The Best of 2016 at the Poughkeepsie Public Library District: Biographies

At ninety, musician and singer Tony Bennett is as vibrant and productive as ever. In addition to his prodigious musical output, which includes albums, concerts, and personal appearances, this beloved and enduring singer has written yet another book. While in his 2012 work, Life Is a Gift, Tony reflected on the lessons he learned over the years, in Just Getting Started, he pays homage to the remarkable people who inspired those lessons. ...

The famed Super Bowl sportscaster shares personal stories from his life and career, describing his work in and out of the shadow of his legendary sportscaster father Jack Buck, and his marriage to sportscaster Michelle Beisner. ...

The definitive biography of the impoverished child, abandoned by his parents, who became the famous writer, notorious libertine, and self-invented genius whose name still resonates today: Giacomo Casanova. ...

A language barrier is no match for love. Lauren Collins discovered this firsthand when, in her early thirties, she moved to London and fell for a Frenchman named Olivier--a surprising turn of events for someone who didn't have a passport until she was in college. But what does it mean to love someone in a second language? Collins wonders, as her relationship with Olivier continues to grow entirely in English. Are there things she doesn't understand about Olivier, having never spoken to him in his native tongue? Does "I love you" even mean the same thing as "je t'aime"? ...

The Genesis front man and successful solo artist presents a reflective memoir that shares insights into the remarkable experiences behind many of his iconic songs and performances, discussing his early years, relationships with fellow artists, and struggles with addiction.
A drummer almost before he could walk, Collins received on-the-job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis...

Stacey Dash didn't have the ideal American childhood. Growing up in the South Bronx, her friends were the hustlers, hookers, and gang members who struggled in the face of futility, who sold drugs instead of living on food stamps, who settled matters with fists, knives, and guns because it seemed their only option, who stood tall against broken dreams. Dash's rough upbringing shaped the rest of her life--her relationships, her politics, even her faith. She has seen how conservative and liberal policies play out in the real world, and her experiences have made her the proud conservative she is today. That's why Stacey Dash, a Fox News contributor and Hollywood actress best known for starring in the 1995 classic Clueless, is now telling her story.

Andi Dorfman, the beloved finalist of season eighteen of The Bachelor who infamously rejected Juan Pablo and went on to star on season ten of The Bachelorette, dishes about what it's like to live out a love story--and its collapse--in front of the cameras, offering hard-won advice for moving on after a break-up, public or not.

The first book from Ruth Bader Ginsburg since becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 1993--a witty, engaging, serious, and playful collection of writings and speeches from the woman who has had a powerful and enduring influence on law, women's rights, and popular culture. ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. For readers of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Anne Lamott, a profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis who attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? 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...

Whether it’s asking tough questions during a presidential debate or pressing for answers to today’s most important issues, Megyn Kelly has demonstrated the intelligence, strength, common sense, and courage that have made her one of today’s best-known journalists, respected by women and men, young and old, Republicans and Democrats. In Settle for More, the anchor of The Kelly File reflects on the enduring values and experiences that have shaped her—from growing up in a family that rejected the "trophies for everyone" mentality, to her father’s sudden, tragic death while she was in high school. She goes behind-the-scenes of her career, sharing the stories and struggles that landed her in the anchor chair of cable’s #1 news show. Speaking candidly about her decision to "settle for more"—a motto she credits as having dramatically transformed her life at home and at work—Megyn discusses how she abandoned a thriving legal career to follow her journalism dreams. ...

Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy was the incandescent life-force of the fabled Kennedy family, her father's acknowledged "favorite of all the children" and her brother Jack's "psychological twin." She was the Kennedy of Kennedys, sure of her privilege, magnetically charming and somehow not quite like anyone else on whatever stage she happened to grace. The daughter of the American ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Kick swept into Britain's aristocracy like a fresh wind on a sweltering summer day. In a decaying world where everything was based on stultifying sameness and similarity, she was gloriously, exhilaratingly different. Kick was the girl whom all the boys fell in love with, the girl who remained painfully out of reach for most of them. To Kick, everything about this life was fun and amusing--until suddenly it was not. ...

A fifty-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected way to cross the generational divide between a daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on a powerfully personal literary journey, where we learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life. After a lifetime defining herself in contrast to her mother's "don't ask, don't tell" generation, Lerner finds herself back in her childhood home, not five miles from the mother she spent decades avoiding. When Roz needs help after surgery, it falls to Betsy to take care of her. She expected a week of tense civility; what she got instead were the Bridge Ladies. Impressed by their loyalty, she saw something her generation lacked. Facebook was great, but it wouldn't deliver a pot roast. Tentatively at first, Betsy becomes a regular at her mother's Monday Bridge club. Through her friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy, ...

The author of Broken Open returns with a visceral and profound memoir of two sisters who, in the face of a bone marrow transplant - one the donor and one the recipient - begin a quest for acceptance, authenticity, and most of all, love. ...

The author describes how she endured as the only child of an unstable poet for a mother and a beloved but largely absent father and explores the consequences of a psychologically harrowing childhood as she seeks refuge from the past and recovers what was lost.

The highly anticipated new memoir by bestselling author Glennon Doyle Melton tells the story of her journey of self-discovery after the implosion of her marriage. Just when Glennon Doyle Melton was beginning to feel she had it all figured out--three happy children, a doting spouse, and a writing career so successful that her first book catapulted to the top of the NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER list her husband revealed his...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. The eldest was a razor-sharp novelist of upper-class manners; the second was loved by John Betjeman; the third was a fascist who married Oswald Mosley; the fourth idolized Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany; the fifth was a member of the American Communist Party; the sixth became Duchess of Devonshire. They were the Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Born into country-house privilege in the early years of the 20th century, they became prominent as "bright young things" in the high society of interwar London. Then, as the shadows crept over 1930s Europe, the stark--and very public--differences in their outlooks came to symbolize the political polarities of a dangerous decade. ...

