Tag: memoirs

Tell Me Everything: New Biographies and Memoirs in the Collection

KathLeave a comment

The August chill is still with us and I don’t know about you, but all I want to do is curl up with a good book and a cat on my lap.  This month’s new biographies and memoirs in the collection are particularly inviting, including literary greats, world changing activists, stories of overcoming poverty and struggle, the glamour of Hollywood and everyday people who went on to make a difference.

Tell me everything : a memoir / Kelly, Minka
“Raised by a single mother who worked as a stripper and struggled with addiction, Minka spent years waking up in strange apartments as she and her mom bounced around the country, relying on friends and relatives to take them in. At times they even lived in storage units. She reconnected with her father, Aerosmith’s Rick Dufay, and eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she landed the role of a lifetime on Friday Night Lights. Now an established actress and philanthropist, Minka takes this next step in her career as a writer. She has poured her soul into the pages of this book, which ultimately tells a story of triumph over adversity, and how resilience and love are all we have in the end.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The marriage question : George Eliot’s double life / Carlisle, Clare
“When she was in her mid-thirties, Marian Evans transformed herself into George Eliot – an author celebrated for her genius as soon as she published her debut novel. During those years she also found her life partner, George Lewes – writer, philosopher and married father of three. After ‘eloping’ to Berlin in 1854 they lived together for twenty-four years: Eliot asked people to call her ‘Mrs Lewes’ and dedicated each novel to her ‘Husband’. Though they could not legally marry, she felt herself initiated into the ‘great experience’ of marriage – ‘this double life, which helps me to feel and think with double strength’. Reading them afresh, Carlisle’s searching new biography explores how marriage questions grow and change, and joins Eliot in her struggle to marry thought and feeling.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Poor : grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief / O’Sullivan, Katriona
“As the middle of five kids growing up in dire poverty, the odds were low on Katriona O’Sullivan making anything of her life. When she became a mother at 15 and ended up homeless, what followed were five years of barely coping. This is the extraordinary story – moving, funny, brave, and sometimes startling – of how Katriona turned her life around. How the seeds of self-belief planted by teachers in childhood stayed with her. How she found mentors whose encouragement revived those seeds in adulthood. Now an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education, Poor stands as a stirring argument for the importance of looking out for our kids’ futures. Of giving them hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities.” (Catalogue)

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Read by the Author: Entertaining Autobiographies in the Author’s Voice

KathLeave a comment

One of the greatest inventions of our time is the audiobook.  Being able to listen to a book while you’re doing another task has opened up a world of reading to us in our busy lives.  Pop it on during your morning commute, or when on a roadie.  Fire up an audiobook while you’re gardening or doing chores around the house.  They’re great for keeping kids entertained on a rainy day or in the car.  I particularly love autobiographies in audiobook form when they are read by the author.  It gives the reader so much more insight into who the subject is than having the book read by someone else.

Here are some eAudiobooks available through Libby that have been read by the author that I’ve particularly enjoyed:

Overdrive cover Unprotected: a Memoir – Billy Porter,
From the incomparable Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner, a powerful and revealing autobiography about race, sexuality, art, and healing. It’s easy to be yourself when who and what you are is in vogue. But growing up Black and gay in America has never been easy. 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; and before he was an acclaimed…young boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn’t fit in. Porter is a multitalented, multifaceted treasure at the top of his game, and Unprotected is a resonant, inspirational story of trauma and healing, shot through with his singular voice. (Adapted from Overdrive description)

Overdrive cover As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride – Cary Elwes,
From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes the New York Times bestselling account of the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner. (Adapted from Overdrive description)

Overdrive cover And Away… – Bob Mortimer,
Although his childhood in Middlesbrough was normal on the surface, it was tinged by the loss of his dad, and his own various misadventures (now infamous from his appearances on Would I Lie to You?), from burning down the family home to starting a short-lived punk band called Dog Dirt. As an adult, he trained as a solicitor and moved to London. Though he was doing pretty well (the South London Press once crowned him ‘The Cockroach King’ after a successful verdict), a chance encounter in a pub in the 1980s with a young comedian going by the name Vic Reeves set his life on a different track.
Warm, profound, and irrepressibly funny, And Away… is Bob’s full life story (with a few lies thrown in for good measure.) (Adapted from Overdrive description)

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Laughing at the dark: New biographies and memoirs

Kath

Winter is well and truly here! The long dark nights and chilly days call for a good book, a cosy corner and a cuppa. This month’s crop of biographies and memoirs new to the collection will surely create that cosy environment we’re all looking for at this time of year.

