New York Times best sellerHailed by Anthony Bourdain as "heartbreaking, horrifying, poignant, and inspiring", 32 Yolks is the brave and affecting coming-of-age story about the making of a French chef, from the culinary icon behind the renowned New York City restaurant Le Bernardin.Named one of the best books of the year by NPRIn an industry where celebrity chefs are known as much for their salty talk and quick tempers as their food, Eric Ripert stands out. The winner of four James Beard Awards, co-owner and chef of a world-renowned restaurant, and recipient of countless Michelin stars, Ripert embodies elegance and culinary perfection. But before the accolades, before he even knew how to make a proper hollandaise sauce, Eric Ripert was a lonely young boy in the south of France whose life was falling apart. Riperts parents divorced when he was six, separating him from the father he idolized and replacing him with a cold, bullying stepfather who insisted that Ripert be sent away to boarding school. A few years later, Riperts father died on a hiking trip. Through these tough times, the one thing that gave Ripert comfort was food. Told that boys had no place in the kitchen, Ripert would instead watch from the doorway as his mother rolled couscous by hand or his grandmother pressed out the buttery dough for the treat he loved above all others, tarte aux pommes. When an eccentric local chef took him under his wing, an 11-year-old Ripert realized that food was more than just an escape: It was his calling. That passion would carry him through the drudgery of culinary school and into the high-pressure world of Paris most elite restaurants, where Ripert discovered that learning to cook was the easy part - surviving the line was the battle. Taking us from Eric Riperts childhood in the south of France and the mountains of Andorra into the demanding kitchens of such legendary Parisian chefs as Joel Robuchon and Dominique Bouchet, until, at the age of 24, Ripert made his way to the United States, 32 Yolks is the tender and richly told story of how one of our greatest living chefs found himself - and his home - in the kitchen. Praise for 32 Yolks"Passionate, poetical... What makes 32 Yolks compelling is the honesty and laudable humility Ripert brings to the telling." (Chicago Tribune) "With a vulnerability and honesty that is breathtaking... Ripert takes us into the mind of a boy with thoughts so sweet they will cause you to weep." (The Wall Street Journal)
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9780812992984
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Hardcover
Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder
By Kalb, Claudia
Was Andy Warhol a hoarder? Did Einstein have autism? Was Frank Lloyd Wright a narcissist? In this surprising, inventive, and meticulously researched look at the evolution of mental health, acclaimed health and science journalist Claudia Kalb gives readers a glimpse into the lives of high-profile historic figures through the lens of modern psychology, weaving groundbreaking research into biographical narratives that are deeply embedded in our culture. From Marilyn Monroe's borderline personality disorder to Charles Darwin's anxiety, Kalb provides compelling insight into a broad range of maladies, using historical records and interviews with leading mental health experts, biographers, sociologists, and other specialists. Packed with intriguing revelations, this smart narrative brings a new perspective to one of the hottest new topics in today's cultural conversation.
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9781426214660
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Print book
83 Minutes
By Richards, Matt
A definitive look at Michael Jackson's final minutes, revealing for the first time the shocking details behind the tragic death of one of the world's biggest pop stars.On June 25th, 2009, the world was rocked by the tragic news that Michael Jackson -- the biggest and most influential music icon since Elvis Presley -- had died. He was only 50 years old when paramedics pronounced him dead on arrival at a Los Angeles hospital. For weeks after his death, speculation and rumor abounded concerning the drugs in Jackson's system and the role Conrad Murray, the singer's personal physician, had played in the his death. In 2011, Murray was tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, for which he served two years in prison.Now, for the first time, readers have access to a comprehensive and truly horrifying account of the crucial moments leading up to Jackson's demise. Drawing on court documents and testimonials, 83 Minutes presents a multi-perspective tracking of every individual involved and the part they played as the tragedy unfolded, examining forensically the mystery of the 83 minutes that elapsed from the moment Dr. Murray suggested he found Jackson not breathing to the moment the singers' lifeless body was wheeled into hospital.Evenhanded and unbiased, Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne's account is rich with detail, including the specific cocktail of drugs employed in an attempt to keep Jackson alive and the harrowing conditions in which the troubled genius's life ended. Included as well is the story of the legal struggle for control of Jackson's assets that followed his death where Richards and Langthorne report that "the combined earnings of Jay Z, Taylor Swift, and Kanye West since Michael Jackson died come nowhere near the revenues Jackson has earned for his estate after his death."Written with documentary flair, this powerful and compelling book is already emerging as the definitive account of one of the darkest hours in music history.
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9781250108920
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Print book
Approaching Ali
By Miller, Davis
The single most intimate look at Muhammad Ali's life after boxing, told through the story of an unexpected friendship.On Easter weekend 1988, then struggling writer and movie store clerk Davis Miller drove to Muhammad Ali's mother's modest house in Louisville, knocked on the front door, and waited for an answer. It had been over two decades since he'd first glimpsed The Champ on a black-and-white television -- when Miller was an eleven-year-old boy, shattered by the unexpected loss of his mother -- and he felt the time had come for him to personally thank the man whose fearlessness, grace, and tenacity gave him the power to overcome a near-paralyzing depression. When the door finally opened, Miller would not only get to meet his "spiritual constant" but also begin a surprising and tender new friendship that would forever transform his life.Today, more than twenty-five years later, the two still share an uncommon bond, the sort that can be fashioned only in serendipitous ways and fortified through shared experiences. Miller now draws from those remarkable moments to give us a quietly startling portrait of a great man physically ravaged but spiritually young. Beginning with a series of three interconnected anecdotes about Miller's first meeting with the champ -- which formed the basis of "My Dinner with Ali," a legendary piece of sports journalism that was anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century -- Approaching Ali continues as a historic tribute, composed of linked vignettes spread out over decades, that is unlike anything else that has been written about one of the world's most famous and loved men.As readers will discover in these pages, Miller is the Everyman, Ali the Superman in physical decline. Commingled together, the two voices form the all-time most intimate portrait of Ali's day-by-day life in his postboxing career. Through Miller's eyes, we witness the aging and ailing Ali playing mischievous tricks on unsuspecting guests, performing sleight of hand for any willing audience, and walking over ten miles each day to enjoy an ice cream sundae and talk with strangers. Miller goes on to reveal a side of the boxing legend we never knew was there, whether it be Ali handing out hundred-dollar bills at a Los Angeles bus stop, showing a group of inner-city children the ocean for the very first time, or unexpectedly cracking jokes with the distinctly insightful words he is still able to summon.Following in the grand contemporary literary tradition of writers such as Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, and Nick Hornby, Miller gives us a series of extraordinary insights into a man that he has been approaching nearly his entire life. The result is both a new introduction to the human side of a boxing legend as well as a loving and beautifully written reclamation of Muhammad Ali's life after the ring. 25 photographs
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9781631491153
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Print book
1924
By Range, Peter Ross
The dark story of Adolf Hitler's life in 1924--the year that made a monsterBefore Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, there was 1924. This was the year of Hitler's final transformation into the self-proclaimed savior and infallible leader who would interpret and distort Germany's historical traditions to support his vision for the Third Reich. Everything that would come--the rallies and riots, the single-minded deployment of a catastrophically evil idea--all of it crystallized in one defining year. 1924 was the year that Hitler spent locked away from society, in prison and surrounded by co-conspirators of the failed Beer Hall Putsch. It was a year of deep reading and intensive writing, a year of courtroom speeches and a treason trial, a year of slowly walking gravel paths and spouting ideology while working feverishly on the book that became his manifesto: Mein Kampf.Until now, no one has fully examined this single and pivotal period of Hitler's life. In 1924, Peter Ross Range richly depicts the stories and scenes of a year vital to understanding the man and the brutality he wrought in a war that changed the world forever.
