<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[subject results for "Biography & Autobiography"]]></title><description><![CDATA[subject results for "Biography & Autobiography"]]></description><link>https://gateway.bibliocommons.com/v2/libraries/sjcpl/rss/search?query=%22Biography%20%26%20Autobiography%22&amp;searchType=subject&amp;origin=core-catalog-explore&amp;view=grouped</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 17:00:28 GMT</lastBuildDate><item><title><![CDATA[Guts]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B>A true story from Raina Telgemeier, the #1 </B><B><I><I>New York Times</I></I></B><B>bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of </B><I><B><I>Smile</I></B></I><B>, </B><I><B><I>Sisters</I></B></I><B>, </B><I><B><I>Drama</I></B></I><B>, and </B><I><B><I>Ghosts</I></B></I><B>!</B><P></P>Raina wakes up one night with a terrible upset stomach. Her mom has one, too, so it's probably just a bug. Raina eventually returns to school, where she's dealing with the usual highs and lows: friends, not-friends, and classmates who think the school year is just one long gross-out session. It soon becomes clear that Raina's tummy trouble isn't going away... and it coincides with her worries about food, school, and changing friendships. What's going on?Raina Telgemeier once again brings us a thoughtful, charming, and funny true story about growing up and gathering the courage to face — and conquer — her fears.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C4903709</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C4903709</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Telgemeier, Raina]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/4903709980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780545852531/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Smile]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B>Raina Telgemeier's #1 <I>New York Times</I> bestselling, Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir based on her childhood!</B><P></P>Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2017277</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2017277</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Telgemeier, Raina]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2017277980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780545780018/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Nobody's Girl]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER • The unforgettable memoir by the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the woman who dared to take on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell<br>“Make no mistake: this is a book about power, corruption, industrial-scale sex abuse and the way in which institutions sided with the perpetrator over his victims. . . . But it is also a book about how a young woman becomes a hero. . . . Important [and] courageous.” —<i>The Guardian</i></b><br>The world knows Virginia Roberts Giuffre as Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s most outspoken victim: the woman whose decision to speak out helped send both serial abusers to prison, whose photograph with Prince Andrew catalyzed his fall from grace. But her story has never been told in full, in her own words—until now.<br>In April 2025, Giuffre took her own life. She left behind a memoir written in the years preceding her death and stated unequivocally that she wanted it published. <i>Nobody’s Girl</i> is the riveting and powerful story of an ordinary girl who would grow up to confront extraordinary adversity.<br>Here, Giuffre offers an unsparing and definitive account of her time with Epstein and Maxwell, who trafficked her and others to numerous prominent men. She also details the molestation she suffered as a child, as well as her daring escape from Epstein and Maxwell’s grasp at nineteen. Giuffre remade her life from scratch and summoned the courage to not only hold her abusers to account but also advocate for other victims. The pages of <i>Nobody’s Girl</i> preserve her voice—and her legacy—forever.<br><i>Nobody’s Girl</i> is an astonishing affirmation of Giuffre’s unshakable will—first, to claw her way out of victimhood, and then to shine light on wrongdoing and fight for a safer, fairer world. Equal parts intimate and fierce, it is a remarkable narrative of fortitude in the face of depravity and despair.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12197524</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12197524</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Giuffre, Virginia Roberts]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/12197524980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780593493137/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sisters]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B>Raina Telgemeier's #1 <I>New York Times</I> bestselling, Eisner Award-winning companion to <I>Smile</I>!</B><P></P>Raina can't wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren't quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she's also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn't improve much over the years, but when a baby brother enters the picture and later, something doesn't seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.Raina uses her signature humor and charm in both present-day narrative and perfectly placed flashbacks to tell the story of her relationship with her sister, which unfolds during the course of a road trip from their home in San Francisco to a family reunion in Colorado.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2040775</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2040775</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Telgemeier, Raina]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2040775980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780545540667/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[A World Appears]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>The Instant <i>New York Times </i>Bestseller<br>"Pollan’s real genius—the word is not too strong—remains intact. That is his uncanny ability to scent the direction in which the culture is headed. He did it with food and psychedelics, and now, though <i>A World Appears</i> focuses on AI only intermittently, he has done it again." —Charles Finch, <i>The Atlantic</i><br>From the #1 <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>How to Change Your Mind</i>, a panoptic exploration of consciousness—what it is, who has it, and why—and a meditation on the essence of our humanity</b><br>When it comes to the phenomenon that is consciousness, there is one point on which scientists, philosophers, and artists all agree: it feels <i>like</i> something to be us. Yet the fact that we have subjective experience of the world remains one of nature’s greatest mysteries. How is it that our mental operations are accompanied by feelings, thoughts, and a sense of self? What would a scientific investigation of our inner life look like, when we have as little distance and perspective on it as fish do of the sea? In <i>A World Appears</i>, Michael Pollan traces the unmapped continent that is consciousness, bringing radically different perspectives—scientific, philosophical, literary, spiritual and psychedelic—to see what each can teach us about this central fact of life.