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Biography and Memoir March 2026 |
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Paradise Cove: They Escaped the Cuckoo's Nest
by George T. Nagel
Paradise Cove: They Escaped the Cuckoo's Nest is a powerful firsthand account of life inside a Southern California residential facility for recovering psychiatric patients-as told by an unlikely observer, George T. Nagel, an 80-year-old graduate student who volunteered there in the 1970s as fieldwork for his master's at California State University, Northridge. With clarity, compassion, and humor, Nagel captures the struggles and triumphs of those navigating the fragile space between institutionalization and independence, while tracing his own quiet path toward healing.But Nagel harbored an extraordinary secret: he was in fact Rabbi Yechezkel Taub--the Yabloner Rebbe--a Hasidic leader who led his followers from Poland to pre-state Israel before abandoning his faith and disappearing into secular anonymity in Los Angeles.Rabbi Pini Dunner rediscovered this manuscript, and added context, annotations, and reflections that restore the forgotten legacy of a visionary leader. It's an astonishing story with all the elements of intrigue-a secret identity, an incredible rediscovery, and a bridge between continents, generations, and disparate worlds.
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Insomnia
by Robbie Robertson
The rock legend tells the story of his wild ride with Martin Scorsese--as friends, adventure-seekers, and boundary-pushing collaborators--with all the heart of his New York Times bestselling memoir Testimony. A tender portrait of shared adventure and an unflinching reflection on brotherhood, loss and redemption.--The New York Times For four decades, Robbie Robertson produced music for Martin Scorsese's films, a relationship that began when Robertson convinced Scorsese to direct The Last Waltz, the iconic film of the Band's farewell performance at the Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving 1976. The closing of the Band's story with that landmark concert thrust Robertson into a new and uncertain world. With his relationship with his bandmates deteriorating and his marriage collapsing, Robertson arrived on Scorsese's Beverly Hills doorstep only to find his friend in similar straits. Before the night was out, Scorsese had invited him to move in. Both men, already culture-transforming stars before the age of thirty-five, stood at a creative precipice, searching for the beginning of a new phase of life and work. As their friendship deepened into a career-altering collaboration, their shared journey would take them around the world and down the rabbit hole of American culture in the long hangover of the seventies. Buffeted on either side by temptation and paranoia, veering closer to self-destruction than either wanted to admit, together they had devoted themselves to a partnership defined by equal parts admiration and ambition. With a cast of characters featuring Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Federico Fellini, Sophia Loren, Sam Fuller, Liza Minelli, Tuesday Weld, and many more, Insomnia is an intimate portrait of a remarkable creative friendship between two titans of American arts, one that would explore the outer limits of excess and experience before returning to tell the tale.
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Damaged People: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons
by Joe McGinniss
The son of renowned author Joe McGinniss--celebrated for works like The Selling of the President and true crime blockbusters Fatal Vision and Cruel Doubt--delivers a raw and deeply moving memoir that explores the complicated bonds between fathers and sons, set against a backdrop of fame, addiction, and the relentless pursuit of redemption. Joe McGinniss was a paradox: a brilliant writer whose dazzling achievements were overshadowed by personal demons. At age twenty-six, he became the youngest living person to top the New York Times bestseller list, for his book The Selling of the President about Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign. Shortly after, he walked out on his wife and their three young children. His oldest son, Joe McGinniss Jr., went on to become a writer himself, known for his critically acclaimed novels The Delivery Man and Carousel Court. In the memoir Damaged People, McGinniss Jr. vividly recounts his affectionate yet stormy relationship with his famous father, capturing moments of tenderness and humor amid the chaos and tension. The prosaic commitments of full-time fatherhood held little appeal for Joe McGinniss, a superstar author who proudly relished the freedom to chase stories anywhere his curiosity led. He rose to prominence with a trilogy of true crime blockbusters in the 1980s and early '90s, Fatal Vision, Blind Faith, and Cruel Doubt. Notoriously, he found himself the subject of Janet Malcom's The Journalist and the Murderer, a book accusing him of manipulating one of his subjects. Controversy would dog the rest of his journalistic career, as he was accused of falsifying details in his 1993 biography of Ted Kennedy and his 2011 biography of Sarah Palin. His life was a turbulent mix of success and scandal, marked by alcoholism, depression, and an obsessive dedication to his craft that often left his family struggling to stay afloat. Now a father raising a son of his own, McGinniss Jr. wrestles with the legacy of his upbringing and his father's self-destruction, striving to create a stable and nurturing environment for his child. The pressures of modern parenting--ranging from competitive school admissions to the mental health challenges that today's youth face--force him to confront long-buried demons of ambition and obsession. Damaged People dives deep into the heartbreak of unfulfilled expectations and the beauty of second chances, offering an unflinching look at what it means to grow into a more compassionate and present parent. Bringing a novelist's storytelling skills to this deeply personal story, McGinniss Jr. delivers a poignant tale of grace, resilience, and growth, showing us that even in the face of fractured relationships, there's hope for healing and a brighter future.
