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A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun: The Life & Legacy of Gwendolyn Brooks
by Angela JacksonA look back at the cultural and political force of Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, in celebration of her hundredth birthdayArtist–Rebel–PioneerPulitzer-Prize winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the great American literary icons of the twentieth century, a protégé of Langston Hughes and mentor to a generation of poets, including Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, and Elizabeth Alexander.Her poetry took inspiration from the complex portraits of black American life she observed growing up on Chicago’s Southside—a world of kitchenette apartments and vibrant streets. From the desk in her bedroom, as a child she filled countless notebooks with poetry, encouraged by the likes of Hughes and affirmed by Richard Wright, who called her work “raw and real.”Over the next sixty years, Brooks’s poetry served as witness to the stark realities of urban life: the evils of lynching, the murders of Emmett Till and Malcolm X, the revolutionary effects of the civil rights movement, and the burgeoning power of the Black Arts Movement. Critical acclaim and the distinction in 1950 as the first black person ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize helped solidify Brooks as a unique and powerful voice.Now, in A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun, fellow Chicagoan and award-winning writer Angela Jackson delves deep into the rich fabric of Brooks’s work and world. Granted unprecedented access to Brooks’s family, personal papers, and writing community, Jackson traces the literary arc of this artist’s long career and gives context for the world in which Brooks wrote and published her work. It is a powerfully intimate look at a once-in-a-lifetime talent up close, using forty-three of Brooks’s most soul-stirring poems as a guide.From trying to fit in at school (“Forgive and Forget”), to loving her physical self (“To Those of My Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals”), to marriage and motherhood (“Maud Martha”), to young men on her block (“We Real Cool”), to breaking history (“Medgar Evers”), to newfound acceptance from her community and her elevation to a “surprising queenhood” (“The Wall”), Brooks lived life through her work.Jackson deftly unpacks it all for both longtime admirers of Brooks and newcomers curious about her interior life. A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun is a commemoration of a writer who negotiated black womanhood and incomparable brilliance with a changing, restless world—an artistic maverick way ahead of her time.
A Survival Guide for Life: How to Achieve Your Goals, Thrive in Adversity, and Grow in Character
by Bear GryllsAn indispensable survival guide to some of life's toughest situations, from New York Times bestselling author Bear Grylls. The world-famous survival expert and reality television star teaches you how to make everyday an unforgettable adventureLife in the outdoors teaches us invaluable lessons. Encountering the wild forces us to plan and execute goals, face danger, push our “limits,” and sharpen our instincts. But our most important adventures don’t always happen in nature’s extremes. Living a purpose-driven, meaningful life can often be an even greater challenge. . . .In A Survival Guide for Life, Bear Grylls, globally renowned adventurer and television host, shares the hard-earned wisdom he’s gained in the harshest environments on earth, from the summit of Mt. Everest to the boot camps of the British Special Forces.Filled with exclusive, never-before-told tales from Bear’s globe-trekking expeditions, A Survival Guide for Life teaches every reader—no matter your age or experience—that we’re all capable of living life more boldly, of achieving our most daring dreams, and of having more fun along the way. Here’s to your own great adventure!
A Survivor's Education: Women, Violence, and the Stories We Don't Tell
by Joy NeumeyerA timely memoir about intimate abuse, campus politics, and the narratives we choose to believe In this poignant self-investigation, historian and journalist Joy Neumeyer explores how violence against women is portrayed, perceived, and adjudicated today. Interweaving the harrowing account of the abuse she experienced as a graduate student at Berkeley with those of others who faced violence on campus and beyond, Neumeyer offers a startling look at how the hotly-debated Title IX system has altered university politics and culture, and uncovers the willful misremembrance that enables misconduct on scales large and small. Deeply researched, daringly inquisitive, and resonant for our times, A Survivor's Education reveals the entanglement of storytelling, abuse, and power–and how we can balance narrative and evidence in our attempts to determine what &“really&” happened.
