Collection: Biography & Memoir

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, an invaluable guide to the development and exercise of leadership from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The inspiration for the multipart HISTORY Channel series Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

"After five decades of magisterial output, Doris Kearns Goodwin leads the league of presidential historians" (USA TODAY). In her "inspiring" (The Christian Science Monitor) Leadership, Doris Kearns Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely--Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights)--to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope.

Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose. At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others. Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader?

"If ever our nation needed a short course on presidential leadership, it is now" (The Seattle Times). This seminal work provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field. In today's polarized world, these stories of authentic leadership in times of apprehension and fracture take on a singular urgency. "Goodwin's volume deserves much praise--it is insightful, readable, compelling: Her book arrives just in time" (The Boston Globe).

Ever wonder what the President does? Meet the 45* people who have held the job in this important book that showcases how they each led the country in their time--and features their own thoughts and words through their documents, letters, diaries, speeches and so much more.

Some call it the most important job in the world. It's certainly the most powerful. And it's one that every citizen needs to know about because we're the ones who vote to put a president in office. Lively, informative, filled with firsts and facts, big ideas and compelling anecdotes, The Presidents Decoded, is a richly layered guide to the leaders who have shaped our nation.

Featuring over 125 primary sources--including documents, speeches, letters, executive orders and diaries--each leader's time in office is broken down and explained to show the what, how and why of our leaders' thoughts, decisions and policies. Familiar documents like the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The Fugitive Slave Act -- the part of the Compromise of 1850 that set the country on a path to Civil War -- are included. But there's also George Washington's letter to Martha as he learns that he's been chosen to be the General of the Continental Army, a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt from a desperate family during the Great Depression, a letter from baseball legend Jackie Robinson urging John F. Kennedy to do more for civil rights, and the Executive Order limiting the hours of the federal work day, and so many more. Full-color illustrations bring each president and their time in office to life on the page in their career-defining moments as history marches forward and changes the job -- and our way of life -- through inventions like the camera, the telephone, the first metal detector, services like the Navy and the Red Cross, and the rise of social media platforms like Twitter.

As she did in The Constitution Decoded, Katie Kennedy shines a light on American History, this time through the lens of the leaders who shaped our nation.

(*Very clever of you to catch this! the number is off by 1 because Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and the 24th president!)

Do you wonder if healing, transformation and lasting change are possible? If so, you're not alone. All throughout history, people have struggled with pain, loss, trauma and rejection-and cried out to God for hope and peace, for shalom.

Using the latest, research-backed psychotherapy and neuroscience, Journey to Shalom presents the sacred stories of Scripture like you've never seen them before. The human struggle of alienation, shame, and exile is brought to light and a vision of restoration and wholeness is made clear.

• Your suffering can be redeemed.
• Your relationships can be reconciled.
• You can learn to love yourself, others and God without religious striving.
• You can find the deep, lasting peace of God within yourself whenever you need it.

Including gentle, practical guided exercises for identifying your emotions, your subconscious reactions, and your hidden inner world, Journey to Shalom offers a fresh perspective on ancient truths that will restore hope for healing your deepest wounds.

Did you know that John Lennon's mom called him "Stinker" because he farted so much? Or that Paul McCartney liked playing guitar in the bathroom? Bet you didn't know that George Harrison once had his friend's parent sign his report card, or that Ringo Starr's grandma thought he was possessed by witches! Paige and Turner have collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the rock stars, from their childhoods and early days as musicians to the formation of the Beatles and their rise to become the greatest band of all time.

Narrated by the two spirited siblings and animated by Allison Steinfeld's upbeat illustrations, Wait! What? The Beatles Couldn't Read Music? is an authoritative, accessible, and one-of-a-kind biography infused with Dan Gutman's signature zany sense of humor.

"I've had many amazing adventures in my life. Some stories, though, I have only ever shared with my friends.... Until now!"

Dame Joan Collins has always believed that one should retain some mystery in life and hide a knowing smile behind one's shoulder pads. In her new book, she returns in dazzling form to share her most memorable moments from her eclectic and vibrant life--in and out of the limelight. Behind the Shoulder Pads will take you on a spectacular journey from her early years as a young star in Hollywood to stamping her stilettos in Dynasty; from the glittering heights of Saint-Tropez to the busy Oscars seasons in LA over the years.

Joan writes movingly about her adventures with and grief for her sister, Jackie, delves deeper into the ups and downs of love and relationships, and discusses her happiness with husband Percy. Filled with a cast of household names and Hollywood icons, Behind the Shoulder Pads is a spectacularly entertaining tour de force bound to delight and shock in equal measures.

Hilarious, intimate, and completely spellbinding, Joan invites you into her life like never before, sharing the stories she only tells her closest friends.

