Biography and Memoir
May 2025
Recent Releases
Above the noise / : My Story of Chasing Calm
by DeMar DeRozan

From one of the most outspoken and respected NBA athletes comes a groundbreaking and remarkable memoir chronicling a very public struggle with depression, in the hopes that other young men will not suffer alone. Further reading: The After: A Veteran's Notes on Coming Home by Michael Ramos, By the Time You Read This by Cheslie Kryst
The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward
by Melinda French Gates

In her bestselling blend of memoir and self-help, Melinda French Gates candidly reflects on some of the major transitions in her life (including becoming a parent and leaving the Gates Foundation) and offers guidance on how readers can navigate change and thrive. For fans of: What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey.
Nat Turner, black prophet : a visionary history
by Anthony E. Kaye

This bold new account of the causes and legacy of the enslaved preacher's rebellion, claiming to receive visions from the Spirit urging him to act, takes those divine visions seriously, giving us a new understanding of one of the 19th century's most decisive events. Illustrations. For further reading: American Imam by Taymullah Abdur-Rahman.  
Matriarch
by Tina Knowles

In her intimate and empowering debut, Tina Knowles, the mother of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Solange Knowles, recounts her coming of age in 1950s and '60s Texas, raising and influencing two Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriters, navigating love and heartbreak, and more. Try this next: Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou.
Yoko
by David Sheff

David Sheff draws on decades' worth of his interviews with Yoko Ono, including a 1980 interview for Playboy conducted shortly before John Lennon's murder, to deliver a nuanced portrait of the often misunderstood artist and activist. Further reading: Imagine John Yoko by John Lennon.
Focus on: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve
by Drew Afualo

In her debut memoir/manifesto, influencer and podcaster Drew Afualo offers an impassioned and inspiring takedown of the patriarchy that's an "unapologetically energizing reading experience" (Kirkus Reviews). Try this next: If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine De Ruiter.
The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir
by Thi Bui

Faced with a life of poverty and constant surveillance in postwar Vietnam, author Thi Bui's family immigrated to America in 1976. In present day New York City, Bui, now a mother herself, reflects on her parents' complicated reasons for leaving their homeland. Subtle colors and expressively-drawn characters offer depth and clarity to complement the intimate and poetic narrative. Try this next: The High Desert: Black, Punk, Nowhere by James Spooner. 
A Living Remedy
by Nicole Chung

Author Nicole Chung's moving follow-up to her award-winning debut memoir All You Can Ever Know, which chronicled her experiences as a transracial Korean adoptee and her grief after losing her parents in quick succession prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further reading by Korean Americans: What Time Remains by Yeonmi Park; The Baddest Bitch in the Room by Sophia Chang.
They called us exceptional : and other lies that raised us
by Prachi Gupta

Weaving a deeply vulnerable personal narrative with history, postcolonial theory and research on mental health, an award-winning journalist and former senior reporter at Jezebel articulates the dissonance, shame and isolation of being upheld as an American success story while privately navigating traumas invisible to the outside world. For further reading about Indian Americans: What We Carry by Maya Lang, Another Appalachia by Neema Avashia.  
I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying
by Youngmi Mayer

Standup comedian Youngmi Mayer's witty and incisive debut examines Korean history and culture in the context of her own life as the child of a Korean mother and a white American father, exploring issues of race, gender, sexuality, and colonialism. For further reading: Further reading: Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy; Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, and Philip Wang.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
New Hanover County Library
201 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina 28401
910-798-6301
www.nhclibrary.org