A Swag of Memories: Australian Bush Stories
by Brian TaylorA quintessential Australian bushman, Brian Taylor has spent most of his life on the land. Working as a drover, a stockman, a fencer, a shearer and a saddler, he has gathered a swag of stories over the years as he travelled way out past the Barcoo, along the dusty plains and beside the dry creek beds under the endless southern sky. In A SWAG OF MEMORIES Brian Taylor shares with us these stories, of the people he has met, the places he has been and the moments, long-gone, that define the traditions of the Australian bush. Like those bush poets and storytellers of days past, Taylor brings to life the characters and the creatures of the bush: men like Dangerous Dan Smith, a hard, self-reliant man who had a gentler talent; Father Peter, a parish priest and occasional hero; Charlie Gibson, an Aboriginal stockman who knew the land better than anyone; and Banjo, the ever-alert dingo watchdog. These colourful and evocative bush tales delightfully capture a slight of Australian life that many of us will never get to see. Luckily, with this collection, you can sit back with a billy of tea and read all about it.
A Swim-on Part in the Goldfish Bowl
by Carol ThatcherCarol Thatcher has one of the most famous surnames in the world. The daughter of former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, Carol is a national treasure with a unique story to tell. Her remarkable mixture of bravery, honesty and humour won her a place in the nation's hearts on ITV's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here...! when millions of viewers voted her the second 'Queen of the Jungle'. In this candid memoir, she tells us about what it was like to grow up as the 'Milk Snatcher's' daughter, sister of the infamous Mark, living a life she describes as a 'swim-on part in the goldfish bowl'. Her tales of behind-the-scenes at Number 10, her extraordinary travels, and dinners with world leaders, are both rivetingly funny and refreshingly revealing. This Ebook does not contain pictures.
A Swim-on Part in the Goldfish Bowl
by Carol ThatcherCarol Thatcher has one of the most famous surnames in the world. The daughter of former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, Carol is a national treasure with a unique story to tell. Her remarkable mixture of bravery, honesty and humour won her a place in the nation's hearts on ITV's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here...! when millions of viewers voted her the second 'Queen of the Jungle'. In this candid memoir, she tells us about what it was like to grow up as the 'Milk Snatcher's' daughter, sister of the infamous Mark, living a life she describes as a 'swim-on part in the goldfish bowl'. Her tales of behind-the-scenes at Number 10, her extraordinary travels, and dinners with world leaders, are both rivetingly funny and refreshingly revealing. This Ebook does not contain pictures.
A Swing for Life: Revised and Updated
by Nick Faldo"A Swing for Life represents the ultimate collection of lessons, swing thoughts, observations, and discoveries that I relied upon in a career dedicated to the game of golf." --Sir Nick Faldo Nick Faldo is one of the world's most accomplished and well-respected golfers. His name is synonymous with the dedication that is necessary to reach the highest levels of the professional game, and the patience with which he analyzed and fine-tuned his swing rewarded him with six major championships. In this extensive book-- revised and updated from the 1995 classic-- Faldo draws on the wealth of that experience to demonstrate the skills that lie at the heart of the game, tee to green. Revealing a collection of absolute musts that underpin golf 's fundamentals, Faldo explains how to set in motion a chain reaction that inspires a flowing, repeating swing, a technique that can be applied to every club in the bag. There's a whole chapter dedicated to timing and tempo, featuring the drills and exercises Faldo used to maintain his own trademark rhythm, plus comprehensive lessons on modern driving strategy, short-game technique, bunker play, and the art of putting. Supporting his teaching throughout are superb photographs, as well as twenty-six original videos available for you to download from the book, adding a valuable dimension to the learning experience in every department of the game. For veteran golfers, Faldo's strategy on "working the ball" reveals the true talent of shot-making and control, while his practical advice on taking your game from the range to the course--the art of visualizing shots and reproducing your skills under pressure--is universally applicable. "At the highest level, golf is all about the respect a player has for the fundamentals--the lessons that have stood the test of time . . . and that's precisely the message that I am going to make sure comes across in this book." So says Faldo in his introduction to what is essentially a master class from one of the game's most exacting students and prolific winners. A Swing for Life promises inspiration for anyone who has ever picked up a golf club.