Laughing at the dark : a memoir / Else, Barbara
“By the time she was in her forties, Barbara was married to a globally recognised academic physician and had two beautiful teenage daughters. As her writing career developed, her husband became angry at the prospect of her being anything but a housewife. In a moment of madness — or realisation — she packed her car and took off to live with the man who would become her second husband. With her trademark wit and humour, Barbara poignantly describes her transformation from a shy but stubborn child into a fulfilled and successful adult.” (Catalogue)

True west : Sam Shepard’s life, work, and times / Greenfield, Robert
“True West is the story of an American icon, a lasting portrait of Sam Shepard as he really was, revealed by those who knew him best. This sweeping biography charts Shepard’s long and complicated journey from a small town in southern California to his standing as an internationally known playwright and movie star. While exploring his relationships with Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Jessica Lange across the long arc of his brilliant career, Greenfield makes the case for Shepard not just as a great American writer but a unique figure who first brought the sensibility of rock ‘n’ roll to serious theater.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The real Enid Blyton / Cohen, Nadia
“She is the most prolific children’s author in history, but Enid Blyton is also the most controversial. A remarkable woman who wrote hundreds of books in a career spanning forty years, even her razor sharp mind could never have predicted her enormous global audience.  She was prone to bursts of furious temper, yet was a shrewd businesswoman years ahead of her time. She may not have been particularly likeable, and her stories infuriatingly unimaginative, but she left a vast literary legacy to generations of children.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Takeaway : stories from a childhood behind the counter / Hui, Angela
“Growing up in a Chinese takeaway in rural Wales, Angela Hui was made aware at a very young age of just how different she and her family were seen by her local community. From attacks on the shopfront (in other words, their home), to verbal abuse from customers, and confrontations that ended with her dad wielding the meat cleaver; life growing up in a takeaway was far from peaceful. But alongside the strife, there was also beauty and joy in the rhythm of life in the takeaway and in being surrounded by the food of her home culture. Family dinners before service, research trips to Hong Kong, preparing for the weekend rush with her brothers – the takeaway is a hive of activity before a customer even places their order of ‘egg-fried rice and chop suey’.” (Catalogue)

Rock n roll nanny : a memoir / Arnold, Sally
“What’s it like to prepare Christmas lunch with Mick Jagger? To go clubbing with The Who’s crazy drummer Keith Moon? Or to deal with the WAGs in a band’s entourage? In 1971, Sally Arnold takes a nannying job in Paris that will transform her life. Her charge is Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade and she is soon running more than bath-time… she is working for the giants of rock as the first woman tour manager in the business. When Sally moves on to organising charity events, she has to manage other larger-than-life personalities such as Billy Connolly and Rowan Atkinson.  How did Sally survive in this world of rock and roll” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Bruno Schulz : an artist, a murder, and the hijacking of history / Balint, Benjamin
“A biography of the Polish-Jewish writer and artist includes an account of the discovery of his last artworks–murals painted on the walls of a villa occuppied by a Nazi officer–sixty years after his death and the complicated political dispute over the ownership of the murals.” (Catalogue)

 

