Biography and Memoir
July 2025
Recent Releases
Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard
by C. M. Kushins

Over the course of his sixty-year career, Elmore Leonard, "the Dickens of Detroit," published forty-five novels that have had enduring appeal to readers around the world. Revered by Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood, Raymond Carver, and Stephen King, his books were innovative in their blending of a Hemingway-inspired noirish minimalism and a masterful use of realistic dialogue over exposition- a direct evolution spurred by his years as a screenwriter.
Accidentally on Purpose
by Kristen Kish

In Accidentally on Purpose, what defines Kristen's story aren't the missteps or even the pleasant surprises that crop up but how she learned to find her voice and use it. Because while accidents may be unexpected, they don't have to be at odds with purpose. And as Kristen approaches life's milestones, big and small, with intention, she realizes at those junctures- the ones beyond the borders of the map, behind-the-scenes, and off camera- are where the decisions and discoveries are made. Where the unexpected meets the intentional. And that's where things get really interesting.
My Childhood in Pieces: A Stand-up Comedy, a Skokie Elegy
by Edward Hirsch

From the award-winning poet, dark comic microbursts of prose deliver a whole childhood, at the hands of an aspiring middle-class Jewish family whose hard-boiled American values and wit were the forge of a poet's coming-of-age.
"My grandparents taught me to write my sins on paper and cast them into the water... They didn't expect an entire book," Hirsch says in the prologue to this glorious festival of knife-sharp observations. 
Affectionate, deadpan, and exuberant, steeped in Yiddishkeit and Midwestern practicality, Hirsch's laugh-and-cry performance animates a heartbreaking odyssey, from the cradle to the day he leaves home, armed with sorrow and a huge store of poetic wit.
The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay
by Christopher Clarey

In The Warrior, Christopher Clarey illuminates the skill and determination it took to accomplish   Rafael Nadal's most mind-blowing achievement: 14 French Open titles. Nadal has won big  on tennis's many surfaces en route to becoming one of the greatest players of all time: securing two Wimbledon titles on grass and four U.S. Open titles on cushioned acrylic hardcourts. But clay, the slowest and grittiest of the game's playgrounds, is where it all comes together best for his tactical skills, whipping topspin forehand and gladiatorial mindset. Clay is to Rafael Nadal what water is to Michael Phelps, which helps explain one of the most impressive individual sports achievements of the 21st century. 
Clarey draws on interviews over many years with Nadal and his team and with rivals like Roger Federer. Not just a book about tennis, The Warrior draws much wider lessons from Nadal's approach to competition.
John Hancock: First to Sign, First to Invest in America’s Independence
by Willard Sterne Randall

A compelling, intimate portrait of John Hancock, going beyond the flamboyant signature to reveal the pivotal role that he had in the American Revolution.
A contemporary of Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette, Hancock had a list of contacts that read like a who's who of the American Revolution. But shockingly little has been written about Hancock himself. John Hancock tells the story of a man who deserves far more credit for his contribution to the American Revolution than he previously received- and award-winning scholar Willard Sterne Randall is determined to give him his due at last.
Sir Lewis
by Michael E. Sawyer

Traces Lewis Hamilton's rise from humble beginnings to becoming a seven-time Formula One world champion, highlighting his on-track dominance, advocacy for social justice and diversity, and lasting influence on motorsports, culture and global sports.
The Old Breed-The Complete Story Revealed:
A Father, a Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives
by W. Henry Sledge

By interspersing his own personal anecdotes throughout, Henry Sledge takes his father's work and gives it newfound context, sharing memories of conversations between father and son. The result is a flowing narrative that portrays an intimate look at a WWII veteran and his struggles to adapt to civilian life following the war.
The Year of the Tiger: The Major Run That Made Tiger Woods
by Brody Miller

The inside story of legendary golfer Tiger Wood's magnificent run, when he won all four major tournaments in a single calendar year, becoming the greatest player of his generation- a show of unparalleled dominance in the sport with which he has become synonymous
I'm Highly Percent Sure
by Caroline Wanga

In this rich, intelligent, and witty memoir, the President and CEO of Essence Ventures --a woman with a defiant intuition who rejects cultural expectations and outside influence-- tells how she charted her own destiny, offering inspiration and advice to help everyone on their own journey to becoming everything they were born to be. That confidence took her from interning at Target to becoming the company's Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, and eventually to the top of Essence Ventures, where she has only magnified her reach. Throughout the narrative, told in her raw, purposeful, yet humorous voice, she separates the person from the profession, to help us understand the sequence of all that transpired in her life and the lessons she discovered along the way.
Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson
by Mark Kriegel

An acclaimed New York Times bestselling author whose coverage of Mike Tyson and his inner circle dates back to the 1980s offers a magnificent noir epic about fame, race, greed, criminality, trauma, and the creation of the most feared and mesmerizing fighter in boxing history.
Books You Might Have Missed
Mainline Mama
by Keeonna Harris

PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow Keeonna Harris debuts with a searing account of her experiences navigating the prison industrial complex after her partner was sentenced to 22 years in prison following their son's birth. Try this next: Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford.
Pure Innocent Fun
by Ira Madison III

In his funny and nostalgic blend of memoir and cultural criticism, TV writer and Keep It! podcast co-host Ira Madison III shares his formative pop culture influences. For fans of: Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris.
Fearless and Free
by Josephine Baker; foreword by Ijeoma Oluo 

Originally published in France in 1949, entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker's reflective memoir chronicles her early life, rise to fame, and World War II exploits as a member of the French Resistance. Further reading: Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044mclib.org/