<br>When neuroscientists began studying consciousness in the early 1990s, they sought to explain how and why three pounds of spongy gray matter could generate a subjective point of view—assuming that the brain is the source of our perceived reality. Pollan takes us to the cutting edge of the field, where scientists are entertaining more radical (and less materialist) theories of consciousness. He introduces us to “plant neurobiologists” searching for the first flicker of consciousness in plants, scientists striving to engineer feelings into AI, and psychologists and novelists seeking to capture the felt experience of our slippery stream of consciousness.<br>In Pollan’s dazzling exploration of consciousness, he discovers a world far deeper and stranger than our everyday reality. Eye-opening and mind-expanding, <i>A World Appears</i> takes us into the laboratories of our own minds, ultimately showing us how we might make better use of the gift of awareness to more meaningfully connect with the world and our deepest selves.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12327240</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12327240</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pollan, Michael]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/12327240980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Journey into Consciousness</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781984882004/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>NOTABLE BOOK • PALESTINE BOOK AWARD WINNER • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR CRITICISM • From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values.<br> <br>"[A] bracing memoir and manifesto." —<i>The New York Times</i> <br> <br>"I can’t think of a more important piece of writing to read right now. I found hope here, and help, to face what the world is now, all that it isn’t anymore. Please read this. I promise you won’t regret it." —Tommy Orange, bestselling author of<i> Wandering Stars </i>and <i>There There</i></b><br>On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This tweet has been viewed more than 10 million times.<br>As an immigrant who came to the West, El Akkad believed that it promised freedom. A place of justice for all. But in the past twenty years, reporting on the War on Terror, Ferguson, climate change, Black Lives Matter protests, and more, and watching the unmitigated slaughter in Gaza, El Akkad has come to the conclusion that much of what the West promises is a lie. That there will always be entire groups of human beings it has never intended to treat as fully human—not just Arabs or Muslims or immigrants, but whoever falls outside the boundaries of privilege. <i>One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This</i> is a chronicle of that painful realization, a moral grappling with what it means, as a citizen of the U.S., as a father, to carve out some sense of possibility in a time of carnage.<br>This is El Akkad’s nonfiction debut, his most raw and vulnerable work to date, a heartsick breakup letter with the West. It is a brilliant articulation of the same breakup we are watching all over the United States, in family rooms, on college campuses, on city streets; the consequences of this rupture are just beginning. This book is for all the people who want something better than what the West has served up. This is the book for our time.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11042157</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11042157</guid><category><![CDATA[EAUDIOBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Akkad, Omar El]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11042157980</comments><format>EAUDIOBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9798217074082/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[You with the Sad Eyes]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B>#1 <I>NEW YORK TIMES </I>BESTSELLER<BR /> "Funny, furious, and profane." —<I>The New York Times</I><BR /> “Not your typical celebrity memoir.” —Jimmy Kimmel</B><BR /><B>Unflinchingly honest and darkly funny, <I>You with the Sad Eyes </I>unveils a side of Christina Applegate we’ve never seen, forever cementing her formidable and iconoclastic legacy. </B><BR /> Christina Applegate came of age on sets and stages, expected to be on time, with lines learned, ready for lights-camera-action. What started as a financial necessity soon became an emotional escape from a tumultuous home life in the infamous Laurel Canyon scene of the 70s and 80s. She rocketed to stardom on the sitcom <I>Married...with Children</I> and went on to captivate audiences in classics like <I>Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead…, Anchorman</I>, and <I>Dead to Me</I> in her five-decade long career.<BR /> Then it all stopped. A Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 confined her to a king-sized bed and the company of memories she’d rather forget: memories of the self-doubt and body dysmorphia that stalked her meteoric rise, of her mother’s fight against addiction and abuse after her father left, and of the tax life had taken on her body and mind that was suddenly coming due.<BR /> Now, at her most intimate and vulnerable, she unveils a story not even those closest to her fully know. She returns to the diaries she kept her whole life, finding the pain matched by joy, the losses mitigated by the extraordinary, and the weight of life lifted by her unrelenting belief that something greater lay ahead. No longer willing to lock herself away and with the perspective only our own mortality can bring, she knew it was imperative to tell it all.