Books : Biographies & Memoirs

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Books : Biographies & Memoirs

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  • Second-Chance Mother

    Denise Roessle

    Second-Chance Mother
    When Denise Roessle became a mother at 45, her long-held dream came true. She felt as if she were 19 again, the age at which she got pregnant out of wedlock and relinquished her newborn son for adoption. Suddenly, he was back — this stranger she had given birth to — and he wasn’t just searching for his roots. Joshua was looking for a mom. Eager to embrace the second chance she had been granted, Denise leapt wholeheartedly into the role. “It’s a BIG boy,” she announced to her family and friends, setting free her twenty-six-year secret. But Joshua was not a boy. He was a grown man, with a history that fell far short of what she had envisioned for him when she’d been assured he would be “better off” without her. His adoptive parents had essentially given up on him at age thirteen, sending him away with only an eighth-grade education. He drifted through a series of institutions and group homes, and ultimately onto the New York City streets, where he fell into drugs and crime. When an early marriage failed, he and his young wife surrendered an infant and toddler to adoption. By the time Denise and her son reunited, he was in his second marriage to a teenaged runaway who was six months pregnant with their first child. Despite her disappointment and his obvious problems, Denise was determined to restore their severed bond and give him the unconditional love that had been lacking in her own childhood. At the same time, she struggled with her parents’ adverse reaction to her reunion and their refusal to acknowledge their grandson’s existence. The shameful event that they had worked so vigorously to bury was back to haunt them. They could not accept their daughter’s happiness at having found her lost child. Still reeling in the overwhelming mix of joy and grief, gratitude and guilt triggered by reunion with her son, Denise received a letter from an aunt she never knew existed. Aunt Mabel revealed some startling information about Denise’s mother, who had claimed to be an only child raised by a kindly couple after both her parents passed away. In truth, she was one of nine siblings tossed to the winds by their mother after the death of their father in 1929. As she got to know her new-found aunts, uncles and cousins, Denise became obsessed with understanding how her grandmother could desert her children and how her mother, who so clearly bore the scars of abandonment, could then force her own daughter to give up a child. A year into their reunion, after Josh’s wife left him with their ten-month-old daughter, the rage that he had initially denied surfaced. Denise went from feeling like a new mom to the frustrated parent of an out-of-control teenager. In the face of his angry outbursts and threats to cut her off, she remained intent on “fixing” him, believing that, in time, she could heal his wounds. Once more, she put her own pain aside and stood by him as he married twice more and fathered another child. Only when Josh and Denise reached an impasse in year five, did she recognize how emotionally shutdown she had been since relinquishing her son — and how she had let her fear of losing him again hold her hostage. In the silence of their estrangement, she began the hard work that ultimately allowed her to resolve her own issues, reclaim the young woman she had left behind after surrendering what turned out to be her only child, and make peace with the past. She found acceptance and forgiveness for her mother, her son, and ultimately herself.
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  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Original Classic Edition

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Original Classic Edition
    This is a high quality book of the original classic edition. It was previously published by other bona fide publishers, and is now, finally, back in print.This is a freshly published edition of this culturally important work, which is now, at last, again available to you.

    Enjoy this classic work. These few paragraphs distill the contents and gives you a short overview and insight of this work and the author's style:

    My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.

    . . .I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half-and-half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled to listen to."

    . . ."Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, the

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  • The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service

    Henry A. Crumpton

    The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service

    A legendary CIA spy and counterterrorism expert tells the spellbinding story of his high-risk, action-packed career while illustrating the growing importance of America's intelligence officers and their secret missions

    For a crucial period, Henry Crumpton led the CIA's global covert operations against America's terrorist enemies, including al Qaeda. In the days after 9/11, the CIA tasked Crumpton to organize and lead the Afghanistan campaign. With Crumpton's strategic initiative and bold leadership, from the battlefield to the Oval Office, U.S. and Afghan allies routed al Qaeda and the Taliban in less than ninety days after the Twin Towers fell. At the height of combat against the Taliban in late 2001, there were fewer than five hundred Americans on the ground in Afghanistan, a dynamic blend of CIA and Special Forces. The campaign changed the way America wages war. This book will change the way America views the CIA.

