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This &“amazingly precocious&” diary of girlhood in the early twentieth century is filled with a &“special charm&” (The Christian Science…
Monitor). Born in Paris, Anaïs Nin started her celebrated diary at age eleven, when she was immigrating to New York with her mother and two young brothers. The diary became her confidant, her beloved friend, in which she recorded her most intimate thoughts and kept watch on the state of her character. Offering an amusing view of Nin&’s early life, from age eleven to seventeen, it is also a self-portrait of an innocent girl who is transformed, through her own insights, into an enlightened young woman. &“An enchanting portrait of a girl&’s constant search for herself . . . will delight her admirers as well as new readers.&” —Library Journal &“One of the most extraordinary documents in the annals of literature.&” —Providence Sunday Journal &“[The Early Diary is] not merely an overture to the great performance. It deserves our attention on its own as a revelation of the rites of passage of a young girl in the early part of the [twentieth] century and as an expression of the collision of cultures between Europe and America.&” —Los Angeles Times Preface by Joaquin Nin-CulmellThe Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America
By Tommy Tomlinson. 2020
An NPR Best Book of the Year: This story of a man’s reckoning with his 460-pound body is “warm and…
funny and honest . . . genuinely unputdownable” (Curtis Sittenfeld, New York Times–bestselling author of Romantic Comedy).When he was almost fifty years old, journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Tomlinson weighed an astonishing—and dangerous—460 pounds, at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, unable to climb a flight of stairs without having to catch his breath, or travel on an airplane without buying two seats. Raised in a family that loved food, he’d been aware of the problem for years, seeing doctors and trying diets from the time he was a preteen. But nothing worked, and every time he tried to make a change, it didn’t go the way he planned—in fact, he wasn’t sure that he really wanted to change.In The Elephant in the Room, Tomlinson chronicles his lifelong battle with weight—and hits the road to meet other members of the plus-sized tribe in an attempt to understand how, as a nation, we got to this point. From buying a Fitbit to contemplating the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas, America’s “capital of food porn,” Tomlinson takes a candid and sometimes brutal look at the everyday experience of being constantly aware of your size. He confronts these issues head-on and recounts the practical steps he has to take to lose weight by the end—in a memoir that will resonate with anyone who’s grappled with addiction, shame, or self-consciousness.“What could have been a wallow in memoir self-pity is raised to art by Tomlinson’s wit and prose.” —Rolling Stone“Heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud . . . I could not turn the pages fast enough.” —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick“Inspirational . . . witty and punchy.” —The New York TimesI'll Never Be French: Living in a Small Village in Brittany
By Mark Greenside. 2009
This memoir of moving to a tiny Breton village is “a charming story about growing wiser, humbler and more human…
through home owning in a foreign land” (Publishers Weekly).When Mark Greenside—a native New Yorker living in California, political lefty, writer, and lifelong skeptic—is dragged by his girlfriend to a tiny Celtic village in Brittany at the westernmost edge of France in Finistère, or what he describes as “the end of the world,” his life begins to change.In a playful, headlong style, and with enormous affection for the Bretons, Greenside shares how he makes a life for himself in a country where he doesn’t speak the language or understand the culture. He gradually places his trust in the villagers he encounters—neighbors, workers, acquaintances—and he’s consistently won over and surprised as he manages to survive day-to-day trials. From opening a bank account and buying a house to removing a beehive from the chimney, he begins to learn the cultural ropes, live among his neighbors, and make new friends.Until he came to this town, Greenside was lost, moving through life without a plan, already in his forties with little money and no house. He lived as a skeptic who seldom trusted others and had an inclination to be alone. So when he settles into the rhythm of this new culture—against the backdrop of Brittany’s gorgeous architecture and breathtaking landscapes—not only does he find a home and meaningful relationships in this French countryside, he finds himself.I’ll Never Be French (no matter what I do) is both a new beginning and a homecoming for Greenside. It is a memoir about fitting in, not standing out; being part of something larger, not being separate from it; following, not leading. He has never regretted his journey and, as he advises those searching for their next adventure, neither will you.“Funny, insightful, and winningly self-deprecatory.” —Lydia Davis, author of the National Book Award finalist Varieties of Disturbance“Heartwarming.” —San Francisco Chronicle“One of the nicest of the trillions of books about France.” —Diane Johnson, New York Times–bestselling author of Lorna Mott Comes Home“A funny, funny book.” —Detroit Free PressDaughter of the Queen of Sheba: A Memoir
By Jacki Lyden. 1997
This account of growing up with a mentally ill mother &“belongs on a shelf of classic memoirs, alongside The Liars&’…