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9780316384032
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Print book
Approval Junkie
By Salie, Faith
From comedian and journalist Faith Salie, of NPR's Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! and CBS News Sunday Morning, a collection of humorous essays chronicling the author's adventures during her lifelong quest for approval. Faith Salie has done it all in the name of validation. Whether it's trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, embarking on a spiritual retreat in the hopes of saving her toxic marriage, or maintaining the BMI of "a flapper with a touch of dysentery," Salie is the ultimate approval seeker - an "approval junkie," if you will. In "Miss Aphrodite," she recounts her strategy for winning the high school beauty pageant ("Not to brag or anything, but no one stood a chance against my emaciated, spastic resolve") , in "My Summer Fling With Bill O'Reilly," Salie attempts to win over Bill O'Reilly during their interview ("Papa Bear probably didn't think he could love a girl like me, but I was going to prove him wrong in front of a bunch of white people who like guns.") "What I Wore to My Divorce" describes Salie's struggle to pick the perfect outfit to wear to the courthouse to divorce her "wasband" ("I envisioned a look that said, 'Yo, THIS is what you'll be missing ... even though you've introduced your new girlfriend to our mutual friends, and she's a decade younger than I am and is also a fit model") and in "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me About Batman's Nipples" she reveals the secret to her hilarious jokes on Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! ("I study for this show like Tracy Flick on Adderall") . With thoughtful irreverence, Salie reflects on why it is she tries so hard to please others, and especially herself, highlighting a phenomenon that many people--especially women-- experience at home and in the work place. Equal parts laugh-out loud funny and poignant, Approval Junkie is one woman's journey to the realization that seeking approval from others is more than just getting them to like you-- it's challenging yourself to achieve, and survive, more than you ever thought you could.
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9780553419931
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Print book
The Art of Tough
By Boxer, Barbara
"One goal of this memoir is to inspire people to fight for change. It takes what I call the Art of Tough and I've had to do it all my life."---Senator Barbara BoxerBarbara Boxer has made her mark, combining compassionate advocacy with scrappiness in a political career spanning more than three decades. Now, retiring from the Senate, she continues the work to which she's dedicated 30 years in Congress. Her memoir, The Art of Tough, shares her provocative and touching recollections of service, and cements her commitment to the fight for women, families, quality, environmental protection, all in a peaceful world.Sometimes lauded, sometimes vilified, but always standing tough, Boxer has fought for what is right even when her personal convictions conflicted with her party or the majority rule.
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9780316311465
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Hardcover
Above the Line
By Maclaine, Shirley
From the beloved and bestselling actress, a book about her experiences filming Wild Oats in the Canary Islands - which brings forth memories of a past life on the lost continent of Atlantis. This is a terrific companion to the movie, telling the behind-the-scenes, over-the-top story of how the film came to be made, along with extraordinary new past-life recollections that Shirley experienced while on set.
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9781501136412
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Hardcover
At the Existentialist Caf
By Bakewell, Sarah
From the best-selling author of How to Live, a spirited account of one of the twentieth century's major intellectual movements and the revolutionary thinkers who came to shape it Paris, 1933: three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called Phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!" It was this simple phrase that would ignite a movement, inspiring Sartre to integrate Phenomenology into his own French, humanistic sensibility, thereby creating an entirely new philosophical approach inspired by themes of radical freedom, authentic being, and political activism. This movement would sweep through the jazz clubs and cafs of the Left Bank before making its way across the world as Existentialism. Featuring not only philosophers, but also playwrights, anthropologists, convicts, and revolutionaries, At the Existentialist Caf follows the existentialists' story, from the first rebellious spark through the Second World War, to its role in postwar liberation movements such as anticolonialism, feminism, and gay rights. Interweaving biography and philosophy, it is the epic account of passionate encounters - fights, love affairs, mentorships, rebellions, and long partnerships - and a vital investigation into what the existentialists have to offer us today, at a moment when we are once again confronting the major questions of freedom, global responsibility, and human authenticity in a fractious and technology-driven world.
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9781590514887
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Print book
Alive, Alive Oh!
By Athill, Diana
A luminous, wise, and joyful insight into what really matters at the end of a long life, from the beloved author of the award-winning Somewhere Towards the End.What will you remember if you live to be 100?Diana Athill charmed readers with her prize-winning memoir Somewhere Towards the End, which transformed her into an unexpected literary star. Now, on the eve of her ninety-eighth birthday, Athill has written a sequel every bit as unsentimental, candid, and beguiling as her most beloved work.Writing from her cozy room in Highgate, London, Diana begins to reflect on the things that matter after a lifetime of remarkable experiences, and the memories that have risen to the surface and sustain her in her very old age."My two valuable lessons are: avoid romanticism and abhor possessiveness," she writes. In warm, engaging prose she describes the bucolic pleasures of her grandmother's garden and the wonders of traveling as a young woman in Europe after the end of the Second World War. As her vivid, textured memories range across the decades, she relates with unflinching candor her harrowing experience as an expectant mother in her forties and crafts unforgettable portraits of friends, writers, and lovers.A pure joy to read, Alive, Alive Oh! sparkles with wise and often very funny reflections on the condition of being old. Athill reminds us of the joy and richness of every stage of life -- and what it means to live life fully, without regrets.