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Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History
by Olivia Campbell
The extraordinary true story of four women pioneers in physics during World War II and their daring escape out of Nazi Germany In the 1930s, Germany was a hotbed of scientific thought. But after the Nazis took power, Jewish and female citizens were forced out of their academic positions. Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer and Hildegard Stücklen were eminent in their fields, but they had no choice but to flee due to their Jewish ancestry or anti-Nazi sentiments. Their harrowing journey out of Germany became a life-and-death situation that required Herculean efforts of friends and other prominent scientists. Lise fled to Sweden, where she made a groundbreaking discovery in nuclear physics, and the others fled to the United States, where they brought advanced physics to American universities. No matter their destination, each woman revolutionized the field of physics when all odds were stacked against them, galvanizing young women to do the same. Well researched and written with cinematic prose, Sisters in Science brings these trailblazing women to life and shows us how sisterhood and scientific curiosity can transcend borders and persist--flourish, even--in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
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The Unexpected CEO: My Journey from Gas Station Cashier to Billion-Dollar CEO
by Shirin Behzadi
Behzadi shares her incredible story and all the hard-won lessons she's learned in The Unexpected CEO, both an inspiring account of her journey and a guide filled with practical strategies to harness the opportunities nestled in some of life's most difficult challenges-- Provided by publisher.
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We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir
by Anthony Hopkins
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Academy Award-winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theater career, difficult childhood, and path to sobriety in his honest, moving, and long-awaited memoir. Born and raised in Port Talbot--a small Welsh steelworks town--amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents, and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of Hamlet, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted. With candor and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles. His performance as Iago gets him admitted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and places him under the wing of Laurence Olivier. He meets Richard Burton by chance as a young boy in his art teacher's apartment, and later, backstage before a performance of Equus as an established actor meeting his hero. His iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter was informed by the creepy performance of Bela Lugosi in Dracula and the razor-sharp precision of his acting teacher. He pulls raw emotion from the stoicism of his father and grandfather for an unforgettable performance in King Lear. Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life. His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child, and nearly his life--the latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century. He constantly battles against the desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurt--much like the men in his family--and as the years go by, he deals with questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret. Featuring a special collection of personal photographs throughout, We Did OK, Kid is a raw and passionate memoir from a complex, iconic man who has inspired audiences with remarkable performances for over sixty years.
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And the Dragons Do Come: Raising a Transgender Kid in Rural America
by Sim Butler
A gripping account of one family's battle to protect their daughter against transphobia and hate in contemporary America Our country stands at a critical cultural crossroads, with a wave of anti-trans legislation emerging at unprecedented levels, targeting trans children, in particular, who face increasing stigmatization and erasure. Sim Butler's And the Dragons Do Come is a poignant account of one family's experience of parenting and supporting a trans child against this nightmarish backdrop. In recent years, the Butler family faced an impossible reality in their home state of Alabama, where trans rights are increasingly under attack. Butler recounts their family's struggles and sacrifices to protect their trans child against the barrage of state-sanctioned intolerance in the legal, educational, and health arenas. Around the time she turned twelve, his daughter's personal struggles became political fodder. Along with other trans kids, she was outlawed from playing sports and forbidden to use the girls' bathroom. Another law made Butler and his wife felons for seeking trans-affirming health care for her. When her charter school was featured in several gubernatorial campaign ads, local community members began driving through the parking lot to yell at the trans kids. Serving both as a compassionate story of one family's struggle for acceptance and as a window onto a fraught issue that parents, grandparents, other family members, and friends are confronting across the nation, And the Dragons Do Come provides a firsthand perspective on the human cost of anti-trans sentiment.