You could make this place beautiful : a memoir / Smith, Maggie
“Life, like a poem, is a series of choices.” In her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes. With a poet’s attention to language and an innovative approach to the genre, Smith reveals how, in the aftermath of loss, we can discover our power and make something new. Something beautiful.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Ten : the decade that changed my future / Clark-Neal, Rylan
“Funny and outspoken, Rylan is one of the UK’s most-loved presenters and a true household name. In this brand-new memoir, Rylan invites us deeper into his world to reflect on all the things he’s learnt from a decade in the limelight, whilst also pulling back the curtain on his personal journey. Covering everything from fame and celebrity to his mental health and identity, family and relationships to his love of reality TV, he recounts his life lessons with humour, candour and a huge amount of heart. This is Rylan as you’ve never seen him before – an intimate, fascinating and joyful insight into an extraordinary ten years on the telly and in our hearts.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Island girl to airplane pilot : a story of love, sacrifice and taking flight / McLeod, Silva
“This is the life story of Silva Mcleod, the first Tongan woman to become an airline pilot. She’s still one of only a handful. Told by Silva with frankness and wit, it’s quite a story. Silva takes us on a journey of cultural change from her beginnings as a poor island girl to her marriage to an Australian. The challenges of pursuing a flying career and its impact on her family are set against the backdrop of the love story of her life with her husband and his battle with cancer.” (Catalogue)

A forager’s life : finding my heart and home in nature / Lehndorf, Helen
“When Helen Lehndorf moves to the city after a childhood living off the land in rural Taranaki, she can’t help but feel different from her peers and professors. She finds solace in long walks foraging weeds and plants along the river, but something inside her still longs for home. Chasing a feeling of ancestral belonging, she travels to England with her new husband. There they learn about nature as the commons, shared between all who encounter it – a source of delight, food, medicine. Weaving memoir with foraging recipes, principles and practices, A Forager’s Life is an intimate story and a promise that, with the right frame of mind, much can be made of the world around us.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new items in the collection, take a look at What’s new & Popular / June 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)

To the one I love the best: New biographies and memoirs

Kath

It’s a new month and that means new books. In our biographies this month we have a selection of fascinating individuals, from stars of popular culture and film, to migrants and refugees, power brokers and photographers. Take a look at some of them here…

To the one I love the best / Bemelmans, Ludwig
“A witty and charming account of the wildly entertaining Elsie de Wolfe in 1950s Hollywood, recounted by her dear friend, the beloved creator of Madeline.  To the One I Love the Best (which refers to de Wolfe’s dog) is a touching tribute to a fabulously funny woman and an American icon. “Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you.” –Elsie de Wolfe” — .” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Still life at eighty : the next interesting thing / Thomas, Abigail
“In her new memoir, Abigail Thomas ruminates on aging during the confines of COVID-19 with her trademark mix of humor and wisdom, including valuable, contemplative writing tips along the way. As she approaches eighty, what she herself calls old age, Abigail Thomas accepts her new life, quieter than before, no driving, no dancing, mostly sitting in her chair in a sunny corner with three dogs for company–three dogs, vivid memories, bugs and birds and critters that she watches out her window. No one but this beloved, best-selling memoirist, could make so much over what might seem so little. Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea and enter Abigail Thomas’s funny, mesmerizing, generous world.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Kennan : a life between worlds / Costigliola, Frank
“A definitive biography of the U.S. diplomat and prize-winning historian George F. Kennan. The diplomat and historian George F. Kennan (1904-2005) ranks as one of the most important figures in American foreign policy-and one of its most complex. An absorbing portrait of an eloquent, insightful, and sometimes blinkered iconoclast whose ideas are still powerfully relevant, Kennan invites us to imagine a world that Kennan fought for but was unable to bring about-one not of confrontations and crises, but of dialogue and diplomacy.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Paris : the memoir / Hilton, Paris
“Recounting her perilous journey through pre-#MeToo sexual politics with grace, dignity, and just the right amount of sass, Paris: The Memoir tracks the evolution of celebrity culture through the story of the figure at its leading edge, full of defining moments and marquee names. Most important, Paris shows us her path to peace while she challenges us to question our role in her story and in our own. Welcome to Paris. In this deeply personal memoir, the ultimate It Girl shares, for the first time, the hidden history that traumatized and defined her and how she rose above a series of heart-wrenching challenges to find healing, lasting love, and a life of meaning and purpose.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