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9780393253719
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Print book
The Auctioneer
By Pury, Simon De
Just as William Goldman, the ultimate screenwriter, took us inside Hollywood, Simon de Pury, the ultimate art player, will take us inside an even more secretive business, whose staggering prices, famous collectors, and high crimes are front page news almost every day. The former Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, the former owner of Sotheby's rival Phillips de Pury, and currently a London-based dealer and advisor to great collectors around the world, Simon has one of the highest profiles of any non-artist in the art world. Even though he has an ancient title and the aura of an elegant Swiss banker, Simon is famous as an iconoclast and is known as "The Mick Jagger of Auctions" for his showmanship and exuberance. His whole life in art has been devoted to bringing art to the public and to the juxtaposition of high and low. Movie stars, musicians, and athletes compete with hedge funders and billionaires for the great art, and Simon is their pied piper; he wants to turn the world onto art and this book will be his message.
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9781250059789
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Hardcover
All Strangers Are Kin
By O'neill, Zora
"The shaddais the key difference between a pigeon (hamam) and a bathroom (hammam) . Be careful, our professor advised, in the first moment of outright humor in class, that you don't ask a waiter, 'Excuse me, where is the pigeon?' - or, conversely, order a roasted toilet." If you've ever studied a foreign language, you know what happens when you first truly and clearly communicate with another person. As Zora O'Neill recalls, you feel like a magician. If that foreign language is Arabic, you just might feel like a wizard. They say that Arabic takes seven years to learn and a lifetime to master. O'Neill had put in her time. Steeped in grammar tomes and outdated textbooks, she faced an increasing certainty that she was not only failing to master Arabic, but also driving herself crazy. She took a decade-long hiatus, but couldn't shake her fascination with the language or the cultures it had opened up to her. So she decided to jump back in - this time with a new approach. Join O'Neill for a grand tour through the Middle East. You will laugh with her in Egypt, delight in the stories she passes on from the United Arab Emirates, and find yourself transformed by her experiences in Lebanon and Morocco. She's packed her dictionaries, her unsinkable sense of humor, and her talent for making fast friends of strangers. From quiet, bougainvillea-lined streets to the lively buzz of crowded medinas, from families' homes to local hotspots, she brings a part of the world that is thousands of miles away right to your door. A natural storyteller with an eye for the deeply absurd and the deeply human, O'Neill explores the indelible links between culture and communication. A powerful testament to the dynamism of language, All Strangers Are Kin reminds us that learning another tongue leaves you rich with so much more than words.
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9780547853185
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Hardcover
Available
By Perry, Matteson
From a breakout storytelling star at The Moth, a real-life romantic comedy about a guy and a girl - and twenty-nine other girls: a memoir about an unexpected break-up, one self-imposed year of being single, and how a "nice guy" survived dating in the twenty-first century.Matteson Perry is a Nice Guy. He remembers birthdays, politely averts his eyes on the subway, and enjoys backgammon. A serial monogamist, he's never asked a stranger out. But when the girl he thought might be The One dumps him, he decides to turn his life around. He comes up with The Plan: 1. Be single for a year. 2. Date a lot of women. 3. Hurt no one's feelings. He's not out to get revenge, or to become a pickup artist; he just wants to disrupt his pattern, have some fun, and discover who he is. A quick-witted Everyman, Perry throws himself into the modern world of courtship and digital dating, only to discover that even the best-laid plans won't necessarily get you laid. Over the course of a year he dated almost thirty different women, including a Swedish tourist, a former high school crush, a born-again virgin, a groupie, an actress, a lesbian, and a biter. In Available, award-winning storyteller Matteson Perry brings us into the inner sanctum of failed pick-up lines, uncomfortable courtships, awkward texts, and self-discovery, charting the highs and lows of single life and the lessons he learned along the way. Candid, empathetic, and devastatingly funny, Available is the ultimate real-life rom-com about learning to date, finding love, and becoming better at life.
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9781501101434
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Print book
All the Ways We Kill and Die
By Castner, Brian
The search for a friends killer is a riveting lesson in the way war has changed. The EOD - explosive ordnance disposal - community is tight-knit, and when one of their own is hurt, an alarm goes out. When Brian Castner, an Iraq War vet, learns that his friend and EOD brother Matt has been killed by an IED in Afghanistan, he goes to console Matts widow, but he also begins a personal investigation. Is the bomb maker who killed Matt the same man American forces have been hunting since Iraq, known as the Engineer? In this nonfiction thriller, Castner takes us inside the manhunt for this elusive figure, meeting maimed survivors, interviewing the forensics teams who gather post-blast evidence, the wonks who collect intelligence, the drone pilots and contractors tasked to kill. His investigation reveals how warfare has changed since Iraq, becoming individualized even as it has become hi-tech, with our drones, bomb disposal robots, and CSI-like techniques. As we use technology to identify, locate, and take out the planners and bomb makers, the chilling lesson is that the hunters are also being hunted, and the other side - from Al-Qaeda to ISIS - has been selecting its own high-value targets.
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9781628726541
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Hardcover
Alligator Candy
By Kushner, David
From award-winning journalist David Kushner, a regular contributor to "Rolling Stone, " "The New Yorker, " "Vanity Fair, " and other premier magazines, "Alligator Candy "is a reported memoir about family, survival, and the unwavering power of love. David Kushner grew up in the early 1970s in the Florida suburbs. It was when kids still ran free, riding bikes and disappearing into the nearby woods for hours at a time. One morning in 1973, however, everything changed. David s older brother Jon biked through the forest to the convenience store for candy, and never returned. Every life has a defining moment, a single act that charts the course we take and determines who we become. For Kushner, it was Jon s disappearance a tragedy that shocked his family and the community at large. Decades later, now a grown man with kids of his own, Kushner found himself unsatisfied with his own memories and decided to revisit the episode a different way: through the eyes of a reporter. His investigation brought him back to the places and people he once knew and slowly made him realize just how much his past had affected his present. After sifting through hundreds of documents and reports, conducting dozens of interviews, and poring over numerous firsthand accounts, he has produced a powerful and inspiring story of loss, perseverance, and memory. "Alligator Candy "is searing and unforgettable. "
From our buyer, Erin Crutchfield: "Alligator Candy is a very chilling memoir set in early 1970s Tampa, Florida. When the author was a young child his older brother, Jon, rode his bike to the local convenience store to buy candy but he never returned. Because the author was so young when his brother was murdered he goes through the process of reexamining and interviewing others to discover what really happened to his brother and to fill in the gaps in his memory of the traumatic event. "
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9781451682533
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Print book
Bare Bones
By Bones, Bobby
A touching, funny, heart-wrenching, and triumphant memoir from one of the biggest names in radio, the host of The Bobby Bones Show, one of the most listened-to drive time morning radio shows in the nation.Growing up poor in Mountain Pine, Arkansas, with a young, addicted mom, Bobby Estell fell in love with country music. Abandoned by his father at the age of five, Bobby saw the radio as his way out - a dream that came true in college when he went on air at the Henderson State University campus station broadcasting as Bobby Bones, while simultaneously starting The Bobby Bones Show at 105.9 KLAZ. Bobby's passions were pop, country music, and comedy, and he blended the three to become a tastemaker in the country music industry, heard by millions daily. Bobby broke the format of standard country radio, mixing country and pop with entertainment news and information, and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the business, including Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum, and Jason Aldean.Yet despite the glamour, fame, and money, Bobby has never forgotten his roots, the mom and grandmother who raised him, the work ethic he embraced which saved him and encouraged him to explore the world, and the good values that shaped him. In this funny, poignant memoir told in Bobby's distinctive patter, he takes fans on a tour of his road to radio. Bobby doesn't shy away from the curves he continues to navigate - including his obsessive-compulsive disorder - on his journey to find the happiness of a healthy family.Funny and tender, raw and honest, Bare Bones is pure Bobby Bones - surprising, entertaining, inspiring, and authentic.
