Collection: Biography & Memoir

Survival Symphony

Not too long ago, stage 4 lung cancer was considered a death sentence. Today, thanks to advances in lung cancer treatment, lung cancer can be considered a chronic disease. Survival Symphony is one man's amazing story of living in the solution.

A lifelong athlete, at age fifty-nine, Louis V. Cesarini maintained a healthy lifestyle, including training and competing in 5k races. When he was diagnosed with stage 4, non-small cell lung cancer, Louis said: "This is not how I'm going to die." That was two years ago, more than twice the life span prognosis for lung cancer patients, and Louis is still here to share his inspiring story of hope, courage, and survival.

As a career pharmaceutical marketer specializing in oncology, Louis is in a small category of highly informed patients, now finding himself battling the illness he spent years studying. Survival Symphony is a daily chronicle of his lung cancer journey, including his proactive approach to his own survival. Louis shares guidance for how lung cancer and other patients can and should be informed, advocate for themselves, and exercise the deep reserve of power they have in their care and treatment.

Louis's journey rightfully depicts lung cancer as a chronic illness that can be managed alongside living life to the fullest. One of his techniques for doing just that is by playing his French horn, which for Louis is both a measure of his lung health and a reminder of the joyful expression of music.

Survival Symphony offers a multidimensional experience for the reader with each of the four parts: Discovery, Treatment, Courage and Believe, drawing inspiration from the four movements of Ludwig van Beethoven's triumphal 9th Symphony. Readers can use the QR codes or footnotes to access online recordings of the music, including performances by Louis on his French horn.

"Stage 4 lung cancer is no longer a death sentence," Louis writes in his letter to cancer. "I will spread the word and share how I got rid of you." With an author undaunted by lung cancer, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Survival Symphony gives voice to courage and pure joy for life.

As an inspirational speaker, Louis continues to share his journey as an advocate for lung cancer patients and their caregivers. He is committed to sharing hope, empowerment and courage so that everyone can believe there is life after lung cancer.

Paul isn't at school to learn, he's there to be fed. Though they often have no voice, a problematic child will more than likely have a tale to tell. Not that Paul would ever let slip the shame he hides. Weighed down for so long with insecurities, the scruffy kid already feels isolated from his peers. These formative years of secondary school, where confidence can be shattered by a single taunt, do not encourage children to speak out. If Paul's secrets were ever known, no good would come of it, only humiliation. So he disguises his anguish behind a facade of roughness. Paul excels at naughtiness; takes pride in being the baddest. It's his only talent, and it's been sharpened by his wayward upbringing. And if anything is going to break the monotony of learning, it's being sent out to the empty corridor. Glimpse Paul's life in the 1980s, follow him through school and the streets, witness his crimes. Understand his motives but don't judge him too harshly. Real life is never straightforward and the choices we make are not always sound. Why should Paul's be any different?

In his stunningly honest and poignant memoir, Frank Spinelli recounts a childhood marked by trauma and of finding the courage that ultimately transformed his life. . .

Frank Spinelli grew up on Staten Island in the 1970s to Italian-born parents who viewed cops and priests as second only to the Pope in infallibility. His mother, concerned that her son was being bullied at school for being "different," signed Frank up for Boy Scouts when he turned eleven. For the next two years, Frank's life had two realities--one lived in full view of his family, and the other a secret he shared with his Scoutmaster that he couldn't confess to anybody.

Eventually Frank went to college, established a thriving medical practice, and found a home in Manhattan. But the emotional and physical effects of his past continued to shadow every aspect of his life. Then a shocking discovery gave Frank the opportunity to overturn thirty years of confusion and self-blame--for himself, and for other boys like him.

Pee-Shy is a remarkable story of overcoming the unimaginable to choose resilience over darkness, and love over loss.

"A devastatingly heartbreaking look at life after childhood abuse, with wit and piercing insight that can only come from a place of brutal honesty." --Josh Kilmer-Purcell

"This is a memoir about a grown-up boy's generous--and healing--heart."--Kevin Sessums

"This is one of those horrific, true stories that Dr. Spinelli so courageously reveals. With raw honesty he makes us understand that monsters do exist and a child's innocence is precious. His story is one of too many, but maybe, this one will help open our eyes a little more and shine a light on a taboo subject that many chose not to see or believe." --Whoopi Goldberg

From pirates, politicians, and pornographers to starlets, serial killers, and saints, Gay a Day showcases a multicultural mosaic of real-life stories. Each day features the biography of a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or intersex person of note: their accomplishments, their loves, their tragedies, and their times. With every page you turn, you'll find beautiful heroics, chilling horrors, and secret histories that will scandalize you, and by the end of the year you'll be prouder than ever. A great read for people interested in the rich yet often hidden past of queer folk.

Two-time Lambda Literary and four-time National Leather Association award-winning author Jeff Mann's newest collection of personal essays speaks out against homophobia and the outdated ideas of masculinity demanded by life in Appalachia and the American South. Mann's writings will arouse, amuse, and provoke. Whether remarking on treating a Narcissus to dinner in New Orleans, mulling over the decision to purchase a hand gun because of the current political clime, or fantasizing with his husband over a pair of burly house painters lingering over stiff brushes, Mann's bold statements are gruff insights about what gay life is--and should be--below the Mason-Dixon Line.

