Wilson, Mara Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame (791.43028092 WIL) The former child actor recounts her days on the sets of such films as "Matilda" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" and discusses her personal struggles with love, loss, and identity. —Recommended by Cyndi
Younge, Gary Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives (303.60835 YOU) The author tells the stories of the lives lost on November 23, 2013, profiling ten victims whose deaths exemplify the statistic that on an average day in America, seven young people aged nineteen or under will be shot dead. —Recommended by Becky
Zollbrod, Zoe The Telling: A Memoir (362.76 ZOL) Zoe Zolbrod remained silent about her early childhood molestation for nearly a decade. Now she offers a kaleidoscopic examination of the influence of childhood sexual abuse on her identity as a mother and woman. —Recommended by Susie
Zukowsky, John, and Guarino, Jean Benjamin H. Marshall: Chicago Architect (Oversize 720.92 MAR) Benjamin Marshall’s contribution to the skyline of Chicago finally receives its due in this masterful volume on his life and work. He bridged the gap between the classical and modern by blending traditional design with modern details and amenities. —Recommended by Jenny B.
16 Ansari, Aziz Vargas, Elizabeth Modern Romance (646.77 ANS) Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction The acclaimed comedian teams up with a New (362.292 VAR) York University sociologist to explore the nature of The "20/20" anchor presents a candid memoir of modern relationships, evaluating how technology is anxiety, addiction, and recovery in which she shaping contemporary relationships and addresses her time in rehab, her first year of considering the differences between courtships of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother the past and present. who had never found the right balance. —Recommended by Dave —Recommended by Susie
Armstrong, Jennifer Keishin Wagner, Robert Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed I Loved Her in the Movies: Memories of Hollywood’s Everything (791.4572 SEI) An account of the creation of the hit television Legendary Actresses (791.430280922 WAG) series describes how comedians Larry David and The iconic television actor shares intimate stories of Jerry Seinfeld dreamed up the idea for an his personal and professional relationships with a unconventional sitcom and how, despite network wide range of leading ladies in film and television, skepticism and minimal plotlines, it achieved from Joan Crawford and Bette Davis to Marilyn mainstream success. Monroe and Raquel Welch. —Recommended by Sonia —Recommended by Becky
Wilber, Del Quentin Brown, Alton A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a EveryDayCook (641.5 BRO) Homicide Squad (363.259523 WIL) In this highly anticipated new cookbook, Food Net- The author describes what it's like behind-the- work star, author, and social media personality scenes in the homicide unit of Prince George's Alton Brown takes us into his own kitchen to share County, Maryland, which borders the nation's capital the dishes he cooks and eats day in, day out, and on average handles 12 homicides a month. including Breakfast Carbonara, Beef Pho and St. —Recommended by Becky Louis Ribs. —Recommended by Cyndi Wilson, Brian Bryson, Bill I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir (782.42166 WIL) The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an The memoirs of the legendary Beach Boy member American in Britain (914.104 BRY) offer unstinting insights into his difficult relationship A sequel to Notes from a Small Island stands as the with his father, the women in his life, his parenting author's tribute to his adopted country of England experiences and the events that inspired his music. and describes his riotous return visit two decades —Recommended by Susie later to rediscover the country, its people and its culture. —Recommended by Jo
2 15 Springsteen, Bruce Carhart, Thad Born to Run (782.42166 SPR) Finding Fontainebleau: An American Boy in France The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer traces his life from (944.36 CAR) a childhood in a Catholic New Jersey family and the The author chronicles the wonders of his childhood musical experiences that prompted his career to the as an American in post-war France, bringing to life rise of the E Street Band and the stories behind France in the 50s, from the parks and museums of some of his most famous songs. Paris to the vast Chateau of Fontainebleau. —Recommended by Andrea —Recommended by Sonia
Stewart, David O. Carlsen, William Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their (973.51 STE) Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the A historian highlights the life and contributions of the Lost Civilization of the Maya occasionally overlooked Founding Father, describing (972.81 CAR) Madison's push for the Constitutional Convention The author documents the true story of the 19th- and his co-authoring of the Federalist Papers, as Century rediscovery of the Mayan civilization by well as his founding of the nation's first political party. American ambassador John Lloyd Stephens and —Recommended by Nate British architect Frederick Catherwood. —Recommended by Joe