    The Art of Intelligence draws from the full arc of Crumpton's espionage and covert action exploits to explain what America's spies do and why their service is more valuable than ever. From his early years in Africa, where he recruited and ran sources, from loathsome criminals to heroic warriors; to his liaison assignment at the FBI, the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the development of the UAV Predator program, and the Afghanistan war; to hi

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  • Life Lessons from a Baker's Dozen: 1 Mother, 13 Children, and their Journey to Peace with Alzheimer's

    Kerry Luksic

    Life Lessons from a Baker's Dozen: 1 Mother, 13 Children, and their Journey to Peace with Alzheimer's
    While growing up in an Irish Catholic family of fifteen, life was often chaotic for young Kerry Lonergan. Yet through it all, her mother was the source of calmness, juggling everyday living with the patience of a saint and the efficiency of an engineer. Full of humor, drama, and inspiring pearls of wisdom, this story is a tribute to Bobbie Lonergan, an amazing mother who raised thirteen children and who now struggles with Alzheimer’s disease. The story begins with Kerry’s heartbreaking question, “How can I ever accept the fact that my mother no longer knows who I am?” Kerry finds the answer through a trip down memory lane that brings laughter, tears, and a personal journey that challenges her faith, but leads her back to her mother’s most powerful life lesson.

    The book also contains a highly useful resources section for anyone whose life has been affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It includes Alzheimer’s statistics, information about support groups, online resources, and advocacy. These resources are regularly updated and expanded at the author’s Web site.

    Ten percent of the author’s royalties earned from the sale of each paperback will be donated to Alzheimer’s research and support programs.
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  • The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson

    Robert A. Caro

    The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
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  • Felice's Worlds : From the Holocaust to the Halls of Modern Art

    Henry Massie

    Felice's Worlds : From the Holocaust to the Halls of Modern Art
    FIRST SHE ESCAPED THE HOLOCAUST AND THE POVERTY OF THE SHTETL. AFTER THAT, SHE MOVED IN MANY WORLDS. AND IN EVERY ONE SHE MADE HER MARK.


    "Henry Massie never blinks as he creates an astonishing chronicle of a life in diaspora. Only a son could capture this passionate spirit, who escaped both Adolf Hitler and Joe McCarthy." --Patty Friedmann, author of TOO JEWISH


    From the author:

    I had listened to my mother’s tales all my life and wanted to share them. She was an escapee from a Polish shtetl wiped out by the Nazis, a high-school political activist in Lithuania, a university student in France who lost her first love tragically, a partisan for Arab-Jewish co-existence in Palestine who was caught in the first intifada in 1936, and a penniless arrival to America in 1937.

    Yet when she died she had amassed one of the most important collections of Modern Art in the world and was a university lecturer on the subject.

    In writing about her, I understood for the first time how her experience of losing loved ones to the Nazis had been passed on to her American son.

    But as a psychiatrist, I was drawn to Felice’s story because it shows so much resilience in the face of terrible emotional trauma. Her life dramatizes how just keeping on through days of having nothing but a belief that "someday I will have something," can be a powerful survival tool.
    – Henry Massie


    From the publisher:

    One of Felice’s friends called her “the quintessential perfect modern woman.” I call her a role model. We should all be so inventive, so quick, so brilliant and mesmerizing. When I got to the part of the narrative where she immigrates to America, I held my breath, afraid the exciting part was over. But I just didn’t know Felice. I ended up fascinated to the end, riveted by Felice’s ability to be herself, to make her mark no matter where she was.
    -- Julie Smith


    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Henry Massie is a psychiatrist, award-winning author, and pioneering researcher in the field of autism. FELICE'S WORLDS--From the Holocaust to the Halls of Modern Art, is the a memoir and biography of his mother, a brilliant and beautiful woman who participated in many of the most critical periods of the 20th Century.


    If you liked AWAY by Amy Bloom, or LOST IN TRANSLATION by Eva Hoffman, you should really meet Felice.


