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Biography and Memoir November 2020
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Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories
by Fanny Singer
What it's about: Author Fanny Singer's coming of age as the daughter of famed Chez Panisse restaurateur and food activist Alice Waters.
Read it for: Singer's lush writing and heartwarming relationship with her mother.
Recipes include: Egg fettuccine; garlicky noodle soup; persimmon pudding; quince meringue ice cream.
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| I'll Be Seeing You by Elizabeth BergWhat it's about: Bestselling novelist Elizabeth Berg's (The Story of Arthur Truluv) relationship with her aging parents, whom she helped care for during their final years.
Is it for you? Berg's candid and insightful memoir will resonate with readers who are caring for older family members.
Food for thought: "The failing of an aging parent is one of those old stories that feels abrasively new to the person experiencing it." |
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| The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard by John BirdsallWhat it is: A richly detailed biography of chef and cookbook author James Beard (1903-1985) that expands upon author John Birdsall's James Beard Award-winning essay "America, Your Food Is So Gay."
Read it for: A nuanced portrait of the charismatic yet complicated "Dean of American Cookery," who pioneered new cuisine while grappling with his closeted sexuality, depression, and difficult workplace reputation.
Don't miss: Lush descriptions of Beard's culinary creations that will whet readers' appetites. |
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| Tecumseh and the Prophet: The Shawnee Brothers Who Defied a Nation by Peter CozzensStarring: Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his younger brother, Tenskwatawa, who worked together to create a pan-Indian alliance against the United States government in the early 19th century.
What sets it apart: Though there have been many accounts of Tecumseh's life and accomplishments, this well-researched, "long overdue" (Library Journal) dual biography also examines the life and legacy of the overlooked Tenskwatawa. |
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| I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds by Sunny HostinWhat it's about: The View co-host and ABC News legal analyst Sunny Hostin's life and career.
Topics include: Hostin's loving yet dysfunctional childhood; her Afro Latina identity; making a name for herself in an industry that isn't always hospitable to women of color.
Reviewers say: "Inspiring" (Booklist); "Educational" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Focus on: National Book Awards
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| The Yellow House by Sarah M. BroomWhat it's about: Author Sarah M. Broom's upbringing as the youngest of 12 children raised in a New Orleans East shotgun house that was later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Why you might like it: Broom's lyrical family history explores the painful reality of redefining "home" following displacement.
Want a taste? "Without that physical structure, we are the house that bears itself up. I was now the house." |
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Lab Girl
by Hope Jahren
What it's about: A debut memoir by an award-winning paleobiologist traces her childhood in her father's laboratory, her longtime relationship with a brilliant but wounded colleague, and the remarkable discoveries they have made both in the lab and during extensive field research assignments.
Reviewers say: Jahren is a "a passionate geobiologist with the soul of a poet."
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Men We Reaped: A Memoir
by Jesmyn Ward
What it's about: A National Book Award winner recounts the loss of five young men in her life to drugs, accidents, suicide and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men, sharing her experiences of living through the dying as she searches through answers in her community.
Reviewers say: "This is a beautifully written homage, with a pathos and understanding that come from being a part of the culture described."
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Ordinary Light: A Memoir
by Tracy K. Smith
What it's about: Poet Tracy Smith, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection Life on Mars, grew up in a comfortable California family, one of just a few African Americans in their community. As she came of age, she faced challenges arising from her family's racial legacy and other social issues, including class distinctions and economic disparity.
Reviewers say: Smith's words have "quietly emotional power."
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| Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah SmarshWhat it's about: The cycle of rural poverty that blighted author Sarah Smarsh's Kansas farming family for generations.
Who it's for: Readers looking for a thought-provoking rejoinder to J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy.
Reviewers say: "A searing indictment of how the poor are viewed and treated in this country" (Library Journal). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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