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A promise to Nadia : a true story of a British slave in the Yemen
by Zana Muhsen
Ten years previously Zana Muhsen escaped from the life of slavery in the Yemen into which her father had sold her as a child bride, leaving behind her baby son, her sister Nadia, and Nadia's two small children. As she described so powerfully in her internationally bestselling book Sold, Zana made a solemn vow to Nadia that she would do everything she possibly could to obtain their freedom as well.
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Taken on trust
by Terry Waite
Terry Waite's personal account of his harrowing experiences as a hostage in Beirut. This book gives a fascinating insight into human life on the edge the things people are willing to do to each other, and what it feels like to be treated in that way. Terry's endurance in the face of unimaginable suffering and long days spent in solitary confinement makes for a compelling tale. This new edition includes an updated foreword and new final chapter conveying just a few of the many and varied experiences that came Terry's way post-release, and conveying his passionate engagement in Middle East issues since his release 25 years ago, an issue of just as much relevance today as ever.
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Driving to Treblinka: a long search for a lost father
by Diana Wichtel
Diana Wichtel was born in Vancouver. Her mother was a New Zealander, her father a Polish Jew who had jumped off a train to the Treblinka death camp and hidden from the Nazis until the end of the war. When Diana was 13 she moved to New Zealand with her mother, sister and brother. Her father was to follow. Diana never saw him again. Many years later she sets out to discover what happened to him.
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Allen Curnow: simply by sailing in a new direction: a biography
by Terry Sturm
This major biography introduces readers to Allen Curnow’s life and work: from a childhood in a Christchurch vicarage, through theological training, journalism and university life, marriages and children, and on to an international career as a writer of poetry, plays, satire and criticism.
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| Ali: A Life by Jonathan EigIn this balanced biography of boxer Muhammad Ali, author Jonathan Eig relates Ali's family background, the complexities of his status as a celebrity, and his later life, in addition to his boxing career. Ali places political and personal controversies in the context of the 1960s and draws on previously unavailable resources to correct the record in some instances. |
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Climbing the mountain
by Allan Moffat
Allan Moffat sits high in the pantheon of Australian motor sport. Through the heyday of touring car racing in the '70s and '80s his rivalry with Peter Brock was legendary.
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Unstoppable : My Life So Far
by Maria Sharapova
The five-time Grand Slam winner presents the remarkable story of how her father relocated her at the age of 7 from their native Russia to America to develop her tennis talents before she embarked on a record-setting career shaped by astonishing competitions, her provocative beliefs and her recent fight to return to the court.
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Dear Reader : The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il
by Michael Malice
Using over 60 books, hundreds of articles, and interviews, all translated into English, Michael Malice has constructed a picture of North Korea under the rule of Kim Jong Il. Fashioned in the form of an "unauthorized biography," this book illustrates the history of North Korea via the notorious leader's life story.
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Detour from Normal
by Ken Dickson
Before April 14, 2011, Ken Dickson lived a life indistinguishable from those of other residents of his Phoenix suburb. The normally healthy fifty-five year-old held a regular job and lived with his loving wife, two teenage daughters and an assortment of pets. On that mid-April day though, the course of his life forever changed when he learned he must undergo surgery to remove a damaged portion of his lower intestine.
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My festival romance
by Thomas Brooman
Thomas Brooman was one of the organisers of the first Womad festival, held at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in 1982. That first event was an artistic triumph but a financial disaster. Womad survived, just, and Brooman went on to organise more than 150 Womad festivals around the world.
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Gone : a girl, a violin, a life unstrung
by Min Kym
The child prodigy-turned-violin virtuoso describes how her career was upended by the 2010 theft of her beloved 1696 Stradivarius, revealing how the instrument represented her senses of self and music and how its displacement triggered revelations about art, passion and what it means to do what one loves.
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So much I want to tell you : letters to my little sister
by Anna Akana
From Internet sensation Anna Akana comes a candid and poignant collection of essays about love, loss, and chasing adulthood. In 2007, Anna Akana lost her teen sister, Kristina, to suicide. In the months that followed, she realized that the one thing helping her process her grief and begin to heal was comedy. So she began making YouTube videos as a form of creative expression and as a way to connect with others.
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Danger Music
by Eddie Ayrea
Eddie Ayres has a lifetime of musical experience from learning the viola as a child in England and playing with the Hong Kong Philharmonic for many years, to learning the cello in his thirties and landing in Australia to present an extremely successful ABC Classic FM morning radio show. But all of this time Eddie was Emma Ayres. In 2014 Emma was spiralling into a deep depression, driven by anguish about her gender.
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Lady of the Dance
by Marie Duffy
Marie Duffy is the undisputed queen of Irish dancing: she has trained more world champions than any other teacher, and has been Michael Flatley's right-hand woman for twenty years.
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Supermac : The Life of Harold Macmillan
by D. R. Thorpe
Great-grandson of a crofter and son-in-law of a Duke, Harold Macmillan (1894-1986) was both complex as a person and influential as a politician.
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Focus on: Science and Medicine
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| My Brief History by Stephen HawkingHawking recounts his personal story with humor (he's often laugh-out-loud funny). He describes his early years, his barely average secondary and undergraduate marks, and his diagnosis at age 21 with a motor neuron disease. Summarizing his subsequent scientific achievements and his failed marriages, Hawking presents a charming account of his life, captivating the reader with humility and frankness rather than emotion. |
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| Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center by Ray MonkOften called "the father of the atomic bomb," physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer followed his work on the Manhattan project with a postwar position as the chief advisor to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission -- although his political affiliations and reluctance to work on the development of the hydrogen bomb later made him an outcast. Focusing explicitly on Oppenheimer's scientific contributions, author Ray Monk's account also details how anti-Semitism affected his earlier career and McCarthy-era anticommunism muted his later achievements. |
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Things that matter: stories of life & death
by David Galler
In this highly articulate, down-to-earth, generous and thoughtful book, Dr David Galler tells stories of life and death from his position as head of intensive care at a busy city hospital...Weaving his own personal stories throughout - including the death of his parents - David frames a number of chapters around key organs such as the heart, brain, kidneys; talking about their physical nature as well as their importance emotionally and holistically.
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Message to my girl: a dying father's powerful legacy of hope
by Jared Noel
Doctor Jared Noel knew he was dying for almost six years, from the age of 25. But when it looked as though he would not live to see the birth of his child, he began a Givealittle crowd-funding campaign to raise money for a course of chemo treatment that would keep him alive long enough to meet his unborn child. This remarkable campaign, covered by nationwide media, raised an incredible $170,000 in two days. Jared not only lived to see Elise born but also enjoyed her first nine months.
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| Second Suns: Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives by David Oliver RelinWhile planning a book on Himalayan mountaineers, journalist David Oliver Relin met a mountain-climbing American ophthalmologist who inspired him to write about a project that restores the sight of Nepalese villagers. American Geoff Tabin and Nepali Sanduk Ruit have developed a method for cataract surgery that allows them to treat patients in under four minutes for only $20. Overcoming skepticism at their unconventional technology deployed in challenging conditions, the two doctors have made a huge difference both in Nepal and other parts of the world. Second Suns provides an inspiring chronicle of their achievements. |
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| The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals by Merlin TuttleAt age 17, ecologist Merlin Tuttle became fascinated by bats that lived in a local cave. In this engaging memoir, he relates his subsequent lifetime of studying these much-misunderstood, oft-maligned creatures. Explaining how he tracks their social relationships and their contributions to sustainable ecology, he recounts his unnerving adventures while observing and photographing them. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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