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  • The Autobiography of Ben Franklin

    Benjamin Franklin

    The Autobiography of Ben Franklin
    Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is one of the most famous works in American literature. He started it as a private collection of anecdotes for his son, but soon it was transformed into a work of history. This is a charming, self-portrait of one of America's greatest forefathers.
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  • Steve Jobs

    Walter Isaacson

    Steve Jobs
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  • Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (Random House Large Print)

    Laura Hillenbrand

    Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (Random House Large Print)
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  • Children of Dreams

    Lorilyn Roberts

    Children of Dreams
    Lorilyn Roberts' hopes of motherhood came to a devastating end when her husband left her for his pregnant girlfriend. Eight years later, Children of Dreams reveals God's restoration of her dreams through the international adoption of her two daughters. Written as creative nonfiction, an analogy is drawn between the physical adoption of children and God's spiritual adoption as recounted in the Bible. Ms. Roberts skillfully weaves in her own back‑story while telling about her adventures in Nepal and Vietnam, filled with political intrigue.

    Scriptural insights and reflections interspersed throughout the book show Lorilyn's reliance upon her heavenly Father when all hope seemed lost. The reader will enjoy the vivid descriptions as well as a window into the plight of those struggling to survive where basic necessities may not be available. The adventure includes meeting a future Prime Minister, a missing baby, and many other surprises.

    The medical mystery in Children of Dreams was featured on Animal Planet's "Monsters Inside Me," in the episode of "Shapeshifters."

    Ms. Roberts' appearance on the show was to inform adopting families about certain medical conditions endemic in developing countries.
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  • Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir)

    Jenny Lawson

    Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir)
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  • Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl, Written by Herself: With Related Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)

    Harriet Jacobs

    Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl, Written by Herself: With Related Documents (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
    Much of what is known about the experience of slavery comes from first-person accounts written by formerly enslaved men. In this volume, Jennifer Fleischner examines the first- and best-known female account of life under, and escape from, slavery — Harriet Jacobs’ autobiography. In her introduction, Fleischner shows how Jacobs used the written word to liberate herself and promote the end of slavery by carefully discussing her sexual exploitation as a slave in ways that would inspire sympathy in — and not offend — her Victorian white, middle-class, female audience. The rich collection of related documents that accompany Jacobs’ complete narrative — including a selection of Jacobs’ letters and her brother’s account of some of the same incidents Jacobs describes — illuminate Jacobs’ life, her thoughts about writing, and her relationships with white women abolitionists. Document headnotes, a chronology, questions for consideration, a selected bibliography, and a chart of the pseudonyms Jacobs used for her real-life characters further enrich this important contribution to the history of slavery in America.
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  • The Picture Of Dorian Gray

    Oscar Wilde

    The Picture Of Dorian Gray
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  • The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie

    Kim Carpenter, Krickitt Carpenter, Dana Wilkerson

    The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie
    Life as Kim and Krickitt Carpenter knew it was shattered beyond recognition on November 24, 1993. Two months after their marriage, a devastating car wreck left Krickitt with a massive head injury and in a coma for weeks.

    When she finally awoke, she had no idea who Kim was. With no recollection of their relationship and while Krickitt experienced personality changes common to those who suffer head injuries, Kim realized the woman he had married essentially died in the accident.

    And yet, against all odds, but through the common faith in Christ that sustained them, Kim and Krickitt fell in love all over again. Even though Kim stood by Krickitt through the darkest times a husband can ever imagine, he insists, “I’m no hero. I made a vow.”

    Now available in trade paper with a new chapter and photo insert, The Vow is the true story that inspired the major motion picture of the same name starring Rachel McAdams (The Notebook), Channing Tatum (Dear John), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), and Academy Award winner Jessica Lange.
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  • What It Is