The instant New York Times bestseller - A New York Times Notable Book - Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist - Nominated for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award

"Addicted to Succession? Well, here's the real thing." - The Hollywood Reporter

"Jaw-dropping . . . an epic tale of toxic wealth and greed populated by connivers and manipulators." --The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice

The shocking inside story of the struggle for power and control at Paramount Global, the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire controlled by the Redstone family, and the dysfunction, misconduct, and deceit that threatened the future of the company, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who first broke the news

In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global--the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire that includes Paramount, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime, and Simon & Schuster--hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer--a lawsuit that placed Sumner's deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.

As one of the last in a long line of all-powerful media moguls, Sumner had been a relentlessly demanding boss, and an even more demanding father. When his daughter, Shari, took control of her father's business, she faced the hostility of boards and management who for years had heard Sumner disparage her. Les Moonves, the popular CEO of CBS, felt particularly threatened and schemed with his allies on the board to strip Shari of power. But while he publicly battled Shari, news began to leak that Moonves had been involved in multiple instances of sexual misconduct, and he began working behind the scenes to try to make the stories disappear.

Unscripted is an explosive and unvarnished look at the usually secret inner workings of two public companies, their boards of directors, and a wealthy, dysfunctional family in the throes of seismic changes, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams. Through the microcosm of Paramount, whose once victorious business model of cable fees and ticket sales is crumbling under the assault of technological advances, and whose workplace is undergoing radical change in the wake of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and a distaste for the old guard, Stewart and Abrams lay bare the battle for power at any price--and the carnage that ensued.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A work of stunning frankness about losing a daughter, from the bestselling, award-winning author of The Year of Magical Thinking and Let Me Tell You What I Mean

Richly textured with memories from her own childhood and married life with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and daughter, Quintana Roo, this new book by Joan Didion is an intensely personal and moving account of her thoughts, fears, and doubts regarding having children, illness and growing old.

As she reflects on her daughter's life and on her role as a parent, Didion grapples with the candid questions that all parents face, and contemplates her age, something she finds hard to acknowledge, much less accept. Blue Nights--the long, light evening hours that signal the summer solstice, "the opposite of the dying of the brightness, but also its warning"--like The Year of Magical Thinking before it, is an iconic book of incisive and electric honesty, haunting and profound.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The star of Marvel's first Asian superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, tells his own origin story of being a Chinese immigrant, his battles with cultural stereotypes and his own identity, becoming a TV star, and landing the role of a lifetime.

In this honest, inspiring and relatable memoir, newly-minted superhero Simu Liu chronicles his family's journey from China to the bright lights of Hollywood with razor-sharp wit and humor.

Simu's parents left him in the care of his grandparents, then brought him to Canada when he was four. Life as a Canuck, however, is not all that it was cracked up to be; Simu's new guardians lack the gentle touch of his grandparents, resulting in harsh words and hurt feelings. His parents, on the other hand, find their new son emotionally distant and difficult to relate to - although they are related by blood, they are separated by culture, language, and values.

As Simu grows up, he plays the part of the pious child flawlessly - he gets straight A's, crushes national math competitions and makes his parents proud. But as time passes, he grows increasingly disillusioned with the path that has been laid out for him. Less than a year out of college, at the tender age of 22, his life hits rock bottom when he is laid off from his first job as an accountant. Left to his own devices, and with nothing left to lose, Simu embarks on a journey that will take him far outside of his comfort zone into the world of show business.

Through a swath of rejection and comical mishaps, Simu's determination to carve out a path for himself leads him to not only succeed as an actor, but also to open the door to reconciling with his parents.

We Were Dreamers is more than a celebrity memoir - it's a story about growing up between cultures, finding your family, and becoming the master of your own extraordinary circumstance.

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by the New York Times, The Week, Vulture, Elle, and The Millions

A piercing blend of memoir, criticism, and biography examining how women writers across the centuries carved out intellectual freedom for themselves--and how others might do the same

I took off my wedding ring for the last time--a gold band with half a line of "Morning Song" by Sylvia Plath etched inside--and for weeks afterwards, my thumb would involuntarily reach across my palm for the warm bright circle that had gone. I didn't fling the ring into the long grass, like women do in the movies, but a feeling began bubbling up nevertheless, from my stomach to my throat: it could fling my arms out. I was free. . . .

A few years into her marriage and feeling societal pressure to surrender to domesticity, Joanna Biggs found herself longing for a different kind of existence. Was this all there was? She divorced without knowing what would come next.

Newly untethered, Joanna returned to the free-spirited writers of her youth and was soon reading in a fever--desperately searching for evidence of lives that looked more like her own, for the messiness and freedom, for a possible blueprint for intellectual fulfillment.

