biography & autobiography / personal memoirs

"The author of the New York Times bestseller Broken Open returns with a visceral and profound memoir of two sisters who, in the face of a bone marrow transplant--one the donor and one the recipient--begin a quest for acceptance, authenticity, and most of all, love. A mesmerizing and courageous memoir: the story of two sisters uncovering the depth of their love through the life-and-death experience of a bone marrow transplant. Throughout her life, Elizabeth Lesser has sought understanding about what it means to be true to oneself and, at the same time, truly connected to the ones we love. But when her sister Maggie needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life, and Lesser learns that she is the perfect match, she faces a far more immediate and complex question about what it really means to love--honestly, generously, and authentically. Hoping to give Maggie the best chance possible for a successful transplant, the sisters dig deep into the marrow of their relationship to clear a path to unconditional acceptance. They leave the bone marrow transplant up to the doctors, but take on what Lesser calls a "soul marrow transplant," examining their family history, having difficult conversations, examining old assumptions, and offering forgiveness until all that is left is love for each other's true selves. Their process--before, during, and after the transplant--encourages them to take risks of authenticity in other aspects their lives. But life does not follow the storylines we plan for it. Maggie's body is ultimately too weak to fight the relentless illness. As she and Lesser prepare for the inevitable, they grow ever closer as their shared blood cells become a symbol of the enduring bond they share. Told with suspense and humor, Marrow is joyous and heartbreaking, incandescent and profound. The story reveals how even our most difficult experiences can offer unexpected spiritual growth. Reflecting on the multifaceted nature of love--love of other, love of self, love of the world--Marrow is an unflinching and beautiful memoir about getting to the very center of ourselves"--.

"You fall down. You get hurt. You get up again. You know Jennifer Weiner as many things: a bestselling author, a Twitter phenomenon, and "an unlikely feminist enforcer" (The New Yorker). She's also a mom, a daughter, and a sister; a former rower and current runner; a best friend and a reality TV junkie. Here, in her first foray into nonfiction, she takes the raw stuff of her personal life and spins it into a collection of essays on womanhood as uproariously funny and moving as the best of Tina Fey, Fran Lebowitz, and Nora Ephron. Jennifer grew up as an outsider in her picturesque Connecticut hometown ("a Lane Bryant outtake in an Abercrombie & Fitch photo shoot") and at her Ivy League college, but finally found her people in newsrooms in central Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and her voice as a novelist, activist, and New York Times columnist. No subject is off-limits in this intimate and honest essay collection: sex, weight, envy, money, her mom's late-in-life lesbianism, and her estranged father's death. From lonely adolescence to modern childbirth to hearing her six-year-old daughter's use of the f-word--fat;--for the first time, Jennifer dives deep into the heart of female experience, with the wit and candor that have endeared her to readers all over the world. By turns hilarious and deeply touching, Hungry Heart is about yearning and longing, love and loss, and a woman who searched for her place in the world--and found it as a storyteller"--.

"'Standing on the stage, I felt exposed and like an intruder. In these professional settings, my personal experiences with hunger, poverty, and episodic homelessness, often go undetected. I had worked hard to learn the rules and disguise my beginning in life...' So begins C. Nicole Mason's powerful memoir, a story of reconciliation, constrained choices and life on the other side of the tracks. Born in the 1970s in Los Angeles, California, Mason was raised by a beautiful, but volatile16-year-old single mother. Early on, she learned to navigate between an unpredictable home life and school where she excelled. By high school, Mason was seamlessly straddling two worlds. The first, a cocoon of familiarity where street smarts, toughness and the ability to survive won the day. The other, foreign and unfamiliar with its own set of rules, not designed for her success. In her Advanced Placement classes and outside of her neighborhood, she felt unwelcomed and judged because of the way she talked, dressed and wore her hair. After moving to Las Vegas to live with her paternal grandmother, she worked nights at a food court in one of the Mega Casinos while finishing school. Having figured out the college application process by eavesdropping on the few white kids in her predominantly Black and Latino school along with the help of a long ago high school counselor, Mason eventually boarded a plane for Howard University, alone and with $200 in her pocket. While showing us her own path out of poverty, Mason examines the conditions that make it nearly impossible to escape and exposes the presumption harbored by many--that the poor don't help themselves enough"--.

