"During wartime, people's lives begin to revolve around food: first to stay alive, but also to stay human."
~ from Annia Ciezadlo's Day of Honey |
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New and Recently Released!
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| Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? A Memoir by Roz ChastAcclaimed cartoonist Roz Chast, best known for her work in The New Yorker, relates her experiences with her aging parents in this bittersweet memoir, which reproduces conversations about getting older and moving to a retirement home (from which the title Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? derives), followed by descriptions of their declining health and the ends of their lives. Chast captures the reader's sympathy for both her parents and herself, employing documents, photographs, and her usual cartoon style, which brings to life her parents' personalities and her concern for them, leavened with deft touches of ironic humor. |
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| Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies, Lessons & Love Affairs by Pearl CleageWhen author Pearl Cleage was going through boxes full of her journals, her daughter suggested burning them. Fortunately for readers, Cleage instead drew from them to compile Things I Should Have Told My Daughter. Presenting diary excerpts without added context, it offers a compelling view of the African American experience from 1970 to 1988, during which time Cleage was a civil rights activist, wrote speeches for Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first black mayor, experimented with drugs, avidly followed cinema and popular music, and had numerous lovers. Though the lack of context makes some details unclear, Kirkus Reviews calls this a "warts-and-all self-portrait rendered in juicy, robust prose." |
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| Stand Up Straight and Sing! A Memoir by Jessye NormanGrammy-winning soprano Jessye Norman credits her successful career in part to her mother's admonitions to stand up straight while singing. Growing up in segregated Augusta, Georgia, Norman soloed in church when she was four and fell in love with opera at age nine when she heard a recording of the music. Her memoir includes details of the support she received from her family and community, the development of her opera career, influences from other musicians, including Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, and her participation in the civil rights movement. Reading Stand Up Straight and Sing! is like enjoying a conversation with "a good friend -- a famous one" says Kirkus Reviews. |
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| Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of... by John F. RossWhile aviation pioneer Eddie Rickenbacker is best know as a flying ace who battled Germany's Red Baron during World War I, this engaging biography begins by relating details of Rickenbacker's auto racing career -- he taught himself automobile mechanics as a young teenager and learned to race cars, competing in the Indianapolis 500 before the war. Enduring Courage adds details of Rickenbacker's German-speaking Swiss background and continues with his phenomenal war record (including riveting descriptions of aerial dogfights) and an overview of his postwar career. Any reader interested in the 20th century, the history of speed, or Eddie Rickenbacker himself will be eager to pick up this thrilling account. |
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JFK Jr., George, & me : a memoirby Matt BermanThe creative director for George magazine shares the story of his relationship with the 35th President's son, describing the magazine's tumultuous early days, the life lessons he learned throughout his career and the lesser-known character qualities that marked JFK Jr's. achievements.
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Focus on: Food and Memories
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| As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto by Julia Child and Avis DeVoto; edited by Joan Reardon Chef and author Julia Child wrote scholar Bernard DeVoto a fan letter in 1952, long before her Mastering the Art of French Cooking appeared in print. Avis DeVoto replied on behalf of her husband, and soon Julia and Avis became enthusiastic pen pals -- a relationship that lasted over three decades. Avis' papers were unsealed in 2006, and biographer Joan Reardon read them and discovered an enchanting record of their relationship. In As Always, Julia, Reardon selects from their correspondence and adds enough context to help readers follow the train of their exchanges. Fans of Julia Child and anyone interested in cooking or literary memoirs will be thrilled by this volume. |
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| Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India by Madhur JaffreyCookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey grew up in Delhi, India, in an affluent Hindu family that maintained close associations with Muslims. Her first name symbolizes the importance of food -- it means "sweet as honey" -- and her childhood was filled with delicious foods and beverages from Punjabi Muslim as well as Delhi Hindu traditions. Climbing the Mango Trees portrays Jaffrey's childhood with constant references to the food and drink she remembers and includes her accounts of learning to prepare Indian meals after moving to England to study acting. Enhanced with photographs and family recipes, this engaging memoir may inspire readers to experience the uses of cumin, ginger, and many other spices. |
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| Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir by Bich Minh NguyenAuthor Bich Minh Nguyen and her family escaped from Vietnam in April, 1975, when she was just a year old, and they settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. With mostly blond neighbors and schoolmates, and enticed by treats such as Toll House cookies and Kit Kats, Nguyen felt both intrigued and excluded by American culture. (At home, her grandmother cooked Vietnamese meals and never served cookies or chips.) Nguyen saw food as a barrier to her becoming an all-American girl. In chapters headed by the names of American and Vietnamese foods from Pringles to Cha Gio, Nguyen entertainingly depicts her family's life and her coming of age in America. |
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| Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus SamuelssonBorn in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden by adoptive parents, and taught cooking by his Swedish grandmother, Marcus Samuelsson became an award-winning chef, owning a restaurant (The Red Rooster) in Harlem and taking first place in a season of television's Top Chef Masters. Providing accounts of his worldwide travels -- which include going to Ethiopia and reconnecting with his birth family -- as well as mouth-watering descriptions of meals, Yes, Chef offers a captivating read for both food lovers and armchair travel enthusiasts. Though the tone and style are quite different, you might want to follow up with another engaging memoir by a New York restaurateur, Joe Bastianich's Restaurant Man. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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