Club and Angela&’s Ashes&” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times). As an NPR correspondent, Jacki Lyden visited some dangerous war zones—but her childhood was a war zone of a different kind. Lyden&’s mother suffered from what is now called bipolar disorder or manic depression. But in a small Wisconsin town in the sixties and seventies she was simply &“crazy.&” In her delusions, Lyden&’s mother was a woman of power: Marie Antoinette or the Queen of Sheba. But in reality, she had married the nefarious local doctor, who drugged her to keep her moods in check and terrorized the children to keep them quiet. Holding their lives together was Lyden&’s hardscrabble Irish grandmother, a woman who had her first child at the age of fourteen and lost her husband in a barroom brawl. In this memoir, Lyden vividly captures the seductive energy of her mother&’s delusions and the effect they had on her own life. She paints a portrait of three remarkable women—mother, daughter, and grandmother—revealing their obstinate devotion to one another against all odds, and their scrappy genius for survival. &“What distinguishes Daughter of the Queen of Sheba from any other book about dysfunctional parents . . . and turns this exotic memoir into compelling literature is the dreamy poetry of Lyden&’s prose. In graceful imagery as original (and occasionally as highly wrought) as her mother&’s costumes, Lyden—a senior correspondent for National Public Radio—loops and loops again around the central fact of her mother&’s manic depression and how that illness shaped Lyden&’s life growing up with two younger sisters, a scrappy Irish grandmother (whose memory she holds like &‘a cotton rag around a cut&’), a father who left, and a hated stepfather.&” —Entertainment WeeklyOne Man's Meat
By E. B. White. 1944
The Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and author of Charlotte&’s Web documents his move from Manhattan to a saltwater farm in New…
England: &“Superb reading.&” —The New Yorker Called &“a mid-20th–century Thoreau&” by Notre Dame Magazine, E. B. White&’s desire to live a simple life caused him to sell half his worldly goods, give up his job writing the New Yorker&’s &“Notes and Comment&” editorial page, and move with his family to a saltwater farm in North Brooklin, Maine. There, White got into the nuts-and-bolts of rural life—not without a lot of self-reflection—and surrounded himself with barnyard characters, some of whom would later appear in Charlotte&’s Web.One Man&’s Meat is White&’s collection of pithy and unpretentious essays on such topics as living with hay fever (&“I understand so well the incomparable itch of eye and nose for which the only relief is to write to the President of the United States&”), World War II (&“I stayed on the barn, steadily laying shingles, all during the days when Mr. Chamberlain, M. Daladier, the Duce, and the Führer were arranging their horse trade&”), and even dog training (&“Being the owner of dachshunds, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor&”). Though first published in 1942, this book delivers timeless lessons on the value of living close to nature in our quest for self-discovery. With each subject broached and reflected upon, it &“becomes an ardent and sobering guidebook for those of us trying to live our day-to-day lives now&” (Pif magazine). &“The most succinct, graceful and witty of essayists.&” —San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle &“A lively record of an active inquiring mind.&” —Kirkus ReviewsBecoming
By Michelle Obama. 2018
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WATCH…
THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY • OPRAH&’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF ESSENCE&’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world&’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.Normal: A Mother and Her Beautiful Son
By Magdalena Newman. 2019
A moving and “inspiring” memoir from the mother of a child with Treacher Collins syndrome, with a foreword by R.J.…
Palacio, author of Wonder (Publishers Weekly, starred review).For Magda Newman, normal was a goal—she wanted her son Nathaniel to be able to play on the playground, swim at the beach, enjoy the moments of childhood that are often taken for granted. But Nathaniel’s severe Treacher Collins syndrome—a craniofacial condition—meant that other concerns came first. Could he eat without the aid of a gastrointestinal tube? Could he hear? Would he ever be able to breathe effortlessly? In this moving memoir, Newman, with the help of her son, tells the story of raising Nathaniel, from the shock she and her husband faced when he was born, to the inspiration of Nathaniel’s own strength and quirky humor. All this while also facing both non-Hodgkins and Hodgkins lymphoma diagnoses of her own. This uplifting story of a family tackling complex and terrifying circumstances with love and resilience is a true testament to Magda and her family, and to families everywhere who quietly but courageously persist.Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer's Journey
By Daniel Keyes. 1999
The author of Flowers for Algernon discusses the highs & lows of the writing life, as well as his methods…
for creating fiction.In his bestselling novel Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes created an unlikely duo—a laboratory mouse and a man—who captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world. Now, in Algernon, Charlie, and I, Keyes reveals his methods of creating fiction as well as the heartbreaks and joys of being published. For the first time, readers, writers, teachers, and students can glimpse the creative life behind this cherished novel.Includes the original novelette version of Flowers for AlgernonOn Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
By Stephen King. 2010
Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen KingONE OF TIME MAGAZINE&’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL…
TIME Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King&’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. &“Long live the King&” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King&’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer&’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King&’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.Men!: Forget the fiction! Where are the interesting and available men?
