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Biography and Memoir April 2021
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| The Soul of a Woman: On Impatient Love, Long Life, and Good Witches by Isabel AllendeWhat it is: Beloved author Isabel Allende's intimate and lyrical reflections on the role that feminism has played in her life.
Topics include: Allende's career beginnings as a journalist in 1960s Chile; the roadblocks she encountered while attempting to publish her first novel, 1982's The House of the Spirits; aging, sex, and family life.
Who it's for: Fans of Allende's work will appreciate this empowering memoir/manifesto and the lessons shared within. |
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| Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki BrinaWhat it's about: Raised in suburban New York by her white American soldier father and Japanese war bride mother, Elizabeth Miki Brina felt like an outsider, taking her feelings of self-loathing out on her mother.
Why you should read it: Tackling themes of trauma and resilience, Brina's moving portrait of her complicated family life pays tribute to the heritage she longed to distance herself from in childhood.
Reviewers say: "A can't-miss memoir that will stay with readers after they finish the last page" (Library Journal). |
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| Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob by Russell ShortoWhat it is: Historian Russell Shorto's engaging family memoir chronicling his Italian American grandfather's rise as a small-town mobster in post-World War II Pennsylvania.
Read it for: A fast-paced and thoughtful exploration of the limitations of the American Dream; the family secrets Shorto unearths along the way.
What's inside: Photographs; family recipes; interviews with mob connections and other family members. |
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| Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight by Julia SweigWhat it is: A well-researched biography of First Lady Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson that offers fresh insights on her life and legacy.
What sets it apart: This revisionist account positions Johnson as a key player in husband Lyndon B. Johnson's presidential administration, revealing the role she played in shaping his political strategies and ambitions.
Featuring: Diary entries the First Lady recorded during her time in the White House. |
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| Notes on a Silencing by Lacy CrawfordWhat it's about: In 1990, 15-year-old Lacy Crawford was sexually assaulted by two male classmates at her New Hampshire boarding school, an act that school administrators tried to cover up.
Is it for you? Crawford's powerful account of the trauma she endured offers an unflinching examination of rape culture and the institutions that condone it.
Food for thought: "I believe, in fact, that the slur slut carries within it, Trojan-horse style, silence as its true intent." |
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| We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria by Wendy PearlmanWhat it is: A sobering yet hopeful oral history of Syrian refugees' experiences in the aftermath of 2011's Arab Spring protests.
Book buzz: Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, this eye-opening collection offers a diverse array of perspectives from "a population that meets with too few opportunities to represent itself."
Further reading: For more intimate firsthand insights into the Syrian civil war, pick up Alia Malek's The Home That Was Our Country. |
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Anger is my Middle Name: A Memoir
by Lisbeth Zornig Andersen
What it's about: The harrowing tale of Andersen and her three brothers as they bounce from foster homes, to state run institutions, and back to their dysfunctional parents.
Reviewers say: “The inspiring story of overcoming unimaginable adversity....Andersen writes with striking clarity.”
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Making My Pitch: A Woman's Baseball Odyssey
by Ila Jane Borders
What it's about: The story of Ila Jane Borders, who despite formidable obstacles became a Little League prodigy, MVP of her otherwise all-male middle school and high school teams, the first woman awarded a baseball scholarship, and the first to pitch and win a complete men's collegiate game.
Inspirational achievements: After Mike Veeck signed Borders in May 1997 to pitch for his St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League, she accomplished what no woman had done since the Negro Leagues era: play men's professional baseball.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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