Collection: Biography & Memoir

A true story about the ways loss can transform us into the people we want to become.

Laurel Braitman spent her childhood learning how to outfish grown men, keep bees, and fix carburetors from her larger-than-life dad. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, he went to spectacular lengths to teach her the skills she'd need to survive without him. But by her mid-thirties she is a ship about to splinter on the rocks, exhausted by running from her own bad feelings. We follow as Laurel changes course, navigating multiple wildernesses--from northern New Mexico and western Alaska to her own Tinder app. She learns the hard way that no achievement, no matter how shiny, can protect her from pain, and works to transform guilt and regret into gold: learning from a badass birder in the Bering Sea, a few dozen grieving kids in a support group, a pile of smoking ashes, and countless online dates. Along the way, she faces a wildfire that threatens everyone and everything she cares about, a grueling test of her own survival skills, and the fact that we often have to say our hardest goodbyes before we're ready. In the end Laurel realizes that being open to love after loss is not only possible, it can set us free.

What Looks Like Bravery is a hero's journey for our times. Laurel teaches us that hope is a form of courage, one that can work as an all-purpose key to the locked doors of your dreams.

Now with a new foreword by National Book Award Winner Kacen Callender, this fascinating book on a relevant subject illustrates the complexities of gender and sexuality through history, science, sociology, and the author's own story.

Gender is an intensely personal, yet universal, facet of humanity. In this vibrant book, queer author and artist Iris Gottlieb visually explores gender in all of its complexities, answering questions and providing guidance while also mining history and pop culture for the stories and people who have shaped the conversation on gender.

Informed by Gottlieb's personal experiences, this deeply researched and brilliantly rendered book demystifies this fluid topic at a critical time. For LGBTQIA+ people, Seeing Gender offers a space for self-exploration, giving comfort, advice, and reassurance in the sometimes confusing process of navigating one's identity. For allies, this book is an essential tool for understanding and thoughtfully participating in this necessary cultural conversation. Whatever one's position, Seeing Gender is a must-read people who are passionate about changing the way we see and talk about gender and sexuality in the twenty-first century.

CULTURALLY RELEVANT AND IMPORTANT TOPIC: An inclusive, sensitive, and accessible book for those interested in learning more about gender identity and sexuality.

HELPFUL: The perfect book for nonjudgmental exploration of gender for the queer, transgender, asexual, uncertain, and for people struggling with their gender identity.

INVITATIONAL: A wonderful intro to thoughtfully participating in this important conversation.

Perfect for:

- Those exploring their gender identity and sexuality
- Parents/friends/relatives of those exploring their gender identity and sexuality
- LGBTQ+ people
- Allies who want to understand, empathize, and participate in this movement

A New York Times bestseller!

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a children's book packed with 100 bedtime stories about the lives of extraordinary women from the past and the present, illustrated by 60 female and non-binary artists from all over the world.

Created out of the most successful publishing project in crowdfunding, this must-have volume brings readers on an empowering journey, introducing them to the real-life adventures of trailblazing women from Elizabeth I to Malala Yousafzai.

The unique narrative style of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls transforms each biography into a fairytale, filling readers with wonder and a burning curiosity to know more about heroes such as:

• Ada Lovelace, Mathematician
• Amelia Earhart, Aviator
• Frida Kahlo, Painter
• Malala Yousafzai, Activist
• Jane Goodall, Primatologist
• Julia Child, Chef
• Marie Curie, Scientist
• Maya Angelou, Writer
• Michelle Obama, Lawyer and First Lady
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice

Each woman's story is also accompanied by a full-page, full-color portrait that captures her rebel spirit.

This hardcover edition, with an extra-smooth matte scuff-free lamination, 100lbs paper, a satin ribbon bookmark, and extraordinary print quality, is the perfect gift for any young reader and begs to be read again and again.

In his major New York Times bestseller, Jimmy Carter looks back from ninety years of age and "reveals private thoughts and recollections over a fascinating career as businessman, politician, evangelist, and humanitarian" (Booklist).

At ninety, Jimmy Carter reflects on his public and private life with a frankness that is disarming. He adds detail and emotion about his youth in rural Georgia that he described in his magnificent An Hour Before Daylight. He writes about racism and the isolation of the Carters. He describes the brutality of the hazing regimen at Annapolis, and how he nearly lost his life twice serving on submarines and his amazing interview with Admiral Rickover. He describes the profound influence his mother had on him, and how he admired his father even though he didn't emulate him. He admits that he decided to quit the Navy and later enter politics without consulting his wife, Rosalynn, and how appalled he is in retrospect.

