Culpeper County Library271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, Virginia 22701 | 540-825-8691https://www.cclva.org |
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Biography and Memoir October 2026 |
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Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness
by Lars Anderson
Based on years of in-depth reporting and sources from every corner of his life, Brady is the definitive biography of the life, career, and retirement of one of football's most legendary figures, Tom Brady.New York Times bestselling author and former Sports Illustrated journalist Lars Anderson plunges into Tom Brady's childhood to discover the origins of what Brady later described as his sickness his category-five obsession with the game. The obsession dictated every choice Brady made, from what foods he ate to how he managed his day-to-day schedule to how he viewed his role as father to his three children and husband to supermodel Gisele B ndchen. From more than 350 original interviews with people who know the quarterback on and off the field, Anderson paints a detailed psychological portrait of Tom Brady, a self-described loner whose life is defined by discipline, resilience, a fascination with preparation, an intolerance for wasted time, and a relentless pursuit of the extraordinary. What he finds is a man riddled with contradiction, defined by both a prolific career of unmatched success on the field and the agonizing cost of greatness in his personal life. Brady is a comprehensive view of the life of the most accomplished player in the history of America's game. Anderson digs deep behind the headlines to provide a richly detailed answer to one of the most vexing questions in sports: Who, really, is Tom Brady?
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The Perilous Fight
by Colin Kaepernick
On September 1, 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during The Star Spangled Banner, but the world never fully understood the whole story. Not the why or the cost of his courage. That story begins in Turlock, California, where Kaepernick, a Black kid adopted into a white family, navigated constant resistance to His Blackness and sense of self. Sports became his refuge and his proving ground, where his talent could not be questioned. The extraordinary result? A quarterback whose arm and instincts would carry him to the Super Bowl and into history books. But with success came an education he hadn't anticipated. In the fraught world of sports politics, he saw the hidden powerhouses pulling the strings. Steeled with the readings of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Huey P. Newton, and Angela Davis, he saw in the NFL, in Turlock, in the repeated, unpunished police killings of Black and Brown Americans, an undeniable truth revealed: this was not someone else's fight. It was his. It is ours. When Kaepernick knelt, the NFL blackballed him. But in the ten years since, the questions his protest raise have not gone away. In The Perilous Fight, Kaepernick delivers his story with the same unflinching conviction that defined his most-watched moment, a single act of protest that changed American sports and culture forever. And ultimately, it is a story about the future we are all still fighting to build.
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Main, Middle & Gay: A Chef Finds His Place in the World Against All Odds
by Patrick O'Connell
The chef and founder of the Michelin-starred restaurant The Inn at Little Washington gives us an inside look at the tumultuous joys and struggles that have brought him to his special place at the intersection of Main, Middle, and Gay.World-renowned chef Patrick O'Connell has been recognized as a pioneer of American cuisine; his internationally acclaimed restaurant in the Virginia countryside, the Inn at Little Washington, is Michelin-starred and a Relais & Ch teaux hotel. Named for the three historic streets in the little town where O'Connell's life and career have taken root, Main, Middle & Gay chronicles O'Connell's winding journey through the rough-and-tumble restaurant world. Growing up gay in the 1950s and working as a paperboy and a cook at a hamburger joint, O'Connell found his place with other misfits in the addictive restaurant scene, where he learned to be nimble and grew up fast while working long hours and late nights with colorful characters. He lived free-spirited on farms with friends and traveled Europe, teaching himself to cook along the way. When he opened his restaurant in an old abandoned garage, he had no idea it would grow to the heights it has achieved today. In his first-ever memoir, O'Connell shows us the evolution that has led the Inn at Little Washington to become a global destination for foodies and travelers alike.
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Work in Progress: A Memoir
by Devon Rodriguez
This inspiring, raw memoir traces the path Devon Rodriguez took from an abusive childhood to becoming the most followed artist on social media worldwide, as he discovered the transformative power of seeing and being seen--featuring new graphite illustrations of the people and places that shaped him. In his captivating memoir, Devon turns a childhood marked by poverty, abuse, and survival into something raw, beautiful, and deeply human.--Mel Robbins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Let Them Theory, host of The Mel Robbins PodcastAs a child, Rodriguez wondered why he lived in a single cramped room with his family, where he was beaten often and never felt safe. But despite difficult circumstances, he always believed he was going to be a successful artist. When he was in the ninth grade, his art teacher invited him to ride the New York City subway, with one destination in mind: the development of his craft, by drawing the commuters sitting across from him. A blank page in his sketchbook was something Rodriguez could control in an otherwise chaotic life. In this astonishing memoir, he explains how his art, his grandmother, and his own relentless drive saved him from heart-wrenching circumstances and led him to redefine out-of-fashion realist portraiture as fresh and magical. Rodriguez writes with rhythm, verve, and an artist's POV, painting a vivid picture of his native Bronx, the tattoos and rooftop graffiti that mesmerized him as a kid, and the teachers who saw his potential and nourished it. Painting regular people in all their complexity is Rodriguez's gift and his offering to the world, an old-school act that has made him a new-school star. Work in Progress delivers Rodriguez's most precise and moving portrait yet: of himself.
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Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
by Charles Spencer
In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before a watching world and shared his grief at losing his beloved sister, Diana. Now, nearly thirty years later, he tells the astonishing story of his life with Diana and the tragic week of her death. In childhood, Charles and Diana, the youngest Spencers, were inseparable - secretly calling one another Duch and Carlos. As each other's closest confidantes, they roamed the family estate, endured extremely challenging boarding schools, survived terrifying nannies, and helped each other through the agony of their parents' divorce. Yet everything changed when Diana married the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, and overnight became a global icon. Charles saw his older sister serve the world's marginalized and relish being mother to her treasured sons. But, pursued by a barbaric press as her royal marriage crumbled, she was left desperately alone. Charles always tried to be there for Diana - until that black night in August, 1997. In Swan Song, Charles Spencer provides the most intimate, loving, and honest portrait yet of his sister.
