• About this blog

feastonbooksblog

~ Time is precious – read the best first

feastonbooksblog

Category Archives: Biography

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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)

Find this book            audio cd’s

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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

9780544319592_p0_v3_s118x184

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

Find this book

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Humor

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

comedians, South Africa, television personalities, United States

9780399588174_p0_v3_s118x184

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)

Find this book              audio cd’s

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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

9780062300546_p0_v6_s118x184

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)

Read this book         large print          audio cd’s

The Corfu trilogy by Gerald Durrell

06 Monday Feb 2017

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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

9781504041676_p0_v1_s118x184

9781504041669_p0_v1_s118x1849781504041683_p0_v1_s118x184

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

Search the catalog by individual title for books, large print, and audio cd’s.

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon

28 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 1797-1851

9780812980479_p0_v3_s192x300This biography follows writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter, novelist Mary Shelley, in alternating chapters. It is worth the time to savor their vivid journey across Revolutionary France and Victorian England, from the Italian seaports to the highlands of Scotland. I knew only a little about these women before starting this book and was engrossed by their fascinating life stories.

“By linking these two lives, Ms. Gordon’s biography stretches over a fascinating era in history, characterized by great flux in political and cultural thinking and involving some of the main figures in English literary and philosophical history.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Gordon unfolds the two stories in tandem, deftly balancing the gossipy aspects of her subjects’ lives with their serious intellectual concerns.”—The New Yorker

Find this book          audio cd’s

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

06 Monday Jun 2016

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anecdotes, biology, geobiology, Hawaii, laboratories, life journey, Minnesota, North Pole, paleobiology, plant culture, research, U.S.

9781101874936_p0_v2_s192x300

I was riveted by Hope Jahren’s interview on NPR and startled by the sincere gratitude of those women in science fields who called to thank her for writing this book.  Hope is a fighter.  She is passionate about the plant world.  She has fought tooth and nail to practice “her science” and not let academia dictate, squelch, or underfund her path……and she writes in beautiful prose…and she includes some hysterically funny experiences.  Hope is best at teaching, nurturing. Open these pages and walk into nature with an inspirational guide.

“Lab Girl surprised, delighted, and moved me. I was drawn in from the start by the clarity and beauty of Jahren’s prose, whether she was examining the inner world of a seed, the ecosystem around the trunk of a tree, or recounting her own inspiring journey. With Lab Girl, Jahren joins those talented scientists who are able to reveal to us the miracle of this world in which we live.” —Abraham Verghese

“Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I’d been a scientist.” —Ann Patchett

Find this book            large print

How to Cook a Moose: A Culinary Memoir by Kate Christensen

23 Monday May 2016

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cooking, Kate Christensen, New England, recipes, slow food movement

9781939017734_p0_v2_s192x300

In this engaging memoir, the author and her boyfriend move from New York City to New England, where they spend time in New Hampshire before making a home in Portland, Maine. The book includes plenty of recipes, interesting facts about New England, and the author’s own love story.

“[An] exuberant, unabashedly gourmand-esque follow-up to Blue Plate Special…Christensen is eating well, in love, and radiating the ‘quiet internal daily joy of living in a culture based on authenticity and integrity.'”—Kirkus Reviews

I like that Ms. Christensen shows us, as M.F.K. Fisher did, the pleasures of a world of food where the scrupulous weighing out of precise calories, vitamins and other nutritional units doesn t exist, because to labor over it is to exist without spirit…Her book gets us thinking about what we are really hungry for and whether the rules of eating have begun to outweigh its pleasures. —Wall Street Journal

Find this book

Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Fiction, Historical Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

20th century, Bloomsbury group, England, intellectual life, London, sisters, women artists, women authors

9780804176378_p0_v3_s192x300

Here is an excerpt from Vanessa’s diary – “every moment with Virginia – one feels more alive, not just alive, but living.  I have understood this Virginia equation – there is no rational, logical, or reachable Virginia lurking beneath – eventually Virginia  becomes exhausting”.  One would never want a sister like Virginia Woolf!

“Parmar inhabits the gilded ‘bohemian hinterland’ of Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa, creating a vibrant fictional homage.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Parmar does a stellar job conveying Virginia’s complicated, almost incestuous feelings for Vanessa. . . . The author also deftly brings to life the various artists and writers who formed the nascent Bloomsbury group. . . . Parmar’s narrative is riveting and successfully takes on the task of turning larger-than-life figures into real people. . . . [She] weaves their stories together so effortlessly that nothing seems out of place.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Find this book            audio cd’s

Becoming Nicole: the Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt

04 Monday Apr 2016

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

court case, families, transgender youth, twins

9780812995411_p0_v2_s192x300

Amy Ellis Nutt won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011.  In her very capable hands, she puts the reader inside the household of the Maines family and their identical boy twins.  A very mainstream American family must struggle, transform, persevere  in a landmark discrimination case.  A fascinating true story about a courageous girl.

“A transgender girl’s coming-of-age saga, an exploration of the budding science of gender identity, a civil rights time capsule, a tear-jerking legal drama and, perhaps most of all, an education about what can happen when a child doesn’t turn out as his or her parents expected—and they’re forced to either shut their eyes and hearts or see everything differently.”—Time

“[An] exceptional chronicle . . . ‘Stories move the walls that need to be moved,’ Nicole told her father last year. In telling Nicole’s story and those of her brother and parents luminously, and with great compassion and intelligence, that is exactly what Amy Ellis Nutt has done here.”—Sue Halpern, The Washington Post

Find this book

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • September 2026
  • August 2026
  • July 2026
  • June 2026
  • May 2026
  • April 2026
  • March 2026
  • February 2026
  • January 2026
  • December 2025
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014

Categories

  • 20th century
  • action
  • adventure
  • anecdotes
  • Biographical fiction
  • Biography
  • case studies
  • chronically ill
  • Comedy
  • crimes against
  • cuisine
  • detective
  • Drama
  • dystopian fiction
  • England
  • fantasy
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Fiction
  • Future
  • Graphic novel
  • Historical Fiction
  • History
  • homicide investigation
  • Horror
  • Humor
  • London
  • magic
  • meaning of life
  • memoir
  • murder
  • murder and investigation
  • mystery
  • nature
  • Non-fiction
  • poetry
  • romance
  • Science fiction
  • Sports
  • suspense
  • thriller
  • Travel
  • True crime
  • Uncategorized
  • United States
  • western

Meta

  • Create account
  • Log in
Weston Public Library 781 786 6150

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Join 155 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
Loading Comments...