New Memoirs

Want more suggestions?  Try Personalized Book Picks

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

All the way to the river : love, loss, and liberation

Author(s):

Gilbert, Elizabeth, 1969-

Description:

In 2000, Elizabeth Gilbert met Rayya. They became friends, then best friends, then inseparable. When tragedy entered their lives, the truth was finally laid bare: The two were in love. They were also a pair of addicts, on a collision course toward catastrophe. What if your most beautiful love story turned into your biggest nightmare? What if the dear friend who taught you so much about your self-destructive tendencies became the unstable partner with whom you disastrously reenacted every one of them? And what if your most devastating heartbreak opened a pathway to your greatest awakening? All the Way to the River is a landmark memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever been captive to love--or to any other passion, substance, or craving--and who yearns, at long last, for liberation.

Format:

Large Print

Call Number:

LP 813.54 Gil

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Shot Ready

Author(s):

Curry, Stephen

Description:

Shot Ready is a powerful distillation of Stephen Curry’s transformative philosophy of success—centered on preparation, constant improvement, creativity, connection, mindfulness, and joy—delivered in his incomparable voice and style. Stunningly designed and illustrated with more than 100 gorgeous photographs, Shot Ready is an intimate narrative and a practical blueprint for any reader who wants to unlock their own potential.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Protecting Whitney : the memoir of her bodyguard

Author(s):

Roberts, David (Bodyguard)

Description:

"David Roberts was hired in 1988 to provide security for the UK portion of Whitney Houston's Moment of Truth world tour. Accustomed to working for diplomats and Fortune 500 clients, Roberts had reservations about working with a pop star. But from the moment they met at Heathrow Airport, Houston's heart of gold won him over. Roberts would work for Houston for seven years as her career soared to its pinnacle. His memoir reveals heartwarming anecdotes of life with one of the world's most recognizable stars, including privately shared moments such as the birth of Whitney's daughter, Bobbi Kristina. But there are also shocking and heartbreaking revelations, as Roberts was present for some of Houston's most challenging ordeals. His heart was ultimately shattered as he witnessed her succumb to the one threat he could not protect her from: herself"--

Format:

Book

Call Number:

363.289092 Rob

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

It was the way she said it : short stories, essays, and wisdom

Author(s):

McMillan, Terry

Description:

"For the first time ever, renowned author Terry McMillan brings together her previously published short fiction and nonfiction pieces, as well as never-before-seen works in a single volume. Before McMillan found success as a novelist in the early 1990s, she published provocative, boundary-pushing short stories, capturing the struggles and triumphs of Black life in America with vitality and honesty. From the work-a-day factory man's malaise in The End, to the cast-aside lover's resolve in Touching, to the aging woman's wile in Ma'Dear, McMillan's inimitable voice bravely explores the dark corners of human relationships with compassion, humor and nuance. This collection also features five unpublished short stories that reveal how she wrestled with controversial topics rarely addressed in this era, from domestic abuse in Mama, Take Another Step to extreme poverty in Can't Close My Eyes To It. Whether she's revealing life lessons, pontificating about aging, recalling her sources of inspiration, or laying bare the beginnings of her life as a writer, McMillan approaches every piece with enduring candor, wit, and fearlessness"-- Provided by publisher.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

818.5409 McM

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Bread of Angels: A Memoir

Author(s):

Smith, Patti

Description:

God whispers through a crease in the wallpaper, writes Patti Smith in this indelible account of her life as an artist. A post-Second World War childhood unfolds in a condemned housing complex described in Dickensian detail: consumptive children, vanishing neighbours, an infested rat house, and a beguiling book of Irish fairytales. We enter the child's world of the imagination where Smith, the captain of her loyal and beloved sibling army, vanquishes bullies, communes with the king of tortoises and searches for sacred silver pennies.

The most intimate of Smith's memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative heroes and role models as Patti starts to write poetry, then lyrics, merging both into the iconic songs and recordings such as Horses and Easter, 'Dancing Barefoot' and 'Because the Night'.