In A Life of One's Own, Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot, Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison, and Elena Ferrante are all taken down from their pedestals, their work and lives seen in a new light. Joanna wanted to learn more about the conditions these women needed to write their best work, and how they addressed the questions she herself was struggling with: Is domesticity a trap? Is life worth living if you have lost faith in the traditional goals of a woman? Why is it so important for women to read one another?

This is a radical and intimate examination of the unconventional paths these women took--their pursuits and achievements but also their disappointments and hardships. And in exploring the things that gave their lives the most meaning, we find fuel for our own singular intellectual paths.

A beloved New York Times bestselling author and golf aficionado shares his insatiable curiosity, trademark sense of humor, and vast knowledge of the game in this cavalcade of original pieces about why we love the sport, now featuring three additional new pieces.

This is the book Rick Reilly has been writing in the back of his head since he fell in love with the game of golf at eleven years old. He unpacks and explores all of the wonderful, maddening, heart-melting, heart-breaking, cool, and captivating things about golf that make the game so utterly addictive. We meet the PGA Tour player who robbed banks by night to pay his motel bills, the golf club maker who takes weekly psychedelic trips, and the caddy who kept his loop even after an 11-year prison stint. We learn how a man on his third heart nearly won the U.S. Open, how a Vietnam POW saved his life playing 18 holes a day in his tiny cell, and about the course that's absolutely free.

Reilly mines all of the game's quirky traditions--from the shot of bourbon you take before you tee off at Peyton Manning's course, to the way the starter at St. Andrews announces to your group (and the hundreds of tourists watching), "You're on the first tee, gentlemen." He means that quite literally: St. Andrews has the first tee ever invented. We'll visit the eighteen most unforgettable holes around the world (Reilly has played them all), including the hole in Indonesia where the biggest hazard is monkeys, the one in the Caribbean that's underwater, and the one in South Africa that requires a shot over a pit of alligators; not to mention Reilly's attempt to play the most mini-golf holes in one day.

Reilly expounds on all the great figures in the game, from Phil Mickelson to Bobby Jones to the simple reason Jack Nicklaus is better than Tiger Woods. He explains why we should stop hating Bryson DeChambeau unless we hate genius, the greatest upset in women's golf history, and why Ernie Els throws away every ball that makes a birdie. Plus all the Greg Norman stories Reilly has never been able to tell before, and the great fun of being Jim Nantz. Connecting it all will be the story of Reilly's own personal journey through the game, especially as it connects to his tumultuous relationship with his father, and how the two eventually reconciled through golf. This is Reilly's valentine to golf, a cornucopia of stories that no golfer will want to be without.

**The Sports Librarian's Best of 2022 - Sports Books**

From America's most beloved foursome--the TikTok sensation @oldgays--a book of unexpected aspirational advice and inspirational stories drawn from their decades of living, from pre-Stonewall to the rise of the LGBTQ+ movement to gay marriage and beyond.

Ranging in age from sixty-seven to eighty, Mick, Jessay, Robert, and Bill are the real-life Golden Girls of the social media era, a quartet of old gays whose hard-won confidence and awesome authenticity have taken the culture by storm. They are America's queens--and, more important, they are survivors whose lives have been transformed by sweeping cultural change. In this fabulously fun and entertaining book, they share their stories--humorous, heartbreaking, shocking, and profound tales that only older gay men can tell. It was their generation that was devastated by AIDS, a health crisis that deprived us of so many brilliant, creative lives, including many of their friends.

In this delightful group memoir, Mick, Jessay, Robert, and Bill tell all about their lives, revealing who they are beyond TikTok, where they came from, and how they found one another. They offer their collective wisdom on a rainbow of topics, including coming out, sex, gay liberation, gay marriage, AIDS, aging, and saving the best act for last. Outrageous and hilarious, refreshingly earnest and unfiltered, engaging and insightful, they've been through it all--harassment, divorce, depression, bankruptcy, even near-death experiences. Between the four of them, there's not much of life they haven't seen or done, and now they dish on everything from fitness and fabulous dinner parties to church and orgies.

An intimate and moving portrait of four friends who have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly, and are still looking forward to the best that is yet to come, The Old Gays Guide to the Good Life is a celebration of lives lived to the fullest--sometimes against all odds--a lesson for all of us that age is just a number and that getting older can be audaciously fun.

One of the New Yorker's Best Books of 2023

The boldly original, dramatic intertwined story of Catherine de' Medici, Elisabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots--three queens exercising power in a world dominated by men.

Orphaned from infancy, Catherine de' Medici endured a tumultuous childhood. Married to the French king, she was widowed by forty, only to become the power behind the French throne during a period of intense civil strife. In 1546, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Elisabeth de Valois, who would become Queen of Spain. Two years later, Catherine welcomed to her nursery the beguiling young Mary Queen of Scots, who would later become her daughter-in-law.