Toobin, Jeffrey Carman, Irin, and Knizhnik, Shana American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, The Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst (332.42 TOO) Bader Ginsburg (Biography Ginsburg, R.) An account of the sensational 1974 kidnapping and In a lively illustrated biography of the feminist icon trial of Patty Hearst describes the efforts of her and legal pioneer, readers can get to know the family to secure her release, Hearst's baffling Supreme Court Justice and fierce Jewish participation in a bank robbery, and the grandmother who has changed the world. psychological insights that prompted modern —Recommended by Cyndi understandings about Stockholm syndrome. —Recommended by Becky Cohen, Adam
Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Vance, J.D. Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in (344.048 COH) Crisis (305.562 VAN) The author describes a dark moment in American The Yale Law School graduate shares the poignant history, when the Supreme Court agreed, in 1927, story of his family and upbringing, describing how to support eugenic sterilization for “undesirables,” they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan including epileptics and the “feebleminded,” while navigating the demands of middle-class life resulting in the sterilization of 70,000 Americans. and the collective demons of the past. —Recommended by Joe —Recommended by Jo and Dave
14 3 Collins, Lauren Schumer, Amy When in French: Love in a Second Language The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (448 COL) (792.7028092 SCH) When New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins The Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress and moves to Geneva, Switzerland, she decides to writer mines her past for stories about her teenage learn French--not just to be able to go about her years, her family, relationships, and sex, and shares day-to-day life, but in order to be closer to her the experiences that have shaped who she is. French husband and his family. —Recommended by Dave —Recommended by Andrea Scott, A.O. Cooper, Anderson and Vanderbilt, Gloria Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth (801.95 SCO) Son Talk about Life, Love and Loss The film critic for The New York Times describes how (070.92 COO) critical thinking affects every aspect of human life and Correspondence between the CNN journalist and shows how criticism forces people to think clearly and his celebrated mother shares a rare window into ultimately allows creativity to shine. their relationship and the life lessons imparted by —Recommended by Nate an aging mother to her adult son. —Recommended by Jo Sheffield, Rob On Bowie (782.42166 BOW) Cora, Cat A thoughtful and loving meditation on the life of the late David Bowie explores his creative legacy and Cooking as Fast as I Can: a Chef’s Story of the enduring and mutual connection he enjoyed with Family, Food and Forgiveness (641.5 COR) his fans. The first woman Iron Chef presents an unstinting —Recommended by Susie memoir of Southern life, her Greek heritage, her same-sex marriage, and the coming-of-age experiences that have shaped her culinary Sobel, Saba ambitions. The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard —Recommended by Cyndi Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars (522.197444 SOB)
The little-known story of the unexpected and Cranston, Bryan remarkable contributions to astronomy made by a A Life in Parts (791.45028092 CRA) group of women working in the Harvard College A poignant, intimate, funny, inspiring memoir, Observatory from the late 1800s through the mid- both a coming-of-age story and a meditation on 1900s, tracing their collection of star observations creativity, devotion and craft, from the acclaimed captured nightly on glass photographic plates. star of one of history’s most successful TV —Recommended by Joe shows, Breaking Bad. —Recommended by Jean and Becky
4 13 Ripert, Eric Desmond, Matthew 32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Line (641.5 RIP) (339.46 DES) The chef and co-owner of the New York restaurant A Harvard sociologist examines the challenge of Le Bernardin shares how the events from his eviction as a formidable cause of poverty in childhood prompted him to learn to cook and find America, revealing how millions of people are happiness as he was finally able to share his lifelong wrongly forced from their homes and reduced to love of food with other people. cycles of extreme disadvantage. —Recommended by Cyndi —Recommended by Cyndi and Jean