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I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie: A Memoir
by Jaclyn Smith
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Charlie's Angels star, miniseries queen, and businesswoman Jaclyn Smith comes a heartfelt memoir chronicling the making of a global phenomenon and her story beyond the screen. When the pilot aired to instant success in 1976, Charlie's Angels ushered in a TV revolution--for the first time, a network show featured three single female detectives whose stories revolved around fighting crime, not around supporting men. Jaclyn Smith, as Kelly Garrett (the only Angel to lead all five seasons of the show), was propelled into international fame and became an icon to girls and women everywhere. Now, for the first time, she shares the behind-the-scenes story of the origin and making of the iconic show, along with her longtime friendships with her co-stars including Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Cheryl Ladd. But, as Smith writes, she wasn't born the first day she put on Kelly Garrett's tiny white bikini. Before Charlie's, she was a dancer on Broadway from Texas and a prolific commercial actress. After Charlie's, she channeled her childhood love of design when she pioneered the concept of celebrity-branded clothing lines with a mega-successful K-Mart partnership. She now sells her clothing lines as a commercial branding partner on HSN. While balancing acting and entrepreneurship, and bravely facing breast cancer, she also found love and raised two beloved children. Intimate, honest, and down-to-earth, I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie tells the life story of an accomplished woman who has inspired generations of Angels who have come after her.
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An Unexpected Life: A Memoir
by Gloria Steinem
Before she became a feminist leader, Gloria Steinem was a curious child: going on road trips with her itinerant father, caring for her mother, and devouring every book she could find. In An Unexpected Life, Steinem reflects on the unlikely experiences and pivotal moments--from a childhood rat bite that opened her eyes to the dangers of poverty to the 1970 Women's March honoring the right to vote--that shaped the visionary woman she would become. She shares her years living in India, learning from the nonviolent movement there, and her travels around the world advocating for women's rights. Along the way, she honors the people who influenced her most, including trailblazers, writers, and thinkers who expanded her understanding of power, community, justice, and solidarity. Moving between past and present, Steinem examines the progress and setbacks of six decades of activism. As she reflects on the movements she helped build and the victories won for women's and human rights, she also looks ahead, urging new generations to imagine bolder, more inclusive paths forward. Intimate, funny, and rich with hard-earned wisdom, An Unexpected Life offers inspiration as we continue the work of building a better future for all.
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Ungrateful Immigrant Daughter: A Memoir from the Child of a Mail-Order Bride
by Katya Suvorova
In this darkly funny and irreverent memoir, the daughter of a mail-order bride unpacks her undocumented childhood in America. The perfect read for fans of the jaw-dropping twists of 90 Day Fianc and the emotional gut punch of I'm Glad My Mom Died. Growing up undocumented in Houston, Texas, Katya Suvorova learned that keeping her family together meant dodging the police, enduring her mother's many husbands, and babysitting her younger sister instead of finishing the third grade. Her understanding of her life shifted dramatically at seventeen, when Katya discovered her mother's advertisement in a forgotten Eastern European mail-order bride catalog from the 1990s. As she grew older, Katya came to better understand what her mother had risked when she smuggled herself and her then three-year-old daughter from Russia into the US. When your parents sacrifice their lives so yours can be better, to whom do you owe your future? Ungrateful Immigrant Daughter explores difficult questions and stories both shocking and hilarious across Katya's childhood through to an adulthood estranged from the woman who sacrificed everything for her. Her sharp, dry wit engages readers in a deeply relatable take on the experience of being a child of immigrants and unraveling a landscape of family secrets and lies, sharing her unique story of being the undocumented daughter of a mail-order bride.
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| Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline BicksShakespeare scholar Caroline Bicks occupies the University of Maine’s inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, a fortuitous position that quickly led to a dialogue and friendship with Mr. King. In an accessible voice, Bicks reveals creepy parallels between the works of the Bard and those of the Master of Scares, and even shares some nuggets of writing wisdom from the famous author himself. If this interests you, seek out King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. |
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| Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World by Daniel KrausCelebrated author and screenwriter Daniel Kraus comes clean about the immense influence that George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie classic Night of the Living Dead had on him as a film fan and writer. Kraus doesn’t just discuss the film -- he vivisects it, guiding the reader practically frame-by-frame, in an engrossing thesis that casts the redefining of horror cinema as a metaphor for the grisly death of modern culture, “oozing with grief…while simultaneously bursting with life” (Booklist). It’s a can’t-miss feature for horror fans. |
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| Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassandra PetersonShe’s best known as the busty, pun-slinging vamp and horror hostess Elvira, but TV personality Cassandra Peterson’s backstory is one of grit and perseverance. Growing up in Colorado in a home rife with abuse and addiction, Peterson knew early on that she wanted to become a showgirl, decamping to Las Vegas fresh out of high school. After this early start, she came to many things late in life -- fame as Elvira, motherhood, and, finally, true love with her same-sex partner when she was 51. Peterson’s memoir is candid, ghoulishly funny, and inspiring. |
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| It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese, editorPut together by NYU writing professor Joe Vallese, It Came from the Closet is an essay anthology featuring 26 queer or trans writers reflecting on the excitement, revulsion, and sense of belonging they found in horror cinema and literature. The feelings of comfort and validation the contributors describe were often not to be found in a society that ironically viewed them as “monsters.” This thought-provoking collection, while touching on disturbing themes, is shot through with humor, wit, and original ideas. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Culpeper County Library271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, Virginia 22701 | 540-825-8691https://www.cclva.org |
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