My what if year : a memoir / Miranda, Alisha Fernandez
“On the cusp of turning forty, Alisha Fernandez Miranda has climbed to the peak of personal and professional success, but at a price; she’s overworked and exhausted. Bravely, Alisha decides to give herself a break, temporarily pausing her stressful career as the CEO of high-powered consulting firm. With the tentative blessing of her husband and eight-year-old twins, she leaves her home in London to spend one year exploring the dream jobs of her youth, seeking answers to the question, What If?” (Catalogue)

A stone is most precious where it belongs : a memoir of Uyghur exile, hope, and survival / Hoja, Gulchehra
“In February 2018, twenty-four members of Gulchehra Hoja’s family disappeared overnight. Her crime – and thus that of her family – was her award-winning investigations on the plight of her people, the , whose existence and culture is being systematically destroyed by the Chinese government. A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs is Gulchehra’s stunning memoir, taking us into the everyday world of life under Chinese rule in East Turkestan (more formally as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China), from her idyllic childhood to its modern nightmare.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Hereafter : the telling life of Ellen O’Hara / Groarke, Vona
“Hereafter tells the story of Ellen O’Hara, a young woman emigrant from Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century who, with courage and resilience, made a life for herself in New York, firstly as a domestic servant and later in her own boarding house-all the while financially supporting those at home.” (Catalogue)

 

Second chances : facing my demons and finding a better me / Holt, Hayley
“A raw and honest story of alcoholism, recovery and courage in the face of loss. Hayley Holt grew up in the public eye. Now it’s time to share her side of the story. Heartbreaking and inspiring, filled with Hayley’s wicked wit, Second Chances is about finding the courage to face up to your mistakes, and learning that even the deepest pain can be followed by the greatest joy.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Resilience : a story of persecution, escape, survival and triumph / Woolf, Inge
“Resilience is a Holocaust story and a New Zealand story. Born to a prosperous family, Inge Woolf witnessed the Nazis marching into Vienna in March 1938 and fled with her family to England, escaping certain death. Hiding their Jewish identity until after World War II, Inge and her family were impoverished refugees. A move to New Zealand signalled new beginnings. Inge met the love of her life, Ronald Woolf, and together they created the country’s pre-eminent photographic studio – before catastrophe struck. In her later years, Inge was pivotal in establishing the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and was its founding director. She was dedicated to educating thousands on the Holocaust and the dangers of racism and prejudice, often observing that hate starts small. After experiencing so much loss, Inge’s life is testament to the power of resilience.” (Catalogue)

For more new items in the collection, go to: What’s new & Popular / May 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)

I’ll Try Anything Once: New Biographies and Memoirs

Kath

Another month rolls around and we have a bumper crop of new biographies and memoirs for you.  Entertainment, art, literature, history and more, it’s all there in our latest acquisitions to the collection.

I’ll try anything once : my autobiography / Leith, Prue
“The memoir of restaurateur, food writer, business woman and novelist, Prue Leith, whose refreshing charm, humour, energy, and zest for life remind us of what is possible.” (Catalogue)

A mystery of mysteries : the death and life of Edgar Allan Poe / Dawidziak, Mark
“A Mystery of Mysteries is a brilliant biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines the renowned author’s life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes.  By debunking the myths of how he lived, we come closer to understanding the real Poe and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove the cause of Poe’s death was haunting him all his life.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Did I Ever Tell You This / Neill, Sam
“In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion.” (Catalogue)

The secret listener : an ingenue in Mao’s court / Chen, Yuan-tsung
“The history of China in the twentieth century is comprised of a long series of shocks: the 1911 revolution, the civil war between the communists and the nationalists, the Japanese invasion, the revolution, the various catastrophic campaigns initiated by Chairman Mao between 1949 and 1976, its great opening to the world under Deng, and the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yuan-tsung Chen, who is now 90, lived through most of it, and at certain points in close proximity to the seat of communist power. A first-hand account of what life was like in the period before the revolution and in Mao’s China, The Secret Listener gives a unique perspective on the era, and Chen’s vantage point provides us with a new perspective on the Maoist regime.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

