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Biography and Memoir December 2024 |
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Dinner for vampires
by Lenz, Joie
The One Tree Hill actress recounts her secret life in a manipulative cult, enduring abuse and financial exploitation until becoming a mother gave her the courage to escape and begin healing from the trauma.
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Menachem Mendel Schneerson
by Glinter, Ezra
The life and thought of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, one of the most influential--and controversial--rabbis in modern Judaism.
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I Once Was Lost
by Lemon, Don
A notable figure in modern media faces a test of faith—and reveals how such tribulations can make us stronger, as individuals and as a nation.
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Connie
by Connie Chung
Broadcast journalist Connie Chung dishes on her trailblazing life and career in her engaging memoir that is equal parts irreverent and inspiring. For fans of: Going There by Katie Couric.
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It Starts With One
by Lipshutz, Jason
Linkin Park is one of the 21st Century's most important--and most underrated--rock bands. When you look at album and streaming numbers, tickets sold, enduring legacy, merch sales, and the contributions that this groundbreaking band have made in all metrics of music consumption and fandom, there's no group bigger in recent memory. Despite this, there has not yet been a full, comprehensive biography of the band--until now. In "It Starts with One", "Billboard"'s executive director of music, Jason Lipshutz, chronicles the story of this legendary band, from their early childhoods to the moment their paths crossed to the genesis of their iconic first album, Hybrid Theory, and all that followed.
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Ingenious
by Munson, Richard
"Benjamin Franklin was one of the preeminent scientists of his time. Driven by curiosity, he conducted cutting-edge research on electricity, heat, ocean currents, weather patterns, chemical bonds, and plants. But today, Franklin is remembered more for his political prowess and diplomatic achievements than his scientific creativity. In 'Ingenious', Richard Munson recovers this vital part of Franklin's story, reveals his modern relevance and offers a compelling portrait of a shrewd experimenter, clever innovator and visionary physicist whose fame opened doors to negotiate French support and funding for American independence. Munson's riveting narrative explores how science underpins Franklin's entire story - from tradesman to inventor to nation-founder"
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Citizen
by Clinton, Bill
The former president chronicles his post-presidential journey with personal insights, details his humanitarian work, reflects on major twenty-first-century events and highlights his enduring commitment to public service, family and democracy.
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From under the truck
by Brolin, Josh
This memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor vividly portrays a life filled with curiosity, pain and humor, recounting his unconventional childhood and personal struggles, with profound reflections on relationships, addiction, love and loss.
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Cher
by Cher
The notable pop star and diva offers the first part of her extensive biography about her fascinating life.
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We all shine on
by Mintz, Elliot
A publicist and music-industry insider, and a friend to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, offers a personal and revealing look at the last 10 years of Lennon's life and his partnership with Ono.
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Norman Lear
by Whetsell, Tripp
"An affectionate and candid tribute to a figure who singlehandedly redefined an entire medium by reflecting the world around him"
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Ira Gershwin
by Owen, Michael
"The first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize, Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook, a period which covers songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in the first full-length biography devoted to his life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother George. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira's own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America's best-loved songs, like "Fascinating Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "They Can't Take That Away from Me." These fruits of Ira's lyric genius sprang from the simplest of seeds: a hand-drawn weekly created for a cousin, an amateur newspaper co-written with friend and future lyricist Yip Harburg, columns in the school papers at Townsend Harris High School and, later, City College of New York. The details of his early literary efforts demonstrate both his developing ambition and the early signs of his talent. But while the road to becoming a successful lyricist was neither short nor smooth, it did lead Ira to the greatest creative partnership of his life. George and Ira Gershwin collaborated ona string of hit Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s that resulted in popular and financial success and spawned a long string of songs that have become classics. Owen offers fascinating glimpses of their creative process, drawing on Ira's diaries and other contemporary sources, as well as the close relationship between the two brothers. Hollywood soon beckons and the brothers head west to California to work in the movie business. Greater fame and fortune seem right around the corner. George Gershwin died in a Los Angeles hospital in July 1937. He was only 38 years old. His death marked a stark dividing line in Ira's life, and from that point on much of his time and energy was devoted to the management of his brother's estate and the care of his legacy. Accustomed to living in his brother's shadow, it now threatened to overwhelm him. He worked to balance all the administrative tasks with a new series of collaborations with composers like Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Harry Warren, and Harold Arlen. Ira's lastBroadway work was in 1946, and several films and a book project-a collection of his lyrics with the stories behind them-occupied his later years along with the ongoing management of George's affairs"
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Songbird
by Jones, Lesley-Ann
"Christine McVie--born Christine Perfect--was the quintessentially English rock star, as both the backbone and the beating heart of Fleetwood Mac. Straddling the band's incarnations to achieve global fame alongside Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and John McVie, the classic line-up, she wrote and performed many of their greatest hits. As famous for their occasionally life-threateningly decadent lifestyles as for their musical brilliance, they were held together by this strong, constant figure whom they dubbed 'the mother' of the band. It was Christine who contained the flock, regrouped them when they went AWOL, focused and blended their talents and always got them back on track. And yet, as the "engine" of the band during their Rumours era--an album which charted the complete romantic disintegration within the band--Christine's personal life was every bit as tempestuous as those of her bandmates, weathering affairs, divorce, addiction and fiery passion, all of which bled into her now iconic song-writing. Told by an author who herself was friends with Christine, and with new contributions from those who knew her best, Songbird offers a true insider's view, and deep psychological insight into Christine as a both a woman and a musician--thefirst, the only, the ultimate picture of a rock legend and a national treasure"