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9780062417343
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Print book
Alone on the wall
By Honnold, Alex
"The extreme climber famed for his solo ascents without ropes, partners or gear describes his seven most significant achievements, including a free-solo climb up Mexico's Sendero Luminoso and the Fitz Traverse ascent in Patagonia, "--NoveList.
Publisher: n/a
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9780393247626
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Hardcover
The Battle for Room 314
By Boland, Ed
THE BATTLE FOR ROOM 314In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them: Freddy runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; and Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story is sure to ignite debate about the future of American education and attempts to reform it.
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9781455560615
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Print book
Always Too Much and Never Enough
By Singer, Jasmin
One woman's journey to find herself through juicing, veganism, and love, as she went from fat to thin and from feeding her emotions to feeding her soul. From the extra pounds and unrelenting bullies that left her eating lunch alone in a bathroom stall at school to the low self-esteem that left her both physically and emotionally vulnerable to abuse, Jasmin Singer's struggle with weight defined her life. Most people think there's no such thing as a fat vegan. Most people don't realize that deep-fried tofu tastes amazing and that Oreos are, in fact, vegan. So, even after Jasmin embraced a vegan lifestyle, having discovered her passion in advocating for the rights of animals, she defied any "skinny vegan" stereotypes by getting even heavier. More importantly, she realized that her compassion for animals didn't extend to her own body, and that her low self-esteem was affecting her health. She needed a change. By committing to monthly juice fasts and a diet of whole, unprocessed foods, Jasmin lost almost a hundred pounds, gained an understanding of her destructive relationship with food, and finally realized what it means to be truly full. Told with humble humor and heartbreaking honesty, this is Jasmin's story of how she went from finding solace in a box of cheese crackers to finding peace within herself.
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9780425279571
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Print book
American Governor
By Katz, Matt
The ultimate insider to Chris Christie's 2016 presidential campaign delivers a definitive biography of the popular and controversial governor of New Jersey - including the true story behind the Bridgegate lane-closure scandal.Journalist Matt Katz has been covering Christie since 2011 and has seen firsthand how the governor appeals to the public through his tactics, rhetoric, and personality. In American Governor, Katz weaves a compelling on-the-ground political narrative that begins with the roots of his family's journey to America and takes us through his upset victory over Governor Jon Corzine and then along the road to his announcement of his candidacy for the highest office in the country. Packed with exclusive information, interviews, and anecdotes, American Governor illustrates how Christie evolved from an unpopular perennial candidate running for local office to the most watched Republican in the country, a populist with leadership skills, charm, and luck seemingly unparalleled by any other up-and-coming politician. Christie has proven himself a dynamic force of nature by emerging wounded but not unbowed after Bridgegate - a scandal that would have destroyed another politician's rising star. A political biography by an inside source who's been on the Chris Christie beat longer than any reporter in New Jersey, American Governor is a thrilling and absorbing look at the modern making of a man and a politician.
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9781476782669
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Print book
American Pharoah
By Drape, Joe
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERHistory was made at the 2015 Belmont Stakes when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, the first since Affirmed in 1978. As magnificent as the champion is, the team behind him has been all too human while on the road to immortality.Written by an award-winning New York Times sportswriter, American Pharoah is the definitive account not only of how the ethereal colt won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, but how he changed lives. Through extensive interviews, Drape explores the making of an exceptional racehorse, chronicling key events en route to history. Covering everything from the flamboyant owner's successful track record, the jockey's earlier heartbreaking losses, and the Hall of Fame trainer's intensity, Drape paints a stirring portrait of a horse for the ages and the people around him.
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9780316268844
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Hardcover
An Abbreviated Life
By Leve, Ariel
A beautiful, startling, and candid memoir about growing up without boundaries, in which Ariel Leve recalls with candor and sensitivity the turbulent time she endured as the only child of an unstable poet for a mother and a beloved but largely absent father, and explores the consequences of a psychologically harrowing childhood as she seeks refuge from the past and recovers what was lost.Ariel Leve grew up in Manhattan with an eccentric mother she describes as "a poet, an artist, a self-appointed troublemaker and attention seeker." Leve learned to become her own parent, taking care of herself and her mother's needs. There would be uncontrolled, impulsive rages followed with denial, disavowed responsibility, and then extreme outpourings of affection. How does a child learn to feel safe in this topsy-turvy world of conditional love?Leve captures the chaos and lasting impact of a child's life under siege and explores how the coping mechanisms she developed to survive later incapacitated her as an adult. There were material comforts, but no emotional safety, except for summer visits to her father's home in South East Asia - an escape that was terminated after he attempted to gain custody. Following the death of a loving caretaker, a succession of replacements raised Leve - relationships which resulted in intense attachment and loss. It was not until decades later, when Leve moved to other side of the world, that she could begin to emancipate herself from the past. In a relationship with a man who has children, caring for them yields clarity of what was missing.In telling her haunting story, Leve seeks to understand the effects of chronic psychological maltreatment on a child's developing brain, and to discover how to build a life for herself that she never dreamed possible: An unabbreviated life.
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9780062269454
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Print book
And Then All Hell Broke Loose
By Engel, Richard
When he was just twenty-three, a recent graduate of Stanford University, Richard Engel set off to Cairo with $2,000 and dreams of being a reporter. Shortly thereafter he was working freelance for Arab news sources and got a call that a busload of Italian tourists were massacred at a Cairo museum. This was his first view of the carnage these years would pile on. Over two decades, Engel has been under fire, blown out of hotel beds, and taken hostage. He has watched Mubarak and Morsi in Egypt arrested and condemned, reported from Jerusalem, been through the Lebanese war, covered the whole shooting match in Iraq, interviewed Libyan rebels who toppled Gaddafi, reported from Syria as Al-Qaeda stepped in, and was kidnapped in the Syrian crosscurrents of fighting. He goes into Afghanistan with the Taliban and to Iraq with ISIS. Engel takes chances, though not reckless ones, keeps a level head and a sense of humor, as well as a grasp of history in the making. Reporting as NBC's chief foreign correspondent, he reveals his unparalleled access to the major figures, the gritty soldiers, and the helpless victims in the Middle East during this watershed time.