For readers of Orange Is the New Black and The Glass Castle, a riveting memoir about a lifelong secret and a girl finding strength in the most unlikely place. In 1979, Liz Pryor is a seventeen-year-old girl from a good family in the wealthy Chicago suburbs. Halfway through her senior year of high school, she discovers that she is pregnant--a fact her parents are determined to keep a secret from her friends, siblings, and community, forever. One snowy January day, after driving across three states, her mother drops her off at what Liz thinks is a Catholic home for unwed mothers--but which is, in truth, a locked government-run facility for delinquent and impoverished pregnant teenage girls. ...Look at You Now is a deeply moving story about the most vulnerable moments in our lives--and how a willingness to trust ourselves can permanently change who we are and how we see the world. ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Before he earned his third Michelin star at his iconic restaurant, Le Bernardin, the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef of the Year, became a regular guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef, even before he knew how to make a proper omelet, Eric Ripert was a young boy in the South of France who felt that his world had come to an end. At the age of five, his parents went through a bitter divorce. Eric moved away with his mother, whose new husband, Serge, quickly grew to resent Eric and seemed to delight in making him miserable. The only place Eric felt at home was the kitchen, where his mother tried to cheer him up with lavish meals, but once the plates had been cleared, his unhappiness returned. Then he met Jacques, a locally renowned chef and restaurant owner. Jacques took Eric under his wing, letting him into his kitchen everyday after school where he would teach Eric how to make real chocolate mousse and regale him with stories from his travels. Watching Jacques and the obvious pride he took in his work, Eric began to see a future for himself...

Navigating through youth and young adulthood isn't easy, and in Sorry Not Sorry, Naya Rivera shows us that we're not alone in the highs, lows, and in-betweens. Whether it's with love and dating, career and ambition, friends, or gossip, Naya inspires us to follow our own destiny and step over-or plod through-all the crap along the way. After her rise and fall from childhood stardom on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Airand Family Matters, barely eking her way through high school, a brief stint as a Hooters waitress, ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Grammy and Academy Award–winning songwriter Carole Bayer Sager shares the remarkably frank and darkly funny story of her life in and out of the recording studio, from her fascinating (and sometimes calamitous) relationships to her collaborations with some of the greatest composers and musical artists of our time. ...

When Bernie Sanders began his race for the presidency, it was considered by the political establishment and the media to be a "fringe" campaign, something not to be taken seriously. After all, he was just an independent senator from a small state with little name recognition. His campaign had no money, no political organization, and it was taking on the entire Democratic Party establishment. By the time Sanders's campaign came to a close, however, it was clear that the pundits had gotten it wrong. Bernie had run one of the most consequential campaigns in the modern history of the country. He had received more than 13 million votes in primaries and caucuses throughout the country, won twenty-two states, and more than 1.4 million people had attended his public meetings. Most important, he showed that the American people were prepared to take on the greed and irresponsibility of corporate America and the 1 percent. ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Amy Schumer, Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and star, mines her past for stories about her teenage years, her family, relationship, and sex, and shares the experiences that have shaped who she is--a woman with the courage to bare her soul and stand up for what she believes in, all while making us laugh.

Born in Czechoslovakia, Mark Slouka's parents survived the Nazis only to be forced to then escape the Communist purges after the war. Smuggled out of their own country, the newlyweds joined a tide of refugees moving from Innsbruck to Sydney to New York, dragging with them a history of blood and betrayal that their son would be born into. From World War I to the present, Slouka pieces together a remarkable story of refugees and war, displacement and denial, admitting into evidence memories, dreams, stories, the lies we inherit and the lies we tell...

Award-winning songwriter Linda Thompson breaks her silence, sharing the extraordinary story of her life, career, and epic romances with two of the most celebrated, yet enigmatic, modern American superstars - Elvis Presley and Bruce Jenner. ...

As a Member of Parliament and Leader of the Liberal Party in the 1960s and 70s, Jeremy Thorpe's bad behavior snuck under the radar for years. ...But Jeremy Thorpe was a man with a secret. His homosexual affairs and harassment of past partners, along with his propensity for lying and embezzlement, only escalated as he evaded punishment. Until a dark night on the moor... Dubbed the "Trial of the Century," Thorpe's climactic case at the Old Bailey in London was the first time that a leading British politician had stood trial on a murder charge...

The culmination of nearly 30 years of reporting on Donald Trump, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, David Cay Johnston, takes a revealingly close look at the mogul's rise to power and prominence. ...

Authoritative, timely, and provocative, this deeply researched biography of Donald Trump provides a complex portrait of the man who--despite broad skepticism--could be the next president of the United States. Despite decades of scrutiny, many aspects of Trump's life are not well known. Few individuals have ever roamed so widely through such diverse realms as real estate, sports, entertainment, and national politics. To discover Trump in full, The Washington Post assembled a team of reporters and researchers to delve into every aspect of his improbable life, from his privileged upbringing in Queens to his astonishing 2016 rise to seize the Republican candidacy for president. ...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Shares the story of the author's family and upbringing, describing how they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan that included the author, a Yale Law School graduate, while navigating the demands of middle class life and the collective demons of the past.

The true story of one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist family. Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father's forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turn a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible. After Ruth's father--the founding prophet of the colony--is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant. In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where Ruth's mother collects welfare and her stepfather works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her. ...