By Isabel Losada. 2007
Fast, hard-hitting, funny and honest, this is the book that answers the question that all women discuss every day: 'Where…
are the interesting and available men?' Forget the fiction. This is not self help or a dating manual - This is 'Men!' - controversial, sassy and very entertaining - Michael Moore meets real life Bridget Jones.Bestselling author Isabel Losada throws herself (literally) into all male environments to learn about how different 'Men!' are from women. From learning to be a plumber and riding a Harley to interviewing psychologists and dating hosts, every page will have readers smiling and learning about 'Men!' and about themselves. How do you define an 'interesting' man? (or women?) How are male and female brains different? What do the richest men in the city and the builders on the building sites want of women? This is not a book for women who think that finding a man is the solution to their problems; rather it is an intelligent, controversial and often hilarious journey through modern life and relationships by a unique and well-loved author.Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb
By François-René de Chateaubriand. 1961
The most enjoyable, glamorous and gripping of all 19th-century autobiographies - a tumultuous account of France hit by wave after…
wave of revolutionsMemoirs from Beyond the Tomb is the greatest and most influential of all French autobiographies - an extraordinary, highly entertaining account of a uniquely adventurous and frenzied life. Chateaubriand gives a superb narrative of the major events of his life - which spanned the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Era and the uneasy period that led up to the Revolution of 1830.Married to Alzheimer's: A Life Less Ordinary with Tony Booth
By Steph Booth. 2019
EXTRAORDINARY MEMOIR OF A LIFE AND LOVE TORN APART BY DEMENTIAWhen her husband Tony was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2004,…
Steph Booth had to say goodbye to life as she knew it. The disease encroached into their lives, taking away Tony day by day. Open and honest, but with heart and warmth, Steph reveals and the hardship of caring for Tony and losing herself in the midst of it. Along the way we learn of the people they were, the dynamics of their relationship – Tony’s theatrics, Steph’s stubbornness – effortlessly captured with lightness and humour. Borne out of her much-loved Irish Times column, Married to Alzheimer’s is a poignant account of a life and love torn apart by dementia and a bond that was unshakeable. Tony was never a conformist. An actor, rebel, raconteur. The frustration, the grief, the laughter, the anger, the joy meant life with him was anything but ordinary.The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane
By Marc 'Elvis' Priestley. 2017
Meet Marc 'Elvis' Priestley: the former number-one McLaren mechanic, and the brains behind some of Formula One's greatest ever drivers.Revealing…
the most outrageous secrets and fiercest rivalries, The Mechanic follows Priestley as he travels the world working in the high-octane atmosphere of the F1 pit lane. While the spotlight is most often on the superstar drivers, the mechanics are the guys who make every World Champion, and any mistakes can have critical consequences.However, these highly skilled engineers don't just fine-tune machinery and crunch data through high-spec computers. These boys can seriously let their hair down. Whether it's partying on luxury yachts or photo opportunities aboard gravity-defying aeroplanes, this is a world which thrills on and off the track.This is Formula One, but not like you've seen it before.In today's Britain thousands of people have parents from different cultural backgrounds. In February 2008 we asked for people from…
any background to send us true stories which illuminate the complexities, challenges and joys of having a mixed heritage - those defining moments which seem to say it all. Then we asked six judges - including the novelist Kate Mosse and Shami Chakrabati from Liberty - to choose the best, most searching accounts to be included in this anthology. The resulting stories are as varied and colourful as they are true, honest and moving, but through all of them runs a universal theme: the desire to know and understand our own identity, and to forge a sense of self that surpasses the complex layers of places, parents and the past.Last Steps: The Late Writings of Leo Tolstoy
By Leo Tolstoy. 2009
1910. Anna Karenina and War and Peace have made Leo Tolstoy the world's most famous author. But fame comes at…
a price. In the tumultuous final year of his life, Tolstoy is desperate to find respite, so leaves his large family and the hounding press behind and heads into the wilderness. Too ill to venture beyond the tiny station of Astapovo, he believes his last days will pass in isolation. But as we learn through the journals of those closest to him, the battle for Tolstoy's soul will not be a peaceful one. Jay Parini introduces, translates and edits this collection of Tolstoy's autobiographical writing, diaries, and letters related to the last year of Tolstoy's life published to coincide with the 2009 film of Parini's novel The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Final Year.Little Boy Lost
By Shane Dunphy. 2009