A Swiss Community in Adams County
by Naomi Eugene LehmanIn the mid-19th century, many Swiss families fled their homeland in order to avoid the rigid restrictions placed on religious and political beliefs. Many found solace in the little town of Berne, Indiana, and in the surrounding communities of Adams County. In 2002, Berne will celebrate 150 years of settlement and growth. In preparation, Naomi Lehman has compiled a unique visual history of these family-oriented communities, chronicling the history of the rich ancestral Swiss Emmenthaler culture that is still alive in the area today. Most of Adams County's early settlers hailed from Switzerland's capital of Bern, located in the Canton of Bern, and made the capital the namesake of their new home. The heavily forested and swampy land was cleared and tiled. Homes were constructed, churches flourished, and family businesses opened, some still existing today. Captured here in over 200 vintage images are the trials and triumphs of a classic Swiss community, including photographs of early farming families, industries and businesses, churches, and schools, blanketing not just Berne, but Geneva, Decatur, Linn Grove, and Monroe in Adams County, as well as Bluffton and Vera Cruz in neighboring Wells County.
A Synthesizing Mind: A Memoir from the Creator of Multiple Intelligences Theory
by Howard GardnerThe influential author and eminent authority on the human mind reflects on his groundbreaking work and the many forms of intelligence--including his own.Howard Gardner's Frames of Mind was that rare publishing phenomenon--a mind-changer. Widely read by the general public as well as by educators, this influential book laid out Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. It debunked the primacy of the IQ test and inspired new approaches to education; entire curricula, schools, museums, and parents' guides were dedicated to the nurturing of the several intelligences. In his new book, A Synthesizing Mind, Gardner reflects on his intellectual development and his groundbreaking work, tracing his evolution from bookish child to eager college student to disengaged graduate student to Harvard professor.
A Table in the Presence: The Dramatic Account of How a U.S. Marine Battalion Experienced God's Presence Amidst the Chaos of the War in Iraq
by Carey H. CashOn April 10th, 2003, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, faced with the task of seizing the presidential palace in downtown Baghdad, ran headlong into what Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North called, "the worst day of fighting for U.S. Marines." Hiding in buildings and mosques, wearing civilian clothes, and spread out for over a mile, Saddam Hussein's militants rained down bullets and rocket propelled grenades on the 1st Battalion. But when the smoke of the eight-hour battle cleared, only one Marine had lost his life. Some said the 1st Battalion was incredibly lucky. But in the hearts and minds of the Marines who were there, there was no question. God had brought them miraculously through that battle.As the 1st Battalion's chaplain, Lieutenant Carey Cash had the unique privilege of seeing firsthand, from the beginning of the war to the end, how God miraculously delivered, and even transformed, the lives of the men of the 1st Battalion. Their regiment, the most highly decorated regiment in the history of the Marines, was the first ground force to cross the border into Iraq, the first to see one of their own killed in battle, and they were the unit to fight what most believe to have been the decisive battle of the war-April 10th in downtown Baghdad. Through it all, Carey Cash says, the presence of God was undeniable. Cash even had the privilege of baptizing fifty-seven new Christians-Marines and Sailors-during the war in Iraq.The men of the 1st Battalion came to discover what King David had discovered long ago--that God's presence could be richly experienced even in the presence of enemies. Here is the amazing story of their experience.
