biography & autobiography / women

"In middle age, Ehrenreich came across the journal she had kept during her tumultuous adolescence and set out to reconstruct that quest, which had taken her to the study of science and through a cataclysmic series of uncanny-or as she later learned to call them, "mystical"-experiences. A staunch atheist and rationalist, she is profoundly shaken by the implications of her life-long search. Part memoir, part philosophical and spiritual inquiry, LIVING WITH A WILD GOD brings an older woman's wry and erudite perspective to a young girl's uninhibited musings on the questions that, at one point or another, torment us all. Ehrenreich's most personal book ever will spark a lively and heated conversation about religion and spirituality, science and morality, and the "meaning of life." Certain to be a classic, LIVING WITH A WILD GOD combines intellectual rigor with a frank account of the inexplicable, in Ehrenreich's singular voice, to produce a true literary achievement"--.

"In Harlem Nocturne, eminent scholar Farah Jasmine Griffin tells the stories of three black female artists who emerged during this period of unprecedented openness, flourishing professionally while also making enormous political strides for their fellow women and African Americans. Novelist Ann Petry, choreographer and dancer Pearl Primus, and composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams all achieved great fame during the 1940s. Like many African Americans in New York at the time, they weren't native to the city; Petry, a fourth generation New Englander, was born in Connecticut and arrived in Harlem as a newlywed, while Williams was born in Atlanta and only settled in Harlem after years on the road. Primus, for her part, was born in Trinidad and emigrated to New York when she was three years old. All three of these women would make significant contributions to their fields. Petry joined Richard Wright as a major new literary voice; through her work, especially her acclaimed novel The Street, she wrote about the complexities of life for working class black women. Mary Lou Williams became a major figure in the emergence of Be-Bop, and as a keyboardist and composer defied the notion that women could only contribute to jazz as vocalists. Pearl Primus, meanwhile, was a favorite of New York Times dance critic John Martin and performed across the globe and in front of enormous crowds, including at the 1943 Negro Freedom Rally at Madison Square Garden to an audience of 20,000"--.

"Who knows the ins and outs of romance better than a Harlequin editor? A surprising and exhilarating look into Patience Bloom's unexpected real-life love story. At some point, we've all wished romance could be more like fiction. Patience Bloom certainly did, many times over. As a teen she fell in love with Harlequin novels and imagined her life would turn out just like the heroines' on the page: That shy guy she had a crush on wouldn't just take her out-he'd sweep her off her feet with witty banter, quiet charm, and a secret life as a rock star. Not exactly her reality, but Bloom kept reading books that fed her reveries. Years later she moved to New York and found her dream job, editing romances for Harlequin. Every day, her romantic fantasies came true-on paper. Bloom became an expert when it came to fictional love stories, editing amazing books and learning everything she could about the romance business. But her dating life remained uninspired. She nearly gave up on love. Then one day a real-life chance at romance made her wonder if what she'd been writing and editing all those years might be true. A Facebook message from a high school friend, Sam, sparked a relationship with more promise than she'd had in years. But Sam lived thousands of miles away-they hadn't seen each other in more than twenty years. Was it worth the risk? Finally, Bloom learned: Love and romance can conquer all"--.

Chronicles the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, an Albanian-born nun who was beatified after her death by Pope John Paul II, discussing her early life, and detailing her efforts to help victims of war-torn Beirut, her work with the Missionaries of Charity, and other related topics.

At the age of eighteen, Amanda Lindhout moved from her hardscrabble Alberta, Canada hometown to the big city--Calgary--and worked as a cocktail waitress, saving her tips so she could travel the globe. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a TV reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia--"the most dangerous place on earth"--to report on the fighting there. On her fourth day in the country, she and her male photojournalist companion were abducted. She is kept in chains, nearly starved, and subjected to unthinkable abuse. She survives by imagining herself in a "house in the sky," looking down at the woman shackled below, and finding strength and hope in the power of her own mind. Upon her release, to counter the violence she endured, she founded an organization to help the Somali people rebuild their country through education.

Autobiography of Pat Summitt, covering her childhood in Tennessee, building and coaching the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team, and health struggles, especially early onset Alzheimer's disease.

Chronicles the authors career as a kitchen maid in England which inspired the television shows "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downtown Abby".

The author tells the story of her grandmother Dorothy Woodruff and Dorothy's friend Rosamond Underwood, two society girls in upstate New York, who left home in the summer of 1916 to take jobs as teachers in the tiny Colorado settlement of Elkhead, drawing from their letters home, interviews with descendants, research, and trips to the region to reconstruct their adventures and discuss their lasting influence on their young students and others they met.