In his "warm and detailed memoir" (Los Angeles Times), Carter tells what he is proud of and what he might do differently. He discusses his regret at losing his re-election, but how he and Rosalynn pushed on and made a new life and second and third rewarding careers. He is frank about the presidents who have succeeded him, world leaders, and his passions for the causes he cares most about, particularly the condition of women and the deprived people of the developing world.

"Always warm and human...even inspirational" (Buffalo News), A Full Life is a wise and moving look back from this remarkable man. Jimmy Carter has lived one of our great American lives--from rural obscurity to world fame, universal respect, and contentment. A Full Life is an extraordinary read from a "force to be reckoned with" (Christian Science Monitor).

A fast-paced and funny investigation of life's biggest questions, guided by the world's most clever and creative thinkers--kids.

Some of the best philosophers in the world gather in surprising places-- preschools and playgrounds. They debate questions about metaphysics and morality, even though they've never heard those words and can't tie their shoes. They're kids. And as University of Michigan professor of philosophy and law Scott Hershovitz shows, they can help grown-ups solve some of life's greatest mysteries.

Hershovitz has two young sons, Rex and Hank. From the time they could talk, he noticed that they raised philosophical questions and tried to answer them. They re-created ancient arguments and advanced entirely new ones. That's not unusual, Hershovitz says. Every kid is a philosopher.

Powered by questions like: Does Hank have the right to drink soda? Is it ever okay to swear? and, Does the number six exist? the Hershovitzes take us on a fun romp through classic and contemporary philosophy. If we join kids on philosophical adventures, Hershovitz argues, we can become sharper thinkers and recapture their wonder at the world.

"This is the only parenting book I would insist everyone read, whether they have kids or not." --Merve Emre, author of The Personality Brokers and contributing writer at The New Yorker

70 years on the throne. 13 American presidents. One extraordinary queen.

From the moment she first enchanted the world as a youthful princess, Queen Elizabeth II found a unique place in American hearts--and she also played an unprecedented role in forging transatlantic ties. Over her seventy-year reign, she developed extraordinary and varied personal bonds with thirteen U.S. presidents--Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Bush Sr. and Jr., Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden--that other diplomats and leaders could only dream of.

A fascinating, in-depth look at international relations and interpersonal intrigue, Royal Audience peels back the curtain on the "special relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K. as embodied by the Queen herself--charting Elizabeth II's distinctive brand of one-to-one diplomacy through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand. From horse-riding with Ronald Reagan, to sharing her recipe for scones with Dwight D. Eisenhower, to striking up a kinship with the Bushes and the Obamas, the Queen's interactions with her U.S. counterparts often acted as a restorative tonic for relations between two nations, even when political tensions ran high. Not all royal encounters with U.S. presidents went smoothly, though. Between Jackie Kennedy's complaints about Elizabeth and the Queen Mother's shock at being kissed on the lips by Jimmy Carter, there was never a dull moment.

Throughout the years, Queen Elizabeth II's sense of duty and service remained steadfast, and her iconic legacy is unlikely to be repeated.

British-Bangladeshi birder, environmentalist and activist Mya-Rose Craig is an international force. In her moving memoir, Birdgirl, she chronicles her mother's struggle with mental illness, and shares her passion for social justice and fierce dedication to preserving our planet.

Meet Mya-Rose - otherwise known as "Birdgirl." In her words: "Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down, but a thread running through the pattern of my life, so tightly woven in that there's no way of pulling it free and leaving the rest of my life intact."

Birdgirl follows Mya-Rose and her family as they travel the world in search of rare birds and astonishing landscapes. But a shadow moves with them, too--her mother's deepening mental health crisis. In the face of this struggle, the Craigs turn to nature again and again for comfort and meaning.

Each bird they see brings a moment of joy and reflection, instilling in Mya-Rose a deep love of the natural world. But Mya-Rose has also seen first-hand the reckless destruction we are inflicting on our fragile planet, as well as the pervasive racism infecting every corner of the world, leading her to campaign for Black, Indigenous, people of color.

Joining the fight of today's young environmental activists, Mya-Rose shares her experiences to advocate for the simple, profound gift of nature, and for making it accessible to all, calling her readers to rediscover the power of our natural world.

