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Memoir and Biography

Migration ID
133

Bones Worth Breaking: A Memoir(link is external)

David
Martinez

An international story of racial and religious identity from David Martinez, a Brazilian-American writer who grew up Mormon, about his upbringing and the twin-like bond he had with his younger brother, Mike.

Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday's Last Year(link is external)

Paul
Alexander

A revelatory look at the tumultuous life of a jazz legend and American cultural icon.

Beautiful People: My Thirteen Truths About Disability(link is external)

Melissa
Blake

In the summer of 2019, journalist Melissa Blake penned an op-ed for CNN Opinion. A conservative pundit caught wind of it, mentioning Blake's work in a YouTube video. What happened next is equal parts a searing view into society, how we collectively view and treat disabled people, and the making of an advocate. After a troll said that Blake should be banned from posting pictures of herself, she took to Twitter and defiantly posted three smiling selfies, all taken during a lovely vacation in the Big Apple.

The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana(link is external)

Michael
Azzerad

In 1993, Michael Azerrad published Come as you are: the story of Nirvana, which stands as the definitive biography of Nirvana, the legendary band that upended the pop cultural landscape with Nevermind, the landmark album that became the soundtrack of Generation X, capturing its confusion, frustration, and passion. Written with the band's complete cooperation--the only book to feature interviews with singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Dave Grohl--it became a massive bestseller, translated into fourteen languages.

Accordion Eulogies: A Memoir of Music, Migration, and Mexico(link is external)

Noe
Alvarez

Growing up in Yakima, Washington, Noé Álvarez never knew his grandfather. Stories swirled around this mythologized, larger-than-life figure: that he had abandoned his family, and had possibly done something awful that put a curse on his descendants. About his grandfather, young Noé was sure of only one thing: That he had played the accordion. Now an adult, reckoning with the legacy of silence surrounding his family's migration from Mexico, Álvarez resolves both to take up the instrument and to journey into Mexico to discover the grandfather he never knew.

Raising Hare(link is external)

Chloe Dalton,
read by Louise Brealey

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study.

Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause (link is external)

Naomi
Watts

This is the book Naomi Watts wishes she had when she first started experiencing symptoms. Like sitting down over coffee and having an intimate chat with your girlfriend, Dare I Say It blends funny and poignant stories from Naomi and her friends with advice from doctors, hormone experts, and nutritionists to take the secrecy and shame out of menopause and aging. Answering questions such as: What’s hormone therapy and should I be on it? Will I ever sleep again? Will I get myself back? What happened to my libido? Do I need eighteen serums for my aging skin? Whose body is this anyway?

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old: Thoughts On Aging As A Woman (link is external)

Brooke
Shields

Brooke Shields has spent a lifetime in the public eye. Growing up as a child actor and model, her every feature was scrutinized, her every decision judged. Today Brooke faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a 'woman of a certain age.' 

And yet, for Brooke, the passage of time has brought freedom. At fifty-nine, she feels more comfortable in her skin, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in those famous Calvin Kleins. Now, in Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she’s changing the narrative about women and aging.

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old: Thoughts On Aging As A Woman (link is external)

Brooke
Shields

Brooke Shields has spent a lifetime in the public eye. Growing up as a child actor and model, her every feature was scrutinized, her every decision judged. Today Brooke faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a 'woman of a certain age.' 

And yet, for Brooke, the passage of time has brought freedom. At fifty-nine, she feels more comfortable in her skin, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in those famous Calvin Kleins. Now, in Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she’s changing the narrative about women and aging.