<BR /><I>You with the Sad Eyes </I>presents a remarkable woman and her legacy. In her own words, “I truly believe that books can make people feel less alone. That’s why I’m doing this. <I>You with the Sad Eyes</I> won’t be some big violin scratching for my life. But it will be real. It will be filled with the ups and downs, the humor and grief of life.<BR /> So here I am.<BR /> Real me.<BR /> Lots to say.”]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12094860</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12094860</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Applegate, Christina]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/12094860980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Memoir</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780316594943/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Judy Blume]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>The highly anticipated biography of one of the world’s most treasured literary voices, showcasing a life as triumphant and inspiring as the stories she crafted.</b><br>To know the name Judy Blume is to know and love literature. Her influential novels turned classics—including <i>Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret</i>; <i>Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing</i>; <i>Deenie</i>; and <i>Summer Sisters</i>—touched the lives of tens of millions of readers. For more than fifty-five years her work has done something revolutionary: it rewired the world’s expectations of what literature for young people can be—frank, candid, earthy, and unafraid to show the messier sides of humanity. But little is known about the real woman behind the iconic persona, and the unlikely journey of her literary ascension, until now.<br>In <i>Judy Blume</i>, journalist, historian, and longtime Blume aficionado Mark Oppenheimer pens a beautiful, multidimensional portrait of the acclaimed author through extensive interviews with Blume herself, invaluable access to her papers and correspondence, and thoughtful analysis of Blume’s beloved novels, including early, unpublished works that shed light on the pathbreaking writer she would become. Oppenheimer goes deep, exploring Blume’s middle-class 1950s upbringing, complicated childhood, varied relationships and marriages, unabashed sexual experiences, bouts of heartache and loss, and enduring legacy as a champion of free speech and contemporary literature. Oppenheimer peels back the curtain to reveal the woman behind the literary empire in all her complex, multifaceted glory—a true gift for anyone who grew up reading and loving these extraordinary books.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12008368</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12008368</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Oppenheimer, Mark]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/12008368980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Life</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780593714454/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stripped Down]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p><b>***The INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!***</p><p>From the trailer parks of Vegas to the mansions of Nashville, Bunnie Xo has lived a lot of lives and seen the darkest sides of humanity. Her memoir, <i>Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic</i>, is cold, clear evidence that no one is irredeemable. With a heavy dose of humor and a refreshing sense of self-awareness, Bunnie pulls no punches as she shares her journey of redemption while offering some homespun wisdom to those who need a little saving themselves.</b></p><p>Alisa DeFord, known to her millions of fans as Bunnie Xo, started at the bottom and spent the first part of her life falling even deeper. Now, Bunnie Xo is one of today's most successful podcasters and has paved her way through the entertainment industry as the owner of Dumb Blonde Productions, building an empire with heart and personality at the forefront. </p><p><i>Stripped Down</i> is the story of how Bunnie Xo rose to the top, how she used her own wiles to reach her goals, how she knew redemption was up to her—and that no one could hand it to her—and a message to anyone who needs advice on breaking their own cycles.</p><p>Hilarious, earnest, thought-provoking, and occasionally downright shocking, Stripped Down is a modern-day rag-to-riches story and a message of hope to anyone struggling to redeem themselves.</p>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11904178</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11904178</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Bunnie Xo]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11904178980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>Unfiltered and Unapologetic</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780063445215/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[We Did OK, Kid]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B>INSTANT <I>NEW YORK TIMES</I> BESTSELLER</B><BR> <BR><B>Academy Award–winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theater career, difficult childhood, and path to sobriety in his honest, moving, and long-awaited memoir.</B><BR>Born and raised in Port Talbot—a small Welsh steelworks town—amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents, and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of <I>Hamlet</I>, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted.<BR> <BR>With candor and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles. His performance as Iago gets him admitted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and places him under the wing of Laurence Olivier. He meets Richard Burton by chance as a young boy in his art teacher's apartment, and later, backstage before a performance of Equus as an established actor meeting his hero. His iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter was informed by the creepy performance of Bela Lugosi in <I>Dracula</I> and the razor-sharp precision of his acting teacher. He pulls raw emotion from the stoicism of his father and grandfather for an unforgettable performance in <I>King Lear</I>.<BR> <BR>Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life. His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child, and nearly his life—the latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century. He constantly battles against the desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurt—much like the men in his family—and as the years go by, he deals with questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret.<BR> <BR>Featuring a special collection of personal photographs throughout, <I>We Did OK, Kid</I> is a raw and passionate memoir from a complex, iconic man who has inspired audiences with remarkable performances for over sixty years.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11652647</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11652647</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hopkins, Anthony]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11652647980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Memoir</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781668075524/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Young Man in a Hurry]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>The #1 <i>USA Today</i> Bestseller and Instant <i>New York Times</i> Bestseller<br>From California Governor Gavin Newsom comes an intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics</b><br>“Go slow,” his political elders advised him, but Gavin Newsom has never known such a speed. For Newsom, the California Dream is what lured his father’s family from County Cork, Ireland, six generations ago. His great-great-grandfather, a cop, walked a beat in San Francisco, where almost 150 years later, Newsom would be elected as mayor, running on the values instilled in him by his family history: that California’s open arms must continue to extend to each new generation.<br>Newsom has never lived anywhere but California. Born in San Francisco, his parents divorced at a young age, and his childhood was spent being tugged between two worlds: his mother worked three jobs in order to care for her children while his father, a close friend of the Getty family, brought Newsom into San Francisco society, a world of wealth and connections. The dissonance was frustrating, and made all the more difficult because of undiagnosed dyslexia, but the vantage point was valuable: he inherited his mother’s perseverance and his father’s reverence of California, not only its wildness, but its opportunity.<br>In <i>Young Man in a Hurry</i>, Newsom traces the forces that have defined his ambitions as a politician and have pushed him to outpace the nation on myriad cutting-edge social issues that have since entered the mainstream. As mayor of San Francisco, he made waves when he violated state law in order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, more than ten years before the Supreme Court made such unions legal. He launched bold efforts to counter climate change, improve mental health care, and enhance gun safety, and worked to preserve the California Dream for his constituents. Elected as governor on the eve of unprecedented wildfires and entering office into immediate hyper-partisan headwinds from Washington, DC, Newsom has constantly and consistently stuck his neck out. Here for the first time, he reflects on the long personal journey that ultimately shaped him into one of the most recognizable and accomplished elected officials in America. Filled with intimate family history and written with candor and remarkable personal insight, here is a deeply resilient California story of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11349682</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11349682</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Newsom, Gavin]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11349682980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Memoir of Discovery</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781984881946/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Family of Spies]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p><b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER</b> <li> <b><i>USA TODAY </i>BESTSELLER</b> <li> <b>INDIE BESTSELLER</b><br><b>"An amazing and gripping tale, full of suspenseful twists and cinematic details" </b><b>―<i>New York Times Book Review</i></b><br><b><br>A propulsive, never-before-told story of one family's shocking involvement as Nazi and Japanese spies during WWII and the pivotal role they played in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.</b><br>It began with a letter from a screenwriter, asking about a story.<i> Your </i><i>family. World War II. Nazi spies.</i> Christine Kuehn was shocked and confused. When she asked her seventy-year-old father, Eberhard, what this could possibly be about, he stalled, deflected, demurred, and then wept. He knew this day would come.<br>The Kuehns, a prominent Berlin family, saw the rise of the Nazis as a way out of the hard times that had befallen them. When the daughter of the family, Eberhard's sister, Ruth, met Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels at a party, the two hit it off, and they had an affair. But Ruth had a secret—she was half Jewish—and Goebbels found out. Rather than having Ruth killed, Goebbels instead sent the entire Kuehn family to Hawaii, to work as spies half a world away. There, Ruth and her parents established an intricate spy operation from their home, just a few miles down the road from Pearl Harbor, shielding Eberhard from the truth. They passed secrets to the Japanese, leading to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. After Eberhard's father was arrested and tried for his involvement in planning the assault, Eberhard learned the harsh truth about his family and faced a decision that would change the path of the Kuehn family forever.<br>Jumping back and forth between Christine discovering her family's secret and the untold past of the spies in Germany, Japan, and Hawaii, <i>Family of Spies</i> is fast-paced history at its finest and will rewrite the narrative of December 7, 1941.</p>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11424042</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11424042</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Kuehn, Christine]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11424042980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781250344472/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[107 Days]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B>For the first time, and with surprising and revealing insights, former Vice President Kamala Harris tells the story of one of the wildest and most consequential presidential campaigns in American history.