memoir

"Kristine S. Ervin was just eight years old when her mother, Kathy Sue Engle, was abducted from an Oklahoma mall parking lot and violently murdered in an oil field. First, there was grief. Then the desire to know: what happened to her, what she felt in her last terrible moments, and all she was before these acts of violence defined her life. In her mother's absence, Ervin tries to reconstruct a woman she can never fully grasp-from her own memory, from letters she uncovers, and the stories of other family members. As more information about her mother's death comes to light, Ervin's drive to know her mother only intensifies, winding its way into her own fraught adolescence. In the process of both, she reckons with contradictions of what a woman is allowed to be-a self beyond the roles of wife, mother, daughter, victim-what a "true" victim is supposed to look like, and, finally, how complicated and elusive justice can be"--Provided by publisher.

"In 2011, three years after leaving the NFL, Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal disease that takes away the ability to move, talk, and breathe. Doctors gave him three years to live. He was thirty-three years old. As Steve says, he is now ten years past his expiration date. His memoir is the chronicle of a remarkable life, one filled with optimism and joy, despite the trauma and pain and despair he has experienced. Writing using eye-tracking technology, Gleason covers his pre-ALS life through the highs and lows of his NFL career with the New Orleans Saints, where he made one of the most memorable plays in Saints history, leading to a victory in the first post-Katrina home game, uplifting the city, making him a hero, and reflected in a nine-foot bronze statue outside the Superdome. Then came his heartbreaking diagnosis. Gleason lost all muscle function, he now uses Stephen Hawking-like technology to communicate, and breathes with the help of a ventilator. This book captures Gleason and his wife Michel's unmatched resilience as they reinvent their lives, refuse to succumb to despair, and face his disease realistically and existentially. This unsparing portrait argues that a person's true strength does not reside solely in one's body but also in the ability to face unfathomable adversity and still be able to love and treasure life"--.

"The . . . story of a Black physician, her career in medicine, and the deep inequities that still exist in the U.S. healthcare system"--Provided by publisher.

"From award-winning actor and comedian Paul Scheer, a candid and hilarious memoir-in-essays on coming to terms with childhood trauma and finding the joy in embracing your authentic self"--.

"There are things Chelsea Devantez probably shouldn't be telling you. Many of them are in this book : some are embarrassing (like when she tried to break her three year spell of celibacy using a guide of seduction tips). Some are confessional (getting sentenced to the 'hell hill' at Mormon church camp). Some are TMI (a series of outrageous doctor visits that ended with one doctor misdiagnosing her as 'pregnant.' Woopsies!). Then there are things Chelsea really shouldn't be telling you : like the time her biggest family secret was publicly outed, or about the drive-by shootings and the precipitating domestic violence she survived. Yet through it all, it's the women in Chelsea's life who kept her going -- from the lowest points of her childhood when she and her mom had only $100 left to their name, all the way to her career highs as the Emmy-nominated Head Writer for The Problem with Jon Stewart and sensational podcaster deemed 'the celebrity memoir whisperer' by her fans. In I Shouldn't Be Telling You This, Chelsea centers each story around a different woman who shaped her life, taking us on a tour of friends and strangers, fictional characters and celebrities, heroes and villains who will destroy any Netflix algorithm for a 'strong female lead.' Reading it will feel kinda like that moment at a party when your friend beckons you close, sloshes her martini around, and covertly whispers, 'I really shouldn't say this, but...'"--.

Genevieve (Gwen) Kingston was just eleven years old when her mother passed away, leaving behind a chest filled with gifts and letters to celebrate the milestones of Gwen?s life and each of her birthdays until age thirty. When Did I Ever Tell You? opens, just three packages remain: engagement, marriage, and first baby. Tracing Gwen?s coming-of-age, the book reveals a treasure hunt, with each gift and letter unveiling more about her mother, her family, and?ultimately?herself.

"Part memoir, part support group, comedian Ian Karmel with help from his sister Alisa, a clinical psychologist, opens up about the daily humiliations of being fat and traces the way that fat-gaining it, losing it, worrying about it, trying to hide it-dictates the way so many of us live"--.

"From the acclaimed, controversial singer-songwriter Sin?ad O'Connor comes a revelatory memoir of her fraught childhood, musical triumphs, struggles with illness, and of the enduring power of song"--Provided by publisher.

Getting into Hollywood is the dream of many and the outcome of few. Here, Rebel Wilson details her road to that promised land, the bizarre detours it took and the lessons she learned along the way. All in her usual hilarious way, of course.

"'Pieces of a Girl' is a memoir about abuse and addiction and the power of storytelling and community that helped zine creator and novelist Stephanie Kuehnert survive and thrive. Told in journal entries, original illustrations, and pages torn from her actual diaries and zines, this is the story of Stephanie's life as a struggling outsider who survived substance and relationship abuse to beocme a strong young woman after years trapped in a cycle that sometimes seemed to have no escape"--Provided by publisher.