"As I walked through those front doors, the huge silence of the house ripped through me." ~ from Sonali Deraniyagala's Wave |
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| Yes: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania by Daniel BryanAuthor Daniel Bryan's rise from pre-teen fan of professional wrestling to heavyweight champion at the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) WrestleMania XXX offers a fascinating story not only for wrestling fans, but for anyone interested in underdog triumph. In Yes, Bryan recounts how a man who's less than six feet tall and weighs a bit over 200 pounds became a professional wrestler and rose to the top of his sport. He also relates how he fell in love with and married a WWE diva, Brie Bella. This "forthright and comical" (Library Journal) memoir is both entertaining and informative. |
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| The Pawnbroker's Daughter: A Memoir by Maxine KuminFormer U.S. Poet Laureate Maxine Kumin grew up in 1930s inner-city Philadelphia, the daughter of a successful Jewish pawnbroker. As a young woman who aspired to write poetry, she had to overcome the expectations of her time that women's roles were limited to being wives and mothers. In this carefully crafted memoir, Kumin expressively delineates her life, which combined political activism with publishing her poetry and teaching, before retiring with her husband to their New Hampshire farm. The Pawnbroker's Daughter offers an absorbing biography for fans of literary memoirs and readers interested in 20th-century women's lives. |
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| Lessons from Tara: Life Advice from the World's Most Brilliant Dog by David RosenfeltDavid Rosenfelt, author of the popular Andy Carpenter legal thriller series (often featuring rescued dogs), is also known for his real-life devotion to canines. In Dogtripping, he recounted his adventures moving cross-country with 25 dogs. In Lessons from Tara, Rosenfelt relates his experiences with golden retriever Tara, who inspired his involvement with dog rescue. Tara and many other dogs also taught him about aspects of life such as dating, how to grieve, dealing with stress, appreciating the smaller details of a day, and even how to share the bed with numerous dogs. Animal lovers especially will want to pick up this humorous and self-effacing memoir. |
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| Joy: Poet, Seeker, and the Woman who Captivated C.S. Lewis by Abigail SantamariaWhile American poet Joy Davidman Lewis is familiar to fans of her husband, Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, her life has been seen primarily through the filter of her relationship with him. In Joy, biographer Abigail Santamaria depicts Davidman's entire life, including her membership in the Communist Party, youthful academic success, marriage to William Gresham, and ideological shifts ranging from Marxism to Dianetics before she fell in love with C.S. Lewis through his writing and crossed the Atlantic to meet him. In this carefully researched, insightful biography, Santamaria draws on correspondence and poetic journals, in addition to published works, to explore Davidman's gifts as well as her flaws. |
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| The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, and Home on the Far Side of the World by Tracy SlaterBoston author and writing teacher Tracy Slater assumed she would never live anywhere else, until she accepted a position teaching English as a second language to MBA students in Japan. Much to her surprise, she fell head-over-heels in love with Toru, one of her students, who reciprocated her feelings. After returning to America, Slater had to decide whether to marry her beloved and move permanently to Japan -- a wrenching choice. In The Good Shufu, Slater relates how she made the transition to Toru's culture. For another engaging memoir by an American writer who taught in Japan, read Cathy Davidson's 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. |
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| Somewhere Towards the End: A Memoir by Diana AthillIn Somewhere Towards the End, well regarded author Diana Athill explores what it's like to become old. Looking back to her 70s from age 91, she notices changes in her physical abilities, relates her new discoveries (such as adult education classes), and explores memories of her parents' aging. She also considers the fact that her atheism prevents her from seeking comfort in religion as she approaches death. This absorbing memoir, winner of both a Costa and a National Book Critics Circle Award, is elegantly written and thought-provoking. |
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| Wave by Sonali DeraniyagalaOn December 26, 2004, a powerful tsunami sped across the Indian Ocean, sweeping away everything along the shore in several countries that border the sea and taking the lives of 250,000 people – both vacationers and residents. At the time, London-based economist Sonali Deraniyagala and her family were in Sri Lanka visiting her parents. Deraniyagala survived the wave, but lost her husband, both children, and her parents. In this poignant memoir, she details her devastation from their loss, but the writing process also becomes a path to healing as she celebrates their memories. Wave received the 2014 PEN/Ackerley Prize for autobiography. |
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| George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis GaddisWinner of both a National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize, this biography delves extensively into diplomat George F. Kennan's inner life as well as his foreign policy career. Though Kennan was the architect of America's Cold War strategy, policy makers rarely followed his advice except during that period. Nevertheless, his work with earlier diplomatic initiatives, his later research and teaching, and his relationships with post-Cold War presidents were significant and extensive. This comprehensive life story offers fascinating reading for foreign affairs history buffs and general biography fans. |
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| The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism... by David I. KertzerOffering a detailed look inside the Vatican, scholar David Kertzer examines the character of Pope Pius XI and his relationship with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Pius XI's support for Mussolini's regime beginning in 1922 brought toleration for Catholicism, which Mussolini had actively opposed, while the Pope found it convenient to enlist the civil authorities in a campaign against Protestants and Jews. Once the archives of Pius XI's papacy were unsealed in 2006, Kertzer was able to mine them for insight into how the Pope really felt about Mussolini, and The Pope and Mussolini discusses Kertzer's conclusions. This Pulitzer Prize-winning biography provides a compelling assessment of the papacy just before World War II. |
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| Country Girl: A Memoir by Edna O'BrienIrish author Edna O'Brien, born in 1930, grew up in the countryside, where her convent education didn't encourage her dreams of becoming a writer. As a young woman she took a job in Dublin in hopes of meeting established writers and joining their fraternity. By 1960, living in London, she received great acclaim for her first novel The Country Girls (though it was long banned in Ireland), to be followed by continued critical favor, awards, and celebrity. In Country Girl, winner of the 2012 Irish Book Award for nonfiction, O'Brien employs her lyrical, evocative writing to recount her life, including her swinging London years. |
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