</B><BR><i>Your Secret Service code name is Pioneer.<BR> You are the first woman in history to be elected vice president of the United States.<BR> On July 21, 2024, your running mate, Joe Biden, announces that he will not be seeking reelection.<BR> The presidential election will occur on November 5, 2024.<BR> You have 107 days.</i><BR> <BR>From the chaos of campaign strategy sessions to the intensity of debate prep under relentless scrutiny and the private moments that rarely make headlines, Kamala Harris offers an unfiltered look at the pressures, triumphs, and heartbreaks of a history-defining race. With behind-the-scenes details and a voice that is both intimate and urgent, this is more than a political memoir—it's a chronicle of resilience, leadership, and the high stakes of democracy in action.<BR> <BR>Written with candor, a unique perspective, and the pace of a page-turning novel, <i>107 Days </i>takes you inside the race for the presidency as no one has ever done before.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11880386</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11880386</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Harris, Kamala]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11880386980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781668211670/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Breath Becomes Air]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD<br>This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question, <i>What makes a life worth living?<br></i></b><br><b>“Unmissable . . . Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.”—Janet Maslin, <i>The New York Times</i></b><br><b>ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: <i>The New York Times Book Review, People, </i>NPR<i>, The Washington Post, Slate, Harper’s Bazaar, Time Out New York, Publishers Weekly, BookPage</i></b><br><b>An <i>Oprah Daily </i>Best Nonfiction Book of the Past Two Decades • A <i>Kirkus Reviews </i>Best Nonfiction Book of the Century</b><br>At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. <i>When Breath Becomes Air</i> chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.<br>What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.<br>Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” <i>When Breath Becomes Air</i> is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.<br><b>Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir</b>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2302232</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2302232</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Kalanithi, Paul]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2302232980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>Pulitzer Prize Finalist</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780812988413/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Breath Becomes Air]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD<br>This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question, <i>What makes a life worth living?<br></i></b><br><b>“Unmissable . . . Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.”—Janet Maslin, <i>The New York Times</i></b><br><b>ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: <i>The New York Times Book Review, People, </i>NPR<i>, The Washington Post, Slate, Harper’s Bazaar, Time Out New York, Publishers Weekly, BookPage</i></b><br><b>An <i>Oprah Daily </i>Best Nonfiction Book of the Past Two Decades • A <i>Kirkus Reviews </i>Best Nonfiction Book of the Century</b><br>At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. <i>When Breath Becomes Air</i> chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.<br>What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.<br>Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” <i>When Breath Becomes Air</i> is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.<br><b>Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir</b>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2246786</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C2246786</guid><category><![CDATA[EAUDIOBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Kalanithi, Paul]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2246786980</comments><format>EAUDIOBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780399566196/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Child Called It]]></title><description><![CDATA[This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games—games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."<BR> <BR>Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive—dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C322571</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C322571</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Pelzer, Dave]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/322571980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>One Child&apos;s Courage to Survive</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780757396076/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Marriage at Sea]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>THE RUNAWAY <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER & ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025<br>A <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> TOP 10 BOOK OF 2025<br>ALSO NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2025 BY NPR, <i>VOGUE, TIME MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORKER</i>, AND MORE<br>“This is nonfiction that reads like fiction – the best kind. Elmhirst’s retelling is a triumph, second only to the seemingly impossible feat of Maurice and Maralyn themselves. You won’t be able to put it down.” <i>– USA Today<br></i><br>“Remarkable… I found myself, alternately, holding my breath as I read at top speed, wandering rooms in search of someone to read aloud to, and placing the book facedown, arrested by quiet statements that left me reeling with their depth.” <i>– The New York Times </i><br><i><br></i>“Such an emotionally vivid portrait of a couple in isolation that I was shocked it wasn’t fiction. How could a writer get so deeply into the minds of two real people in such extraordinary circumstances? … So brilliantly depicted.” <i>– Elle</i><br>“A beautiful meditation on endurance, codependence, and the power of love. A dazzling book.” – Patrick Radden Keefe<br>“An enthralling, engrossing story of survival and the resilience of the human spirit.” —Bill Bryson<br>An instant <i>New York Times</i> bestseller, this is the electrifying true story of a young couple shipwrecked at sea: a mind-blowing tale of obsession, survival, and partnership stretched to its limits.