You might also like: Becky Aikman's Saturday Night Widows: The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives. |
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| Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. WoodWhat it's about: the unlikely friendship between two of America's Founding Fathers, whose disparate personalities and conflicting ideologies often put them at odds.
Did you know? Adams and Jefferson died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826.
About the author: Historian Gordon S. Wood is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution. |
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