She leaves it all behind to marry her one true love, Fred Sonic Smith, with whom she creates a life of devotion and adventure on a canal in St. Clair Shores, Michigan with ancient willows and fulsome pear trees. She builds a room of her own, furnished with a pillow of Moroccan silk, a Persian cup, inkwell and fountain pen. The couple spend nights in their landlocked Chris-Craft studying nautical maps and charting new adventures as they start their family.

As Smith suffers profound losses, grief and gratitude are braided through years of caring for her children, rebuilding her life and, finally, writing again -- the one constant in a life driven by artistic freedom and the power of the imagination to transform the mundane into the beautiful, the commonplace into the magical, and pain into hope. In the final pages, we meet Patti on the road again, the vagabond who travels to commune with herself, who lives to write and writes to live.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

We Survived the Night

Author(s):

Noisecat, Julian Brave

Description:

"Born to a Secwepemc father and Jewish-Irish mother, Julian Brave NoiseCat's childhood was full of contradictions. Despite living in the urban Native community of Oakland, California, he was raised primarily by his white mother. He was a competitive powwow dancer, but asked his father to cut his hair short, fearing that his white classmates would call him a girl if he kept it long. When his father, tormented by an abusive and impoverished rez upbringing, eventually left the family, NoiseCat was left to make sense of his Indigenous heritage and identity on his own. Now, decades later, Noisecat has set across the country to correct the erasure, invisibility, and misconceptions surrounding this nation's First Peoples, as he develops his voice as a storyteller and artist in his own right"--

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

The waterbearers : a memoir of mothers and daughters

Author(s):

Bonét, Sasha

Description:

"A sharp, tender, sweeping history of three single Black mothers-the author's grandmother, mother, and the author herself-interwoven with the stories of the Black women they saw on the screen and heard on the radio every day. Here is a masterpiece of lifewriting by a thrilling new voice, a writer who will remake how we think of generations. We begin in a house along a bayou in Texas, a home bought and paid for-and run-by the author's grandmother. Betty Jean spent twenty summers in the swamplands of Louisiana as a cotton tenant farmer before going north to Texas in the Great Migration. It was there that she would raise her eleven children, most by different fathers whom she rarely kept around. "If she tended the land and the laundry," Bonét writes, "whatwere the uses of a man?" Mama Connie, one of those eleven, grew up under her mother's controlling hand and struggled to forgive, vowing that her life would be different. But when it came to having children of her own, she was more like Betty Jean than she cared to admit. She made her home just a few blocks away, and received the same nickname as her mother, the "Black Widow." And, like her mother before her, Connie's sweat was the founding salt of her own universe. Today, Sasha Bonét, like each woman before her, wrangles with the pull of her mother's orbit, the austerity and love from which it came. She is the first in her family to look to the past in order to radically reimagine her future, and the future of her daughter. In fostering a community of motherhood, Bonét interrogates all aspects of being a mother-escape and promise, burden, assent, and rebellion-not just for those who came before her, but for those Black women with whom society is acquainted, too: Nina Simone; Oprah Winfrey; Audre Lorde,and Darnella Fraiser, who filmed the murder of George Floyd and mobilized the world"-- Provided by publisher.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging

Author(s):

Buchdahl, Angela

Description:

From the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, a stirring account of one woman’s journey from feeling like an outsider to becoming one of the most admired religious leaders in the world

Angela Buchdahl was born in Korea and grew up in Tacoma, Washington, the daughter of a Korean Buddhist mother and Jewish American father. Profoundly spiritual from a young age, felt a connection to God when only a child and felt the first stirrings to become a rabbi at age sixteen. Despite the naysayers and periods of self-doubt—would a mixed-race woman ever be seen as authentically Jewish and entitled to lead a congregation—she stayed the course, which took her first to Yale, then to rabbinical school, cantorial school, and finally to the pulpit of one of the largest, most influential congregations in the world.