<br></b><br>Maurice and Maralyn make an odd couple. He’s a loner, awkward and obsessive; she’s charismatic and ambitious. But they share a horror of wasting their lives. And they dream – as we all dream – of running away from it all. What if they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a boat, and sailed away?<br>Most of us begin and end with the daydream. But in June 1972, Maurice and Maralyn set sail. For nearly a year all went well, until deep in the Pacific, a breaching whale knocked a hole in their boat and it sank beneath the waves.<br>What ensues is a jaw-dropping fight to survive in the wild ocean, with little hope of rescue. Alone together for months in a tiny rubber raft, starving and exhausted, Maurice and Maralyn have to find not only ways to stay alive but ways to get along, as their inner demons emerge and their marriage is put to the greatest of tests. Although they could run away from the world, they can’t run away from themselves.<br>Taut, propulsive, and dazzling, <i>A Marriage at Sea</i> pairs an adrenaline-fueled high seas adventure with a gutting love story that asks why we love difficult people, and who we become under the most extreme conditions imaginable.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11256213</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11256213</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Elmhirst, Sophie]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11256213980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780593854303/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hillbilly Elegy]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p><b><i>Hillbilly Elegy </i>recounts Vice President J.D. Vance's powerful origin story...</b></p><p><b>From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate now serving as the Vice President of the United States, an incisive account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class.</b></p><p><b>THE #1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER</b></p><p><b>"You will not read a more important book about America this year."</b>—<b><i>The Economist</i></b></p><p><b>"A riveting book."</b>—<b><i>The Wall Street Journal</i></b></p><p><b><i>"Essential reading."</i></b>—<b>David Brooks, <i>New York Times</i></b></p><p>This bestselling memoir, <i>Hillbilly Elegy</i>, is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans in the Rust Belt. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like, offering a searing inside look at poverty in America.</p><p>The Vance family story, a powerful example of the struggle for social mobility, begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.'s grandparents were "dirt poor and in love," and moved north from Kentucky's Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of <i>Hillbilly Elegy </i>plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, addiction, poverty, and family trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history.</p><p>A deeply moving story about Appalachian culture, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, <i>Hillbilly Elegy </i>is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.</p><p>What does it take to break a cycle of poverty and trauma that spans generations?</p><li><b>A Raw Look at the White Working Class:</b> Go beyond the headlines for a deeply personal account of a people in crisis, from the hollers of Kentucky to the factory towns of Ohio.</li><li><b>The Legacy of Addiction and Trauma:</b> Witness the devastating impact of alcoholism and abuse as one family grapples with the demons that followed them from Appalachia.</li><li><b>An Unlikely Path to the Ivy League:</b> Follow J.D. Vance's improbable journey from a former marine to a Yale Law School graduate, showing what upward mobility truly feels like.</li><li><b>The Fraying American Dream:</b> An urgent, searingly honest meditation on what happens when the promise of a better life seems to slip away for an entire segment of the country.</li>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C3801700</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C3801700</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Vance, J. D.]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/3801700980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780062872258/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are You Mad at Me?]]></title><description><![CDATA[<B><b>Instant <i>New York Times</i> Bestseller</b><BR> <BR><b>From psychotherapist and social media star Meg Josephson, a groundbreaking "cure for chronic people-pleasing" (Adam Grant, #1 <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author) that explores the common survival instinct called <i>fawning </i>and offers "explanations, comfort, and best of all, solutions" (Christie Tate, <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author).</b></B><BR>Are you...<BR> <BR> - Constantly worried about what people think of you, if they like you, if they're mad at you?<BR> - The eldest daughter and/or the angry daughter?<BR> - Anxious, a perfectionist, or an overachiever?<BR> - Always overextending yourself (and then resentful)?<BR> - Someone who avoids conflict at all costs?<BR> - Fearful of getting into trouble or being seen as "bad"?<BR> - Silencing your needs for the comfort and happiness of everyone else?<BR> - Prone to overexplain or over apologize?<BR> - Eternally obsessing over why someone texted with a period instead of an exclamation point?<BR> <BR> Psychotherapist Meg Josephson is here to show you that people-pleasing is not a personality trait. It's a common survival mechanism known as "fawning": an instinct often learned in childhood to become more appealing to a perceived threat in order to feel safe. Yet many people are stuck in this way of being for their whole lives. <i>Are You Mad at Me?</i> weaves Josephson's own moving story with that of fascinating client stories and thought-provoking exercises to show you how to:<BR> <BR> - Identify all the roles you might play—from peacekeeper to performer to caretaker to lone wolf to perfectionist to chameleon—that keep you far from yourself.<BR> - Stop fearing your thoughts and emotions, even if they're unpleasant.<BR> - Rethink conflict and boundaries as an opening for deeper connection.