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Category Archives: Biography

Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Biography

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autobiography, Saudi Arabia, women, women automobile drivers, women political activists

This lady’s courage and incredible story knocked me over.  A memoir by a Saudi Arabian woman who became the unexpected leader of a movement to support women’s rights describes how fundamentalism influenced her radical religious beliefs until her education, a job, and legal contradictions changed her perspectives.

“Future generations will marvel at Manal al-Sharif, whose voice is laden with quiet dignity even at its most urgent. Her gripping account of homegrown courage will speak to the fighter in all of us.” (Deborah Feldman, New York Times bestselling author of Unorthodox)

“An astonishing, humble, truthful book, more illuminating than a hundred newspaper stories on Saudi Arabia. Manal is no Chanel-draped, chauffeur-driven Saudi princess. Her account of why a single working mother’s life compelled her to confront the kingdom’s fiercely patriarchal ways is touching and revealing in equal measure.” (Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad)

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Out of Line: A Life of Playing with Fire by Barbara Lynch

25 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Biography

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autobiography, United States, women cooks

Named one of Time‘s 100 Most Influential People in the World

Blood, Bones, & Butter meets A Devil in the Kitchen in this funny, fierce, and poignant memoir by world-renowned chef, restaurateur, and Top Chef judge Barbara Lynch, recounting her rise from a hard-knocks South Boston childhood to culinary stardom.

“If you have an appetite for culinary adventure, you’ll devour the feisty and fun memoir by James Beard award-winning chef and philanthropist Barbara Lynch.” —Elle

“Whenever she writes about food, her passion is evident, and she appends a number of recipes that will surely send some readers straight to the kitchen. A rugged tale of a self-made woman in a high-stress profession. ” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Lynch’s love of food and hard scrabble Southie upbringing are blended into a rich and engaging narrative that sheds light on the different influences that helped shape her career. The narrative is evocative of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential…Foodies will enjoy the vivid language used to describe Lynch’s food exploits, and old neighbors will be treated to a trip around south Boston through the eyes of a local.” (Library Journal)

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The Rules Do Not Apply: a Memoir by Ariel Levy

20 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Biography

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autobiography, lesbians, life changing events, marriage, miscarriage, sex roles, United States, women journalists

When 38-year-old New Yorker writer Ariel Levy left for a reporting trip to Mongolia in 2012, she was pregnant, married, financially secure, and successful on her own terms. A month later, none of that was true.  Levy picks you up and hurls you through the story of how she built an unconventional life – reinventing work, marriage, family, pregnancy, sex and divorce for herself from the ground up and  then watched it fall apart with astonishing speed.

“Every deep feeling a human is capable of will be shaken loose by this profound book. Ariel Levy has taken grief and made art out of it.”—David Sedaris

“A great memoir is not a trip through someone else’s life but a series of long looks into your own.  Ariel Levy’s book – grieving, hopeful, painful, funny – is that.” – Amy Bloom

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The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

08 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, nature, Non-fiction

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anecdotes, chronically ill, Gastropoda physiology, meaning of life, snail anatomy, snails as pets

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While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world.

“As I read Bailey’s description of how her snail moved, ate, slept, and reproduced, I felt myself shrinking and shrinking, like Alice in Wonderland, until I was snail-size myself.” – Anne Fadiman

A charming, delicate meditation on the meaning of life. — Kirkus Review

“Though illness may rob us of vitality, sometimes it can also help bring us understanding—-albeit in improbable disguises . . . Perhaps there’s something to be said for moving at a snail’s pace.” —NPR.org

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The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

23 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, case studies, Non-fiction

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hermits, Maine, nature, recluses, Smithfield region, solitude, survival, thieves

If you have ever dreamed of getting away from it all, then this is the book for you!

In 1986, a young man seeking a quiet and peaceful life, drove his car into the back woods of Maine, left the keys on the dashboard and disappeared for 27 years.  Where did he sleep, what did he eat, how did he survive the black fly season and the rain and the bitter cold and was he ever lonely?  All these questions and many more will be answered.  P.S. This book has a Metrowest Boston connection.

“A story that takes the two primary human relationships—to nature and to one another—and deftly upends our assumptions about both. This was a breathtaking book to read and many weeks later I am still thinking about the implications for our society and—by extension—for my own life.”—Sebastian Junger

“An absorbing exploration of solitude and man’s eroding relationship with the natural world. Though the ‘stranger’ in the title is Knight, one closes the book with the sense that Knight, like all seers, is the only sane person in a world gone insane—that modern civilization has made us strangers to ourselves.”—Nathaniel Rich, The Atlantic

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Never Caught : the Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

17 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, History, Non-fiction, United States

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African American women, fugitive slaves, George Wahington (1732-1799), Martha Wahington (1731-1802), Oney Judge, relations with slaves, United States

