New and Recently Released! Epilogue - by Anne Roiphe Publisher: HarperCollins Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 9/1/2008 ISBN: 9780061254628 ISBN-10: 0061254622 Like Joan Didion in The Year of Magical Thinking, author Anne Richardson Roiphe recounts her emotional distress following her beloved husband's death and her efforts to create a life for herself without him. For Roiphe, simple acts such as grocery shopping bring back painful memories of the man with whom she shared more than 39 years; just as difficult are her attempts to make new friends--and even, with her daughters' assistance, begin to date again. Booklist writes, "Roiphe's brave foray into the devastation that is widowhood radiates with raw emotion." Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt - by Joyce Tyldesley Publisher: Perseus Books Group Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/25/2008 ISBN: 9780465009404 ISBN-10: 0465009409 Cleopatra VII, the last Queen of Egypt, has achieved iconic status in today's world, and accounts of her life have been told--and distorted--by writers ranging from her own contemporaries to William Shakespeare. As the last Egyptian Pharaoh, Cleopatra fought to protect her kingdom from the grasping Roman Empire, forming alliances (and notorious sexual relationships) with both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony before finally being defeated by Caesar's heir, Octavian. Joyce Tyldesley, a British archaeologist, probes the many sources documenting Cleopatra's life and reign to create this compelling biography, which, according to Publishers Weekly, "hits the elusive sweet spot between scholarship and readability." Table of Contents The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life, His Own - by David Carr Publisher: Simon & Schuster Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/5/2008 ISBN: 9781416541523 ISBN-10: 1416541527 Unlike former drug addicts who recount their past in hazy--and often fabricated--detail, David Carr, currently a reporter for The New York Times, has taken an investigative approach to his turbulent personal history, supporting his own memories with interviews and exhaustive research. As a young man in Minneapolis, Carr juggled a promising career as a reporter with a hard-partying lifestyle; it was only after his fellow-addict girlfriend prematurely gave birth to twins that he began to turn his life around. Kirkus Reviews calls The Night of the Gun "a brilliantly written, brutally honest memoir." First Chapter Not Just the Levees Broke: My Story During and After Hurricane Katrina - by Phyllis Montana-Leblanc Publisher: Atria Books Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/19/2008 ISBN: 9781416563464 ISBN-10: 1416563466 As one of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, Phyllis Montana-Leblanc was featured in Spike Lee's Emmy Award-winning documentary, When the Levees Broke. Now, in Not Just the Levees Broke, Montana-Leblanc shares more of her traumatic story. Though Montana-Leblanc and her family decided to ride out the hurricane in her Ninth Ward apartment rather than evacuate, they never expected Katrina to cause such devastation. Montana-Leblanc holds nothing back as she describes the horrific conditions of life in post-hurricane New Orleans as well as the inefficiency of the desperately needed rescue efforts. Kirkus Reviews calls her story a "drama of crackling immediacy and with ringing outspokenness." First Chapter Born in October An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood - by Jimmy Carter Publisher: Simon & Schuster Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/16/2001 ISBN: 9780743211994 ISBN-10: 0743211995 October 1, 1924. For Depression-era farming families like Jimmy Carter's, work always began "an hour before daylight"--and it never stopped until dark. Yet the title of this thoughtful memoir also refers to race relations during Carter's childhood, when segregation had not yet given way to true freedom for African Americans. In vivid detail, Carter relives the experiences of his youth, from the difficulties of farming without electricity to his close friendships with his African-American neighbors. In the process, he also shares profiles of the people who shaped his life, including his parents, his eccentric relatives and childhood friends, and an eminent African-American bishop. First Chapter Table of Contents Eleanor Roosevelt: Vol. 1, 1884-1933 - by Blanche Wiesen Cook Publisher: Penguin Books Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 3/1/1993 ISBN: 9780140094602 ISBN-10: 0140094601 October 11, 1884. The first volume in Blanche Wiesen Cook's acclaimed biography of Eleanor Roosevelt spans nearly a half century, from Eleanor's birth to her husband's election as United States President. Raised in a prominent family that showed her little affection, Eleanor seemed destined for a socialite's life of ease when she married her cousin Franklin--but though she was devoted to her family, she also carved out an independent life of her own through social and political activism. With clear admiration for her subject, Cook analyzes Eleanor's personality as well as her relationships with key figures such as Franklin and the reporter