<BR> - Practice "leaning back" in relationships.<BR> - Recognize when people-pleasing is actually necessary (with your chaotic boss) and when it's not (with your close friends) and stop self-loathing when you slip into old patterns.<BR> - Shift away from the familiar chaos, anxiety, and resentment you're used to as you move closer to yourself and a life that no longer depletes you—but brings <i>you </i>joy.<BR> <BR> With Josephson's "lucid prose and smart mix of clinical expertise, personal disclosure, and pertinent case studies" (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>), <i>Are You Mad at Me? </i>will help you shed the behaviors that are keeping you stuck in the past so that you can live in your most authentic present.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11424765</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11424765</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Josephson, Meg]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11424765980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781668082485/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hostage]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p><b><i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER</p><p>A <i>TIME </i>Must-Read Book of 2025</b></p><p><b>In a raw and unflinching memoir, Eli Sharabi, a survivor of 491 days in Hamas captivity, recounts the harrowing ordeal of his abduction from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th, 2023, the loss of his wife and daughters, and his unyielding resolve to survive.</b></p><p><b>"I refuse to let myself drown in pain. I am surviving. I am a hostage. In the heart of Gaza. A stranger in a strange land. In the home of a Hamas-supporting family. And I'm getting out of here. I have to. I'm getting out of here. I'm coming home."—Eli Sharabi </b></p><p>On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Be'eri, shattering the peaceful life Eli Sharabi had built with his British wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Dragged barefoot out his front door while his family watched in horror, Sharabi was plunged deep into the suffocating darkness of Gaza's tunnels. As war raged above him, he endured a grueling 491 days in captivity, all the while holding onto the hope that he would one day be reunited with his loved ones.</p><p>Eli Sharabi's story is one of hunger and heartache, of physical pain, longing, loneliness and a helplessness that threatens to destroy the soul. But it is also a story of strength, of resilience, and of the human spirit's refusal to surrender. It is about the camaraderie forged in captivity, the quiet power of faith, and one man's unrelenting decision to choose life, time and time again.</p><p>In the first memoir by a released Israeli hostage, and the fastest-selling book in Israel's history, Sharabi offers a searing firsthand account of survival under unimaginable conditions—starvation, isolation, physical beatings, and psychological abuse at the hands of his captors.</p><p>Compared to Elie Wiesel's <i>Night </i>and Laura Hillenbrand's <i>Unbroken</i>, <i>Hostage </i>is a profound witness to history, so it shall be neither forgotten nor erased. </p>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12097223</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C12097223</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sharabi, Eli]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/12097223980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle/><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780063489783/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Educated]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL,</i> AND <i>BOSTON GLOBE</i> BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University</b><br><b>“Extraordinary . . . an act of courage and self-invention.”—<i>The New York Times</i></b><br><b>NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY <i>THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW</i> • ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A <i>KIRKUS REVIEWS </i>BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE CENTURY • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • <i>Los Angeles Times</i> Book Prize</b><br>Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.<br><b>“Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—<i>Vogue</i></b><br><b><br>ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: <i>The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time,</i> NPR, <i>Good Morning America, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, The Economist, Financial Times</i>,<i> Newsday, New York Post, theSkimm, Refinery29, Bloomberg, Self, Real Simple, Town & Country, Bustle, Paste, Publishers Weekly</i>,<i> Library Journal, LibraryReads, Book Riot,</i> Pamela Paul, KQED, New York Public Library</b>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C3441378</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C3441378</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Westover, Tara]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/3441378980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A Memoir</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780399590511/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Radium Girls]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p><strong>A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller! </strong></p><p>"The glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still." —NPR Books </p><p>Discover the gripping and inspiring true story of The Radium Girls, a groundbreaking work by acclaimed author Kate Moore. Immerse yourself in this compelling narrative that unravels the extraordinary lives of these fearless women who fought against all odds.</p><p>The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War. </p><p>Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill. </p><p>But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women's cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come. </p><p>With meticulous research and a keen eye for detail, Kate Moore delves into the lives of these remarkable individuals, capturing their resilience, strength, and unwavering determination. Through their stories, she exposes the shocking negligence and corporate cover-ups that plagued the radium industry, ultimately sparking a revolution in workplace safety.