I don’t need therapy : (and other lies I’ve told myself) / Lodge, Toni
“When Toni Lodge sat down to write this memoir, she discovered that the lies she was telling herself were hiding some pretty important home truths-about her work, her identity and her mental health. Her dogged pursuit of these truths sent her on a brazen exploration of everything from gastro, fame and Twilight to funerals, the Dalai Lama and Brazilian waxes. In this hilarious warm hug of a book, Toni exposes the lies she has told herself about who she is and what she is capable of, inviting you on a riotous romp that will make you laugh, cringe, cry and utterly rethink the truth behind the stories we tell ourselves.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Toy fights : a boyhood / Paterson, Don
“This is a book about family, money and music but also about schizophrenia, hell, narcissists, debt and the working class, anger, swearing, drugs, books, football, love, origami, and the peculiar insanity of Dundee, sugar, religious mania, the sexual excesses of the Scottish club band scene and, more generally the lengths we to not be bored.” (Catalogue)

Vera Brittain : a life / Berry, Paul
“Writer, pacifist and feminist, she condemned her provincial background but remained acutely conscious of the conventional elements in her own character; she revealed a richly emotional life in her writing but was outwardly sober and reserved; she possessed a fierce desire for fame and recognition but was ready to sacrifice both on matters of principle. This biography – comprehensive, authoritative and immensely readable – confirms Vera Brittain’s stature as one of the most remarkable women of our time.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Love, Pamela / Anderson, Pamela
“Pamela Anderson’s blond bombshell image was ubiquitous in the 1990s.  Love, Pamela brings forth her true story, that of a small-town girl getting tangled up in her own dreams. Eventually overcoming her natural shyness, Pamela let her restless imagination propel her into a new life few can dream of, Hollywood and the Playboy Mansion. Now having returned to the island of her childhood, after a memorable run starring as Roxie in Chicago on Broadway, Pamela is telling her story, a story of an irrepressible free spirit coming home and discovering herself anew at every turn.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Soft lad : a collection of stories (about me) / Grimshaw, Nick
“Soft Lad is a collection of stories about me: stories on life, loves, death, fears, obsessions, nights out, growing up and making dreams come true. It isn’t chronological like a traditional memoir, starting at birth and ending with death – I’m still (at the point of writing) very much alive – but snapshots of the formative moments of my life up to now, with coming-of-age tales that capture a moment or a feeling. Some, I hope will make you laugh, and some, are emotional AF, so I’m afraid these might make you cry… They’re all honest, unfiltered and I’m proud to be sharing them with you.” (Catalogue)

The god of no good / Walker, Sita
“Sita Walker was raised by five strong matriarchs who taught her to believe in God and to be good. Her grandmother, mother and three aunts believed in unshakeable faith, in the power of prayer, in sacrifice, in magic, in the healing of turmeric and tea, and the wisdom of dreams. But as hard as she tries to be good, Sita always suspects that deep down, she isn’t very good at all. Traversing decades and continents — from Iran to India, Sri Lanka to the Czech Republic, Adelaide to the Torres Strait — The God of No Good is a beautifully lyrical and funny intergenerational memoir about six women and how their lives intertwine.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new books, go to: What’s new & Popular / April 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)

Making a scene: New biographies and memoirs

Kath

It’s that time again, a bumper crop of new biographies and memoirs are hitting our shelves and we’d love to share them with you. Whether your interest is stars of the screen, literary giants, world history or stories close to home, we’ve got something for everyone.

