Becoming
2018
by Michelle Obama
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.
Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Billion Dollar Whale
2018
by Tom Wright, Bradley Hope
Billion Dollar Whale reveals the epic story of how a young social climber from Malaysia, Jho Low, pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in history. In 2009, Low set in motion a fraud that would symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system.
With the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, Low siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund, all under the watchful eyes of global financial industry watchdogs. His elaborate schemes financed elections, luxury real estate, extravagant parties, and even Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street.
This harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world is a classic tale of a 'modern Gatsby', who emerged from obscurity to orchestrate a heist that shook the financial industry, and how this industry let it happen.
Small Fry
2018
by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
A frank, smart and captivating memoir by the daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Born on a farm and named in a field by her parents -- artist Chrisann Brennan and Steve Jobs -- Lisa Brennan-Jobs's childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley. When she was young, Lisa's father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, her father took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, vacations, and private schools. His attention was thrilling, but he could also be cold, critical and unpredictable. When her relationship with her mother grew strained in high school, Lisa decided to move in with her father, hoping he'd become the parent she'd always wanted him to be.
Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the seventies and eighties, Small Fry is the poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes.
Born on a farm and named in a field by her parents -- artist Chrisann Brennan and Steve Jobs -- Lisa Brennan-Jobs's childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley. When she was young, Lisa's father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, her father took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, vacations, and private schools. His attention was thrilling, but he could also be cold, critical and unpredictable. When her relationship with her mother grew strained in high school, Lisa decided to move in with her father, hoping he'd become the parent she'd always wanted him to be.
Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the seventies and eighties, Small Fry is the poignant story of a childhood spent between two imperfect but extraordinary homes.
Unblinded: One Man’s Courageous Journey through Darkness to Sight
2018
by Kevin Coughlin, Traci Medford-Rosow
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Unblinded is the true story of New Yorker Kevin Coughlin, who became blind at age thirty-six due to a rare genetic disorder known as Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. Twenty years later, without medical intervention, Kevin’s sight miraculously started to return. He is the only known person in the world who has experienced a spontaneous, non-medically assisted, regeneration of the optic nerve.
Unblinded follows Kevin’s descent into darkness, and his unexplained reemergence to sight. It provides honest, profound insight into the emotional trauma that occurs when vision is lost and the path forward in life cannot be seen. The book offers a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of what went on during those years of darkness and how Kevin Coughlin, after battling alcoholism, loneliness, prejudice, and perhaps most of all himself, emerges as a man of wisdom and sight.
Educated
2018
by Tara Westover
Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention.
Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.
Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The 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.
Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.
Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The 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.
Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
2018
by Richard P. Feynman
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One of the most famous science books of our time, the phenomenal national bestseller that buzzes with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist. Richard P. Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. In this lively work that can shatter the stereotype of the stuffy scientist, Feynman recounts his experiences trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets—and much more of an eyebrow-raising nature. In his stories, Feynman’s life shines through in all its eccentric glory—a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.
Included for this edition is a new introduction by Bill Gates.