Lorena Hickok. First Chapter Table of Contents Ike: An American Hero - by Michael Korda Publisher: Harper Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/21/2007 ISBN: 9780060756659 ISBN-10: 0060756659 October 14, 1890. Though he never experienced combat himself, Dwight D. Eisenhower remains one of the world's greatest war heroes. After coordinating the successful D-Day invasion of France during World War II, Eisenhower, or "Ike," became supreme commander of Allied military forces, overseeing the eventual defeat of Europe's Axis powers. His popularity as a military leader eventually swept him into the presidency of the United States, a position he held for two terms. In Ike: An American Hero, Michael Korda examines Eisenhower's eventful life, focusing primarily on his military career. Kirkus Reviews calls Ike "an engaging history, guided by an elegant, witty sense of characterization." First Chapter Table of Contents A Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932 - by John Richardson; with the collaboration of Marilyn McCully Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 11/6/2007 ISBN: 9780307266651 ISBN-10: 0307266656 October 25, 1881. This third volume in John Richardson's landmark biography of Picasso (following The Prodigy and The Cubist Rebel) continues the story of one of the 20th century's greatest (and most notorious) painters. In 1917, a recently jilted Picasso traveled to Rome to design costumes for the Ballets Russes; there, he met and soon married the ballerina Olga Khokhlova. Eventually, their marriage disintegrated, and a 45-year-old Picasso became embroiled in a love affair with 17-year-old Marie-Thérèse Walter. Richardson masterfully discusses how the events in Picasso's life (such as his changing feelings for Olga) often shaped his art. First Chapter Table of Contents Pulitzer Prize-Winning Biographies American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin Publisher: A.A. Knopf Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 4/5/2005 ISBN: 9780375412028 ISBN-10: 0375412026 2006 Pulitzer Prize. When the atomic bomb was first tested in the barren wilderness of New Mexico, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the bomb's development, famously recalled the words from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Oppenheimer understood the need for the bomb during World War II, but he also comprehended its potential to unleash disaster on the world if not controlled--a position that eventually led the U.S. Government to strip him of his security clearance. Drawing on 25 years of research, authors Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin have created a definitive biography of Oppenheimer's extraordinary life. First Chapter Table of Contents Personal History - by Katharine Graham Publisher: A.A. Knopf Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 2/1/1997 ISBN: 9780394585857 ISBN-10: 0394585852 1998 Pulitzer Prize. Today, the late Katharine Graham is remembered as a prominent and highly successful working woman. As the publisher of The Washington Post, she oversaw the newspaper during such famous events as the Watergate scandal and the pressman's strike of 1972. Yet in this compelling memoir, Graham reveals the difficult journey to her success, from her sheltered and lonely childhood to her traumatic marriage to Philip Graham. For an insider's look into the life of the rich, famous, and powerful, be sure to check out Personal History. First Chapter Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father - by John Matteson Publisher: W.W. Norton Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 8/1/2007 ISBN: 9780393059649 ISBN-10: 0393059642 2008 Pulitzer Prize. More than 100 years after her death, Louisa May Alcott remains a famous literary figure, largely for writing the beloved children's book Little Women. Yet while she was alive, Louisa shared the spotlight with her father, Bronson, an idealistic transcendentalist who counted among his friends Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Eden's Outcasts, John Matteson offers a dual biography of Louisa and Bronson that not only provides readers with a glimpse into their sometimes turbulent personal lives and literary careers, but also acquaints them with the intellectual landscape of 19th-century New England. John Adams - by David McCullough Publisher: Simon & Schuster Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 5/22/2001 ISBN: 9780684813639 ISBN-10: 0684813637 2002 Pulitzer Prize. John Adams, a sometimes irascible but always honorable Massachusetts lawyer, played a pivotal--though often unheralded--role in the formation of the United States. In John Adams, David McCullough employs a sweeping narrative to trace the man's eventful life and his many accomplishments, including his participation in the Continental Congress and his term as the young country's second president. McCullough also reveals the complexities of Adams' personality, from his integrity and his occasional pride to his complex friendship with Thomas Jefferson and his tender relationship with his wife, Abigail. Anyone who enjoys reading about American history will relish this epic biography of one of its greatest patriots. First Chapter Table of Contents