Popular Culture September 2019 Recent Releases Dottir: My Journey to Becoming a Two-Time CrossFit Games Champion by Katrin Davidsdottir with Rory McKernan  Who it's about: Icelandic athlete Katrin Davidsdottir, a former gymnast and track star who earned the title "Fittest Woman on Earth" after winning the CrossFit Games championship two years in a row.   Is it for you? Davidsdottir's inspiring story will resonate with readers hoping to up their fitness game or overcome daunting challenges.  Don't miss: insights into Icelandic culture and the world of CrossFit.   Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem by Daniel R. Day What it is: a moving memoir by groundbreaking fashion designer Daniel Day, who parlayed the hustling skills he acquired as an impoverished Harlem youth into a successful career designing street wear. Why it matters: Day's designs, popularized by hip-hop artists and athletes, have left an indelible mark on black culture since the 1980s. Want a taste? "Fashion for me wasn't about expression. Fashion was about power."  Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl's Love Letter to the Power of Fashion by Tanisha C. Ford What it is: a thoughtful, engaging coming-of-age memoir that explores the history and politics of the fashions that have come to define author Tanisha C. Ford's evolving sense of style. Chapters include: "Dashiki;" "Jheri Curl;" "Bamboo Earrings;" "Hoodie"   About the author: Ford is a professor of Africana Studies and History at the University of Delaware and the author of Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of the Soul.  The Sixth Man by Andre Iguodala with Carvell Wallace What it's about: NBA swingman, 2012 All-Star, and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala's remarkable life both on and off the court. Topics include: Iguodala's gold medal win in the 2012 Summer Olympics, his three NBA championship wins with the Golden State Warriors, and his success as a Silicon Valley investor. Reviewers say: "the best basketball memoir since Bill Russell's Go Up for Glory...a sports memoir for the ages" (Booklist).  Elvis in Vegas: The Heyday and Reinvention of the Las Vegas Show by Richard Zoglin What it's about: how Elvis Presley's 1969 career comeback revitalized the out-of-touch Las Vegas entertainment industry and made a lasting impact on the city's music scene.  Read it for: an upbeat, richly contextualized portrait of the fruitful relationship between performer and city. For fans of: Rat Pack Confidential and other rousing Sin City showbiz chronicles. Punk Music Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein What it is: a vivid, occasionally dishy memoir from the co-founder of the pioneering riot grrrl trio Sleater-Kinney. What's inside: candid musings on Brownstein's fraught upbringing and chaotic coming-of-age, the sexism she's faced in the music industry, and Sleater-Kinney's squabbles and eventual breakup (though the band famously reunited to much fanfare in 2014). Is it for you? Portlandia fans looking for scoop on Brownstein's Emmy-nominated work on the series won't find it here. Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot by Masha Gessen What it's about: In 2012, three members of the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot were imprisoned for hooliganism following an anti-Putin protest and performance at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Try this next: founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova's unapologetic call-to-action Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism, which she wrote after spending 18 months in prison. Author alert: Russian American journalist and activist Masha Gessen is the National Book Award-winning author of The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall by Tim Mohr What it's about: the underground East German punk movement whose political activism contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Featuring: 15-year-old "Major," the self-proclaimed first punk in East Germany, known for her safety pin-adorned jackets.  Book buzz: Longlisted for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, Burning Down the Haus was also named one of the Best Music Books of 2018 by Rolling Stone. Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone by Marky Ramone with Rich Herschlag What it is: a revealing memoir from drummer Marky Ramone (born Marc Bell), the last surviving member of 1970s New York band the Ramones. Read it for: Ramone's insights on his bandmates, including Joey's battles with obsessive compulsive disorder, Johnny's buttoned-up political conservatism, and DeeDee's addiction woes.  Who it's for: Ramones devotees; punk and New Wave enthusiasts. Contact your librarian for more great books! Patchogue-Medford Library 54-60 East Main Street Patchogue, New York 11772 (631) 654-4700 www.pmlib.org/