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Not That Wheel, Jesus!: Stories from a Faith That Went Off-Road in the Best (and Worst) Possible Ways
by Mary Katherine Backstrom
Jesus, take the wheel. But wait...not like that! Mary Katherine Backstrom grew up the most basic of all youth group kids-pH level 14-and her faith only grew as she led youth ministry, served as a missionary, and went on to become a bestselling Christian author. She knew all the practiced, perfect Sunday school answers and was driving happily down the straight and narrow, until one day her young son asked a simple question: will my Jewish best friend go to hell? In the months and years that followed, that single question continued to snowball. MK challenged and reconsidered every part of the faith she'd been raised to accept so completely. Not That Wheel, Jesus! is Mary Katherine's hilarious journey from certainty to doubt to going nuclear on the socials (it was my heresy era), and then of slowly and painfully finding her way back to a different, less defined sort faith. It's the heartfelt and achingly honest story of a spirituality that went off the road and crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, right before God and everybody. And then, slowly, through grace and plenty of therapy, grew richer and deeper than she ever could have imagined--Provided by publisher.
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Grit, Spit, and Never Quit: A Marine's Guide to Comedy and Life
by Rob Riggle
Comedian Rob Riggle's frank, funny, and inspirational memoir about how the lessons he learned while serving in the US Marines prepared him for life, especially when it came to pursuing his comedy dreams. Before he graced movie screens in films like The Hangover and television in shows like The Daily Show, Rob Riggle served his country as a Marine for twenty-three years. He helped liberate an embassy in Liberia, served at a refugee camp in Albania before going into Kosovo, did search and rescue at Ground Zero, and was deployed to Afghanistan twice. He learned the hard way that you need to embrace the suck and never give up if you want to get anywhere in life. And those lessons came in handy, especially when he faced tough crowds as he tried to establish his comedy career. He's been heckled (by idiots), shot at (by bigger idiots), rejected for roles, and flopped more often than a European soccer player in the World Cup. But no matter what he was doing, every time Riggle wanted to throw in the towel, he channeled his inner Marine and kicked his ass in gear. Grit, Spit, and Never Quit has action, tear-jerker scenes, side-splitting laughs, and plenty of bumper sticker moments. He's jumped out of planes, he's become one of the most recognizable comedians in the country--but at his core, Rob is a regular guy from Kansas with grit, spit, and the will to never quit.
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Heart Life Music
by Kenny Chesney
*HEAR KENNY'S STORY IN HIS OWN VOICE AS HE READS THE AUDIOBOOK* INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER Heart Life Music is a love letter to the journey: all the places I've gone and how we got here. This book takes you on the ride. Knoxville. Moscow. Myrtle Beach. The Virgin Islands. Plentywood, Montana. Holmdel, New Jersey. Key West. New England. The Road. No Shoes Nation. Beyond. We've had a lot of fun, a bunch of challenges, a few moments of wondering what the hell?--and more love than any artist deserves. You're gonna meet so many people, some you'd never expect to see crossing my path, whether it's the Wailers, Willie Nelson, John Madden, or Grace Potter. Maybe you won't be surprised at all. I just know this: A whole lot has happened. For anyone who's found a piece of your life in any of my songs, this is for you. Open a cold drink, get out on your deck or your boat or wherever your happy space is, jump in, and live them along with me. And if you've got dreams, whatever they are, know they don't always come easy. But if you believe, do the hard work, and keep coming back, you'd be amazed at what can happen. I'm a pretty average guy, so look at this--know you might could do it, too. It's been a helluva trip around the sun.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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