Roach, Mary Edwards, Chris Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War Balls: It Takes Some to Get Some: A Memoir (355.07 ROA) (306.768 EDW) The author spends time in the field with soldiers as Changing your gender from female to male takes she learns about and tries to solve some of the most balls. And if you’re going to do it in front of 500 co- challenging problems in battle: panic, exhaustion, workers at the largest ad agency in Boston, you’d heat, and noise. better have a pretty big set! —Recommended by Dave —Recommended by Susie
Sadler, Anthony Fechtor, Jessica The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Train, and Three American Heroes (363.325 SAD) Me Home (616.133 FEC) The author documents the heroic efforts of three After suffering a brain aneurysm and a life- American friends who fought back against the threatening infection, Jessica Fechtor set about terrorists behind the August 2015 attack in Brussels, cooking and baking to pull herself back together describing the events from each of their again, fixing what was broken, and living with what perspectives. couldn't be fixed. —Recommended by Sonia —Recommended by Susie
Sakamoto, Pamela Rotner Graham, Lauren Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Family Caught Between Two Worlds Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between (Biography Fukuhara) (791.45028092 GRA) Three Japanese American brothers found A collection of stories about the author's themselves on opposite sides of the world and the experiences on the set of "Gilmore Girls" and her war after two of them returned to their mother's decision to reprise her role for Netflix's limited- ancestral home of Hiroshima in the late 1930s while series revival also shares insights into the realities the eldest brother served as a Japanese interpreter of being an actress in Hollywood and New York. in the U.S. Army. —Recommended by Jane and Cyndi —Recommended by Jean
12 5 Miranda, Lin Manuel Hamilton, Mary Mann Hamilton: The Revolution (782.14 MIR) Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer The Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist-star Woman (976.24 HAM) takes readers behind the scenes of his ground- This first-hand account of a woman pioneer trying breaking hit musical, which is filled with romance, to make a life for herself in the untamed American drama, violence, patriotism and adventure and South of the late 19th Century describes how she details the many dramatic episodes in Alexander survived floods, tornadoes, fires and wild animals. Hamilton's life. —Recommended by Susie —Recommended by Andrea, Ellen and Jane
Hammer, Joshua Offerman, Nick The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: and Their Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Offerman Woodshop (684.08 OFF) Manuscripts (025.8096 HAM) The author shares the passion for woodworking that A group of Timbuktu librarians enacted a daring inspires him and his companions at the Offerman plan to smuggle the city's great collection of rare Woodshop, provides instructions for some of their Islamic manuscripts away from the threat of most popular projects, and includes humorous destruction by Al Quaeda militants. essays and odes to his woodworking heroes. —Recommended by Mary —Recommended by Mary
Harrison Warren, Tish Philbrick, Nathaniel Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Everyday Life (248.3 Har) Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution Framed around one ordinary day, this book (973.382 PHI) explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small The author tells an account of the complicated practices and habits that form us. Each chapter middle years of the American Revolution that shares looks at something the author does in a day and insights into the tragic relationship between George relates it to spiritual practice. Washington and Benedict Arnold. —Recommended by Nate —Recommended by Mary
Hollandsworth, Skip Porath, Jason The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics (920.72 POR) (364.15232 HOL) Turning the ubiquitous “pretty pink princess’’ The author presents a narrative history of stereotype on its head, an entertaining blend of America's first serial killer, who stalked Austin, biography, imagery and humor pays homage to Texas, in 1885, killing women of every race and strong, fierce, and sometimes weird, women who class, causing panic, and leading to the arrest of a refused to behave and meekly accept their place. dozen men in connection with the murders. —Recommended by Joe —Recommended by Becky
6 11 Massimino, Mike Horowitz, Alexandra Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Being a Dog: Following the Dog into a World of Smell Unlock the Secrets of the Universe (629.45 MAS) (636.7 HOR) A memoir by an unlikely astronaut who helped save The author explains how dogs perceive the world the Hubble telescope describes his early attempts to through their acute sense of smell and how humans gain admission into NASA, his first spacewalks, the can reconnect with their own underused senses to loss of his fellow astronauts in the Columbia further human-canine bonds and gain insights into disaster, and his ongoing support of future space dog cognition. travel ventures. —Recommended by Jo —Recommended by Andrea