Today, Angela Buchdahl is revered by Jews and non-Jews alike for her invigorating, joyful approach to worship, and her belief in the power of faith, gratitude, and responsibility for each other, regardless of religion. She does not shy away from challenging topics, be it racism within the Jewish community to sexism she confronted when she aspired to the top job. Buchdahl has also been a sought-after leader and voice through some of the most challenging moments in recent history, from the murder of George Floyd to the hostage standoff in Colleyville, Texas to the horrors of October 7th. Buchdahl's consistent message is that it is up to us to strive for a world of more humanity, especially in today’s challenging times.

Angela Buchdahl has gone from outsider to officiant, from feeling estranged to feeling embraced—and she's emerged with a deep feeling of being bound to a larger whole and mission. Here, she has written a book that is both a memoir and a spiritual guide for everyday living, which is exactly what so many of us crave right now.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir

Author(s):

Wood, Roy

Description:

"When Roy Wood, Jr., held his baby boy for the first time, he was relieved that his son was happy and healthy, but he felt a strange mix of joy and apprehension. Roy's own father, a voice of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, had passed away when Roy was sixteen. There were gaps in the lessons passed down from father to son and, holding his own child, Roy wondered: have I managed to fill in those blanks, to learn the lessons I will one day need to teach my boy? So Roy looked back to figure out who had taught him lessons throughout his life and which he could pass down to his son. Some of his father figures were clear, like a colorful man from Philadelphia navigating life after prison, who taught Roy the value of having a vision for his life, or his fellow comedians, who showed him what it took to make it as a working stand-up performer"--

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Next of Kin: A Memoir

Author(s):

Hamilton, Gabrielle

Description:

“We were a family veined through with certain brutalities, rifts, and unresolved conflicts, as well as some remarkable violences and some decades-long silences. But together we had rituals, systems, congruent cohering events that made us who we were as one. I thought of the black and blue marks as if they were the desirable spores of mold found in noble cheeses.”

The youngest of five children, Gabrielle Hamilton took pride in her unsentimental, idiosyncratic family. She idolized her parents’ charisma and non-conformity. She worshipped her siblings’ mischievousness and flair. Hers was a family with no fondness for the humdrum.

Hamilton grew up to find enormous success, first as a chef and then as the author of award-winning, bestselling books. But her family ties frayed in ways both seismic and mundane until eventually she was estranged from them all. In the wake of one brother’s sudden death and another’s suicide, while raising young children of her own, Hamilton was compelled to examine the sprawling, complicated root system underlying her losses. She began investigating her family’s devout independence and individualism with a nearly forensic rigor, soon discovering a sobering warning in their long-held self-satisfaction. By the time she was called to care for her declining mother—the mother she’d seen only twice in thirty years—Hamilton had realized a certain freedom, one made possible only through a careful psychological autopsy of her family.

Hamilton’s gift for pungent dialogue, propulsive storytelling, intense honesty, and raucous humor made her first book a classic of modern memoir. In Next of Kin, she offers a keen and compassionate portrait of the people she grew up with and the prevailing but soon-to-falter ethos of the era that produced them. A personal account of one family’s disintegration, Next of Kin is also a universal story of the emotional clarity that comes from scrutinizing our family mythologies and seeing through to the other side.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Letter from Japan

Author(s):

Kondo, Marie

Description:

Though she’s known for “tidying up” and “sparking joy,” there’s more to Marie Kondo than her love of mess. Across book tours and international conferences, it became clear that her audience, while interested in how to keep their lives tidy, was also keen to learn about Kondo herself and the culture that is intrinsic to her tidying method.

In Letter from Japan, Kondo responds to the myriad questions she received about her inspirations by examining the Japanese customs that she grew up with—minute details of tea ceremonies, the art of taking care of gardens, and the power of passing seasons—with her trademark gentle wisdom. But this isn’t only a response to her audience’s fervent desire to get to know the woman behind the show; it’s a manifesto for her three children, a documentation of the foundational elements of their culture that is essential to their understanding of the world around them.