A much lauded essayist and poet, Jeff Mann writes of the passion and pain of being a Southern gentleman who happens to be invested in many worlds: the hungers of gay Bear culture; the propensities of leather and bondage; the frustrations of academia; and the perspectives of an Appalachian who has traveled the world. In Binding the God, his second collection of essays, Mann offers readers another tour of his consciousness and experiences. This volume includes essays previously published in Arts and Letters, Second Person Queer, Callaloo, Now and Then, White Crane, Queer and Catholic, and other journals and anthologies.

The autobiographical essays in Edge offer insight into the passions of acclaimed author Jeff Mann. These memories, insightful as they are endearing, range from his boyhood obsession with the gothic allure of Dark Shadows, to the doubt and pain of being a Southerner, and so at the edge of the gay community, and the appeal of leather bars and bear culture. Mann also visits gay meccas in these essays--the resorts of Key West, Provincetown, and Rehoboth Beach, along with several European destinations such as Germany, Ireland, Belgium, and Scotland, have important cameos. But he is never an idle traveler--he is challenged by his experiences, and his observations reveal the thoughts of many gay men. Along the way Mann ruminates on a variety of subjects, from lost lovers to wearing kilts, theophany, Sylvia Plath, adult videos, and bathhouses.

Endgame, the explosive book from longtime royal journalist Omid Scobie and author of the international blockbuster Finding Freedom, is a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy--an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.

Queen Elizabeth II's death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor--and dismantled the protective shield around it. With an institution long plagued by antiquated ideas around race, class and money, the monarchy and those who prop it up are now exposed and at odds with a rapidly modernizing world. Relying on his vast experience as a royal reporter and over a decade of conversations and interviews with current and former Palace staff, trusted friends of the royals and even the family members themselves, Scobie pulls back the curtain on an institution in turmoil to show what the monarchy must change in order to survive.

This is the monarchy's endgame. Do they have what it takes to save it?

New York Times Bestseller

"...I love him, and I respect him, and I need him. We all do."
--from the foreword by Jamie Lee Curtis

If you would have told a young John Stamos flipping burgers at his dad's fast-food joint that one day he'd be a household name and that, at the height of his success, he'd be living alone, divorced, with no kids, high on a cocktail of forgetting, he might've asked, "You want fries with that?"

John burst onto the scene in General Hospital, propelling him into the teen idol stratosphere, a place that's often a point of no return. But Stamos beat the odds and over the past four decades has proved himself to be one of his generation's most successful and beloved actors. Whether showing off his comedic chops on Full House or his dramatic skills on ER, pushing the boundaries on Broadway or living out his youthful dreams as an honorary Beach Boy, John has surprised everyone, most of all himself.

A universal story about friendship, love, loss, and the courage to embrace love once more, John Stamos's memoir is filled with some of the most memorable names in Hollywood, both old and new. Funny, deeply poignant, and brutally honest, If You Would Have Told Me is a portrait of a boy who went from believing in Disney magic to a man who learns that we have to create our own magical moments in life.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Discover the global phenomenon that tells an unforgettable story of love, loss, and healing.

"Compellingly artful . . . [a] blockbuster memoir."--The New Yorker (Best Books of the Year)

It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother's coffin as the world watched in sorrow--and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling--and how their lives would play out from that point on.

For Harry, this is that story at last.

Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness--and, because he blamed the press for his mother's death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.

At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn't find true love.

Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple's cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .

For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.

New York Times Bestseller

An exciting and heartening mix of memories, music, and inspiration from Wilco front man and New York Times bestselling author Jeff Tweedy, sharing fifty songs that changed his life, the real-life experiences behind each one, as well as what he's learned about how music and life intertwine and enhance each other.

What makes us fall in love with a song? What makes us want to write our own songs? Do songs help? Do songs help us live better lives? And do the lives we live help us write better songs?

After two New York Times bestsellers that cemented and expanded his legacy as one of America's best-loved performers and songwriters, Let's Go (So We Can Get Back) and How to Write One Song, Jeff Tweedy is back with another disarming, beautiful, and inspirational book about why we listen to music, why we love songs, and how music can connect us to each other and to ourselves. Featuring fifty songs that have both changed Jeff's life and influenced his music--including songs by the Replacements, Mavis Staples, the Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Dolly Parton, and Billie Eilish--as well as Jeff's "Rememories," dream-like short pieces that related key moments from Jeff's life, this book is a mix of the musical, the emotional, and the inspirational in the best possible way.

The New York Times bestselling debut book of poetry from Lana Del Rey, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.

"Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I'm proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic." --Lana Del Rey

Lana's breathtaking first book solidifies her further as "the essential writer of her times" (The Atlantic). The collection features more than thirty poems, many exclusive to the book: Never to Heaven, The Land of 1,000 Fires, Past the Bushes Cypress Thriving, LA Who Am I to Love You?, Tessa DiPietro, Happy, Paradise Is Very Fragile, Bare Feet on Linoleum, and many more. This beautiful hardcover edition showcases Lana's typewritten manuscript pages alongside her original photography. The result is an extraordinary poetic landscape that reflects the unguarded spirit of its creator.

Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass is also brought to life in an unprecedented spoken word audiobook which features Lana Del Rey reading fourteen select poems from the book accompanied by music from Grammy Award-winning musician Jack Antonoff.

**Named a Best Book of the Year by The Boston Globe, Garden & Gun, Electric Literature, and St. Louis Public Radio**

The New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Delights and Inciting Joy is back with exactly the book we need in these unsettling times. Margaret Roach of The New York Times says, "Yes, please. I'll have another dose of delight."

In Ross Gay's new collection of small, daily wonders, again written over the course of a year, one of America's most original voices continues his ongoing investigation of delight.

For Gay, what delights us is what connects us, what gives us meaning, from the joy of hearing a nostalgic song blasting from a passing car to the pleasure of refusing the "nefarious" scannable QR code menus, from the tiny dog he fell hard for to his mother baking a dozen kinds of cookies for her grandchildren. As always, Gay revels in the natural world--sweet potatoes being harvested, a hummingbird carousing in the beebalm, a sunflower growing out of a wall around the cemetery, the shared bounty from a neighbor's fig tree--and the trillion mysterious ways this glorious earth delights us.

The Book of (More) Delights is a volume to savor and share.

Celebrate the life-changing power of art in this inspiring and stunningly illustrated picture book biography of American artist Alma Thomas.

Meet an incredible woman who broke down barriers throughout her whole life and is now known as one of the most preeminent painters of the twentieth century. Told from the point of view of young Alma Thomas, readers can follow along as she grows into her discovery of the life-changing power of art.

As a child in Georgia, Alma Thomas loved to spend time outside, soaking up the colors around her. And her parents filled their home with color and creativity despite the racial injustices they faced. After the family moved to Washington, DC, Alma shared her passion for art by teaching children. When she was almost seventy years old, she focused on her own artwork, inspired by nature and space travel.

In this celebration of art and the power of imagination, Jeanne Walker Harvey and Loveis Wise tell the incredible true story of Alma Thomas, the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York City and to have her work chosen for the White House collection. With her bold and vibrant abstract paintings, Alma set the world ablaze with color.

Ablaze with Color includes extensive back matter with photos, an author's and illustrator's note, a timeline, and a list of sources and resources that will be a great tool for parents, educators, and librarians. Perfect for Women's History Month and Black History Month units alongside such favorites as Malala's Magic Pencil, Hidden Figures, and Mae Among the Stars.

A NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY CHILDREN'S WORK NOMINEE!A JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN 2023 FINALIST!A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2022!A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 2022 BEST BOOK FOR KIDS!A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST INFORMATIONAL BOOKS FOR YOUNGER READERS OF 2022!A NERDY BOOK CLUB 2022 BEST NONFICTION BOOK!A CCBC BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2023! A CHARTER OAK CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD NONFICTION NOMINEE!A 2022 CALIBA GOLDEN POPPY AWARD FINALIST! A 2023 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD (NCBA) IN CHILDREN'S BOOKS: YOUNGER READERS NOMINEE!

Joanna Gaines--cofounder of Magnolia, cook and host of Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines, and New York Times bestselling author--brings us her third cookbook filled with timeless and nostalgic recipes--now reimagined--for today's home cook.

Whether it's in the making, the gathering, or the tasting of something truly delicious, this collection of recipes from Magnolia Table, Volume 3 is an invitation to savor every moment. In Joanna's first cookbook, the #1 New York Times bestselling Magnolia Table, she introduced readers to her favorite passed-down family recipes. For her second cookbook, Magnolia Table, Volume 2, she pushed herself beyond her comfort zone to develop new recipes for her family. In this, her third cookbook, Joanna shares the recipes--old and new--that she's enjoyed the most over the years. The result is a cookbook filled with recipes that are timeless, creative, and delicious! Just as in her past books, within each recipe Joanna speaks to the reader, explaining why she likes a recipe, what inspired her to create it in the first place, and how she prefers to serve it. The book is beautifully photographed and filled with dishes you will want to bring into your own home, including:

Honey Butter Layered Biscuit Bites Bananas Foster Pancakes Brussels Sprout Gruyére Gratin White Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Garlic Shrimp over Parmesan Risotto Peanut Butter Pie Brownie Cookies

The #1 New York Times bestselling memoir that reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE PRISCILLA, DIRECTED BY SOFIA COPPOLA

Decades after his death, millions of fans continue to worship Elvis the legend. But very few knew him as Elvis the man. Here in her own words, Priscilla Presley tells the story of their love, revealing the details of their first meeting, their marriage, their affairs, their divorce, and the unbreakable bond that has remained long after his tragic death.

A tribute to both the man and the legend, Elvis and Me gives Elvis fans the world over an unprecedented look at the true life of the King of Rock 'N' Roll and the woman who loved him.