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Biography and Memoir February 2025 |
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In the Ghost Shadows : The Untold Story of Chinatown's Most Powerful Crime Boss
by Peter Chin
Peter Chin was born on the outskirts of Hong Kong in 1959 and immigrated to New York City with his mother and sisters in 1967. Changing his name from Chin Chit Chuey to Peter Chin, he became a member of Chinatown's Ghost Shadows gang in the 1970s and '80s, where he rose to the highest ranks of organized crime. His never-before-told story is the subject of In the Ghost Shadows .
Everett De Morier is the award-winning author of three nonfiction books and the novel Thirty-Three Cecils , which won the top fiction prize at the London Book Festival, is required high school and college reading, and is being adapted as a feature film. In the Ghost Shadows , co-written with Peter Chin, is his first true-crime memoir.
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The leadership genius of Elon Musk
by Dennis Kneale
Examines the entrepreneur's rise to prominence, arguing that through ventures such as Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, Musk has exhibited relentless work ethic, resilience in the face of criticism, and original strategic insight, positioning himself as a blueprint for success and a master of turning challenges into opportunities.
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Captive Queen : The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots
by Jade Scott
A historian examines hundreds of newly decoded letters from Mary, Queen of Scots, revealing her strategic use of encrypted communication during her imprisonment and providing fresh insights into her relationships, influence and resilience before her execution in 1587. Illustrations.
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The house of my mother : a daughter's quest for freedom
by Shari Franke
Exposes the hidden abuse the author endured from her mother, Ruby Franke, behind the scenes of the popular 8 Passengers YouTube channel, detailing Ruby's strict control, influence from relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, and Shari's path to healing after her mother's 2023 arrest for child abuse.
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The Many Lives of Anne Frank
by Ruth Franklin
Ruth Franklin is the author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction , a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life , winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. She lives in Brooklyn,
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Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth)
by Markus Zusak
Bestselling novelist Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) turns to memoir in this funny and moving account of his family's adoption of three rowdy rescue dogs, poignantly sharing the lessons each pup taught them. For fans of: Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan.
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Bibliophobia : a memoir
by Sarah Chihaya
A Japanese American woman explores how books shaped her identity, battling depression and societal expectations, while reflecting on the transformative, sometimes painful impact of literature in challenging personal beliefs and navigating an inhospitable world.
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Goethe : His Faustian Life - the Extraordinary Story of Modern Germany, a Troubled Genius and the Poem That Made Our World
by A. N. Wilson
"A spellbinding recreation of Goethe's life and work from one of our greatest biographers. Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in this groundbreaking biography, it was his genius and insatiable curiosity that helped catapult the Western world into the modern era. A N. Wilson tackles the life of Goethe with characteristic wit and verve. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy to his later years as Germany's most respected elder statesman, Wilson hones in on Goethe's undying obsession with the work he would spend his entire life writing - Faust. Goethe spent over 60 years writing his retelling of Faust, a strange and powerful work that absorbed all the philosophical questions of his time as well as the revolutions and empires that came and went. It is his greatest work, but as Wilson explores, it is also something much more - it is the myth of how we came to be modern"--Publisher's description.
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A man on fire : the worlds of Thomas Wentworth Higginson
by Douglas R. Egerton
""Colonel Higginson was a man on fire," read one obituary. "He had convictions and lived up to them in the fullest degree." The obituary added that he had "led the first negro regiment, contributed to the literature of America, and left an imprint upon history too deep to be obliterated." Thomas Wentworth Higginson would have been pleased to have been referred to as "colonel." He was proud of his military service and happily used the title for many decades after the end of the Civil War, and up to his death in May 1911 at the age of eighty-seven. Nonetheless, his time in the army was just one of many things for which he hoped to be remembered. "I never shall have a biographer, I suppose," he mused to his diary in 1881. Just in case somebody took up the challenge, however, he wished to provide a hint about his career. "If I do" find a chronicler, he wrote, "the key to my life is easily to be found in this, that what I longed for from childhood was not to be eminent in this or that way, but to lead a wholelife, develop all my powers, & do well in whatever came in my way to do." It was a life marked by numerous struggles for social justice and progressive causes, from abolitionism to women's rights, from religious tolerance to socialism, and from physical fitness for both genders to temperance. Yet almost alone among his contemporaries and reform-minded friends, Higginson refused to devote himself to a single crusade. Even as a young man, he warned his mother that his "greatest intellectual difficulty has been having too many irons in the fire." Some of his colleagues disapproved of this, having dedicated all their efforts to ending slavery or advancing women's social and political rights. Then there were disputes about tactics. Some relied on the pen or the spoken word to garner support for their chosen cause. Abolitionists who followed the lead of Boston publisher William Lloyd Garrison, for example, typically declined to vote and believed that moral suasion and Christian pacifism would bring about an end to slavery. Frederick Douglass argued that violent means might be necessary to liberate four million enslaved Americans, of which he had once been one. John Brown went farther still and urged his supporters to take the fight into the contested territories of the Midwest or even the South, which the government of Abraham Lincoln effectively did in late 1862, when the War Department authorized a regiment of contraband soldiers on the Carolina coast"
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The stained glass window : a family history as the American story, 1790-1958
by David Levering Lewis
The historian embarks on a personal journey to uncover his ancestry, revealing the intertwined narratives of his family's history, which includes both slaveholding white families and an up-from-slavery Black lineage, illuminating the complexities of race, equity and legacy in America.
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Memorial days : a memoir
by Geraldine Brooks
Having no time to grieve when her husband suddenly died, the author after three years flew to a remote Australian island and stayed in a shack on a pristine coast, going days without seeing another person, and pondered the ways cultures grieve and what rituals might help her rebuild her life.
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Brooke Shields is not allowed to get old : thoughts on aging as a woman
by Brooke Shields
The former child star reflects on aging with confidence and empowerment, challenging societal stereotypes about women growing older, while sharing personal experiences and insights to encourage women to reclaim their power and redefine the narrative around aging. 350,000 first printing. Illustrations.
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Hope : the autobiography
by Francis
Pope Francis originally intended this book to appear only after his death, but the needs of our times and the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope have moved him to make this legacy available now. Illustrations.
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Source Code : My Beginnings
by Bill Gates
The software giant explores his personal journey, recounting his early influences, friendships, family and first steps in computing that paved the way for his revolutionary career and later philanthropic focus, offering an intimate look at the experiences that shaped him.
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Woody Allen : a travesty of a mockery of a sham
by Patrick McGilligan
A thorough examination of Woody Allen's career and life, tracing his journey from a Brooklyn upbringing to a celebrated filmmaker, while exploring his personal controversies, relationships and lasting cultural impact through a balanced presentation of his complex legacy.
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Shattered : a memoir
by Hanif Kureishi
A writer recounts his yearlong recovery in Rome following a fall that left him unable to walk, dictating reflections on his medical journey, parenthood, immigration, and writing, ultimately transforming his pain into a narrative that celebrates resilience, gratitude, and love amidst adversity.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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