With subtle and lyrical prose, Kondo embarks on her most personal and affirming book yet, holding onto the customs that not only spark joy but also preserve them for future generations.
Genres

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Writing Creativity and Soul

Author(s):

Kidd, Sue Monk

Description:

When Sue Monk Kidd was in high school, a home economics teacher wrote a list of potential occupations for women on the teacher, nurse, librarian, secretary. “Writer” was nowhere to be found. On that day, Kidd shut the door on her writerly aspirations and would not revisit the topic until many years later when she announced to her husband and two children that she was going to become a writer. And so began her journey into the mysteries and methods of the writerly life…

In Writing Creativity and Soul, Sue Monk Kidd will pull from her own life and the lives of other writers—Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Harper Lee, and many others—to provide a map for anyone who has ever felt lost as a writer. At the heart of this book is the unwavering belief that writing is a spiritual act, one that draws inspiration from the soul, that wellspring of creativity between imagination and feeling. Once you tap into that part of yourself, writes Sue Monk Kidd, there are only three more things you need as a something to say, the ability to say it, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the courage to say it.

Equal parts memoir, guidebook, and spiritual quest, Writing Creativity and Soul is a pilgrimage and a touchstone, a journey into the transformational force of the imagination and the creative genius that lies in the unconscious.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Listening to the law : reflections on the court and Constitution

Author(s):

Barrett, Amy Coney, 1972-

Description:

"From Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a glimpse of her journey to the Court and an account of her approach to the Constitution Since her confirmation hearing, Americans have peppered Justice Amy Coney Barrett with questions. How has she adjusted to the Court? What is it like to be a Supreme Court justice with school-age children? Do the justices get along? What does her normal day look like? How does the Court get its cases? How does it decide them? How does she decide? In Listening to the Law, Justice Barrett answers these questions and more. She lays out her role (and daily life) as a justice, touching on everything from her deliberation process to dealing with media scrutiny. With the warmth and clarity that made her a popular law professor, she brings to life the making of the Constitution and explains her approach to interpreting its text. Whether sharing stories of clerking for Justice Scalia or walking readers through prominent cases, she invites readers to wrestle with originalism and to embrace the rich heritage of our Constitution"-- Provided by publisher.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

347.732634 Bar

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Life is a lazy Susan of sh*t sandwiches

Author(s):

Welch, Jennifer, (Interior designer)
Sullivan, Angie,

Description:

Long before their blockbuster podcast, I've Had It, Jennifer Welch and Angie "Pumps" Sullivan were simply two best friends, supporting each other through the ups and downs of life. Together they've celebrated family milestones and cheered on professional successes, but they've weathered the storms together too. When Jennifer's husband battled alcoholism and drug addiction, she turned to Angie for support. When Angie's own marriage began to crumble, she turned to Jennifer. And crucially, through it all they've kept one another laughing in stitches. For the first time, Angie and Jennifer open up about the most personal moments that shaped their worldviews, sharpened their humor and inspired the "hopeful cynicism" that underpins their I've Had It podcast. Using their friendship as a roadmap, Jennifer and Angie share the wisdom that got them through life's biggest challenges and the lessons they've absorbed along the way. From infidelity, addiction and sobriety to economic instability, struggles with self-worth and brushes with fame, they've seen it all, and they're here to help guide readers on their own journeys, showing us how we too can center our lives around humor, hope and connection and let go of the rest.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

155.33382 Wel

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Patriot : a memoir

Author(s):

Navalʹnyĭ, Alekseĭ
Goode, Matthew,

Description:

In vivid detail, including never-before-seen correspondence from prison, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny recounts his political career, the many attempts on his life, and the lives of the people closest to him, and the relentless campaign he and his team waged against an increasingly dictatorial regime.

Format:

Audiobook

Call Number:

947.0864 Nav

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

The good mother myth : unlearning our bad ideas about how to be a good mom

Author(s):

Reddy, Nancy, 1982-

Description:

When Nancy Reddy had her first child, she was confronted with the societal ideal of motherhood: a mother who is always available, endlessly patient, and completely focused on her child above all else. Raised by a single working mother, Reddy identified as a feminist and was pursuing a PhD. Yet, she found the pressure to meet this ideal troubling. To understand why, she turned to mid-20th century social scientists and psychologists whose research continues to influence modern parenting beliefs. Reddy examines the ideas put forward by these researchers, such as Harry Harlow's controversial studies on monkeys and Dr. Spock's famous parenting guide, which notably included minimal mention of fathers. In The Good Mother Myth, Reddy critiques these outdated and often flawed theories about motherhood, offering an analysis of how their influence still shapes cultural norms today. This book blends history, cultural criticism, and memoir to explore the complex and often problematic foundations of modern ideas about what it means to be a "good" mother.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

