Rolling Meadows Library: Biography and Memoir: February 2026

Recent Releases

Ain't Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton
by Martha Ackmann

Martha Ackmann’s biography of country music legend Dolly Parton goes beyond the glamour to reveal the grit that propelled her to international stardom. Parton’s phenomenal talent was discovered while she was a teenager. Her business savvy and philanthropic generosity would be discovered later, namely by sexist Nashville executives trying to control her skyrocketing career. For the story of another feminist music star who refused to be put in a box, try Madonna: A Rebel Life by Mary Gabriel.

Googoosh: A Sinful Voice
by Googoosh, with Tara Dehlavi

Iranian pop superstar Googoosh tells her life story in an emotional and lyrical memoir. After emerging as a teen celebrity in her home country in the 1960s, her haunting voice catapulted her to stardom throughout Europe and the Middle East. Then came the Islamic Revolution, leading to her imprisonment and torture. She was eventually released, escaped Iran, and became an advocate for women’s rights. This timely memoir will resonate with fans of Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters by Allyson McCabe.

Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind
by Jason Zengerle

Journalist Jason Zengerle offers a discerning summary of conservative pundit Tucker Carlson’s career to date while sounding a sobering critique of today’s TV news landscape. Always right-leaning but once a proponent of nuanced political debate, Carlson seemed to abandon these ideals after signing on with Fox News, instead flirting with agitprop, conspiracies, and white supremacism. For fans of: Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth by Brian Stelter.

Focus on: Black History Month

Rage: On Being Queer, Black, Brilliant...and Completely Over It
by Lester Fabian Brathwaite

Entertainment Weekly writer Lester Fabian Brathwaite debuts with a provocative collection of essays focused on the author’s Black and queer identity. He strikes a tone that veers from funny to frustrated while tackling topics relating to body image, Black masculinity, the white male gaze, and much more in these witty and irreverent monologues. For fans of: the confessional writing of Brontez Purnell.

Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde
by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Poet Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ innovative, adventurous biography of Black feminist poet Audre Lorde is a tribute to and legacy of a shared intersectional identity. Gumbs, who, like her subject, is an LGBTQIA+ descendant of Caribbean immigrants, details how Lorde rose from a difficult upbringing to become an inspiring feminist figure whose work never hesitated to call out injustice and oppression in this “scintillating tour de force” (Publishers Weekly).

Contact your librarian for more great books!