32 Yolks
By Ripert, Eric
New York Times best sellerHailed by Anthony Bourdain as "heartbreaking, horrifying, poignant, and inspiring", 32 Yolks is the brave and affecting coming-of-age story about the making of a French chef, from the culinary icon behind the renowned New York City restaurant Le Bernardin.Named one of the best books of the year by NPRIn an industry where celebrity chefs are known as much for their salty talk and quick tempers as their food, Eric Ripert stands out. The winner of four James Beard Awards, co-owner and chef of a world-renowned restaurant, and recipient of countless Michelin stars, Ripert embodies elegance and culinary perfection. But before the accolades, before he even knew how to make a proper hollandaise sauce, Eric Ripert was a lonely young boy in the south of France whose life was falling apart. Riperts parents divorced when he was six, separating him from the father he idolized and replacing him with a cold, bullying stepfather who insisted that Ripert be sent away to boarding school. A few years later, Riperts father died on a hiking trip. Through these tough times, the one thing that gave Ripert comfort was food. Told that boys had no place in the kitchen, Ripert would instead watch from the doorway as his mother rolled couscous by hand or his grandmother pressed out the buttery dough for the treat he loved above all others, tarte aux pommes. When an eccentric local chef took him under his wing, an 11-year-old Ripert realized that food was more than just an escape: It was his calling. That passion would carry him through the drudgery of culinary school and into the high-pressure world of Paris most elite restaurants, where Ripert discovered that learning to cook was the easy part - surviving the line was the battle. Taking us from Eric Riperts childhood in the south of France and the mountains of Andorra into the demanding kitchens of such legendary Parisian chefs as Joel Robuchon and Dominique Bouchet, until, at the age of 24, Ripert made his way to the United States, 32 Yolks is the tender and richly told story of how one of our greatest living chefs found himself - and his home - in the kitchen. Praise for 32 Yolks"Passionate, poetical... What makes 32 Yolks compelling is the honesty and laudable humility Ripert brings to the telling." (Chicago Tribune) "With a vulnerability and honesty that is breathtaking... Ripert takes us into the mind of a boy with thoughts so sweet they will cause you to weep." (The Wall Street Journal)
Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder
By Kalb, Claudia
Was Andy Warhol a hoarder? Did Einstein have autism? Was Frank Lloyd Wright a narcissist? In this surprising, inventive, and meticulously researched look at the evolution of mental health, acclaimed health and science journalist Claudia Kalb gives readers a glimpse into the lives of high-profile historic figures through the lens of modern psychology, weaving groundbreaking research into biographical narratives that are deeply embedded in our culture. From Marilyn Monroe's borderline personality disorder to Charles Darwin's anxiety, Kalb provides compelling insight into a broad range of maladies, using historical records and interviews with leading mental health experts, biographers, sociologists, and other specialists. Packed with intriguing revelations, this smart narrative brings a new perspective to one of the hottest new topics in today's cultural conversation.
83 Minutes
By Richards, Matt
A definitive look at Michael Jackson's final minutes, revealing for the first time the shocking details behind the tragic death of one of the world's biggest pop stars.On June 25th, 2009, the world was rocked by the tragic news that Michael Jackson -- the biggest and most influential music icon since Elvis Presley -- had died. He was only 50 years old when paramedics pronounced him dead on arrival at a Los Angeles hospital. For weeks after his death, speculation and rumor abounded concerning the drugs in Jackson's system and the role Conrad Murray, the singer's personal physician, had played in the his death. In 2011, Murray was tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, for which he served two years in prison.Now, for the first time, readers have access to a comprehensive and truly horrifying account of the crucial moments leading up to Jackson's demise. Drawing on court documents and testimonials, 83 Minutes presents a multi-perspective tracking of every individual involved and the part they played as the tragedy unfolded, examining forensically the mystery of the 83 minutes that elapsed from the moment Dr. Murray suggested he found Jackson not breathing to the moment the singers' lifeless body was wheeled into hospital.Evenhanded and unbiased, Matt Richards and Mark Langthorne's account is rich with detail, including the specific cocktail of drugs employed in an attempt to keep Jackson alive and the harrowing conditions in which the troubled genius's life ended. Included as well is the story of the legal struggle for control of Jackson's assets that followed his death where Richards and Langthorne report that "the combined earnings of Jay Z, Taylor Swift, and Kanye West since Michael Jackson died come nowhere near the revenues Jackson has earned for his estate after his death."Written with documentary flair, this powerful and compelling book is already emerging as the definitive account of one of the darkest hours in music history.
Approaching Ali
By Miller, Davis
The single most intimate look at Muhammad Ali's life after boxing, told through the story of an unexpected friendship.On Easter weekend 1988, then struggling writer and movie store clerk Davis Miller drove to Muhammad Ali's mother's modest house in Louisville, knocked on the front door, and waited for an answer. It had been over two decades since he'd first glimpsed The Champ on a black-and-white television -- when Miller was an eleven-year-old boy, shattered by the unexpected loss of his mother -- and he felt the time had come for him to personally thank the man whose fearlessness, grace, and tenacity gave him the power to overcome a near-paralyzing depression. When the door finally opened, Miller would not only get to meet his "spiritual constant" but also begin a surprising and tender new friendship that would forever transform his life.Today, more than twenty-five years later, the two still share an uncommon bond, the sort that can be fashioned only in serendipitous ways and fortified through shared experiences. Miller now draws from those remarkable moments to give us a quietly startling portrait of a great man physically ravaged but spiritually young. Beginning with a series of three interconnected anecdotes about Miller's first meeting with the champ -- which formed the basis of "My Dinner with Ali," a legendary piece of sports journalism that was anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century -- Approaching Ali continues as a historic tribute, composed of linked vignettes spread out over decades, that is unlike anything else that has been written about one of the world's most famous and loved men.As readers will discover in these pages, Miller is the Everyman, Ali the Superman in physical decline. Commingled together, the two voices form the all-time most intimate portrait of Ali's day-by-day life in his postboxing career. Through Miller's eyes, we witness the aging and ailing Ali playing mischievous tricks on unsuspecting guests, performing sleight of hand for any willing audience, and walking over ten miles each day to enjoy an ice cream sundae and talk with strangers. Miller goes on to reveal a side of the boxing legend we never knew was there, whether it be Ali handing out hundred-dollar bills at a Los Angeles bus stop, showing a group of inner-city children the ocean for the very first time, or unexpectedly cracking jokes with the distinctly insightful words he is still able to summon.Following in the grand contemporary literary tradition of writers such as Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, and Nick Hornby, Miller gives us a series of extraordinary insights into a man that he has been approaching nearly his entire life. The result is both a new introduction to the human side of a boxing legend as well as a loving and beautifully written reclamation of Muhammad Ali's life after the ring. 25 photographs
1924
By Range, Peter Ross
The dark story of Adolf Hitler's life in 1924--the year that made a monsterBefore Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany, there was 1924. This was the year of Hitler's final transformation into the self-proclaimed savior and infallible leader who would interpret and distort Germany's historical traditions to support his vision for the Third Reich. Everything that would come--the rallies and riots, the single-minded deployment of a catastrophically evil idea--all of it crystallized in one defining year. 1924 was the year that Hitler spent locked away from society, in prison and surrounded by co-conspirators of the failed Beer Hall Putsch. It was a year of deep reading and intensive writing, a year of courtroom speeches and a treason trial, a year of slowly walking gravel paths and spouting ideology while working feverishly on the book that became his manifesto: Mein Kampf.Until now, no one has fully examined this single and pivotal period of Hitler's life. In 1924, Peter Ross Range richly depicts the stories and scenes of a year vital to understanding the man and the brutality he wrought in a war that changed the world forever.