Huckelbridge, Dane Mazzeo, Tilar The United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of Irena’s Children: The Extraordinary Story of the the All-American Drink (641.23 HUC) Woman who Saved 2,500 Children from the The author examines the history of beer in America Warsaw Ghetto (940.5318 MAZ) with anecdotes such as Washington's failed attempt Irena Sendler, the “female Oskar Schindler”, took to brew molasses at Mount Vernon and the staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death manufacturing technologies that introduced beer to and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Wild West. World War II. —Recommended by Mary —Recommended by Sonia
Isenberg, Nancy Melton, Glennon Doyle White Trash: The 400-year-old Story of Class in Love Warrior: A Memoir (306.893 MEL) America (305.5 ISE) A memoir by the New York Times’ bestselling A history of the class system in America from the author, speaker, philanthropist, and activist tells the colonial era to the present illuminates the crucial story of her journey of self-discovery after a crisis in legacy of the underprivileged white demographic, her marriage. citing the pivotal contributions of lower-class white —Recommended by Haley workers in wartime, social policy, and the rise of the Republican Party. Millard, Candice —Recommended by Nate and Mary Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill Jahren, Hope (968.04831 MIL) Lab Girl (570.92 JAH) Millard presents a narrative account of Churchill's A memoir by an award-winning paleobiologist traces heroics during the Boer War, describing his daring her childhood in her father's laboratory, her longtime escape from rebel captors, trek through hundreds of relationship with a brilliant but wounded colleague miles with virtually no supplies, and eventual return and the remarkable discoveries they have made to South Africa to liberate the soldiers captured with both in the lab and during extensive field research him. assignments. —Recommended by Jean —Recommended by Joe
10 7 Jennings, Jazz Lahiri, Jhumpa Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen In Other Words (813.6 LAH) (Young Adult Nonfiction Jennings) Presented in a dual-language format, the author Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings—named traces her enduring love affair with the Italian one of “The 25 Most Influential Teens” of the year by language that prompted her family's move to Rome, Time—shares her very public transgender journey, where her efforts to master the language as a writer as she inspires people to accept the differences in shaped her feelings of belonging and exile. others while they embrace their own truths. —Recommended by Cyndi —Recommended by Susie Lakshmi, Padma Kalanithi, Paul Love, Loss, and What We Ate (791.450.92 LAK) When Breath Becomes Air (616.99424 KAL) The host of "Top Chef" presents a memoir about her A Ivy League-trained, award-winning young immigrant childhood and complicated life in front of neurosurgeon faced with a terminal diagnosis the camera, tracing her formative experiences in her describes his examination into what truly makes a grandmother's South India kitchen and her meaningful life. relationships with people who influenced her —Recommended by Ellen and Jane culinary skills and career. —Recommended by Cyndi
Kalb, Claudia Lerner, Vetsy The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir (306.8743 LER) Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of A 50-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected History’s Great Personalities (616.89 KAL) way to cross the generational divide between a A meticulously researched glimpse into the likely daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on mental illnesses of high-profile historical figures a powerfully personal literary journey, where we reveals that Albert Einstein had autism, Frank Lloyd learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life. Wright was a narcissist, Marilyn Monroe had —Recommended by Becky borderline personality disorder and Charles Darwin suffered from anxiety. —Recommended by Mary Lewis, John Katz, Josh March: Book Three (Adult Graphic Memoir Lewis) Speaking American*: *How Y'all, Youse, and You In the conclusion of the award-winning and best- Guys Talk: A Visual Guide (427.973 KAT) selling March trilogy, Congressman John Lewis, one The creator of The New York Times dialect quiz that of the key figures of the civil rights movement, ignited conversations about how and why we say the brings the lessons of history to vivid life for a new words we say offers a map-laden exploration of generation. American language. —Recommended by Jo, Cyndi, Haley and Nate —Recommended by Cyndi
