These books are being published and released this month. They have been ordered by the Library and will be available soon.

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Biography and Memoir  | General Nonfiction

Biography and Memoir

American Son
By Oscar De La Hoya
A poignant and inspirational memoir by one of America’s greatest boxers describes his hard-won journey to the top of the sports world, from his early struggle as the son of Mexican-born parents, to the work ethic that brought him success, his boxing career, and the pitfalls of celebrity.

Books:  A Memoir
By Larry McMurtry
In an intimate and intriguing memoir, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove recounts his lifelong love affair with books, from his largely “bookless” boyhood and discovery of literature as a young man, to the evolution of his writing career and his passion as a book collector who opens bookstores of rare and collectible volumes.

The First Queen of England:  The Myth of “Bloody Mary”
By Linda Porter
In a study that discusses such topics as her mistreatment by her father Henry VIII and brother Edward VI, her struggles to retain her crown throughout her reign, and her premature death, Porter’s  revisionist portrait of Mary Tudor contends that she is one of English history’s most reviled and least understood monarchs.

Golden Bones:  An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America
By Sichan Siv
Documenting his imprisonment in Cambodia in the wake of the 1975 “killing fields” murders, the author describes his dramatic escape from a slave labor camp and subsequent arrival in America, where he eventually became a senior White House aide.

Journey of a Thousand Miles:  My Story
By Lang Lang, with David Ritz
The author details his musical odyssey as a talented young Chinese piano prodigy, from his youth in an industrial city in northern China, through the dedication and sacrifice that marked his musical education, to his global triumph in the world of classical music.

Looking for Anne of Green Gables:  The Life and Times of L. M. Montgomery & Her Literary Classic
By Irene Gammel
Issued on the one hundredth anniversary of the first publication of the beloved classic, a dual portrait of the irrepressible redheaded orphan and her creator covers such topics as the death of Montgomery’s mother, her life on Prince Edward Island, and the inspiration for the “e” at the end of Anne’s name.

Why I Came West: A Memoir
By Rick Bass
A noted naturalist, novelist, and environmental activist chronicles his love affair with the mystique of the American West as a landscape, an idea, and a way of life as he recalls his discovery of the Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana and the impact of the wild landscape on his writing career and activism.

General Nonfiction

Ark of the Liberties:  America and the World
By Ted Widmer
A former speechwriter for Bill Clinton and frequent reviewer for the New York Times Book Review recount America’s long-standing advocacy of democracy throughout the world, its dramatic fall from international popularity throughout the past eight years, and the positive contributions of past presidents.

Claim of Privilege: A Mysterious Plane Crach, a Landmark Supreme Court Case, and the Rise of State Secrets
By Barry Siegel
A behind-the-scenes account of the landmark 1953  U. S. v Reynolds Supreme Court case traces the suspicious deaths of three civilian engineers and the methods by which the government set a precedent for withholding evidence and blocking litigation processes.

Confidence Is Queen:  The Four Keys to Unleashing Your Ultimate Beauty Through the Power of Positive Thinking
By Susie Castillo
The MTV VJ and former Miss USA shares her four-step approach to building self-confidence:  Identify and effectively develop your spirituality; Discover and embrace your relationships; Take control of your health and body image; and Believe in your dreams and make them a reality.

Fire-Breathing Liberal:  How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress
By Robert Wexler, with David Fisher
A five-term Florida congressman offers insight into some of the most significant political events of the past decade, from Bill Clinton’s impeachment and the Elian Gonzales case to the disputed 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and controversies surrounding FEMA.

For the Love of Animals:  The Rise of the Animal Protection Movement
By Kathryn Shevelow
Shevelow traces the story of an unlikely group of reformers in eighteenth-century England who worked to raise awareness about animal abuse, from an unconventional duchess who wrote about animal intellect to a gentleman scientist who argued that animals should be treated with compassion.

Forger’s Spell:  A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
By Edward Dolnick
Dolnick profiles the dramatic art hoax through which a small-time Dutch painter conned a reviled Nazi leader by creating works that impersonated those of famed artist Jan Vermeer, a seven-year deception during which the forger hid his mediocre artistic abilities through psychologically manipulative practices.

Ghost:  Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent
By Fred Burton
One of America’s most experienced agents offers a glimpse inside the shadowy world of counterterrorism to reveal life on the frontlines of America’s War on Terror, detailing his experiences with the Diplomatic Security Service in every area of the world, including his investigations into the Atlanta Olympic bombing, Timothy McVeigh, and Ramzi Yousef, the first World Trade Center bomber.

