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Biography and Memoir October 2019
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| Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony EverittWhat it is: a riveting, richly contextualized biography of the Macedonian conqueror's life that de-mythologizes history's prior depictions of him.
Chapters include: "First Blood;" "The Empire Strikes Back;" "Show Me the Way to Go Home."
Book buzz: In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews says Alexander the Great is "a story for everyone" that "reads as easily as a novel." |
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| Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin MoserWhat it is: an admiring biography of "America's last great literary star" and provocative multi-hyphenate intellectual Susan Sontag.
Why you might like it: With insights gleaned from private archival materials and more than 300 interviews, Sontag has been touted as the definitive portrait of a complicated figure.
Topics include: Sontag's struggles with her sexuality and later happiness with long-term partner Annie Leibovitz; her private insecurities in the face of celebrity; her battles with cancer (to which she succumbed in 2004). |
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| The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina NayeriWhat it's about: In 1988, eight-year-old Dina Nayeri and her family fled Iran, eventually finding asylum in the United States. Now an award-winning novelist, Nayeri grapples with living as an immigrant in a world that often diminishes her humanity.
Don't miss: "Camp," a chapter of eye-opening interviews Nayeri conducted with refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria at a camp in Greece. |
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| And How Are You, Dr. Sacks?: A Biographical Memoir of Oliver Sacks by Lawrence WeschlerThen: In the early 1980s, journalist Lawrence Weschler met with Oliver Sacks to write a New Yorker profile on the renowned neurologist, though the project was eventually scrapped due to the then-closeted Sacks' concerns about his privacy.
Now: In this immersive blend of biography and memoir, Weschler revisits that period and discusses his friendship with Sacks, who in his final years of life urged Weschler to publish the profile. |
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| Prince Albert: The Man Who Saved the Monarchy by A.N. WilsonWhat it is: a lively and accessible portrait of Queen Victoria's German-born Prince Consort, published to commemorate his 200th birthday.
Read it for: Albert's successful efforts to define his role and influence in his adopted homeland (such as spearheading the Great Exhibition of 1851), despite facing significant prejudice.
Book buzz: Prince Albert is the companion biography to A.N. Wilson's award-winning Victoria: A Life, the basis for the PBS series Victoria. |
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| Passing for Human by Liana FinckWhat it is: a "meta-memoir" of New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck's attempts to write this memoir; a contemplative journey of self-discovery from a woman who grapples with feeling at odds with the world.
Art alert: Delicate and disjointed black, white, and yellow illustrations complement Finck's whimsical yet introspective narrative.
Reviewers say: "In its ambition, framing, and multiple layers, this raises the bar for graphic narrative" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Are You My Mother?
by Alison Bechdel
What it's about: the author depicts her mother as a voracious reader, music lover and passionate amateur actress who quietly suffers as the wife of a closeted gay artist and withdraws from her young daughter.
Follow up to: Bechdel's 2006 graphic novel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.
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Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
by Mira Jacob
What it is: an intimate graphic memoir about American identity as it has shaped the author's interracial family in the aftermath of the 2016 elections.
You might also enjoy: the author's critically acclaimed novel, The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing (2014).
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| Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home by Nora KrugWhat it's about: German artist Nora Krug's affecting journey to learn the truth about her family's Nazi ties.
Art alert: Krug intimately conveys her fractured relationship to her homeland by combining mixed-media illustrations, letters, and photographs in fragmented or superimposed arrangements.
Book buzz: Belonging is the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times. |
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Am I There Yet?: The Loop-De-Loop, Zigzagging Journey to Adulthood
by Mari Andrew
What it is: a collection of autobiographical writings and illustrations that explore the complexities of growing up with humor and emotional candor.
The author has: more than 700,000 Instagram followers.
Publisher's Weekly enjoyed Andrew's: "deliciously snide humor"
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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