Loved itthird on this list is the gorgeous yet devastating memoir memorial drive by natasha treathaway this book is not easy reading just because of the weight of the subject matter but you can tell on every single page that this author is a poet
Memorial Drive (2020)
Others: Positive At nineteen, the author's world turned upside down when her former stepfather shot and killed her mother. Grieving and still new to adulthood, she confronted the twin pulls of life and death in the aftermath of unimaginable trauma. Here she explores the way this experience lastingly shaped the artist she became. Moving through her mother's history in the deeply segregated South and through her own girlhood as a 'child of miscegenation' in Mississippi, she plumbs her sense of dislocation and displacement in the lead-up to the harrowing crime that took place on Memorial Drive in Atlanta in 1985. -- adapted from jacket.
- ISBN:
- 9780062248572
- Length:
- 224 pages
Lists: …
Similar books
1 of 6
Unprotected
Billy Porter
2021 · 288 pages · 1 review
Others: Positive"Before Billy Porter was slaying red carpets and giving an iconic Emmy-winning performance in the celebrated TV show Pose; before he was the groundbreaking Tony and Grammy Award-winning star of Broadway's Kinky Boots, ... Porter was a young boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn't fit in. At five years old, Porter was sent to therapy to 'fix' his effeminacy. He was endlessly bullied at school, sexually abused by his stepfather, and criticized at his church. Porter came of age in a world where simply being himself was a constant struggle. [This book] is the life story of a singular artist and survivor in his own words"--Publisher marketing. Growing up Black and gay in America has never been easy. Before Porter was winning Emmys, Tonys and Grammys, he was a boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn't fit in. At five years old Porter was sent to therapy to 'fix' his effeminacy; he was endlessly bullied at school, sexually abused by his stepfather, and criticized at his church. This is his story: of a boy whose talent and courage opened doors for him, but only a crack. Of a teenager discovering himself, learning his voice and his craft amidst deep trauma. And of how determination led him through countless hard times to where he is now; a proud icon who refuses to back down or hide. -- adapted from jacket
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also biography and memoir75%Similar descriptions13%abookolive loved bothPersonalize your recommendations12%The Woman Who Smashed Codes
Jason Fagone
2017 · 464 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveTraces the life of Elizebeth Smith, who met and married groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman and worked with him to discover and expose Nazi spy rings in South America by cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine. "In 1916, a young Quaker schoolteacher and poetry scholar named Elizebeth Smith was hired by an eccentric tycoon to find the secret messages he believed were embedded in Shakespeare's plays. She moved to the tycoon's lavish estate outside of Chicago expecting to spend her days poring through old books. But the rich man's close ties to the U.S. government, and the urgencies of war, quickly transformed Elizebeth's mission. She soon learned to apply her skills to an exciting new venture: codebreaking--the solving of secret messages without knowledge of the key. Working alongside her on the estate was William Friedman, a Jewish scientist who would become her husband and lifelong codebreaking partner. Elizebeth and William were in many ways the Adam and Eve of the National Security Agency, the U.S. institution that monitors and intercepts foreign communications to glean intelligence.^ In [this book, journalist] Jason Fagone chronicles the life of this extraordinary woman who played an integral role in our nation's history--from the Great War to the Cold War. He traces Elizebeth's developing career through World War I, Prohibition, and the struggle against fascism. She helped catch gangsters and smugglers, exposed a Nazi spy ring in South America, and fought a clandestine battle of wits against Hitler's Reich, cracking multiple versions of the Enigma machine used by German operatives to conceal their communications. And through it all, she served as muse to her husband, a master of puzzles, who astonished friends and foes alike. Inside an army vault in Washington, he worked furiously to break Purple, the Japanese version of Enigma--and eventually succeeded, at a terrible cost to his personal life.^ Fagone unveils for the first time America's codebreaking history through the prism of one remarkable woman's life, bringing into focus the unforgettable events and colorful personalities that shaped the modern intelligence community. Rich in detail, The Woman Who Smashed Codes pays tribute to an unsung hero whose story belongs alongside those of other great female technologists, like Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper, and whose oft-hidden contributions altered the course of the century."--Jacket.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also biography and memoir83%abookolive loved both14%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations3%H Is for Hawk
Helen Macdonald
2006 · 320 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveWhen Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer, Helen had never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk, but in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also biography and memoir84%abookolive loved both14%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations2%Why Fish Don't Exist
Lulu Miller
2020 · 240 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveDavid Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, a man possessed with bringing order to the natural world. In time, he would be credited with discovering nearly a fifth of the fish known to humans in his day. But the more of the hidden blueprint of life he uncovered, the harder the universe seemed to try to thwart him. His specimen collections were demolished by lightning, by fire, and eventually by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—which sent more than a thousand discoveries, housed in fragile glass jars, plummeting to the floor. In an instant, his life’s work was shattered. Many might have given up, given in to despair. But Jordan? He surveyed the wreckage at his feet, found the first fish that he recognized, and confidently began to rebuild his collection. And this time, he introduced one clever innovation that he believed would at last protect his work against the chaos of the world. When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this anecdote in passing, she took Jordan for a fool—a cautionary tale in hubris, or denial. But as her own life slowly unraveled, she began to wonder about him. Perhaps instead he was a model for how to go on when all seemed lost. What she would unearth about his life would transform her understanding of history, morality, and the world beneath her feet.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also biography and memoir84%abookolive loved both14%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations2%Eggshell Skull
Bri Lee
2018 · 368 pages · 2 reviews
Others: PositiveEGGSHELL SKULL: A well-established legal doctrine that a defendant must 'take their victim as they find them'. If a single punch kills someone because of their thin skull, that victim's weakness cannot mitigate the seriousness of the crime. But what if it also works the other way? What if a defendant on trial for sexual crimes has to accept his 'victim' as she comes: a strong, determined accuser who knows the legal system, who will not back down until justice is done? Bri Lee began her first day of work at the Queensland District Court as a bright-eyed judge's associate. Two years later she was back as the complainant in her own case. This is the story of Bri's journey through the Australian legal system; first as the daughter of a policeman, then as a law student, and finally as a judge's associate in both metropolitan and regional Queensland-where justice can look very different, especially for women. The injustice Bri witnessed, mourned and raged over every day finally forced her to confront her own personal history, one she'd vowed never to tell. And this is how, after years of struggle, she found herself on the other side of the courtroom, telling her story. Bri Lee has written a fierce and eloquent memoir that addresses both her own reckoning with the past as well as with the stories around her, to speak the truth with wit, empathy and unflinching courage. Eggshell Skull is a haunting appraisal of modern Australia from a new and essential voice.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also biography and memoir84%abookolive loved both14%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations2%Hooked
Sutton Foster
2021 · 256 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveIn these intimate stories and reflections about how crafting has kept her sane while navigating the highs and lows of family, love, and show business, Tony Award-winner and the star of TV's Younger Sutton Foster shares memorable moments - including her fraught relationship with her agoraphobic mother; a painful divorce splashed on the pages of the tabloids; her struggles with fertility; the thrills she found on the stage; her breakout TV role in Younger; and the joy of adopting her daughter, Emily. Accompanying the stories, Sutton has included crochet patterns, recipes, and so much more.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also biography and memoir85%abookolive loved both14%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations1%
Loved it