The Gridlock Economy:  How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives
By Michael A. Heller
Presenting his theory of the “tragedy of the anticommons,” the author looks at the consequences of excessive property rights that create an underuse of resources, addressing such specific issues as excessive patent rights that inhibit the development of life-saving drugs, real estate practices that lead to a loss of family estates, copyright laws, and more.

The House on First Street:  My New Orleans Story
By Julia Reed
A journalist and long-time resident of New Orleans describes her relocation to the city and work as a reporter, recounting her purchase of a Garden District home just prior to the hurricane Katrina disaster and her shared efforts alongside a host of eccentric locals to recover and rebuild.

Last Chance:  The Political Threat to Black America
By Lee A. Daniels
Daniels looks at today’s critical turning point in black political power as black America confronts the lack of fulfillment of the goals of the Civil Rights movement, the high crime rates in black neighborhoods, ineffective leadership of the NAACP and National Urban League, and the rejection of the GOP, and issues a provocative challenge to renew black American political initiatives.

Letter to a New President: Common Sense Lessons for Our Next Leader
By Robert C. Byrd
A nine-term senator draws on his extensive political background to offer counsel to the nation’s next commander-in-chief, in a collection of essays based on his vision of the presidency that does not prioritize reelection and is committed to the tenets of the Constitution.

The Liberal Hour:  Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s
By G. Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot
A history of the liberal movement in the 1960s challenges popular misconceptions to argue that the government was largely responsible for many of the positive changes associated with the period, in an account that evaluates the cultural and political factors that enabled key reforms.

Love as a Way of Life:  The Seven Keys to Transforming Every Aspect of Your Life
By Gary Chapman
A follow-up to the best-selling The Five Love Languages reveals the seminal role of spiritual insight and understanding in our daily lives and sheds new light on the qualities that help us express and respond to love – kindness, patience, forgiveness, humility, courtesy, giving, and honesty – as well as the obstacles and misunderstandings that undermine relationships.

My Guantanamo Diary:  The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me
By Mahvish Khan
An American attorney born to immigrant Afghan parents describes her outrage over the detainments at Guantanamo, her volunteer role as an interpreter for prisoners, and her insights into her Afghan heritage, American freedoms, and the plight of those who have been detained for years without trial.

The No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause
By Barbara Seaman and Laura Eldridge
The authors draw on up-to-date findings to address questions raised by recent changes in hormone replacement therapy, sharing accessible coverage of a wide range of menopause issues, from medicinal and cultural factors to sexual and financial concerns.

The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America
By Jim Marrs
The author of the best-selling  Rule by Secrecy, outlines controversial evidence that the Nazis have been secretly planning a return to power in the United States, and traces how a covert society of Nazis escaped to America in 1945 and has been practicing the philosophies of occult scholar Otto Rahn.

Rome 1960:  The Olympics That Changed the World
By David Maraniss
An account of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome reveals the competition’s unexpected influence on the modern world, in a narrative synopsis that pays tribute to such athletes as Cassius Clay and Wilma Rudolph while evaluating the roles of Cold War propaganda, civil rights, and politics.

This Land Is Their Land:  Reports from a Divided Nation
By Barbara Ehrenreich
In a report that analyzes such modern challenges as political and corporate corruption, the widening economic gap, and a rise in extreme conservatism, the social commentator and author of  The Worst Years of Our Lives presents a satirical critique that denounces the twenty-first-century’s first political decade as the cruelest in memory.

The Way Home:  A Doctor Cares for His Aging Parents
By Jerald Winakur
A respected geriatrician examines the social and medical challenges of aging as experienced firsthand through the decline of his elderly father, a process throughout which the author struggled with feelings of helplessness in spite of his medical knowledge.

Well Enough Alone:  A Cultural History of My Hypochondria
By Jennifer Traig
In an account that describes current misunderstandings about hypochondria, the non-threatening health challenges that fed her paranoid self-diagnoses of more dire illnesses, and her efforts to embrace a healthier outlook, Traig traces her personal struggle with hypochondria as well as the condition’s history and broader cultural context.

Who Killed the Constitution?  The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush
By Thomas E. Woods, Jr. and Kevin R. Gutzman
Drawing on examples that range from the interstate highway system and military draft to the Civil Rights Act, two noted historians look at how all three branches of the federal government have defied the tenets of the U. S. Constitution over the past century to make decisions that, while apparently beneficial, are not constitutional.

Why Is God Laughing?  The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism
By Deepak Chopra
A proponent of a holistic mind, body, and spirit approach to life and the best-selling author of How to Know God, Life After Death, and The Third Jesus shares his inspirational guidelines for those seeking the path to spiritual enlightenment and true joy.

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