lives lived

 

Upcoming programs:

Sun, Dec 4th 7-9pm Ghost Stories for Christmas

Thu, Dec 8th 6-8pm  PENAmerica community discussion of South to America by Imani Perry 

Wed, Dec 21st 11am-noon Samford String Quartet holiday concert 

Tue, Dec 27 6:30-8pm It’s the last meeting of the year for Books & Beyond and it is Reader’s Choice so there’s no assigned topic. For the 2023 BAB topic selections, click here.

Books & Beyond met this week to discuss biographies, autobiographies, and memoir.

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of GeorgeWashington by Alexis Coe

With irresistible style and warm humor, You Never Forget Your First combines rigorous research and lively storytelling that will have readers--including those who thought presidential biographies were just for dads--inhaling every page.

Monarchy by David Starkey (eaudio on Hoopla)

The crown of England is the oldest surviving political institution in Europe. Throughout this book Dr. David Starkey emphasizes the Crown's endless capacity to adapt to circumstances and reshape national policy, whilst he unmasks the personalities and achievements, the defeats and victories, which lie behind the kings and queens of British history. 

Monarchy by David Starkey (tv show)

Hosted by the erudite, energetic Dr. David Starkey (The Six Wives of Henry VIII), this series tells the epic and bloody stories of Britain's kings and queens from the Saxon era (Alfred the Great) to the early 20th century (Victoria).

Assassinations that Changed the World by Nigel Cawthorne (eaudio on Hoopla)

We live in an age of asymmetric warfare. Huge armies no longer face each other on the battlefield. Instead heads of major powers and lone assassins (or martyrs) target each other to pursue their agendas. There are forty-eight assassinations that changed the world in this book. Rest assured that in the coming years we will see many more.

And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham

Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how—and why—he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America.

Crowned in a Far Country: Portraits of Eight Royal Brides by Princess Michael of Kent

More than just a window into the politics and power brokering of royal marriage, Crowned in a Far Country charts the transformations of privileged princesses into women of power and historical importance.

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life” (The New Yorker).

Da Vinci’s Demons (tv show)

A tortured genius defies authority and throws himself into the future, forever changing the fate of mankind.

Sleepwalk With Me: And Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia

I’m Mike Birbiglia and I’m a comedian. You may know me from Comedy Central or This American Life or The Bob & Tom Show, but you’ve never seen me like this before. This is my first book. It’s difficult to describe. It’s a comedic memoir, but I’m only 32 years old so I’d hate for you to think I’m “wrapping it up,” so to speak. But I tell some personal stories. Some REALLY personal stories. Some of the stories are about my childhood, some are about girls I made out with when I was thirteen, some are about my parents, and some are, of course, about my bouts with sleepwalking. Bring this book to bed. And sleepwalk with me.

New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad by Mike Birbiglia

With laugh-out-loud funny parenting observations, the New York Times bestselling author and award-winning comedian delivers a book that is perfect for anyone who has ever raised a child, been a child, or refuses to stop acting like one.

A Strong and Steady Pulse: Stories from a Cardiologist by Greg Chapman

A Strong and Steady Pulse: Stories from a Cardiologist provides an insider’s perspective on the field of cardiovascular medicine told through vignettes and insights drawn from Gregory D. Chapman’s three decades as a cardiologist and professor of medicine. In twenty-six bite-sized chapters based on real-life patients and experiences, Chapman provides an overview of contemporary cardiovascular diseases and treatments, illuminating the art and science of medical practice for lay audiences and professionals alike.

All that Moves Us: A Pediatric Neurosurgeon, His YoungPatients, and Their Stories of Grace and Resilience by Jay Wellons

In All That Moves Us, Dr. Jay Wellons pulls back the curtain to reveal the profoundly moving triumphs, haunting complications, and harrowing close calls that characterize the life of a pediatric neurosurgeon, bringing the high-stakes drama of the operating room to life with astonishing candor and honest compassion. 

Noble Blood  (podcast)

Author Dana Schwartz explores the stories of some of history’s most fascinating royals: the tyrants and the tragic, the murderers and the murdered, and everyone in between. Because when you’re wearing a crown, mistakes often mean blood.

Slow Burn (podcast)

A narrative podcast produced by Slate that is in it’s 7th season (discussing Roe v. Wade), Slow Burn tackles big topics in politics and popular culture.

Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee

From Hermione Lee, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning biographer of Virginia Woolf and Willa Cather, comes a superb reexamination of one of the most famous American women of letters. Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Lee does away with the image of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new Edith Wharton-tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as her fiction. 

Initiated: Memoir of a Witch by Amanda Yates Garcia

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes meets Women Who Run With The Wolves in this "gorgeously written, fierce, political, personal, and deeply inspiring" (Michelle Tea) memoir about finding meaning, beauty, and power through a life in witchcraft.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Don’t Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures andTravails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky by Homer Hickam

From Homer Hickam, the author of the #1 bestselling Rocket Boys adapted into the beloved film October Sky, comes this astonishing memoir of high adventure, war, love, NASA, and his struggle for literary success.

Just Kids by Patti Smith

“Reading rocker Smith’s account of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, it’s hard not to believe in fate. How else to explain the chance encounter that threw them together, allowing both to blossom? Quirky and spellbinding.” -- People

The Automat (film)

A charming, fascinating look at one of the first and most unique restaurant chains in America with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Colin Powell.

Thomas Paine: A Lifetime of Radicalism by David Benner (not in the library system, selling on Amazon)

As an unremarkable English commoner, former tax collector, and one-time privateer, Thomas Paine was the most unlikely person to carry the torch of American independence. Nevertheless, his succinct and wildly-popular argument in favor of the idea, Common Sense, proved to be the exact catalyst to bring such a provocative cause to fruition. Benner's work pays particular focus on to the polemicist's great successes in transforming his day's political landscape.

Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler by Ben E. Nicholson (not available in the library system, currently in funding mode on Kickstarter)

Clockwork Basilisk: The Early Revolvers of Elisha Collier & Artemas Wheeler reveals the first attempt to put a multi-shot firearm in the hands of the common soldier and sportsman. This novel device—patented in America in 1818 by Artemas Wheeler—was taken to England by his partner, Elisha Collier, to be trialed by the military shortly after the Napoleonic wars. Rejected by both the British and French militaries, the Collier revolver with its clockwork-advanced cylinder eventually found its place as a bespoke self-defense and hunting weapon.

Mimosa: Memories of Marilyn & the Making of “The Misfits” by Ralph L. Roberts (not in the library system, selling on Amazon)

Ralph Roberts, actor, masseur, and former Pentagon liaison, could frequently be found in the kitchen of Lee Strasberg’s NYC apartment on Central Park West. One pleasant spring morning he by chance met Marilyn. Not the turned-on public persona of Marilyn Monroe he had crossed paths with in the past, but the honest, casual Marilyn who existed outside the public eye. Thus set in motion the beginnings of a deep friendship that forever changed Ralph, and unquestionably altered the course of his life.