A Tailor in Auschwitz
by David van Turnhout Dirk VerhofstadtDavid Van Turnhout and Dirk Verhofstadt traced the story of David's Jewish grandfather, Ide Leib Kartuz. Fleeing from antisemitism and violence, he came to Antwerp in 1929 and set up business as a tailor. The family he left behind ended up in the ghetto of Radomsko. Each and every member of the family was gassed at Treblinka. In Belgium, Kartuz joined the resistance movement, but was arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and deported to Auschwitz. On arrival there, his wife and two children immediately died a horrible death. He survived in a unit of tailors where he repaired camp clothing and SS guards' uniforms, sometimes receiving special orders from SS officers. Kartuz endured an inhuman death march to Mauthausen. After the war, back in Antwerp, he made tailored suits for bankers and other business people. His final battle was against the Belgian state, for recognition as a Belgian citizen, member of the resistance and war victim. Very few people realise how difficult it was for Jewish people to survive after liberation. The authors dig deep into the core of the Holocaust and investigate every trail from Radomsko to Miami. In the Auschwitz archives, they discover unpublished witness statements by tailors in Block 1. And completely unexpectedly, they also discover a cousin of Ide's, living in Florida. She had survived as a child by hiding in an attic in Brussels and speaks for the first time about those dark days. It took the authors a year to wind their questing way through important discoveries and setbacks but in this tribute, an unknown piece of history has finally been given a face.
A Take-Charge Girl Blazes a Trail to Congress: The Story of Jeannette Rankin
by Gretchen WoelfleFor take-charge girls in the making and fans of I Dissent and Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice, this is the story of Jeannette Rankin, the first US congresswoman.Jeannette Rankin was always a take-charge girl. Whether taking care of horses or her little brothers and sisters—Jeannette knew what to do and got the job done. That&’s why, when she saw poor children living in bad conditions in San Francisco, she knew she had to take charge and change things.But in the early twentieth century, women like Jeannette couldn&’t vote to change the laws that failed to protect children. Jeannette became an activist and led the charge, campaigning for women&’s right to vote. And when her home state, Montana, gave women that right, Jeannette ran for Congress and became America&’s first congressWOMAN!
A Tale of Love and Darkness
by Amos OzFrom the back of the book: Tragic, comic, and utterly honest, A Tale of Love and Darkness is at once a family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history. It is the story of a boy growing up in the war-torn Jerusalem of the forties and fifties, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. The story of an adolescent whose life has been changed forever by his mother's suicide when he was twelve years old. The story of a man who leaves the constraints of his family and its community of dreamers, scholars, and failed businessmen to join a kibbutz, change his name, marry, have children. The story of a writer who becomes an active participant in the political life of his nation.
A Tale of Love and Darkness
by Nicholas De Lange Amos OzWinner of the National Jewish Book AwardInternational Bestseller "[An] ingenious work that circles around the rise of a state, the tragic destiny of a mother, a boy’s creation of a new self." — The New YorkerA family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history. A Tale of Love and Darkness is the story of a boy who grows up in war-torn Jerusalem, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. The story of an adolescent whose life has been changed forever by his mother’s suicide. The story of a man who leaves the constraints of his family and community to join a kibbutz, change his name, marry, have children. The story of a writer who becomes an active participant in the political life of his nation."One of the most enchanting and deeply satisfying books that I have read in many years." — New Republic
A Tale of Two Murders: Guilt, Innocence, And The Execution Of Edith Thompson
by Laura ThompsonA riveting account of the notorious “Ilford murder” by the New York Times bestselling author of The Six <P><P> The death penalty is never without its ethical conflicts or moral questions. Never more so than when the person being led to the gallows may very well be innocent of the actual crime, if not innocent according social concepts of femininity. <P><P>A Tale of Two Murders is an engrossing examination of the Ilford murder, which became a legal cause ce´le`bre in the 1920s, and led to the hanging of Edith Thompson and her lover, Freddy Bywaters. On the night of October 3, 1922, as Edith and her husband, Percy, were walking home from the theatre, a man sprang out of the darkness and stabbed Percy to death. The assailant was none other than Bywaters. <P><P>When the police discovered his relationship with Edith, she—who had denied knowledge of the attack—was arrested as his accomplice. Her passionate love letters to Bywaters, read out at the ensuing trial, sealed her fate, even though Bywaters insisted Edith had no part in planning the murder. They were both hanged. Freddy was demonstrably guilty; but was Edith truly so? <P><P>In shattering detail and with masterful emotional insight, Laura Thompson charts the course of a liaison with thrice-fatal consequences, and investigates what a troubling case tells us about perceptions of women, innocence, and guilt.