Making a scene / Wu, Constance
“Through raw and relatable essays, Constance shares private memories of childhood, young love and heartbreak, sexual assault and harassment, and how she “made it” in Hollywood. Her stories offer a behind-the-scenes look at being Asian American in the entertainment industry and the continuing evolution of her identity and influence in the public eye.” (Catalogue)

Terry Pratchett : a life with footnotes / Wilkins, Rob
“At the time of his death in 2015, he was working on his finest story yet – his own. Tragically, Terry ran out of time to complete the memoir he so desperately wanted to write. But now, in the only authorised biography of one of our best known and best loved writers, his manager and friend Rob Wilkins picks up where Terry left off, and with the help of friends, family and Terry’s own unpublished work, tells the full story of an extraordinary life.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Remainders of the day : a bookshop diary / Bythell, Shaun
“The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland is a book lover’s paradise, with thousands of books across nearly a mile of shelves, a real log fire, and Captain, the portly bookshop cat. You’d think that after twenty years, owner Shaun Bythell would be used to his quirky customers by now. Filled with the pernickety warmth and humor that has touched readers around the world, stuffed with literary treasures, hidden gems, and incunabula, Remainders of the Day is a warm and welcome memoir of a life in books.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Surviving Marmite : a memoir of growing up Iranian in New Zealand / MacLean, Anisa
“In 2000, when I was just seven years old, my family immigrated from Iran to New Zealand. Surviving Marmite chronicles our wild Kiwi journey; brimming with serious culture shock to hilarious misunderstandings and everything in between. It features my unconventional family: my overly optimistic taxi-driver father, my overly pessimistic eyebrow-threading mother, and my sister and I, frizzy-haired, confused and clearly incongruous third-culture kids.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

No filter : the good, the bad, and the beautiful / Porizkova, Paulina
“Writer and former model Paulina Porizkova pens a series of intimate, introspective, and enlightening essays about the complexities of womanhood at every age, pulling back the glossy magazine cover and writing from the heart”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

A heart that works / Delaney, Rob
“In 2016, Rob Delaney’s one-year-old son, Henry, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The family had moved from Los Angeles to London with their two young boys when Rob’s wife was pregnant with Henry, their third.  Amid the hospital routine, surgeries, and brutal treatments, they found a newfound community of nurses, aides, caregivers, and fellow parents contending with the unthinkable. Two years later, Henry died, and his family watched their world fall away to reveal the things that matter most.” (Catalogue)

Mussolini’s daughter : the most dangerous woman in Europe / Moorehead, Caroline
“Edda Mussolini was the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s oldest and favorite child. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, some newly released, along with memoirs and personal papers, Mussolini’s Daughter paints a portrait of a woman in her twenties whose sheer force of character and ruthless narcissism helped impose a brutal and vulgar movement on a pliable and complicit society. Yet as Moorehead shows, not even Edda’s colossal willpower, her scheming, nor her father’s avowed love could save her husband from Mussolini’s brutal vengeance.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Lives of the wives : five literary marriages / Ciuraru, Carmela
“The history of wives is largely one of silence, resilience, and forbearance. Toss in celebrity, male privilege, ruthless ambition, narcissism, and a few more factors, and it’s easy to understand why the marriages of many famous writers have been stormy, short-lived, and mutually destructive. looks at the complex and fascinating but tumultuous marriages of five well-known figures in the literary world,and exposes the misery behind closed doors. The wives were often demonized and misrepresented, and paid a price when they achieved recognition and freedom.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

We danced on our desks : brilliance and backstabbing at the sixties’ most influential magazine / Norman, Philip
“At the age of 22, Philip Norman lands a dream job as a staff writer on the Sunday Time’s hugely wealthy and prestigious colour magazine at the epicentre of newly-dubbed Swinging London. Under its indulgent editor, Godfrey Smith, he’s allowed to travel the world on munificent expenses, interviewing the famous and infamous from Stevie Wonder to Libya’s combustible Colonel Gaddafi. And between assignments, he’s caught up in office politics and partying that makes the Borgias seem almost civilized by comparison.” (Catalogue)

Boldly go : reflections on a life of awe and wonder / Shatner, William
“The beloved star of Star Trek, recent space traveler, and living legend William Shatner reflects on the interconnectivity of all things, our fragile bond with nature, and the joy that comes from exploration in this inspiring, revelatory, and exhilarating collection of essays.” (Catalogue)

The light we carry : overcoming in uncertain times / Obama, Michelle
“Mrs. Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

For more new items in the collection, go to: What’s new & Popular / March 2023 (wcl.govt.nz)