</p><p>The Radium Girls is a masterful blend of historical account and heartfelt tribute. Moore's vivid prose brings these forgotten heroines back to life, ensuring that their sacrifices and triumphs are forever etched in our collective memory. As you turn each page, you'll be captivated by their indelible legacy and inspired by their enduring spirit.</p><p>The Radium Girls is a must-read for history enthusiasts, feminists, and anyone seeking a remarkable story of resilience and empowerment.</p>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C3082772</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C3082772</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Moore, Kate]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/3082772980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>The Dark Story of America&apos;s Shining Women</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781492649366/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unbroken]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of <i>Seabiscuit </i>comes the incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: <i>Unbroken </i>and <i>Unbroken: Path to Redemption</i>.<br>“Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—<i>The Wall Street Journal</i></b><br><b>“Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—<i>People</i></b><br><b><br><i>TIME</i>’S TOP NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR • WINNER OF THE <i>LOS ANGELES TIMES </i>BOOK PRIZE </b><br>In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that carried him to the Berlin Olympics. Then with the start of World War II, the athlete became an airman. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived. Ahead of him lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. <br>Yet Zamperini’s willpower faced its ultimate test upon his heroic return home after the war. He grappled with PTSD, struggled to come to terms with the injustices done to him, and was set on the path of redemption by a momentous encounter with famed reverend Billy Graham. <br>An unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, <i>Unbroken </i>is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C481564</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C481564</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hillenbrand, Laura]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/481564980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780679603757/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unbroken]]></title><description><![CDATA[<b>#1 <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of <i>Seabiscuit </i>comes the incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: <i>Unbroken </i>and <i>Unbroken: Path to Redemption</i>.<br>“Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—<i>The Wall Street Journal</i></b><br><b>“Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—<i>People</i></b><br><b><br><i>TIME</i>’S TOP NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR • WINNER OF THE <i>LOS ANGELES TIMES </i>BOOK PRIZE </b><br>In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that carried him to the Berlin Olympics. Then with the start of World War II, the athlete became an airman. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived. Ahead of him lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. <br>Yet Zamperini’s willpower faced its ultimate test upon his heroic return home after the war. He grappled with PTSD, struggled to come to terms with the injustices done to him, and was set on the path of redemption by a momentous encounter with famed reverend Billy Graham. <br>An unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, <i>Unbroken </i>is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C299474</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C299474</guid><category><![CDATA[EAUDIOBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Hillenbrand, Laura]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/299474980</comments><format>EAUDIOBOOK</format><subtitle>A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781415962763/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item><item><title><![CDATA[Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old]]></title><description><![CDATA[<p><b>INSTANT <i>NEW YORK TIMES </i>BESTSELLER<br>From generational icon Brooke Shields comes an intimate and empowering exploration of aging that flips the script on the idea of what it means for a woman to grow older</b><br>Brooke Shields has spent a lifetime in the public eye. Growing up as a child actor and model, her every feature was scrutinized, her every decision judged. Today Brooke faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a "woman of a certain age."<br>And yet, for Brooke, the passage of time has brought freedom. At fifty-nine, she feels more comfortable in her skin, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in those famous Calvin Kleins. Now, in <i>Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old</i>, she's changing the narrative about women and aging.<br>This is an era, insists Brooke, when women are reclaiming agency and power, not receding into the shadows. These are the years when we get to decide how we want to live—when we get to write our own stories.<br>With remarkable candor, Brooke bares all, painting a vibrant and optimistic picture of being a woman in the prime of her life, while dismantling the myths that have, for too long, dimmed that perception. Sharing her own life experiences with humor and humility, and weaving together research and reporting, Brooke takes aim at the systemic factors that contribute to age-related bias.<br>By turns inspiring, moving, and galvanizing, Brooke's honesty and vulnerability will resonate with women everywhere, and spark a new conversation about the power and promise of midlife.</p>]]></description><link>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C10750210</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C10750210</guid><category><![CDATA[EBOOK]]></category><category><![CDATA[eng]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Shields, Brooke, Bertsche, Rachel]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><comments>https://sjcpl.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/10750210980</comments><format>EBOOK</format><subtitle>Thoughts on Aging as a Woman</subtitle><language>eng</language><image_url>https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781250346964/MC.GIF&amp;client=sjcpl&amp;type=xw12&amp;oclc=</image_url></item></channel></rss>