|
|
Biography and Memoir September 2026 |
|
|
|
| Unsayable: A Life in Writing by Michael CunninghamIn his memoir, acclaimed novelist Michael Cunningham (The Hours) continually returns to the concept of articulation, claiming that writing is simply finding a way to express that which resists being put into words. Cunningham cannily pinpoints moments from his early life -- bouncing a ball, or watching his mother bake a cake -- as opportunities to fall in love with and ponder our relationship with language. Unsayable is a book for “readers hungry for gorgeous prose” (Publishers Weekly). |
|
| A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival by Virginia EubanksIn 2015, journalist Virginia Eubanks’ partner, J., was the victim of two separate assaults near their home, one of which resulted in serious injuries. The PTSD that J. suffered over the ensuing years was soon passed along to Eubanks, as she became J.’s primary (unpaid) caregiver. She found a way of coping by immersing herself in lifesaving and wilderness survival, and her book reveals striking parallels between emergency rescue and care work, which too often falls to loved ones. For another exploration of the costs of unpaid labor, try Everyone but Myself by Julie Chavez. |
|
| All That's Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir by Emilee HackneyAfter a devastating betrayal that called her Pentecostal faith into question, debut memoirist Emilee Hackney left her small Appalachian town in Virginia for Harvard. Amidst the culture shock, Hackney realized that leaving home was the right move for her. But it also made her see that home in a new light, and she found herself defending the land of her birth against those quick to dismiss and stereotype the South and its people. For another coming-of-age memoir about feeling pulled in opposite directions, try Between Two Trailers by J. Dana Trent. |
|
|
|
Lifeguard: A Love Story
by Janet Fash
Lifeguard is an evocative picture of how a place as special as Rockaway Beach has changed over four decades. Yet at its most essential, it's a coming-of-age tale, detailing what it was like to be a woman rising through the ranks in a male-dominated field, details of the legendary Caveman Conventions on the beach in the 80s, an inside look at the persistent union corruption that has plagued the corps, and a poignant through-line of grief, as the stakes of the job are life and death. Lifeguard: A Love Story is about how a job can become something like a vocation, if you love it enough.
|
|
| I'm a Lot: Surviving Myself and All the People I've Been by Alison LeibyComedian Alison Leiby’s memoir in essays is both hilarious and thought-provoking. In a society where people -- especially women -- struggle under the weight of expectations, Leiby’s witty anecdotes help explain how she figured out the secret to living her best life: having the courage to be herself, labels be damned. Readers will pick up her inspiring message and run with it. For fans of: Well, This Is Exhausting by Sophia Benoit. |
|
| American Alt: A True Story of Madness and Friendship in a Fractured Country by Chris LockhartIn 2021, Michael Dodd, a veteran and avid outdoorsman, was committed to a mental hospital for plotting to kidnap the governor of Washington. Dodd, who was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, requested the help of his childhood friend, the author Chris Lockhart, in piecing together his fractured sense of self through narrative therapy. Their talks form the backbone of Lockhart’s haunting “exploration of mental illness and friendship in the wreckage of American decline” (Publishers Weekly). |
|
Focus on: Hispanic Heritage Month
|
|
| Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself by David ArchuletaBy the time David Archuleta was 17, he had become the first runner-up on American Idol and was ready to parlay his newfound fame into a singing career. Except…he experienced persistent feelings of same-sex attraction. David’s long journey toward self-acceptance involved deciding whether he wanted to come out and risk alienating his fans, his Honduran American family, and his Latter-Day Saints church -- a struggle many readers will find relatable. Read-alike: What Mattered Most by Ty Herndon. |
|
| Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter by Ada FerrerPulitzer Prize-winning historian Ada Ferrer (Cuba: An American History) relates the toll that emigrating from Cuba to the United States took on her family, especially her older half-brother Poly. When 10-month-old Ada and her mother left for New York City in 1963, a dispute with Poly’s father meant the boy had to be left behind, a heartbreaking turn that the author believes cast a shadow over the rest of Poly’s troubled life. For more emotionally intense stories of immigrant families, try Why Didn’t You Tell Me? by Carmen Rita Wong and A Body Across Two Hemispheres by Victoria Buitron. |
|
|
|
The Queen of Swords
by Jazmina Barrera
Who was Elena Garro, really?She was a writer, a founder of magical realism, a dancer. A devotee to the tarot and theI Ching. A socialite and activist on behalf of indigenous Mexicans. She was a mother and a lover who repeatedly shook off (and cheated on) her manipulative husband, Nobel-laureate Octavio Paz. And above all, she wrote with simmering anger and glittering imagination.The Queen of Swords is a portrait of a woman that also serves as an alternative history of Mexico City; a cry-out for justice; and an homage to the unknowable. It transcends mere biography, supplanting something tidy and authoritative for a sprawling experiment in understanding.
|
|
|
|
A Book: The Outspoken Memoirs of the Man Who "Loved Lucy"--And Revolutionized Television (Exclusive New Material with Commentary by
by Desi Arnaz
In the author's own words: Welcome to A Book, in which I try to explain how a kid from Cuba found a way to make a living in the United States. It's all here--the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the unbelievably lucky breaks, and the heartbreaking failures. . . . You will learn what Lucy and I had to do to convince people we could play husband and wife in I Love Lucy. Shortly afterward Lucie and Desi Jr. were born and our world was paradise. The irony of it all is how our undreamed-of success, fame, and fortune turned it into hell. It wasn't easy to write about all of it, but as my son said, 'There's only one way to do it, Dad. Tell it like it was.'
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|