8 9 Jennings, Jazz Lahiri, Jhumpa Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen In Other Words (813.6 LAH) (Young Adult Nonfiction Jennings) Presented in a dual-language format, the author Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings—named traces her enduring love affair with the Italian one of “The 25 Most Influential Teens” of the year by language that prompted her family's move to Rome, Time—shares her very public transgender journey, where her efforts to master the language as a writer as she inspires people to accept the differences in shaped her feelings of belonging and exile. others while they embrace their own truths. —Recommended by Cyndi —Recommended by Susie Lakshmi, Padma Kalanithi, Paul Love, Loss, and What We Ate (791.450.92 LAK) When Breath Becomes Air (616.99424 KAL) The host of "Top Chef" presents a memoir about her A Ivy League-trained, award-winning young immigrant childhood and complicated life in front of neurosurgeon faced with a terminal diagnosis the camera, tracing her formative experiences in her describes his examination into what truly makes a grandmother's South India kitchen and her meaningful life. relationships with people who influenced her —Recommended by Ellen and Jane culinary skills and career. —Recommended by Cyndi
Kalb, Claudia Lerner, Vetsy The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir (306.8743 LER) Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of A 50-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected History’s Great Personalities (616.89 KAL) way to cross the generational divide between a A meticulously researched glimpse into the likely daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on mental illnesses of high-profile historical figures a powerfully personal literary journey, where we reveals that Albert Einstein had autism, Frank Lloyd learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life. Wright was a narcissist, Marilyn Monroe had —Recommended by Becky borderline personality disorder and Charles Darwin suffered from anxiety. —Recommended by Mary Lewis, John Katz, Josh March: Book Three (Adult Graphic Memoir Lewis) Speaking American*: *How Y'all, Youse, and You In the conclusion of the award-winning and best- Guys Talk: A Visual Guide (427.973 KAT) selling March trilogy, Congressman John Lewis, one The creator of The New York Times dialect quiz that of the key figures of the civil rights movement, ignited conversations about how and why we say the brings the lessons of history to vivid life for a new words we say offers a map-laden exploration of generation. American language. —Recommended by Jo, Cyndi, Haley and Nate —Recommended by Cyndi
8 9 Massimino, Mike Horowitz, Alexandra Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Being a Dog: Following the Dog into a World of Smell Unlock the Secrets of the Universe (629.45 MAS) (636.7 HOR) A memoir by an unlikely astronaut who helped save The author explains how dogs perceive the world the Hubble telescope describes his early attempts to through their acute sense of smell and how humans gain admission into NASA, his first spacewalks, the can reconnect with their own underused senses to loss of his fellow astronauts in the Columbia further human-canine bonds and gain insights into disaster, and his ongoing support of future space dog cognition. travel ventures. —Recommended by Jo —Recommended by Andrea
Huckelbridge, Dane Mazzeo, Tilar The United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of Irena’s Children: The Extraordinary Story of the the All-American Drink (641.23 HUC) Woman who Saved 2,500 Children from the The author examines the history of beer in America Warsaw Ghetto (940.5318 MAZ) with anecdotes such as Washington's failed attempt Irena Sendler, the “female Oskar Schindler”, took to brew molasses at Mount Vernon and the staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death manufacturing technologies that introduced beer to and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Wild West. World War II. —Recommended by Mary —Recommended by Sonia
Isenberg, Nancy Melton, Glennon Doyle White Trash: The 400-year-old Story of Class in Love Warrior: A Memoir (306.893 MEL) America (305.5 ISE) A memoir by the New York Times’ bestselling A history of the class system in America from the author, speaker, philanthropist, and activist tells the colonial era to the present illuminates the crucial story of her journey of self-discovery after a crisis in legacy of the underprivileged white demographic, her marriage. citing the pivotal contributions of lower-class white —Recommended by Haley workers in wartime, social policy, and the rise of the Republican Party. Millard, Candice —Recommended by Nate and Mary Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill Jahren, Hope (968.04831 MIL) Lab Girl (570.92 JAH) Millard presents a narrative account of Churchill's A memoir by an award-winning paleobiologist traces heroics during the Boer War, describing his daring her childhood in her father's laboratory, her longtime escape from rebel captors, trek through hundreds of relationship with a brilliant but wounded colleague miles with virtually no supplies, and eventual return and the remarkable discoveries they have made to South Africa to liberate the soldiers captured with both in the lab and during extensive field research him. assignments. —Recommended by Jean —Recommended by Joe