A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring
by Omar Sharif"A powerful and essential memoir of self-discovery . . . Brimming with beautiful remembrances of his grandfather and terrifying stories of abuse and homophobia, this is an essential book that shines a much-needed light on the intersection of Arab and queer identity." —Abdi Nazemian, Lambda Literary Award–winning author of Like a Love Story, a Stonewall Honor BookThe grandson of Hollywood royalty on his father&’s side and Holocaust survivors on his mother&’s, Omar Sharif Jr. learned early on how to move between worlds, from the Montreal suburbs to the glamorous orbit of his grandparents&’ Cairo. His famous name always protected him wherever he went. When, in the wake of the Arab Spring, he made the difficult decision to come out in the pages of The Advocate, he knew his life would forever change. What he didn&’t expect was the backlash that followed. From bullying, to illness, attempted suicide, becoming a victim of sex trafficking, death threats by the thousands, revolution and never being able to return to a country he once called home, Omar Sharif Jr. has overcome more challenges than one might imagine. Drawing on the lessons he learned from both sides of his family, A Tale of Two Omars charts the course of an iconoclastic life, revealing in the process the struggles and successes that attend a public journey of self-acceptance and a life dedicated in service to others.
A Talent for Adventure: The Remarkable Wartime Exploits of Lt Col Pat Spooner MBE.
by Pat SpoonerBooks on prison camps, daring escapes and life with the Resistance abound. Pat Spooners story is different and more compelling in one important respect. It recounts the gripping and dramatic rescue of two senior British generals (one a VC) and an air vice marshal from occupied Italy by the author and his companion who had themselves both escaped from an Italian PoW camp.This book covers a range of wartime exploits from operating behind Japanese lines in Burma and Malaya to laying secret dumps on remote islands in the Bay of Bengal for the benefit of RAF aircrew unable to reach their base. At the wars end, Pat Spooner, a 25-year-old lieutenant colonel, commanded a war crimes investigation unit in Java and Burma. He describes his personal experiences of the intensive efforts to track down and bring to justice the perpetrators of some of the foulest crimes ever committed by Man. Then, as a senior staff officer (Assistant Adjutant General) he spent a further twelve months controlling the nerve center, in Singapore, of the entire war crimes organization in Southeast Asia involving 18 investigation units.
A Talent for Living: Josephine Pinckney and the Charleston Literary Tradition (Southern Literary Studies)
by Barbara L. BellowsJosephine Pinckney (1895--1957) was an award-winning, best-selling author whose work critics frequently compared to that of Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, and Isak Dinesen. Her flair for storytelling and trenchant social commentary found expression in poetry, five novels -- Three O'Clock Dinner was the most successful -- stories, essays, and reviews. Pinckney belonged to a distinguished South Carolina family and often used Charleston as her setting, writing in the tradition of Ellen Glasgow by blending social realism with irony, tragedy, and humor in chronicling the foibles of the South's declining upper class. Barbara L. Bellows has produced the first biography of this very private woman and emotionally complex writer, whose life story is also the history of a place and time -- Charleston in the first half of the twentieth century.In A Talent for Living, Pinckney's life unfolds like a novel as she struggles to escape aristocratic codes and the ensnaring bonds of southern ladyhood and to embrace modern freedoms. In 1920, with DuBose Heyward and Hervey Allen, she founded the Poetry Society of South Carolina, which helped spark the southern literary renaissance. Her home became a center of intellectual activity with visitors such as the poet Amy Lowell, the charismatic presidential candidate Wendell Willkie, and the founding editor of theSaturday Review of Literature Henry Seidel Canby. Sophisticated and cosmopolitan, she absorbed popular contemporary influences, particularly that of Freudian psychology, even as she retained an almost Gothic imagination shaped in her youth by the haunting, tragic beauty of the Low Country and its mystical Gullah culture.A skilled stylist, Pinckney excelled in creating memorable characters, but she never scripted an individual as engaging or intriguing as herself. Bellows offers a fascinating, exhaustively researched portrait of this onetime cultural icon and her well-concealed personal life.