Approval Junkie
By Salie, Faith
From comedian and journalist Faith Salie, of NPR's Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! and CBS News Sunday Morning, a collection of humorous essays chronicling the author's adventures during her lifelong quest for approval. Faith Salie has done it all in the name of validation. Whether it's trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, embarking on a spiritual retreat in the hopes of saving her toxic marriage, or maintaining the BMI of "a flapper with a touch of dysentery," Salie is the ultimate approval seeker - an "approval junkie," if you will. In "Miss Aphrodite," she recounts her strategy for winning the high school beauty pageant ("Not to brag or anything, but no one stood a chance against my emaciated, spastic resolve") , in "My Summer Fling With Bill O'Reilly," Salie attempts to win over Bill O'Reilly during their interview ("Papa Bear probably didn't think he could love a girl like me, but I was going to prove him wrong in front of a bunch of white people who like guns.") "What I Wore to My Divorce" describes Salie's struggle to pick the perfect outfit to wear to the courthouse to divorce her "wasband" ("I envisioned a look that said, 'Yo, THIS is what you'll be missing ... even though you've introduced your new girlfriend to our mutual friends, and she's a decade younger than I am and is also a fit model") and in "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me About Batman's Nipples" she reveals the secret to her hilarious jokes on Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! ("I study for this show like Tracy Flick on Adderall") . With thoughtful irreverence, Salie reflects on why it is she tries so hard to please others, and especially herself, highlighting a phenomenon that many people--especially women-- experience at home and in the work place. Equal parts laugh-out loud funny and poignant, Approval Junkie is one woman's journey to the realization that seeking approval from others is more than just getting them to like you-- it's challenging yourself to achieve, and survive, more than you ever thought you could.
The Art of Tough
By Boxer, Barbara
"One goal of this memoir is to inspire people to fight for change. It takes what I call the Art of Tough and I've had to do it all my life."---Senator Barbara BoxerBarbara Boxer has made her mark, combining compassionate advocacy with scrappiness in a political career spanning more than three decades. Now, retiring from the Senate, she continues the work to which she's dedicated 30 years in Congress. Her memoir, The Art of Tough, shares her provocative and touching recollections of service, and cements her commitment to the fight for women, families, quality, environmental protection, all in a peaceful world.Sometimes lauded, sometimes vilified, but always standing tough, Boxer has fought for what is right even when her personal convictions conflicted with her party or the majority rule.
Above the Line
By Maclaine, Shirley
From the beloved and bestselling actress, a book about her experiences filming Wild Oats in the Canary Islands - which brings forth memories of a past life on the lost continent of Atlantis. This is a terrific companion to the movie, telling the behind-the-scenes, over-the-top story of how the film came to be made, along with extraordinary new past-life recollections that Shirley experienced while on set.
At the Existentialist Caf
By Bakewell, Sarah
From the best-selling author of How to Live, a spirited account of one of the twentieth century's major intellectual movements and the revolutionary thinkers who came to shape it Paris, 1933: three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called Phenomenology. "You see," he says, "if you are a phenomenologist you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!" It was this simple phrase that would ignite a movement, inspiring Sartre to integrate Phenomenology into his own French, humanistic sensibility, thereby creating an entirely new philosophical approach inspired by themes of radical freedom, authentic being, and political activism. This movement would sweep through the jazz clubs and cafs of the Left Bank before making its way across the world as Existentialism. Featuring not only philosophers, but also playwrights, anthropologists, convicts, and revolutionaries, At the Existentialist Caf follows the existentialists' story, from the first rebellious spark through the Second World War, to its role in postwar liberation movements such as anticolonialism, feminism, and gay rights. Interweaving biography and philosophy, it is the epic account of passionate encounters - fights, love affairs, mentorships, rebellions, and long partnerships - and a vital investigation into what the existentialists have to offer us today, at a moment when we are once again confronting the major questions of freedom, global responsibility, and human authenticity in a fractious and technology-driven world.
Alive, Alive Oh!
By Athill, Diana
A luminous, wise, and joyful insight into what really matters at the end of a long life, from the beloved author of the award-winning Somewhere Towards the End.What will you remember if you live to be 100?Diana Athill charmed readers with her prize-winning memoir Somewhere Towards the End, which transformed her into an unexpected literary star. Now, on the eve of her ninety-eighth birthday, Athill has written a sequel every bit as unsentimental, candid, and beguiling as her most beloved work.Writing from her cozy room in Highgate, London, Diana begins to reflect on the things that matter after a lifetime of remarkable experiences, and the memories that have risen to the surface and sustain her in her very old age."My two valuable lessons are: avoid romanticism and abhor possessiveness," she writes. In warm, engaging prose she describes the bucolic pleasures of her grandmother's garden and the wonders of traveling as a young woman in Europe after the end of the Second World War. As her vivid, textured memories range across the decades, she relates with unflinching candor her harrowing experience as an expectant mother in her forties and crafts unforgettable portraits of friends, writers, and lovers.A pure joy to read, Alive, Alive Oh! sparkles with wise and often very funny reflections on the condition of being old. Athill reminds us of the joy and richness of every stage of life -- and what it means to live life fully, without regrets.