Birder, activist, daughter: this is her story.

From a Bancroft Prize-winning historian, the "gripping" tale of a shipwrecked Spaniard who walked across America in the sixteenth century (Financial Times)

In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the four hundred men who had embarked on the voyage, only four survived-three Spaniards and an African slave. This tiny band endured a horrific march through Florida, a harrowing raft passage across the Louisiana coast, and years of enslavement in the American Southwest. They journeyed for almost ten years in search of the Pacific Ocean that would guide them home, and they were forever changed by their experience. The men lived with a variety of nomadic Indians and learned several indigenous languages. They saw lands, peoples, plants, and animals that no outsider had ever before seen. In this enthralling tale of four castaways wandering in an unknown land, Andrés Reséndez brings to life the vast, dynamic world of North America just a few years before European settlers would transform it forever.

** PEABODY AWARD WINNER **

** OVERSEAS PRESS CLUB AWARD WINNER **

** DUPONT-COLUMBIA AWARD WINNER **

Peter takes us on a wild ride of assignments from the South Pole to the Amazon to Mogadishu to Baghdad, and also prompts a rattlesnake to spit venom on his microphone.

--SCOTT SIMON, HOST OF NPR'S WEEKEND EDITION SATURDAY

Ever wonder what kind of people helped build NPR into the revered media institution it is today? Peter Breslow's rollicking memoir pulls back the curtain on what it took to make radio from the farthest reaches of the world.

--RACHEL MARTIN, NPR HOST

National Public Radio wasn't always the journalistic treasure it is today. And Peter Breslow wasn't always a multi-Peabody Award winner. Thankfully for NPR junkies, their paths crossed in 1982 when both were young, and they grew up together over the decades. In his memoir Outtakes, senior producer Peter Breslow reveals how NPR moved from a niche listening experience to become one of the world's preeminent news organizations.

We are alongside Peter in the front seat as he travels the planet reporting -from Kabul to Kathmandu and from the earth's highest point--Mt. Everest-to its lowest-the Dead Sea. Outtakes takes us behind the scenes covering history-defining breaking news and producing award winning programs like All Things Considered and Weekend Edition.

Packed with absurd hijinks, hilarious missteps and breathtaking close calls, Outtakes is a must read for NPR fans, journalists of all ages and people interested in enthralling audio storytelling.

David Crockett was one of America's first national celebrities. He carved out a name for himself from the Western frontier lands of East Tennessee to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. He did this not only by prowess with a rifle but through humility, integrity, humor, and a personal character of undeniable authenticity. That character was forged through hardship and self-determination as a youth in East Tennessee. David Crockett grew up poor, with a down-on-his-luck Revolutionary War vet father. At age 10, Davy was indentured to servitude to a man he'd never met. This book examines those formative years that shaped Crockett into the renowned figure he became in his own time and the legend we still know today.

Individuals, teams, and organizations must become more resilient in today's complex world, and each one will experience failure at some point. Successful individuals, teams, and organizations bounce back. Winning After Losing, Building Resilient Teams offers a collection of lessons on leadership and resilience, of winning teams. I am writing this book as a retired U.S. Army three-star General, and as the former Chief Operating Officer of a public biotechnology company. Each leadership role taught me valuable lessons, whether serving with tactical units, at the corporate level in The Pentagon, or in seemingly impossible global missions. After transitioning into the business environment, many of these lessons of leadership and teamwork continued to make a significant positive impact. All businesses experience failure at some point in their growth, and they can bounce back through great leadership and teamwork. Whether in the military, government, or business, it is possible to build winning resilient teams.

Resilience is the capacity to recover. It is the effort expended to bend but not break despite trauma, tragedy, adversity, or crisis. Ultimately resilience is adapting based on lessons learned, to bounce back stronger than before. If you like winning, learn as much as possible from the experience of losing...that is what resilient teams do so well. Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick

Illustrator Kaz Rowe's graphic biography Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun, reveals how the creative and courageous Surrealist artist championed freedom at every turn, from rejecting gender norms and finding queer love to risking death to sabotage the Nazis.

At the turn of the 20th century in Nantes, France, Lucy Schwob met Suzanne Malherbe, and lightning struck. The two became partners both artistically and romantically and transformed themselves into the creative personas Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Together, the couple embarked on a radical journey of Surrealist collaboration that would take them from conservative provincial France to the vibrancy of 1920s Paris to the oppression of Nazi-occupied Jersey during World War II, where they used art to undermine the Nazi regime.