A Tangled Web: A Cyberstalker, a Deadly Obsession, and the Twisting Path to Justice.
by Leslie RuleYou know the #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Rule, &“America&’s best true-crime writer&” (Kirkus Reviews), from her unforgettable classic The Stranger Beside Me, now get ready to meet the heiress of her True Crime legacy, her daughter, Leslie Rule. It was a bleak November in 2012 when Cari Lea Farver vanished from Omaha, Nebraska. Cari, thirty-seven, was a devoted mother, reliable employee, and loyal friend—not the type to shirk responsibilities, abandon her son, and run off on an adventure while her dying father took his last breaths. Yet, the many texts from her phone indicated she had done just that. It appeared that Cari had dumped her new boyfriend, quit her job, and relinquished custody of her son to her mother—all by text. While Cari&’s boyfriend, Dave Kroupa, and her supervisor were bewildered by her abrupt disappearance, they accepted the texts at face value. Her mother, Nancy Raney, however, was alarmed and reported Cari missing. Police were skeptical of her claims that a cyber impostor had commandeered her daughter&’s phone and online identity. While Nancy was afraid for Cari, Dave Kroupa was growing afraid of her, for he believed Cari was stalking him. Never seen or heard, the stalker was aware of his every move and seemed obsessed with his casual girlfriend, Shanna &“Liz&” Golyar, often calling her &“a fat whore&” in the twelve thousand emails and texts he received in a disturbing three-year deluge. How did the stalker know Dave&’s phone numbers immediately after he changed them, the names of his lady friends, even what he wore as he watched TV? He and Liz reported death threats, vandalism, and burglaries, but the stalker remained at large. The threats were vicious, vile and often obscene, sent mostly via text and always in Cari&’s name. There was some truth in the messages, but all of them contained one big lie. The culprit was not Cari, but had killed and planned to kill again. With mesmerizing detail and compelling narrative skill, Leslie Rule tracks every step of the heart-pounding path to long-awaited justice—from a sociopath&’s twisted past to the deadly deception and the high-tech forensics that condemned the killer to prison.
A Tangled Web: The Making of Foreign Policy in the Nixon Presidency
by William P. BundyAn authoritative historical assessment of American foreign policy in a crucial postwar decade. William Bundy's magisterial book focuses on the controversial record of Richard Nixon's and Henry Kissinger's often overpraised foreign policy of 1969 to 1973, an era that has rightly been described as the hinge on which the last half of the century turned. Bundy's principled, clear-eyed assessment in effect pulls together all the major issues and events of the thirty-year span from the 1940s to the end of the Vietnam War, and makes it clear just how dangerous the consequences of Nixon and Kissinger's deceptive modus operandi were.