10 7 Miranda, Lin Manuel Hamilton, Mary Mann Hamilton: The Revolution (782.14 MIR) Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer The Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist-star Woman (976.24 HAM) takes readers behind the scenes of his ground- This first-hand account of a woman pioneer trying breaking hit musical, which is filled with romance, to make a life for herself in the untamed American drama, violence, patriotism and adventure and South of the late 19th Century describes how she details the many dramatic episodes in Alexander survived floods, tornadoes, fires and wild animals. Hamilton's life. —Recommended by Susie —Recommended by Andrea, Ellen and Jane
Hammer, Joshua Offerman, Nick The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: and Their Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Offerman Woodshop (684.08 OFF) Manuscripts (025.8096 HAM) The author shares the passion for woodworking that A group of Timbuktu librarians enacted a daring inspires him and his companions at the Offerman plan to smuggle the city's great collection of rare Woodshop, provides instructions for some of their Islamic manuscripts away from the threat of most popular projects, and includes humorous destruction by Al Quaeda militants. essays and odes to his woodworking heroes. —Recommended by Mary —Recommended by Mary
Harrison Warren, Tish Philbrick, Nathaniel Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Everyday Life (248.3 Har) Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution Framed around one ordinary day, this book (973.382 PHI) explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small The author tells an account of the complicated practices and habits that form us. Each chapter middle years of the American Revolution that shares looks at something the author does in a day and insights into the tragic relationship between George relates it to spiritual practice. Washington and Benedict Arnold. —Recommended by Nate —Recommended by Mary
Hollandsworth, Skip Porath, Jason The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics (920.72 POR) (364.15232 HOL) Turning the ubiquitous “pretty pink princess’’ The author presents a narrative history of stereotype on its head, an entertaining blend of America's first serial killer, who stalked Austin, biography, imagery and humor pays homage to Texas, in 1885, killing women of every race and strong, fierce, and sometimes weird, women who class, causing panic, and leading to the arrest of a refused to behave and meekly accept their place. dozen men in connection with the murders. —Recommended by Joe —Recommended by Becky
6 11 Ripert, Eric Desmond, Matthew 32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Line (641.5 RIP) (339.46 DES) The chef and co-owner of the New York restaurant A Harvard sociologist examines the challenge of Le Bernardin shares how the events from his eviction as a formidable cause of poverty in childhood prompted him to learn to cook and find America, revealing how millions of people are happiness as he was finally able to share his lifelong wrongly forced from their homes and reduced to love of food with other people. cycles of extreme disadvantage. —Recommended by Cyndi —Recommended by Cyndi and Jean
Roach, Mary Edwards, Chris Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War Balls: It Takes Some to Get Some: A Memoir (355.07 ROA) (306.768 EDW) The author spends time in the field with soldiers as Changing your gender from female to male takes she learns about and tries to solve some of the most balls. And if you’re going to do it in front of 500 co- challenging problems in battle: panic, exhaustion, workers at the largest ad agency in Boston, you’d heat, and noise. better have a pretty big set! —Recommended by Dave —Recommended by Susie
Sadler, Anthony Fechtor, Jessica The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals that Brought Train, and Three American Heroes (363.325 SAD) Me Home (616.133 FEC) The author documents the heroic efforts of three After suffering a brain aneurysm and a life- American friends who fought back against the threatening infection, Jessica Fechtor set about terrorists behind the August 2015 attack in Brussels, cooking and baking to pull herself back together describing the events from each of their again, fixing what was broken, and living with what perspectives. couldn't be fixed. —Recommended by Sonia —Recommended by Susie