Cahun and Moore challenged gender roles and championed freedom at a time when strict societal norms meant that the truth of their relationship had to remain secret. Featuring 10 photographs by Cahun and Moore, this graphic biography by cartoonist Kaz Rowe brings Cahun's inspiring story to life.

"Claude Cahun lived at the crossroads of masculine and feminine, of artist and activist, of blessed and cursed by the circumstances and time period they were born into. Rowe weaves together historical photos, direct quotes, and lyrical imagery to tell the tale of this brave queer icon to great effect." --Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer

"The ubiquity of torrid love affairs in the lives of artists has often been used to entice readers, to give us a bit of gossip to pass on after we read. In Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun, Kaz Rowe presents a different kind of love story--one in which love offers freedom and the passion it ignites isn't only romantic, but something more liberating. Here love is used as an anchor for radicalization and for art, and combined, for freedom. Liberated invites us to fall in love with--and alongside--Cahun. A wonderful read." --Isabel Quintero, author of Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide and Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

A New York Times Bestseller
An Economist Book of the Year
Costa Book Award Winner for Biography
Galaxy National Book Award Winner (New Writer of the Year Award)

Edmund de Waal is a world-famous ceramicist. Having spent thirty years making beautiful pots--which are then sold, collected, and handed on--he has a particular sense of the secret lives of objects. When he inherited a collection of 264 tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, called netsuke, he wanted to know who had touched and held them, and how the collection had managed to survive.

And so begins The Hare with Amber Eyes, this extraordinarily moving memoir and detective story as de Waal discovers both the story of the netsuke and of his family, the Ephrussis, over five generations. A nineteenth-century banking dynasty in Paris and Vienna, the Ephrussis were as rich and respected as the Rothchilds. Yet by the end of the World War II, when the netsuke were hidden from the Nazis in Vienna, this collection of very small carvings was all that remained of their vast empire.

"A memoir wrapped in an elegy... [that] maps a strangely stunning life... [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion -- for William, for everyone. This Isn't Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There's deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness -- a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity."―Washington Post

"Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn't Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty."―Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

A profoundly moving, large-hearted, genre-bending memoir from the bestselling author of Big Fish.

If we're lucky, we all encounter at least one person whose life elevates and inspires our own. For Daniel Wallace, that was his longtime friend and brother-in-law, William Nealy. Seemingly perfect, impossibly cool, William was James Dean, Clint Eastwood, and MacGyver all rolled into one: an acclaimed outdoorsman, a famous cartoonist, an accomplished author, a master of all he undertook. William was the ideal that Daniel sought to emulate, and the person who gave him the courage to become a writer.

But when William took his own life at age forty eight, Daniel's heartbreak led him to commit a grievous act of his own, a betrayal that took him down a path into the tortured recesses of William's past. Eventually a new picture emerged of a man with too many secrets and too much shame to bear.

With his first memoir, acclaimed writer Daniel Wallace delivers a stunning book that is as innovative and emotionally resonant as his novels. Part love story, part true crime, part a desperate search for the self, This Isn't Going to End Well tells an intimate and moving story of what happens when we realize our heroes are human.

Legendary money manager Peter Lynch explains his own strategies for investing and offers advice for how to pick stocks and mutual funds to assemble a successful investment portfolio.

Develop a Winning Investment Strategy--with Expert Advice from "The Nation's #1 Money Manager." Peter Lynch's "invest in what you know" strategy has made him a household name with investors both big and small.

An important key to investing, Lynch says, is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets. There's a company behind every stock and a reason companies--and their stocks--perform the way they do. In this book, Peter Lynch shows you how you can become an expert in a company and how you can build a profitable investment portfolio, based on your own experience and insights and on straightforward do-it-yourself research.

In Beating the Street, Lynch for the first time explains how to devise a mutual fund strategy, shows his step-by-step strategies for picking stock, and describes how the individual investor can improve his or her investment performance to rival that of the experts.

There's no reason the individual investor can't match wits with the experts, and this book will show you how.

How do you pick football's GOATs? Is Tom Brady the greatest quarterback? Is Alan Page the greatest defensive tackle? Who's the all-around champ? It comes down to stats, history, and hunches. Read more about some of the legends of football and see if you agree that they're the greatest of all time.