A Target on my Back: A Prosecutor's Terrifying Tale of Life on a Hit List
by Erleigh WileyMurders don't happen in Kaufman County, Texas, a sleepy community where people raise their kids quietly and drive into Dallas for work and entertainment. In 2013, murder came to town when two professional prosecutors were slain in cold blood, simply for doing their jobs: one in broad daylight in plain view of the courthouse, and one in his home, along with his wife. Eric Williams is responsible for all the bloodshed, and he has a list of who to kill next.A Target on My Back is the first-person true story of Erleigh Wiley, an accomplished lawyer who accepted the job as the new district attorney, after the death of her predecessors, which turned her into the next target on the killer's hit list. This is her story of how she and her family endured the storm of the press, the array of Homeland Security agents assigned to protect them 24/7, and the weight of knowing she was someone's prey. Though fearing for her life, she served as the prosecution's final witness against the murderer, sealing his fate on death row. This chilling account of how she survived the hit list is a terrifying cat and mouse tale.
A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand
by Philip ShortThe man who changed the course of modern FranceIn 1981, François Mitterrand became France's first popularly elected socialist president. By the time he completed his mandate, he had led the country for 14 years, longer than any other French head of state in modern times. Mitterrand mirrored France in all its imperfections and tragedies, its cowardice and glory, its weakness and its strength.In the wake of the Observatory affair (in which he orchestrated his own assassination attempt), his secretiveness and mistrust grew more pronounced, especially when details of a second family came to light; he was a mixture of "Machiavelli, Don Corleone, Casanova and the Little Prince," said his doctor.During the German occupation, Mitterrand hedged his bets by joining Petain's Vichy government. Later in 1943, under the nom de guerre of Morland (and 30 other aliases), Mitterrand quit Vichy for the Resistance and a paramilitary organization.He changed the ground rules of French social and political debate in ways more far-reaching and fundamental than any other modern leader before him, helping set the agenda for France and Europe for generations to come. Philip Short's A Taste for Intrigue will fill the gap and become the standard against which all other Mitterrand biographies are set.
A Taste of Power
by Elaine BrownBrown's account of her life at the highest levels of the Black Panther party's hierarchy. More than a journey through a turbulent time in American history, this is the story of a black woman's battle to define herself.
A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History
by Seth BerkmanA December Stephen Curry Book Club PickOne of ESPN’s 25 Can’t Miss Books of 2019“A feel-good story.”—New York Times Book Review“This isn’t simply a sports book. Rather, it’s a book about inspiring and courageous women who just happened to be hockey players.”—Korea TimesThe inspiring, unlikely story of the American, Canadian, South Korean and even North Korean women who joined together to form Korea’s first Olympic ice hockey team.Two weeks before the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics, South Korea’s women’s hockey team was forced into a predicament that no president, ambassador or general had been able to resolve in the sixty-five years since the end of the Korean War. Against all odds, the group of young women were able to bring North and South Korea closer than ever before.The team was built for this moment. They had been brought together from across the globe and from a wide variety of backgrounds—concert pianist, actress, high school student, convenience store worker—to make history. Now the special kinship they had developed would guide them through the biggest challenge of their careers. Suddenly thrust into an international spotlight, they showed the powerful meaning of what a unified Korea could resemble.In A Team of Their Own, Seth Berkman goes behind the scenes to tell the story of these young women as they became a team amid immense political pressure and personal turmoil, and ultimately gained worldwide acceptance on a journey that encapsulates the truest meanings of sport and family.
A Teenagers Journey: Overcoming a Childhood of Abuse
by Richard B. PelzerMany thousands of readers were moved by Richard B. Pelzer's heart-wrenching memoir, A Brother's Journey, in which he detailed the horrifyingly abusive childhood he endured at the hands of his mother, whose treatment of her children was first revealed by Dave Pelzer in his own hugely successful memoir, A Boy Called "It". Now, Richard reveals how the abuse inflicted on him as a child continued to affect his life as a teenager. He turned to drugs and contemplated suicide, while simultaneously trying to establish an autonomous life away from his destructive family situation. Yet as he stumbled toward adulthood, fighting and facing his demons, Richard's ultimate struggle toward victory was his alone. His salvation finally came when a surrogate family took him in, offering comfort, hope, and unconditional love --and ultimately the transformational power of forgiveness.