Memoir

The Argonauts. book cover

The Argonauts.

Maggie Nelson

BIOGRAPHY Nelson, Maggie
Nonfiction, Memoir, LGBTQ+

"A genre-bending memoir, a work of 'autotheory' offering fresh, fierce, and timely thinking about desire, identity, and the limitations and possibilities of love and language. At its center is a romance: the story of the author's relationship with the artist Harry Dodge. This story, which includes the author's account of falling in love with Dodge, who is fluidly gendered, as well as her journey to and through a pregnancy, is an intimate portrayal of the complexities and joys of (queer) family-making"--Dust jacket flap.

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Sissy : A Coming-of-Gender Story book cover

Sissy : A Coming-of-Gender Story

Jacob Tobia

305.3 /Tobia
Nonfiction, Memoir, LGBTQ+

From the moment a doctor in Raleigh, North Carolina, put 'male' on his birth certificate, there were expectations about who Jacob was and who Jacob should be, words like 'masculine' and 'aggressive' and 'sports.' Naturally sensitive, playful, creative, and glitter-obsessed, as a child Jacob was given the label 'sissy' which joined forces with 'gay,' 'trans,' 'nonbinary,' and 'too-queer-to-function.' In calling out the stereotypes that each of us have faced, he invites us to rethink what we know about gender, and offers a bold blueprint for a healed world-- one free from gender-based trauma and bursting with trans-inclusive feminism. -- adapted from jacket

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Fairest : a memoir book cover

Fairest : a memoir

Meredith Talusan

306.768 Talusan
Nonfiction, Memoir, LGBTQ+

"A heartrending immigrant memoir and a uniquely intersectional coming-of-age story of a life lived in duality and the in-between, and how one navigates through race, gender, and the search for love"--Provided by publisher.

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How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals book cover

How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals

Sy Montgomery

590/Montgomery
Memoir, Animals, Nature

A naturalist and adventurer discusses the personalities and quirks of thirteen animals who have profoundly affected her, exploring themes of learning to become empathetic, creating families, coping with loss, and the otherness and sameness of people and animals.

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A delightful book for anyone who admires the sentient intellect and all the life lessons animals outside of own species can share with us-if we're paying attention. -Victoria

All creatures great and small. book cover

All creatures great and small.

James Herriot

636.089 /Herriot
Memoir

British veterinary surgeon James Alfred Wight, better known by his pen name James Herriot, wrote a semi-biographical 8 book series set in the 1930s-1950s about his life as a veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales, the animals he treated and their owners. He set the books in the fictional town of Darrowby, based on a combination of towns of Thirsk, Richmond, Leyburn and Middleham. The first book was published in the UK in 1970. When the series was published in the US they were collected into three omnibus volumes: All Creatures Great and Small ('72), All Things Bright and Beautiful ('74), and All Things Wise and Wonderful ('77).

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The basis of the 1975 feature film starring Simon Ward and Anthony Hopkins, the 1978 BBC television series starring Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy, and the 2020 television series by PBS/channel 5 (UK) starring Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West. -Beth

Warrior dog book cover

Warrior dog

Will Chesney

j636.7088 Chesney
Memoir

"The powerful true story of a SEAL Team Six member and military dog handler, and the dog that saved his life. Two dozen Navy SEALs descended on Osama bin Laden's compound in May 2011. After the mission, only one name was made public: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois and military working dog. This is Cairo's story, and that of his handler, Will Chesney, a member of SEAL Team Six whose life would be irrevocably tied to Cairo's. Starting in 2008, when Will was introduced to the DEVGRU canine program, he and Cairo worked side by side, depending on each other for survival on hundreds of critical operations in the war on terrorism. But their bond transcended their service. Then, in 2011, the call came: Pick up your dog and get back to Virginia. Now. What followed were several weeks of training for a secret mission. It soon became clear that this was no ordinary operation. Cairo was among the first members of the U.S. military on the ground in Pakistan as part of Operation Neptune Spear, which resulted in the successful elimination of bin Laden. As Cairo settled into a role as a reliable "spare dog," Will went back to his job as a DEVGRU operator, until a grenade blast in 2013 left him with a brain injury and PTSD. Unable to participate in further missions, he suffered from crippling migraines, chronic pain, memory issues, and depression. Modern medicine provided only modest relief. Instead, it was up to Cairo to save Will's life once more-and then up to Will to be there when Cairo needed him the most"--

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Born just right book cover

Born just right

Jordan Reeves

j617.574 Reeves
Memoir

When Jordan Reeves was born without the bottom half of her left arm, the doctors reassured her parents that she was "born just right." And she has been proving that doctor right ever since! With candor, humor, and heart, Jordan's mother, Jen Lee Reeves, helps Jordan tell her story about growing up in an able-bodied world and family, where she was treated like all of her siblings and classmates--and where she never felt limited. Whether it was changing people's minds about her capabilities, trying all kinds of sports, or mentoring other kids, Jordan has channeled any negativity into a positive, and is determined to create more innovations for people just like her. -- publisher's web site.

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Not so different : what you really want to ask about having a disability book cover

Not so different : what you really want to ask about having a disability

Shane Burcaw

j617.482 Burcaw
Memoir

A picture book answering the questions young children ask Shane Burcaw about his wheelchair and life with Spinal Muscular Atrophy with equal parts optimism, humor, and empathy.

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Calypso book cover

Calypso

David Sedaris

817.54 /Sedaris
Memoir

Personal essays share the author's adventures after buying a vacation house on the Carolina coast and his reflections on middle age and mortality.

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I have never been disappointed reading a collection of David Sedaris' essays, and this book was no exception. I laughed out loud, felt like crying and once again feel like David Sedaris is one of the most relatable writers ever. -Mari

Untamed book cover

Untamed

Glennon Doyle

BIOGRAPHY Doyle, Glennon
Memoir

"There is a voice of longing inside every woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good mothers, daughters, partners, employees, citizens, and friends. We believe all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives, relationships, and world, and wonder: Wasn't it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful. We hide our simmering discontent--even from ourselves. Until we reach our boiling point. Four years ago, Glennon Doyle--bestselling Oprah-endorsed author, renowned activist and humanitarian, wife and mother of three--was speaking at a conference when a woman entered the room. Glennon looked at her and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. Soon she realized that they came to her from within. Glennon was finally hearing her own voice--the voice that had been silenced by decades of cultural conditioning, numbing addictions, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl Glennon had been before the world told her who to be. She vowed to never again abandon herself. She decided to build a life of her own--one based on her individual desire, intuition, and imagination. She would reclaim her true, untamed self. Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both a memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It offers a piercing, electrifying examination of the restrictive expectations women are issued from birth; shows how hustling to meet those expectations leaves women feeling dissatisfied and lost; and reveals that when we quit abandoning ourselves and instead abandon the world's expectations of us, we become women who can finally look at our lives and recognize: There She Is. Untamed shows us how to be brave. As Glennon insists: The braver we are, the luckier we get"--

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