Together, Catherine, Elisabeth, and Mary lived through the sea changes that transformed sixteenth-century Europe, a time of expanding empires, religious discord, and populist revolt, as concepts of nationhood began to emerge and ideas of sovereignty inched closer to absolutism. They would learn that to rule as a queen was to wage a constant war against the deeply entrenched misogyny of their time.

Following the intertwined stories of the three women from girlhood through young adulthood, Leah Redmond Chang's Young Queens paints a picture of a world in which a woman could wield power at the highest level yet remain at the mercy of the state, her body serving as the currency of empire and dynasty, sacrificed to the will of husband, family, kingdom.

Teen chef and food justice advocate Michael Platt's Recipes for Change "beautifully weaves together important Black history with delicious recipes" (Kwame Onwuachi, James Beard Award winner and Top Chef contestant)--featuring full-color illustrations by Alleanna Harris.

From the Montgomery bus boycott to the Black Lives Matter movement, food has played a vital role in strengthening and shaping Black empowerment. Join Michael Platt on a stunning visual journey as he retells moving and authentic accounts of 12 months in Black history. Featuring mouthwatering recipes accompanied by biographies of important figures, Recipes for Change will inspire leaders of the future with real stories of trailblazers who helped to change the world.

Recipes include:

• The Black Panther Party's Creamy Grits
• The Greensboro Sit-In's Cherry Protest Pie
• The Selma March's Carry-On Cornbread
• The Underground Railroad's Freedom Fish
• The Freedom Riders' Gumbo
• Juneteenth's Red Ice Pops
• Bakers Against Racism's Sweet Potato Hand Pie
• Martin Luther King's Favorite Pecan Pie
• Paschal's Fried Chicken
• The Black Power Salute's Olympic Gold Cookies
• The Christmas Sacrifice's Banana Pudding
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott's Pound Cake

A powerful chronicle of the women who used their sewing skills to survive the Holocaust, stitching beautiful clothes at an extraordinary fashion workshop created within one of the most notorious WWII death camps.

At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp--mainly Jewish women and girls--were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers.

This fashion workshop--called the Upper Tailoring Studio--was established by Hedwig Höss, the camp commandant's wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers. Here, the dressmakers produced high-quality garments for SS social functions in Auschwitz, and for ladies from Nazi Berlin's upper crust.

Drawing on diverse sources--including interviews with the last surviving seamstress--The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women. Their bonds of family and friendship not only helped them endure persecution, but also to play their part in camp resistance. Weaving the dressmakers' remarkable experiences within the context of Nazi policies for plunder and exploitation, historian Lucy Adlington exposes the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich and offers a fresh look at a little-known chapter of World War II and the Holocaust.

Debut graphic novelist Claire Lordon's medical misfortunes may be one in a million in this relatable memoir, but so is her determination, grit, and passion to beat the odds and reclaim her life.

Something is wrong with Claire, but she doesn't know what. Nobody does, not even her doctors. All she wants is to return to her happy and athletic teenage self. But her accumulating symptoms--chronic fatigue, pounding headaches, weight gain--hint that there's something not right inside Claire's body. Claire's high school experience becomes filled with MRIs, visits to the Mayo Clinic, and multiple surgeries to remove a brain tumor. But even in her most difficult moments battling chronic illness, Claire manages to find solace in her family, her closest friends, and her art. A deeply personal and visually arresting memoir that draws on the author's high school diaries and drawings, One in a Million is also a sophisticated portrayal of pain, depression, and fear that any teen or adult can relate to. With a sensitive preface and an author's note connecting past to present, this true story of resilience strikes a moving balance between raw honesty in the face of medical and mental trauma and the everyday musings of a teenager.

Now a limited Netflix series starring Zoe Saldana!

This Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller is "a captivating story of love lost and found" (Kirkus Reviews) set in the lush Sicilian countryside, where one woman discovers the healing powers of food, family, and unexpected grace in her darkest hours.

It was love at first sight when actress Tembi met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem: Saro's traditional Sicilian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships, and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro's family just as he faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams.

From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter, Zoela, as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro's family, now she finds solace and nourishment--literally and spiritually--at her mother-in-law's table. In the Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing gifts of simple fresh food, the embrace of a close knit community, and timeless traditions and wisdom that light a path forward. All along the way she reflects on her and Saro's romance--an incredible love story that leaps off the pages.

In Sicily, it is said that every story begins with a marriage or a death--in Tembi Locke's case, it is both. "Locke's raw and heartfelt memoir will uplift readers suffering from the loss of their own loved ones" (Publishers Weekly), but her story is also about love, finding a home, and chasing flavor as an act of remembrance. From Scratch is for anyone who has dared to reach for big love, fought for what mattered most, and those who needed a powerful reminder that life is...delicious.