The Auctioneer
By Pury, Simon De
Just as William Goldman, the ultimate screenwriter, took us inside Hollywood, Simon de Pury, the ultimate art player, will take us inside an even more secretive business, whose staggering prices, famous collectors, and high crimes are front page news almost every day. The former Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, the former owner of Sotheby's rival Phillips de Pury, and currently a London-based dealer and advisor to great collectors around the world, Simon has one of the highest profiles of any non-artist in the art world. Even though he has an ancient title and the aura of an elegant Swiss banker, Simon is famous as an iconoclast and is known as "The Mick Jagger of Auctions" for his showmanship and exuberance. His whole life in art has been devoted to bringing art to the public and to the juxtaposition of high and low. Movie stars, musicians, and athletes compete with hedge funders and billionaires for the great art, and Simon is their pied piper; he wants to turn the world onto art and this book will be his message.
All Strangers Are Kin
By O'neill, Zora
"The shaddais the key difference between a pigeon (hamam) and a bathroom (hammam) . Be careful, our professor advised, in the first moment of outright humor in class, that you don't ask a waiter, 'Excuse me, where is the pigeon?' - or, conversely, order a roasted toilet." If you've ever studied a foreign language, you know what happens when you first truly and clearly communicate with another person. As Zora O'Neill recalls, you feel like a magician. If that foreign language is Arabic, you just might feel like a wizard. They say that Arabic takes seven years to learn and a lifetime to master. O'Neill had put in her time. Steeped in grammar tomes and outdated textbooks, she faced an increasing certainty that she was not only failing to master Arabic, but also driving herself crazy. She took a decade-long hiatus, but couldn't shake her fascination with the language or the cultures it had opened up to her. So she decided to jump back in - this time with a new approach. Join O'Neill for a grand tour through the Middle East. You will laugh with her in Egypt, delight in the stories she passes on from the United Arab Emirates, and find yourself transformed by her experiences in Lebanon and Morocco. She's packed her dictionaries, her unsinkable sense of humor, and her talent for making fast friends of strangers. From quiet, bougainvillea-lined streets to the lively buzz of crowded medinas, from families' homes to local hotspots, she brings a part of the world that is thousands of miles away right to your door. A natural storyteller with an eye for the deeply absurd and the deeply human, O'Neill explores the indelible links between culture and communication. A powerful testament to the dynamism of language, All Strangers Are Kin reminds us that learning another tongue leaves you rich with so much more than words.
Available
By Perry, Matteson
From a breakout storytelling star at The Moth, a real-life romantic comedy about a guy and a girl - and twenty-nine other girls: a memoir about an unexpected break-up, one self-imposed year of being single, and how a "nice guy" survived dating in the twenty-first century.Matteson Perry is a Nice Guy. He remembers birthdays, politely averts his eyes on the subway, and enjoys backgammon. A serial monogamist, he's never asked a stranger out. But when the girl he thought might be The One dumps him, he decides to turn his life around. He comes up with The Plan: 1. Be single for a year. 2. Date a lot of women. 3. Hurt no one's feelings. He's not out to get revenge, or to become a pickup artist; he just wants to disrupt his pattern, have some fun, and discover who he is. A quick-witted Everyman, Perry throws himself into the modern world of courtship and digital dating, only to discover that even the best-laid plans won't necessarily get you laid. Over the course of a year he dated almost thirty different women, including a Swedish tourist, a former high school crush, a born-again virgin, a groupie, an actress, a lesbian, and a biter. In Available, award-winning storyteller Matteson Perry brings us into the inner sanctum of failed pick-up lines, uncomfortable courtships, awkward texts, and self-discovery, charting the highs and lows of single life and the lessons he learned along the way. Candid, empathetic, and devastatingly funny, Available is the ultimate real-life rom-com about learning to date, finding love, and becoming better at life.
All the Ways We Kill and Die
By Castner, Brian
The search for a friends killer is a riveting lesson in the way war has changed. The EOD - explosive ordnance disposal - community is tight-knit, and when one of their own is hurt, an alarm goes out. When Brian Castner, an Iraq War vet, learns that his friend and EOD brother Matt has been killed by an IED in Afghanistan, he goes to console Matts widow, but he also begins a personal investigation. Is the bomb maker who killed Matt the same man American forces have been hunting since Iraq, known as the Engineer? In this nonfiction thriller, Castner takes us inside the manhunt for this elusive figure, meeting maimed survivors, interviewing the forensics teams who gather post-blast evidence, the wonks who collect intelligence, the drone pilots and contractors tasked to kill. His investigation reveals how warfare has changed since Iraq, becoming individualized even as it has become hi-tech, with our drones, bomb disposal robots, and CSI-like techniques. As we use technology to identify, locate, and take out the planners and bomb makers, the chilling lesson is that the hunters are also being hunted, and the other side - from Al-Qaeda to ISIS - has been selecting its own high-value targets.
Alligator Candy
By Kushner, David
From award-winning journalist David Kushner, a regular contributor to "Rolling Stone, " "The New Yorker, " "Vanity Fair, " and other premier magazines, "Alligator Candy "is a reported memoir about family, survival, and the unwavering power of love. David Kushner grew up in the early 1970s in the Florida suburbs. It was when kids still ran free, riding bikes and disappearing into the nearby woods for hours at a time. One morning in 1973, however, everything changed. David s older brother Jon biked through the forest to the convenience store for candy, and never returned. Every life has a defining moment, a single act that charts the course we take and determines who we become. For Kushner, it was Jon s disappearance a tragedy that shocked his family and the community at large. Decades later, now a grown man with kids of his own, Kushner found himself unsatisfied with his own memories and decided to revisit the episode a different way: through the eyes of a reporter. His investigation brought him back to the places and people he once knew and slowly made him realize just how much his past had affected his present. After sifting through hundreds of documents and reports, conducting dozens of interviews, and poring over numerous firsthand accounts, he has produced a powerful and inspiring story of loss, perseverance, and memory. "Alligator Candy "is searing and unforgettable. " From our buyer, Erin Crutchfield: "Alligator Candy is a very chilling memoir set in early 1970s Tampa, Florida. When the author was a young child his older brother, Jon, rode his bike to the local convenience store to buy candy but he never returned. Because the author was so young when his brother was murdered he goes through the process of reexamining and interviewing others to discover what really happened to his brother and to fill in the gaps in his memory of the traumatic event. "
Bare Bones
By Bones, Bobby
A touching, funny, heart-wrenching, and triumphant memoir from one of the biggest names in radio, the host of The Bobby Bones Show, one of the most listened-to drive time morning radio shows in the nation.Growing up poor in Mountain Pine, Arkansas, with a young, addicted mom, Bobby Estell fell in love with country music. Abandoned by his father at the age of five, Bobby saw the radio as his way out - a dream that came true in college when he went on air at the Henderson State University campus station broadcasting as Bobby Bones, while simultaneously starting The Bobby Bones Show at 105.9 KLAZ. Bobby's passions were pop, country music, and comedy, and he blended the three to become a tastemaker in the country music industry, heard by millions daily. Bobby broke the format of standard country radio, mixing country and pop with entertainment news and information, and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the business, including Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum, and Jason Aldean.Yet despite the glamour, fame, and money, Bobby has never forgotten his roots, the mom and grandmother who raised him, the work ethic he embraced which saved him and encouraged him to explore the world, and the good values that shaped him. In this funny, poignant memoir told in Bobby's distinctive patter, he takes fans on a tour of his road to radio. Bobby doesn't shy away from the curves he continues to navigate - including his obsessive-compulsive disorder - on his journey to find the happiness of a healthy family.Funny and tender, raw and honest, Bare Bones is pure Bobby Bones - surprising, entertaining, inspiring, and authentic.
