Biography and Memoir April 2026 |
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How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself
by Jenny Lawson
In How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay, Jenny shares more than one hundred humorous, heartfelt, and genuine tools and tricks that she relies on to keep her going even when her brain isn't working properly due to depression, anxiety, and ADHD. She also offers tips to stay passionate and focused on creative endeavors, especially when everything around you is saying to give up. With chapters like Wash Your Brain More Than You Wash Your Bra (sleep, you beautiful human), Working on Easy Mode Is Still Working (asking for accommodations is okay!), Celebrate Good Times, Come On! (make it a habit to celebrate the good things), and many more, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay is a balm and companion, reminding us all that we are not alone. It's for anyone who struggles with self-doubt, guilt, motivation, and mental blocks and wants to rekindle their passion for creating. Funny, simple, empathetic, and full of hope, it will encourage you not to just survive but to find and curate joy in the face of difficult times.
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| Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery by Gavin NewsomCalifornia governor and potential 2028 presidential candidate Gavin Newsom’s book briskly lays out his rise in the Democratic party, reveals some of the struggles early in his life that propelled him into politics, and talks about some key achievements of his tenure, including overseeing California’s legalization of same-sex marriage seven years prior to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Try this next: The Deeper the Roots by Michael Tubbs. |
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America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick
by Bob Crawford
During the tumultuous period between the era of the Founding Fathers and the disunion of the Civil War, John Quincy Adams was the man standing in the breach. After an unsuccessful presidential reelection campaign, he was left reckoning with his political legacy. But Adams would be dragged back into the fray in ways he never expected, pitting him against the slavocracy and Southern congressmen and solidifying him as a key ally to the antislavery cause. America's Founding Son tells the tale of Adams's turbulent government career and his evolving views on slavery. Adams, along with lesser-known abolitionists Benjamin Lundy and Theodore Weld, found himself at the center of the coalition that leveled the first blow against slave power in the United States. The battles they fought would be foundational in the push for emancipation to follow. An entertaining deep dive into an under explored period in American history, America's Founding Son shows how John Quincy Adams and the grassroots activism of the 1830s and '40s shifted American politics forever.
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| Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke... by Gabriel ShermanIn media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s winner-takes-all worldview, his four children -- Lachlan, Liz, James, and Prudence -- become little more than negotiators across the conference table vying for control of his mega-corporation. Biographer Gabriel Sherman documents the family drama, cynicism, and ruthlessness of all concerned in Bonfire of the Murdochs. For fans of: Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams; the HBO dramedy series Succession. |
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Homesick Nomad: Settling Into an Untethered Life
by Brianna Madia
Brianna Madia is renowned for her honest and enthralling accounts of life in the wilderness, finding her own way by rejecting society's expectations, so what happens when she falls in love and has to reset the boundaries of her fierce independence? Homesick Nomad finds Bri splitting her time between her beloved wild desert in Utah and her boyfriend's cozy suburban home in the Pacific Northwest, reckoning with: a new urge to soften into the embrace of the comforts of home defining her purpose and direction in life, including the big decision facing women, the question of motherhood, and the fear that committing to others means sacrificing independence.She's not only defying convention to prove something to herself or to others--a simpler way of life out in the desert actually brings her peace, as she realizes when resisting upgrades to her trailer like running water.Balancing the liberation of the wilderness with the natural compromises of love, Bri navigates these familiar tensions by embracing her life in its wholeness, richer for both the stability of home and the profundity of wide open spaces.
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Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself
by David Archuleta
A raw and powerful coming-out story from the beloved American Idol finalist traces David Archuleta's journey from closeted Mormon teen to global pop star to openly queer man, revealing the hidden pressures of fame, the weight of religious expectations, and the courage it takes to live authentically. Featuring never-before-seen photos, Devout is a must-read for fans of pop culture, American Idol, and anyone deconstructing their religious upbringing, or who's ever wrestled with who they are versus who they're told to be.
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Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect
by Valerie Bertinelli
With her signature warmth and disarming humor, the beloved actress and New York Times bestselling author strips away the polished facade and shares what it's really like to grow older, love harder, and start over. Now in her mid-sixties, Valerie reflects on the hard-won lessons of aging, self-worth, and letting go. From her experiences with menopause, relationships, and family trauma, she writes with clarity and compassion about the insecurities that have haunted her for decades: shame and anxiety about her body, and the false belief that her value depended on perfection. Through it all, Valerie reflects on the quiet, daily work of self-acceptance--the kind that doesn't make headlines but changes lives. Getting Naked isn't just a story of survival. It's a reckoning--with her past, her family history, and the generational pain that shaped her. It's about the myths we believe when we're young--about beauty, love, success--and how we carry them until they break us open. It's about unlearning the script that says women must please, endure, and stay silent.The result is a deeply personal, unexpectedly funny, and profoundly uplifting look at the inner journey we all share. Getting Naked isn't about vulnerability for vulnerability's sake. It's about finally letting go of the need to be perfect, quieting the harsh inner critic, and choosing compassion over judgment. After all, it's never too late to make peace with yourself--and to fall madly in love with the perfectly imperfect person you already are.
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Thank You, Teachers: True Stories from America's Teachers, Our Last Line of Defense and Our First Line of Hope
by James Patterson
The son of a teacher himself, the world's #1 bestselling author James Patterson blows the lid off what is happening in today's schools with firsthand stories, highlighting the heroic efforts of the world's teachers. Teachers are the heroes we too often forget to thank. And we need heroes more than ever. From across the country, from kindergarten to high school, from public, private, religious, or military schools, teachers tell us: What it takes to teach kids day in and day out. What it takes to improve kids' lives. What it takes to foster a lifelong readers and lifelong learners. If you can read this, someone cared about you. If you can read this, you want a brighter future for our kids. If you can read this, thank a teacher.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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