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Biography and Memoir March 2021
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Aftershocks
by Nadia Owusu
What it's about: Abandoned by her Armenian American mother as a toddler, Nadia Owusu spent her childhood globetrotting due to her Ghanaian father's United Nations career, never feeling like she fit in anywhere: "I have perpetually been a them rather than an us."
Read it for: a moving account of reckoning with trauma and finding a second chance at happiness.
Try this next: For another coming-of-age memoir by a woman navigating biracial identity and family dysfunction, check out T Kira Madden's Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls.
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| Walk in My Combat Boots: True Stories from America's Bravest Warriors by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann with Chris MooneyWhat it is: a collection of eye-opening interviews with American military veterans conducted by bestselling author James Patterson and retired Army First Sergeant Matt Eversmann.
What's inside: vivid accounts of military campaigns; insights on life after service, including battles with addiction and PTSD; perspectives on military sexual harassment and discrimination.
Don't miss: dentist Major General Ron Silverman providing care to Saddam Hussein after the latter's 2003 capture. |
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| The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James... by Anna Malaika TubbsWhat it is: a well-researched collective biography of Alberta King (Martin Luther King, Jr.'s mother), Louise Little (Malcolm X's mother), and Berdis Baldwin (James Baldwin's mother), each of whom were foundational influences on their sons' lives and careers.
Why it matters: Sociology doctoral candidate Anna Malaika Tubbs' illuminating debut celebrates three women whose contributions to the civil rights movement have largely been ignored and offers needed perspectives on Black women's experiences in the early 20th century. |
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Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells
by Michelle Duster
Who she was: A journalist. A suffragist. An antilynching crusader. In 1862, Ida B. Wells was born enslaved in Holly Springs, Mississippi. In 2020, she won a Pulitzer Prize. Ida B. Wells committed herself to the needs of those who did not have power. In the eyes of the FBI, this made her a "dangerous negro agitator." In the annals of history, it makes her an icon.
What it includes: Written by her great-granddaughter, this illustrated historical portrait of the boundary-breaking civil rights pioneer includes coverage of Wells’s early years as a slave, her famous acts of resistance and her achievements as a journalist and anti-lynching activist.
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The Extraordinary Life of Rebecca West
by Lorna Gibb
What it's about: Rebecca West was a leading figure in the twentieth century literary scene. A passionate suffragist, socialist, fiercely intelligent, Rebecca West began her career as a writer with articles in The Freewoman and The Clarion. Her first book, a biography of Henry James, was published when she was only twenty-four, and her first novel followed just two years later. She had a notorious affair with H.G. Wells, and their son, Anthony, was born at the beginning of the First World War. The author of several novels, she is perhaps best remembered for her classic account of pre-war Yugoslavia, Black Lamb, Grey Falcon (published by Macmillan in 1941 and as relevant today as it was sixty years ago) and for her coverage of the Nuremberg Trials.
Why she matters: When she died in 1983 at the age of 90, William Shawn, then editor-in-chief of the New Yorker, said: "Rebecca West was one of the giants and will have a lasting place in English literature. No one in this century wrote more dazzling prose, or had more wit, or looked at the intricacies of human character and the ways of the world more intelligently."
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| Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne GlenconnerWhat it's about: Anne Glenconner's life in the royal spotlight, serving as maid of honor at Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret for more than 30 years.
Read it for: a candid, occasionally gossipy insider's account of what it's like to live among a famously private family.
Who it's for: Royal watchers and fans of Netflix's The Crown (in which actress Nancy Carroll played Glenconner in season three) will enjoy this "entertaining peek behind the royal curtain" (Booklist). |
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Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton
by Tilar J. Mazzeo
What it is: the first biography written about philanthropist Eliza Hamilton, the devoted wife of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
Is it for you? Fans of Broadway sensation Hamilton will be captivated by this charming cradle-to-grave account of Eliza's remarkable life.
Don't miss: Author Tilar J. Mazzeo posits that Alexander's scandalous affair with Maria Reynolds was a ruse to mask his financial misdeeds -- and that Eliza protected his secrets.
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| The Dalai Lama: An Extraordinary Life by Alexander NormanWhat it is: a compelling and well-researched biography of the Dalai Lama, with a particular interest in His Holiness' worldview and ambivalent relationship with politics.
About the author: Historian Alexander Norman began his friendship with His Holiness decades ago and was able to gain unique access to his subject after their collaboration on the autobiography Freedom in Exile. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library 100 E. 4th Street Michigan City, Indiana 46360 219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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