Sakamoto, Pamela Rotner Graham, Lauren Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Family Caught Between Two Worlds Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between (Biography Fukuhara) (791.45028092 GRA) Three Japanese American brothers found A collection of stories about the author's themselves on opposite sides of the world and the experiences on the set of "Gilmore Girls" and her war after two of them returned to their mother's decision to reprise her role for Netflix's limited- ancestral home of Hiroshima in the late 1930s while series revival also shares insights into the realities the eldest brother served as a Japanese interpreter of being an actress in Hollywood and New York. in the U.S. Army. —Recommended by Jane and Cyndi —Recommended by Jean
12 5 Collins, Lauren Schumer, Amy When in French: Love in a Second Language The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (448 COL) (792.7028092 SCH) When New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins The Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress and moves to Geneva, Switzerland, she decides to writer mines her past for stories about her teenage learn French--not just to be able to go about her years, her family, relationships, and sex, and shares day-to-day life, but in order to be closer to her the experiences that have shaped who she is. French husband and his family. —Recommended by Dave —Recommended by Andrea Scott, A.O. Cooper, Anderson and Vanderbilt, Gloria Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth (801.95 SCO) Son Talk about Life, Love and Loss The film critic for The New York Times describes how (070.92 COO) critical thinking affects every aspect of human life and Correspondence between the CNN journalist and shows how criticism forces people to think clearly and his celebrated mother shares a rare window into ultimately allows creativity to shine. their relationship and the life lessons imparted by —Recommended by Nate an aging mother to her adult son. —Recommended by Jo Sheffield, Rob On Bowie (782.42166 BOW) Cora, Cat A thoughtful and loving meditation on the life of the late David Bowie explores his creative legacy and Cooking as Fast as I Can: a Chef’s Story of the enduring and mutual connection he enjoyed with Family, Food and Forgiveness (641.5 COR) his fans. The first woman Iron Chef presents an unstinting —Recommended by Susie memoir of Southern life, her Greek heritage, her same-sex marriage, and the coming-of-age experiences that have shaped her culinary Sobel, Saba ambitions. The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard —Recommended by Cyndi Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars (522.197444 SOB)
The little-known story of the unexpected and Cranston, Bryan remarkable contributions to astronomy made by a A Life in Parts (791.45028092 CRA) group of women working in the Harvard College A poignant, intimate, funny, inspiring memoir, Observatory from the late 1800s through the mid- both a coming-of-age story and a meditation on 1900s, tracing their collection of star observations creativity, devotion and craft, from the acclaimed captured nightly on glass photographic plates. star of one of history’s most successful TV —Recommended by Joe shows, Breaking Bad. —Recommended by Jean and Becky
4 13 Springsteen, Bruce Carhart, Thad Born to Run (782.42166 SPR) Finding Fontainebleau: An American Boy in France The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer traces his life from (944.36 CAR) a childhood in a Catholic New Jersey family and the The author chronicles the wonders of his childhood musical experiences that prompted his career to the as an American in post-war France, bringing to life rise of the E Street Band and the stories behind France in the 50s, from the parks and museums of some of his most famous songs. Paris to the vast Chateau of Fontainebleau. —Recommended by Andrea —Recommended by Sonia
Stewart, David O. Carlsen, William Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America Jungle of Stone: The True Story of Two Men, Their (973.51 STE) Extraordinary Journey, and the Discovery of the A historian highlights the life and contributions of the Lost Civilization of the Maya occasionally overlooked Founding Father, describing (972.81 CAR) Madison's push for the Constitutional Convention The author documents the true story of the 19th- and his co-authoring of the Federalist Papers, as Century rediscovery of the Mayan civilization by well as his founding of the nation's first political party. American ambassador John Lloyd Stephens and —Recommended by Nate British architect Frederick Catherwood. —Recommended by Joe
Toobin, Jeffrey Carman, Irin, and Knizhnik, Shana American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, The Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst (332.42 TOO) Bader Ginsburg (Biography Ginsburg, R.) An account of the sensational 1974 kidnapping and In a lively illustrated biography of the feminist icon trial of Patty Hearst describes the efforts of her and legal pioneer, readers can get to know the family to secure her release, Hearst's baffling Supreme Court Justice and fierce Jewish participation in a bank robbery, and the grandmother who has changed the world. psychological insights that prompted modern —Recommended by Cyndi understandings about Stockholm syndrome. —Recommended by Becky Cohen, Adam
Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Vance, J.D. Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in (344.048 COH) Crisis (305.562 VAN) The author describes a dark moment in American The Yale Law School graduate shares the poignant history, when the Supreme Court agreed, in 1927, story of his family and upbringing, describing how to support eugenic sterilization for “undesirables,” they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan including epileptics and the “feebleminded,” while navigating the demands of middle-class life resulting in the sterilization of 70,000 Americans. and the collective demons of the past. —Recommended by Joe —Recommended by Jo and Dave
14 3 Ansari, Aziz Vargas, Elizabeth Modern Romance (646.77 ANS) Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction The acclaimed comedian teams up with a New (362.292 VAR) York University sociologist to explore the nature of The "20/20" anchor presents a candid memoir of modern relationships, evaluating how technology is anxiety, addiction, and recovery in which she shaping contemporary relationships and addresses her time in rehab, her first year of considering the differences between courtships of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother the past and present. who had never found the right balance. —Recommended by Dave —Recommended by Susie
Armstrong, Jennifer Keishin Wagner, Robert Seinfeldia: How a Show about Nothing Changed I Loved Her in the Movies: Memories of Hollywood’s Everything (791.4572 SEI) An account of the creation of the hit television Legendary Actresses (791.430280922 WAG) series describes how comedians Larry David and The iconic television actor shares intimate stories of Jerry Seinfeld dreamed up the idea for an his personal and professional relationships with a unconventional sitcom and how, despite network wide range of leading ladies in film and television, skepticism and minimal plotlines, it achieved from Joan Crawford and Bette Davis to Marilyn mainstream success. Monroe and Raquel Welch. —Recommended by Sonia —Recommended by Becky
Wilber, Del Quentin Brown, Alton A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a EveryDayCook (641.5 BRO) Homicide Squad (363.259523 WIL) In this highly anticipated new cookbook, Food Net- The author describes what it's like behind-the- work star, author, and social media personality scenes in the homicide unit of Prince George's Alton Brown takes us into his own kitchen to share County, Maryland, which borders the nation's capital the dishes he cooks and eats day in, day out, and on average handles 12 homicides a month. including Breakfast Carbonara, Beef Pho and St. —Recommended by Becky Louis Ribs. —Recommended by Cyndi Wilson, Brian Bryson, Bill I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir (782.42166 WIL) The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an The memoirs of the legendary Beach Boy member American in Britain (914.104 BRY) offer unstinting insights into his difficult relationship A sequel to Notes from a Small Island stands as the with his father, the women in his life, his parenting author's tribute to his adopted country of England experiences and the events that inspired his music. and describes his riotous return visit two decades —Recommended by Susie later to rediscover the country, its people and its culture. —Recommended by Jo
2 15 Wilson, Mara Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame (791.43028092 WIL) The former child actor recounts her days on the sets of such films as "Matilda" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" and discusses her personal struggles with love, loss, and identity. —Recommended by Cyndi
Younge, Gary Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives (303.60835 YOU) The author tells the stories of the lives lost on November 23, 2013, profiling ten victims whose deaths exemplify the statistic that on an average day in America, seven young people aged nineteen or under will be shot dead. —Recommended by Becky
Zollbrod, Zoe The Telling: A Memoir (362.76 ZOL) Zoe Zolbrod remained silent about her early childhood molestation for nearly a decade. Now she offers a kaleidoscopic examination of the influence of childhood sexual abuse on her identity as a mother and woman. —Recommended by Susie
Zukowsky, John, and Guarino, Jean Benjamin H. Marshall: Chicago Architect (Oversize 720.92 MAR) Benjamin Marshall’s contribution to the skyline of Chicago finally receives its due in this masterful volume on his life and work. He bridged the gap between the classical and modern by blending traditional design with modern details and amenities. —Recommended by Jenny B.
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