Alone on the wall
By Honnold, Alex
"The extreme climber famed for his solo ascents without ropes, partners or gear describes his seven most significant achievements, including a free-solo climb up Mexico's Sendero Luminoso and the Fitz Traverse ascent in Patagonia, "--NoveList.
The Battle for Room 314
By Boland, Ed
THE BATTLE FOR ROOM 314In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them: Freddy runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; and Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story is sure to ignite debate about the future of American education and attempts to reform it.
Always Too Much and Never Enough
By Singer, Jasmin
One woman's journey to find herself through juicing, veganism, and love, as she went from fat to thin and from feeding her emotions to feeding her soul. From the extra pounds and unrelenting bullies that left her eating lunch alone in a bathroom stall at school to the low self-esteem that left her both physically and emotionally vulnerable to abuse, Jasmin Singer's struggle with weight defined her life. Most people think there's no such thing as a fat vegan. Most people don't realize that deep-fried tofu tastes amazing and that Oreos are, in fact, vegan. So, even after Jasmin embraced a vegan lifestyle, having discovered her passion in advocating for the rights of animals, she defied any "skinny vegan" stereotypes by getting even heavier. More importantly, she realized that her compassion for animals didn't extend to her own body, and that her low self-esteem was affecting her health. She needed a change. By committing to monthly juice fasts and a diet of whole, unprocessed foods, Jasmin lost almost a hundred pounds, gained an understanding of her destructive relationship with food, and finally realized what it means to be truly full. Told with humble humor and heartbreaking honesty, this is Jasmin's story of how she went from finding solace in a box of cheese crackers to finding peace within herself.
American Governor
By Katz, Matt
The ultimate insider to Chris Christie's 2016 presidential campaign delivers a definitive biography of the popular and controversial governor of New Jersey - including the true story behind the Bridgegate lane-closure scandal.Journalist Matt Katz has been covering Christie since 2011 and has seen firsthand how the governor appeals to the public through his tactics, rhetoric, and personality. In American Governor, Katz weaves a compelling on-the-ground political narrative that begins with the roots of his family's journey to America and takes us through his upset victory over Governor Jon Corzine and then along the road to his announcement of his candidacy for the highest office in the country. Packed with exclusive information, interviews, and anecdotes, American Governor illustrates how Christie evolved from an unpopular perennial candidate running for local office to the most watched Republican in the country, a populist with leadership skills, charm, and luck seemingly unparalleled by any other up-and-coming politician. Christie has proven himself a dynamic force of nature by emerging wounded but not unbowed after Bridgegate - a scandal that would have destroyed another politician's rising star. A political biography by an inside source who's been on the Chris Christie beat longer than any reporter in New Jersey, American Governor is a thrilling and absorbing look at the modern making of a man and a politician.
American Pharoah
By Drape, Joe
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERHistory was made at the 2015 Belmont Stakes when American Pharoah won the Triple Crown, the first since Affirmed in 1978. As magnificent as the champion is, the team behind him has been all too human while on the road to immortality.Written by an award-winning New York Times sportswriter, American Pharoah is the definitive account not only of how the ethereal colt won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, but how he changed lives. Through extensive interviews, Drape explores the making of an exceptional racehorse, chronicling key events en route to history. Covering everything from the flamboyant owner's successful track record, the jockey's earlier heartbreaking losses, and the Hall of Fame trainer's intensity, Drape paints a stirring portrait of a horse for the ages and the people around him.
An Abbreviated Life
By Leve, Ariel
A beautiful, startling, and candid memoir about growing up without boundaries, in which Ariel Leve recalls with candor and sensitivity the turbulent time she endured as the only child of an unstable poet for a mother and a beloved but largely absent father, and explores the consequences of a psychologically harrowing childhood as she seeks refuge from the past and recovers what was lost.Ariel Leve grew up in Manhattan with an eccentric mother she describes as "a poet, an artist, a self-appointed troublemaker and attention seeker." Leve learned to become her own parent, taking care of herself and her mother's needs. There would be uncontrolled, impulsive rages followed with denial, disavowed responsibility, and then extreme outpourings of affection. How does a child learn to feel safe in this topsy-turvy world of conditional love?Leve captures the chaos and lasting impact of a child's life under siege and explores how the coping mechanisms she developed to survive later incapacitated her as an adult. There were material comforts, but no emotional safety, except for summer visits to her father's home in South East Asia - an escape that was terminated after he attempted to gain custody. Following the death of a loving caretaker, a succession of replacements raised Leve - relationships which resulted in intense attachment and loss. It was not until decades later, when Leve moved to other side of the world, that she could begin to emancipate herself from the past. In a relationship with a man who has children, caring for them yields clarity of what was missing.In telling her haunting story, Leve seeks to understand the effects of chronic psychological maltreatment on a child's developing brain, and to discover how to build a life for herself that she never dreamed possible: An unabbreviated life.
And Then All Hell Broke Loose
By Engel, Richard
When he was just twenty-three, a recent graduate of Stanford University, Richard Engel set off to Cairo with $2,000 and dreams of being a reporter. Shortly thereafter he was working freelance for Arab news sources and got a call that a busload of Italian tourists were massacred at a Cairo museum. This was his first view of the carnage these years would pile on. Over two decades, Engel has been under fire, blown out of hotel beds, and taken hostage. He has watched Mubarak and Morsi in Egypt arrested and condemned, reported from Jerusalem, been through the Lebanese war, covered the whole shooting match in Iraq, interviewed Libyan rebels who toppled Gaddafi, reported from Syria as Al-Qaeda stepped in, and was kidnapped in the Syrian crosscurrents of fighting. He goes into Afghanistan with the Taliban and to Iraq with ISIS. Engel takes chances, though not reckless ones, keeps a level head and a sense of humor, as well as a grasp of history in the making. Reporting as NBC's chief foreign correspondent, he reveals his unparalleled access to the major figures, the gritty soldiers, and the helpless victims in the Middle East during this watershed time.