“Oney Judge’s forgotten story is a powerful reminder that the tentacles of slavery could reach from the South all the way north to the State of New Hampshire.  The surprising part of the true history is not that she achieved her freedom, but the lengths to which George and Martha Washington would go to try to recapture a young woman who insulted them by rejecting bondage.” – Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina

“A startling, well-researched .  . . narrative that seriously questions the intentions of our first president.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Erica Armstrong Dunbar combines the known facts of Ona’s life in service to the Washingtons with vivid descriptions of the physical and emotional conditions early American slaves faced.” (New York Post)

“Totally engrossing and absolutely necessary for understanding the birth of the American Republic, Never Caught is richly human history from the vantage point of the enslaved fifth of the early American population. Here is Ona Judge’s (successful) quest for freedom, on one side, and, on the other, George and Martha Washington’s (vain) use of federal power to try to keep her enslaved.” (Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol)

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Some writer! : the story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet.

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Non-fiction

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20th century, American authors, authorship, biography, children's author, collage art, E.B.White d1899-1985, Maine farm, New Yorker magazine

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In Some Writer!, the two-time Caldecott Honor winner Melissa Sweet mixes White’s personal letters, photos, and family ephemera with her own exquisite artwork to tell his story, from his birth in 1899 to his death in 1985. This authorized tribute is the first fully illustrated biography of E. B. White and includes an afterword by Martha White, E. B. White’s granddaughter. Pure scrapbook delight for the eyes and heart!

“Whether the name E. B. White is a new discover or a much-loved author, Some Writer! will captivate readers of all ages.”—Christian Science Monitor

“Sweet raises her collage skills to new heights while bringing her love and admiration for fellow Mainer E. B. White to the page for everyone to appreciate. Just as her astounding collages blend materials that might have been found in a barn in Maine, the text carefully blends her words with those of the beloved writer of children’s books… Sweet has written and drawn a fast-moving, thorough, deeply researched, and accessible biography.”—Horn Book, STARRED review

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Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Humor

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comedians, South Africa, television personalities, United States

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Trevor Noah is a successful comedian who recently took over as the host of The Daily Show, but you learn none of that reading his book. Instead, this memoir focuses on his life growing up in South Africa during apartheid, the child of a black mother and white father, an interracial relationship that was illegal at the time of his birth. Noah writes with humor and honesty about the joys and challenges of his life, and dedicates much of his book to his mother, who is in many ways the real hero of the story.

“A gritty memoir . . . studded with insight and provocative social criticism . . . with flashes of brilliant storytelling and acute observations.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] substantial collection of staggering personal essays . . . Incisive, funny, and vivid, these true tales are anchored to his portrait of his courageous, rebellious, and religious mother who defied racially restrictive laws to secure an education and a career for herself—and to have a child with a white Swiss/German even though sex between whites and blacks was illegal. . . . [Trevor Noah’s] electrifying memoir sparkles with funny stories . . . and his candid and compassionate essays deepen our perception of the complexities of race, gender, and class.”—Booklist (starred review)

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Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Non-fiction

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Appalachian Region, economic conditions, Kentucky, mountain people, social conditions, social mobility, United States, working class whites

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J.D. Vance grows up very poor in the Ohio rustbelt and after deciding to enlist in the Marine Corps eventually he pursues a law degree at Yale.  It’s a very personal account of the author’s childhood and parts of it felt similar to Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle.” I liked it because while the author conveyed a lot of love and respect for aspects of his culture, he also comments on the contradictions, inconsistencies, and issues.

“[An] understated, engaging debut…An unusually timely and deeply affecting view of a social class whose health and economic problems are making headlines in this election year.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“[Vance’s] description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history.” (David Brooks, New York Times)

“J.D. Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy”, offers a starkly honest look at what that shattering of faith feels like for a family who lived through it. You will not read a more important book about America this year.” (The Economist)

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The Corfu trilogy by Gerald Durrell

06 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Drama, Humor, Non-fiction, Travel

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biography, Corfu Island, Drama, family, Gerald Durrell (1925-1995), Greece, natural history, zoologists

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Three classic tales of childhood on an island paradise – My Family and Other Animals, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods by Gerald Durrell –  inspired the recent PBS Masterpiece series, The Durrells in Corfu.   The youngest of the four children, ten-year-old Gerald, discovered his passion for animals: toads and tortoises, bats and butterflies, scorpions and octopuses. Gerry pursued his obsession on the sun-soaked island of Corfu, befriended local peasants, tolerated visiting dignitaries, and caused hilarity and mayhem in his ever-tolerant family.  Fauna & Family is equally delightful and enchanting.

“A lot of frolic, fun, and charming ribaldry, as well as the warm feeling of having been transported to a lovely spot where worry is unknown and anything is believable.”-The New York Times 

“A delightful book full of simple, well-known things: cicadas in the olive groves, lamp fishing at night, the complexities of fish and animals, but, above all, childhood molded by these things and intimately recalled in middle age.”  –The New York Times Book Review

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