"Okey Ndibe's funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, where he came to edit the influential--but forever teetering on the verge of insolvency--African Commentary magazine. It recounts stories of Ndibe's relationships with Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and other literary figures; examines the differences between Nigerian and American etiquette and politics; recalls an incident of racial profiling just 13 days after he arrived in the US, in which he was mistaken for a bank robber; considers American stereotypes about Africa (and vice-versa); and juxtaposes African folk tales with Wall Street trickery. All these stories and more come together in a generous, encompassing book about the making of a writer and a new American"--.

In this illuminating and deeply moving memoir, a former American military intelligence officer goes beyond traditional Cold War espionage tales to tell the true story of her family?of five women separated by the Iron Curtain for more than forty years, and their miraculous reunion after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"Written by Deborah Ziegler, the mother of Brittany Maynard--a twenty-nine-year-old woman with a terminal brain tumor--this touching and beautiful memoir captures and celebrates her daughter's spirit and the mostly untold story of Brittany's last year of life as she chose her right to die with dignity, a journey that inspired millions. On October 6, 2014, a video of my daughter, Brittany Maynard, was posted on YouTube. Brittany asked me to do the video with her, to support her. The first words my daughter uttered on the film were, "The thoughts that go through your mind when you find out you have so little time is everything you need to say to everyone that you love." Wearing a simple black sweater, her face already rounded and puffy from taking prescribed steroids, her once waist-length hair now grazing her shoulders after a craniotomy, Brittany described why she was choosing to end her life by her own hand rather than waiting for her brain tumor to rob her of everything that defined who she was. In this poignant, powerful book, Deborah Ziegler makes good on the promise she made to her only child: that she would honor her daughter and carry forward her legacy by sharing their story and offering hope, empowerment, and inspiration to the growing tens of millions of people who are struggling with end-of-life issues. Wild and Precious Life is not a book about death, however. Instead, it is a book about a life well-lived. What emerges in this compassionate and lyrical text is an unforgettable story of how, while we can't control the hand fate delivers, we can decide how we play it. It is also a thoughtful exploration of America's ongoing struggle with end-of-life issues and most importantly, a touching tribute to the enduring power of a mother and daughter's love"--.

"...YouTube star Ricky Dillon gives you an exciting look into his personal life and reveals the ins and outs of being a young star online"--Provided by publisher.

The Iranian government tried everything to silence Shirin Ebadi: They arrested her, bugged her phones, attacked her home, shadowed her everywhere she went, seized her office, and nailed a death threat to her front door. But stopped Ebadi from her work as a human rights lawyer defending women, children, and the persecuted in Iran. After several years of harrassment and intimidation, the Iranian spy services turned their sights onto Ebadi's only weakness: those she loved the most, her family. First the authorities detained her daughter, then they laid a trap for her husband straight out of a spy novel. The Iranian government took everything from Shirin Ebadi--her marriage, her home, her property, her bank accounts, they even seized her Nobel Prize--but the one thing they could not take was her spirit and her desire for a better future for her country.

"In this new collection of original personal essays, Shane [Dawson] goes even deeper, sharing never-before-revealed stories from his life, giving readers a no-holds-barred look at moments both bizarre and relatable, from cult-like Christian after-school activities, dressing in drag, and losing his virginity, to hiring a psychic, clashes with celebrities, and coming to terms with his bisexuality."--Front cover flap.

"#1 New York Times bestselling author Laurie Notaro isn't exactly a domestic goddess--unless that means she fully embraces her genetic hoarding predisposition, sneaks peeks at her husband's daily journal, or has made a list of the people she wants on her Apocalypse Survival team (her husband's not on it). Notaro chronicles her chronic misfortune in the domestic arts, including cooking, cleaning, and putting on Spanx while sweaty (which should technically qualify as an Olympic sport). Housebroken is a rollicking new collection of essays showcasing her irreverent wit and inability to feel shame. From defying nature in the quest to make her own Twinkies, to begging her new neighbors not to become urban livestock keepers, to teaching her eight-year-old nephew about hoboes, Notaro recounts her best efforts--and hilarious failures--in keeping a household inches away from being condemned. After all, home wasn't built in a day. Praise for Laurie Notaro "Notaro is a scream, the freak-magnet of a girlfriend you can't wait to meet for a drink to hear her latest story."--The Plain Dealer "If Laurie Notaro's books don't inspire pants-wetting fits of laughter, then please consult your physician, because, clearly, your funny bone is broken."--Jen Lancaster, author of I Regret Nothing "Hilarious, fabulously improper, and completely relatable, Notaro is the queen of funny."--Celia Rivenbark, author of Rude Bitches Make Me Tired"--.