Share in the childhood tales of A Girl Named Zippy. Hear Kenneth Branagh read Samuel Pepys' exuberant 17th-century diary. Be transformed by the extraordinary women of Half the Sky. You'll find these and other remarkable life stories under biography and memoir.
A rock and roll drummer abandons his successful music career to pursue his true passion and discovers a deeper understanding of artistic fulfillment in this episodic memoir of swapping one dream for another. Learn More
From an award winning journalist, a real Field of Dreams story about a legendary coach and the professional caliber baseball program he built in America's heartland, where boys come summer after summer to be molded into ballplayers—and men. Learn More
In the early 1980s, Mary Hall is a little girl growing up in poverty in Camden, New Jersey, with her older brother Jacob and parents who, in her words, were great at making babies, but not so great at holding on to them. After her father leaves the family, she is raised among a commune of mothers in a low-income housing complex. Then, no longer able to care for the only daughter she has left at home, Marys mother sends Mary away to a small town in Oklahoma to live with her maternal grandparents, who have also been raising her older sister, Rebecca. When Mary is legally adopted by her grandparents, the result is a family story like no other. Because Mary was adopted by her grandparents, Marys mother, Patty, is legally her sister, while her brother, Jacob, is legally her nephew. Learn More
In 100 brief chapters, John M. Borack discusses and ranks the greatest moments in Beatles history. A love letter to the greatest rock band of all time, The Beatles 100 is a book for Beatles buffs and casual fans alike. Learn More
An incisive biography of E. E. Cummings's early life, including his World War I ambulance service and subsequent imprisonment, inspirations for his inventive poetry. Learn More
A fascinating and in-depth exploration of how the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and Napoleon shaped Beethoven's political ideals and inspired his groundbreaking compositions. Learn More
This true tale from storyteller Joel ben Izzy weaves together Izzy's own life story with stories he is known for and that he has collected in his travels. It’s a tale of listening, loving, learning, and letting go. Learn More
Renowned as a printer, scientist, and diplomat, Benjamin Franklin also published more works on religious topics than any other eighteenth-century American layperson. Based on rigorous research into Franklin's voluminous correspondence, essays, and almanacs, this fresh assessment of a well-known figure unpacks the contradictions and conundrums faith presented in Franklin’s life. Learn More
Benjamin Franklin: Cultural Protestant follows Franklin's remarkable career through the lens of the trends and innovations that the Protestant Reformation started (both directly and indirectly) almost two centuries earlier. Learn More
Better Days Will Come Again, based on groundbreaking research and including unprecedented access to Arthur Briggs's oral memoir, is a crucial document of jazz history, a fast-paced epic, and an entirely original tale of survival. Learn More
As a seventeen-year-old volunteer firefighter, Brian Walsh suffered third-degree burns to his face. But he chose not to let that tragedy destroy him, and instead used it to create a magnificent life—both personally and professionally. Learn More
Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the National Book Award in Poetry—a collection that examines the myth and history of the prizefighter Jack Johnson. Learn More
by Rodney Stotts with Kate Pipkin; read by James Fouhey
To escape the tough streets of Southeast Washington DC in the late 1980s, young Rodney Stotts would ride the metro to the Smithsonian National Zoo. There, the bald eagles and other birds of prey captured his imagination for the first time. In Bird Brother, Rodney shares his unlikely journey to becoming a conservationist and one of America's few Black master falconers. Learn More
Aviculturist Raffin introduced us to Sweetie, a special breed of quail with an outsized personality; Oscar the inspiring disabled Lady Gouldian finch; Victoria, Wing, and Coffee, sibling crowned pigeons ecstatic in reunion; and other rescued feathered friends that have been her life's work. Along the way she teaches us how conservationism is as much about saving ourselves as these rare birds. Learn More
In Black and Female, Tsitsi Dangarembga examines the legacy of imperialism on her own life and on every aspect of black embodied African life. This paradigm-shifting essay collection weaves the personal and political in an illuminating exploration of race and gender. Learn More