Courage is sometimes found in the unlikeliest places ...Dominic is a sixteen year-old man-child: while he has the body of…
a prize-fighter, as a result of a terrible seizure when he was a small child he has been left with the mind of a child. In the centre where he spends his days, Dominic is a challenge and an inspiration: someone who struggles against the odds and whose every victory over his limitations is a cause for celebration. But when a new member of staff at the centre breaks a sacred trust, the fall-out is horrific and Dominic becomes a pawn in a dangerous game. Little Boy Lost is the story of Dominic's brave battle to face up to betrayal and show - one more time - that he is a survivor.The Last Line: My Autobiography
By Packie Bonner. 2015
Irish national hero, a Celtic great and their most-capped player, Patrick 'Packie' Bonner is a goalkeeping legend.He was Jock Stein's…
last signing for the club when he left his native Donegal for the city of Glasgow in 1978, where Packie evolved from being a shy, homesick teenager into a confident, world-class talent and first-choice goalkeeper. Billy McNeill handed him a debut on St Patrick's Day in 1979, and Packie went on to provide the last line of defence a record 641 times for the club. A seasoned Irish internationalist, Packie was a vital component in the most-celebrated Irish national squad ever, playing in a golden era under the tutelage of the inimitable Jack Charlton.In The Last Line, Packie shares stories from his incredible career, including his greatest moment in front of a global audience during the Italia '90 World Cup tournament when he became the penalty shoot-out hero of the nation by saving a spot-kick that took the Irish to the quarter-finals stage in their very first World Cup adventure.It was an iconic moment that would change his life forever not least because, whilst in Italy, he, along with his teammates, had an audience with another goalkeeper, Pope John Paul II.Throughout his 80 cap international career, he competed against the very best in the world. Men such as Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Gheorghe Hagi, Roberto Baggio and Gary Lineker came to know the name Packie Bonner. Equally, in his glittering Celtic career that included the winning of four Scottish League titles, three Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup, Packie Bonner played alongside some great Celtic names like Tommy Burns, Paul McStay, and Murdo Macleod.Along the way, Packie had to endure a career-threatening back injury, as well as the devastation of a routine save going wrong and costing a goal on the world stage against Holland in 1994, ultimately leading to elimination from the World Cup in America. More than just the telling of trophies, titles and triumphs, this is the story of a Celtic legend and a true great of Irish International football.Matron in Charge
By Evelyn Prentis. 1982
'She should never have kept the business going after her husband died. Running a betting shop is no job for…
a woman. Especially when she's got bad legs.'After a short stay at hospital herself, Evelyn Prentis wondered what was in store for her when she returned to work. From the door-slamming Miss Cromwell to Mrs Silver's shoplifting and Mrs May coming over all queer, being Matron in charge of the Lodge was rarely straightforward.So when her ladies became unusually united in their grumbling about newest resident Ivy, the woman who'd kept the betting shop on the High Street, Evelyn was ready for all hell to break loose.But instead, with openness and kindness, Ivy won people over and even started bringing them together. Suddenly, being in charge of the Lodge was no trouble at all ...Man with a Van: My Story
By Drew Pritchard. 2021
Sunday Times bestseller'When I see something old, that I think is beautiful, special, valuable, it's not about the money. It's…
about being in another time and place.'Star of TV's Salvage Hunters, Drew Pritchard will go to the greatest lengths for the best deals. He discovered the casts Lord Elgin made of his infamous marbles in a school garage, and broke the bank to buy the tool box Malcolm Campbell used when he set the water speed record in 1934. He made a million. Lost it. And made it again.The face of the compulsively fascinating business of finding and restoring lost treasures, visionary Drew takes us up and down the country, into garages, factories, schools and pubs, digging out incredible items from that 'other time and place'. Then by lovingly restoring them, he brings our history back to life.A flat cap among silver spoons and old school ties, our favourite no-bullshit expert may be a one-off, but his story makes us all dream of that obscure piece of antiquity gathering dust in the garden shed...The Last Enemy is the story of Richard Hillary, one of Sebastian Faulks' three 'fatal englishmen'. In this extraordinary account,…
the author details his experiences as a fighter pilot in the Second World War, in which he was shot down, leading to months in hospital as part of Archibald McIndoe's 'Guinea Pig Club', undergoing pioneering plastic surgery to rebuild his face and hands. The Last Enemy was first published in 1942, just seven months before Hilary's untimely death in a second crash and has gone on to be hailed as one of the classic texts of World War Two.