Biography & History Staff Picks
Fresh, humorous, real, and heartfelt.
— Grace
Clementine Wamariya and her older sister Claire were forced to flee their home and family when the Rwandan genocide began (April 7, 1994). After 6 years as refugees, the girls were allowed to enter the United States and begin new lives. Wamariya contrasts her life as a refugee to that of an American teen being raised in an affluent Chicago suburb; her experiences are eye-opening and her insights, revelatory.
— Lisa
Though non-fiction can intimidate readers, this true story encaptures the audience in the gruesome tales of the women who worked with radium during the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression.
— Clare
Miss Pat a.k.a Rabbit tells her story in a straight-forward way, somehow finding humor in her tragedy along the way.
— Krisy
I'm a huge fan of Oliver Sacks and I was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to read his memoir. Sacks certainly has packed a lot of life into 82 years, all of which he reveals in this intimate and humble reflection of both his career and personal life.
— Grace
Terese Marie Mailhot's writing in Heart Berries is beautiful, powerful, and hypnotic. This memoir is one that will stick with you for a long time.
— Meredith
Bernard Lewis certainly was ambitious packing two millenia of history of a large region into a single book, but he did an excellent job. Well researched, well analyzed, and in clear language, Lewis provides a history of the Middle East as well as how it developed. There's no better time to read it than now. Perfect if you are interested in learning something and enjoy challenging your mind.
— Grace
Leslie Jamison is my new author crush. Though the memoir genre is rife with addiction stories, Jamison offers a new perspective, attempting to answer the question of whether stories of recovery can be as captivating as the trainwreck tales of people in the thrall of addiction. "The Recovering" is equal parts a memoir of the author's addiction and recovery, literary criticism of the "drunken genius" cadre, and a history of the way society has viewed people with substance issues. I also recommend checking out her interviews online, especially her talk with Marty Moss-Coane at the Philadelphia Free Library.
— Kiersten