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Thorns, Lust, and Glory
by Paranque, Estelle
"Anne Boleyn has mesmerized the general public for centuries. Her tragic execution at the Tower of London on the 19th of May, 1536-orchestrated by her own husband-never ceases to intrigue. How did this courtier's daughter become the queen of England, and what was it that really tore apart this illustrious marriage, rendering her the whore of England, an abandoned woman left to be executed on the scaffold? While many stories of Anne's downfall have been told, few have truly traced the origins of her grim fate. In Thorns, Lust, and Glory, Estelle Paranque takes us back to where it all started: to France, where Anne learned the lessons that would set her on the path to becoming one of England's most infamous queens. At the court of the French king as a resourceful teenage girl, Anne's journey to infamy began, and this landmark biography explores the world that shaped her, and how these loyalties would leave her vulnerable, leading to her ruin at the volatile court of Henry VIII. A fascinating new perspective on Tudor history's most enduring story, Thorns, Lust, and Glory is an unmissable account of a queen on the edge"--
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Raised by a serial killer
by Balascio, April
"One evening in 2009, April Balascio was searching online, as she had been every night, for unsolved murders in the towns her family had lived growing up, when she stumbled across the latest investigations into the "Sweetheart Murders" cold case. All at once, the buried memories of her father's dark history were awakened, and she knew she had to take action. She picked up the phone to call a detective and the rest is infamous true crime history. In her unflinching memoir, Balascio bravely reveals an astonishing tale of a lifetime of manipulation, unexplained upheavals, and silent fear. Some part of her had always known what her father was capable of, but the full truth of how she came to these revelations is as riveting as it is quietly terrifying. Through searing storytelling, dedicated research, and intimate insight, Raised by a Serial Killer is a gripping, courageous memoir unlike any other"
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American predator
by Callahan, Maureen
An investigative journalist documents the story of enigmatic serial killer Israel Keyes and the efforts of the Anchorage PD and the FBI to capture him, discussing what his case reveals about twenty-first-century law enforcement
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The Impossible Man
by Barss, Patchen
"As a little boy, Roger Penrose and his father discovered a sundial in a clearing behind their home. In that machine made of light, shadow, and time, six-year-old Roger discovered a "world behind the world" of transcendently beautiful geometry, beginning a journey toward becoming one of the world's most influential mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists. In the years to come, Penrose earned a Nobel Prize, a knighthood, and dozens of other prestigious honors. He proved the limitations of general relativity, and he set a new agenda for theoretical physics. However, as Patchen Barss documents in The Impossible Man, success came at a price. Penrose's longing for knowledge was matched only by his inability to understand those around him, and he struggled to connect with friends, family, and especially the women in his life. His final years have been spent alone with his research, intentionally cut off from the people who loved him. Erudite and deeply moving, The Impossible Man intimately depicts the relationship between Penrose the scientist and Roger the human being. It reveals the tragic cost-to himself and those closest to him-of Roger Penrose's extraordinary life"--
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Let's make things better
by Lev, Gidon
A Holocaust survivor who survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp as a child shares his journey of resilience, standing up to hate and finding hope to inspire others to make the world a better place.
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Good time girl
by Gay, Heather
"In Bad Mormon, Heather Gay pulled back the veil on her orthodox adolescence and marriage in the Mormon Church, and the painful process of leaving it all behind. Becoming a successful business owner and reality TV star gave the single mom of three a second lease on life. After years of living in an insular bubble, Heather emerged bright-eyed, eager to take on the world... no matter how ill-equipped her upbringing may have left her. Now, in this provocative and laugh-out-loud funny book, the mother of three proves that she isn't just a Bad Mormon; she's also a Good Time Girl! With her "thoughtful, smart, and funny" writing, Heather recounts the humorous trysts, mishaps, and serendipitous success she's found as a life-long reveler in all things indulgent. Coming off the heels of the most-watched RHOSLC episode of all time, Heather gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the receipts, proof, timeline, and screenshots of that fateful night in Bermuda. From illicit high school trips to Tijuana and awkward dates set up by her overzealous costars, Good Time Girl is a charming and intimate meditation on community, love, independence, womanhood, and--most importantly--second chances"
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Your mom's gonna love me
by Rife, Matt
"Born in trashy backwoods Ohio, Matt was saved by his foul-mouthed but loving grandpa Steve, who fostered his passion for standup. He started hitting comedy clubs before he could even drink, cutting his teeth in front of crowds who dared him to succeed. Matt honed a brand of razor-sharp, brutally honest standup that took no prisoners--and took him to the most famous stages of Atlanta and LA before he graduated high school. Along the way, he broke the hearts of MILFs everywhere, finally hit puberty at theripe age of twenty-two, and never, ever backed down. Full of Matt opening up, at his unfiltered best, about his life for the very first time, this book will give his millions of fans everything they want and more--and might even get his insecure enemies to change their minds"
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Agent Zo
by Mulley, Clare
"During World War II, Elzbieta Zawacka--the WWII female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo--was the only woman to reach London as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command. In Britain, she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the "Silent Unseen." She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then she was the only female member of these forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, while being hunted by the Gestapo (who arrested her entire family), she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland. After the war, she was discharged as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not onlyimprisoned (and tortured) her, but also ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years. Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Agent Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten heroine back to brilliant life--while transforming how we value the history of women resistance fighters during World War II"
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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