306.8743 Red

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

A physical education : how I escaped diet culture and gained the power of lifting

Author(s):

Johnston, Casey

Description:

"A Physical Education traces Casey Johnston's journey of calorie restriction and obsessive cardio--making herself small in almost every way--to finding healing through the (unexpected) practice of lifting weights. As she progresses, carrying groceries and closing heavy doors become easier. As she diligently practices checking in with how she feels, she begins to question not only how she has treated her body, but how she sees herself and the world. This growth also fuels a deeper understanding: how the mainstream messaging she received about women's bodies has seeped into almost every other area of her life. Combining wit, rage, and a reporter's eye for detail, Johnston recounts how she learned the process of rupture, rest, and repair-not just within her cells and muscles, but within her spirit. A love letter to the science of female strength, this is a book for anyone who's ever longed to return home to their own body"-- Provided by publisher.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

613.713092 Joh

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Down syndrome out loud : 20+ true stories of disability and determination

Author(s):

Hart, Melissa, 1970-
Perera, María,

Description:

"In this illustrated biography collection, meet over twenty people with Down syndrome who have accomplished amazing things in their lives. Excelling in film, sports, business, photography, and more, these people are changing hearts and minds about their disability. Read about Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman Triathlon, and Isabella Springmuhl Tejada, the first designer with Down syndrome invited to showcase her work at London Fashion Week. Learn about the Special Olympics, Best Buddies, and other organizations who support the Down syndrome community"--

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA 616.858842 Har

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Daring : the life and art of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Author(s):

Pomeroy, Jordana, 1962-
Vigée-Lebrun, Louise-Elisabeth,

Description:

"The dramatic life story of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, one of the greatest portrait painters of all time"--

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA 759.4 Pom

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

Arm in arm : the Grimké sisters' fight for abolition and women's rights

Author(s):

Carpenter, Angelica Shirley

Description:

"Sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimké grew up in wealth and privilege in early nineteenth century Charleston, South Caroline. Following the standards of the time, they should have known nothing but prosperity, high social status, and Southern gentility for all their lives. But neither could look away from the inhumanity, violence, and cruelty of the enslavement they saw everywhere, even in their own home. Shaped by their religious beliefs and a fierce sense of compassion, the sisters moved north to begin a fight that would change America forever. Historian and author Angelica Shirley Carpenter tells the remarkable true story of the sisters' lives as they cut a swath across the northeastern United States, speaking out against slavery even while facing violence from pro-slavery mobs. When women were expected to stay at home and be quiet, they spoke up, too, for women's rights, becoming pioneer advocates for that civil liberties movement. Sarah and Angelina's activism played an important role in the early 1800s, and their actions have had lasting effects--influencing figures such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg--that have set the stage for present-day crusades for equality"--

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA 326.80922 Car

Horizon Image

See Also:

VIEW IN CATALOG

The race to be myself

Author(s):

Semenya, Caster, 1991-

Description:

"In this memoir for young readers, Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya reflects on her groundbreaking career and her fight for identity in professional sports. Caster Semenya is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a three-time world champion in track from South Africa. Since her first spectacular performance at the 2009 World Championship in Berlin, she has been at the center of a growing debate about female eligibility rules in professional athletics because of her naturally high testosterone levels. After she was forced to take devastating hormone-altering drugs in order to continue competing, this debate has moved to center stage in the future of inclusivity for professional athletes. In this middle grade adaptation of her debut adult memoir, Caster recounts her childhood growing up in a small village in South Africa, the love for and acceptance of her identity from her community, and her trailblazing fight for the right to compete in professional sports. The Race to Be Myself is an illuminating and necessary story of identity and self-acceptance that will resonate with young readers"--Publisher's website.

Format:

Book

Call Number:

YA 796.42092 Sem