    Sarah Burleton

    What It Is
    I am a survivor of horrific physical and mental abuse inflicted on me by the one person in my life that was supposed to love and protect me and teach me right from wrong. I am a fighter because I did not allow my past to dictate my future and I fought for years to successfully overcome the demons left over from my childhood. I spent my entire life punishing myself for the acts of my mother. I spent years trying desperately to figure out why she was the way she was and what I could have done so wrong to make her hate me so much. My journey to overcome my childhood demons was difficult and painful; but in the end, I realized that my past is what it is and it was up to me to decide my future. I wrote my first book, Why Me?, in an attempt to open the world's eyes to the abuse I endured as a child. It was my hope that just one person would get something positive and inspirational out of my story and realize that there are many of "us" out there. I was overwhelmed by the response to my first book; I couldn't believe that so many people got something out of my little story and the emails I got from readers were just amazing. I realized that I needed to tell the rest of my story and show everyone what I endured to finally be able to sit back and say, "It is what it is." I thank you all for sharing my life with me. I pray for all of you suffering and I love you all.
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  • CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (non illustrated)

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (non illustrated)
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  • Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture

    Andy Cohen

    Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture

    The man behind the Real Housewives writes about his lifelong love affair with pop culture that brought him from the suburbs of St. Louis to his own television show

    From a young age, Andy Cohen knew one thing: He loved television. Not in the way that most kids do, but in an irrepressible, all-consuming, I-want-to-climb-inside-the-tube kind of way. And climb inside he did. Now presiding over Bravo's reality TV empire, he started out as an overly talkative pop culture obsessive, devoted to Charlie's Angels and All My Children and to his mother, who received daily letters from Andy at summer camp, usually reminding her to tape the soaps. In retrospect, it's hard to believe that everyone didn't know that Andy was gay; still, he remained in the closet until college. Finally out, he embarked on making a career out of his passion for television.

    The journey begins with Andy interviewing his all-time idol Susan Lucci for his college newspaper and ends with him in a job where he has a hand in creating today's celebrity icons. In the witty, no-holds-barred style of his show Watch What Happens Live, Andy tells tales of absurd mishaps during his ten years at CBS News, hilarious encounters with the heroes and heroines of his youth, and the real stories behind The Real Housewives. Dishy, funny, and full of heart, Most Talkative provides a one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of television, from a fan who grew up watching the screen and is now inside it, both making shows and hosting his own.

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  • In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

    Erik Larson

    In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
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  • Overlay - A Tale of One Girl's Life in 1970s Las Vegas: Memoirs of Marlayna Glynn Brown (Volume 1)

    Marlayna Glynn Brown

    Overlay - A Tale of One Girl's Life in 1970s Las Vegas: Memoirs of Marlayna Glynn Brown (Volume 1)
    Author Marlayna Glynn Brown has crafted an extraordinary tale of survival and resilience in spare and convincing prose. Written from a child's point of view from ages 4 to 17, this tale describes the turbulent childhood of Marlayna in 1970s Las Vegas. Born into an ongoing cycle of alcoholism, addiction and abandonment amidst fallen adults, Marlayna develops a powerful sense of self-preservation in contrast to the people entrusted with her care. Her story explores the personalities of the bizarre characters who populate her life as she moves from home to home, parent to parent, family to family and ultimately to homelessness at the age of fourteen. Out of the resources of her remarkable childhood emerges an inner strength that will charm and captivate readers. Her story will remain in your consciousness long after the last page of her story has been turned.
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  • Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

    Anna Quindlen

    Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

    In this irresistible memoir, the New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more.
     
    As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks about
     
    Marriage: “A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn’t believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation.”
     
    Girlfriends: “Ask any woman how she makes it through the day, and she may mention her calendar, her to-do lists, her babysitter. But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, she will mention her girlfriends. Sometimes I will see a photo of an actress in an unflattering dress or a blouse too young for her or with a heavy-handed makeup job, and I mutter, ‘She must not have any girlfriends.’ ”
     
    Stuff: “Here’s what it comes down to, really: there is now so much stuff in my head, so many years, so many memories, that it’s taken the place of primacy away from the things in the bedrooms, on the porch. My doctor says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, she doesn’t believe our memories flag because of a drop in estrogen but because of how crowded it is in the drawers of our minds. Between the stuff at work and the stuff at home, the appointments and the news and the gossip and the rest, the past and the present and the plans for the future, the filing cabinets in our heads are not only full, they’re overflowing.”
     
    Our bodies: “I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It’s like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine.”
     
    Parenting: “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”
     
    From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it satisfying and even joyful. Candid, funny, moving, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.

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