Al-Qazwini, Imam Sayid Hassan, Brad Crawford: American Crescent: A Muslim Cleric on the Power of His Faith, the Struggle Against Prejudice, and the Future of Islam and America, Random House, 2007 & 2008 – In this inspiring narrative, one of this country’s most important Muslim leaders reveals the story of his life and his faith, and why Islam is good for America.
Bramwell, Tony and Rosemary Kingsland: Magical Mystery Tours: My Life with the Beatles, St. Martin’s Press 2005 & 2006 – Bramwell offers a fond, intimate portrait of the Fab Four. His recollections illuminate the players from their days as young “scousers” in working-class Liverpool to their formation as a group, and from their exhausting early stints to their astonishing stardom.
Colesberry, Adrian: How to Make Love to Adrian Colesberry, Gotham, 2008 – A purported self-help manual for the 11 women who will one day make love to the author, a stand-up comedian, charting his transformation from “cowed divorcé to sexual pervert.”
Cuadros, Paul: A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America, Harper/Rayo, 2006; HarperPerennial 2007 – An award winning investigative reporter tells the poignant true story of a Southern town coming to grips with the influx of Latino workers and their families through the lives of an all-Latino high school soccer team that Cuadros coached to a state championship in just three seasons.
Cummings, Quinn: Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from my Awkward and Lovely Life, Hyperion, 2008 – Called by USA Today “Erma Bombeck with an edge”, child-actor (and Oscar Nominee) turned entrepreneur and blogger Quinn Cummings has penned an honest, smart, and laugh-out-loud funny story about how her do-gooder impulses continually landed her in hot water. Debut Author.
Febos, Melissa: Whip Smart, St. Martin’s, 2010 – While a college student at The New School, Melissa Febos spent four years working as a dominatrix in a midtown dungeon. In poetic, nuanced prose she charts how unchecked risk-taking eventually gave way to a course of self-destruction. But as she recounts crossing over the very boundaries that she set for her own safety, she never plays the victim. In fact, the glory of this memoir is Melissa’s ability to illuminate the strange and powerful truths that she learned as she found her way out of a hell of her own making. Rest assured; the reader will emerge from the journey more or less unscathed.
Fittipaldi, Lisa: A Brush with Darkness: Learning to Paint After Losing My Sight, Andrews McMeel, 2004 – In this moving memoir, Lisa Fittipaldi paints a vivid picture of the perceptual and emotional darkness that accompanied her vision loss, and her arduous journey back into the sighted world through mastery of the principles of art and color. Rights sold to Germany.
Kline, Barbara: White House Nannies, Tarcher, 2005 & 2006 – Barbara Kline is the other Chief of Homeland Security. When D.C. power parents are having a baby, or their household is spinning out of control, they call Kline, president of the capital’s premier nanny agency. A hilarious, behind-the-scenes look at the District as never seen before. Optioned by FOX. Debut Author
Lerman, Phillip: Dadditude: How a Real Man Became a Real Dad, Da Capo, 2007 – A funny fatherhood memoir that chronicles how a real man learned to become a real dad without giving up his real manhood.
Lindeen, Laurie: Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story, Atria, 2007 & 2008 – Set in the years between the meteoric launches of Madonna and Courtney Love, Petal Pusher takes readers on a stirring journey of rock from the big-haired 1980s to the grunge-filled 1990s, when Laurie Lindeen brought her all-girl band, Zuzu’s Petals, to compete in the indie rock arena. Debut Author
Madoff Mack, Stephanie: The End of Normal, Blue Rider Press, October 2011 – An explosive, heartbreaking memoir from the widow of Mark Madoff and daughter-in-law of Bernard Madoff, the first genuine inside story from a family member who has lived through- and survived-both the public crisis and her own deeply personal tragedy. Left to raise her children as a single mother, Stephanie wrote this memoir to give them a sense of who their father really was, defend his innocence, and put her personal statement on record once and for all.
Mckee, Steve: My Father’s Heart: A Son’s Journey, De Capo, 2008 – 16-year-old Steve McKee watched his father die of a heart attack. At fifty-two, Steve learned that he was his father’s son more than he had ever hoped-he, too, has serious heart disease. Steve set out to find the man who died before the son could know him. And what might he learn of himself?
Meckelson, Doug and Diane Haithman: Elder Wisdom Circle Guide for a Meaningful Life: Seniors Across America Offer Advice to the Next Generation, Plume, 2007 – Meckelson founded the Elder Wisdom Circle in 2001. It comprises volunteers aged 60-100 who try to assist younger people who ask questions through a Web site. Meckelson and L.A. Times staff writer Haithman have divided representative correspondence by useful subject matter.
Minick, Jim: The Blueberry Years, Thomas Dunne, Fall 2010 – Captures the story of Minick’s experience creating, operating, and eventually selling one of the mid-Atlantic’s first certified-organic, pick-your-own blueberry farms. Ultimately, though, this book tells the story of a young couple pursuing their blueberry dream.
O’Neal, Lucille: Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go: A Journey from Mental Welfare to Mental Wealth, Thomas Nelson, 2010 – Written with Allison Samuels of Newsweek, Mother of NBA superstar Shaq, Lucille O’Neal, shares her story of a woman who would one day have it all, but not before fighting the public battles and personal demons that would threaten to shatter the very foundation of her life.
Shields, Charles: Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, Holt, 2006 & 2007 – The story of Lee’s struggle to create her famous novel, this biography draws on six hundred interviews and much new information, to create an evocative portrait of a writer, her dream, and the place and people whom she made immortal. Debut Author
Shields, Charles: I Am Scout, Holt for Young Readers, 2008 – This first-ever comprehensive biography of Harper Lee written for a young audience tells the story of how Miss Lee struggled to become an author and created one of the most popular novels of the 20th century. Junior Library Guild Premiere Selection. 2009 Best Book from the American Library Association
Spinner, Jackie; Spinner, Jenny: Tell Them I Didn’t Cry: A Young Journalist’s Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival in Iraq, Scribner, 2006 & 2007 – When she arrived in Iraq in May 2004, Jackie Spinner, a writer for the Washington Post, entered a war zone where traditional reporting had become impossible. In her gripping account, she goes beyond the headlines, and is transformed from rookie correspondent into a seasoned reporter. Debut Author
Valastro, Buddy: Cake Boss: Stories and Recipes from Mia Famiglia, Free Press, November 2010 – The story of master cake baker Buddy Valastro’s life and of Carlo’s, his family’s bakeshop, originally established in 1910 and now a Hoboken, New Jersey, landmark and culinary tourist destination. Includes twenty-five recipes for Carlo’s Bakery’s most sought-after pastries, pies, cupcakes, and cakes.
Watson, Bruce: The Man who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made: The Life and Times of A. C. Gilbert, the Man Who Saved Christmas, Viking, 2002 & 2003 – The biography of A.C. Gilbert, the inventor of erector sets, explores the popular toy that helped boys create their own miniature world and it taught them to use their ingenuity to play at being men.
Wells, Dean Faulkner: Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi, Harmony, 2010 – William Faulkner’s niece tells the story of growing up as the famous author’s surrogate daughter, providing insights into both William and the Faulkner family which have never been published.
White III, Neil: In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, Morrow, 2009 – This book tells the story of imprisonment, friendship and transformation after spending a year in the last leper colony in the continental United States. B&N Discover New Writers Finalist, SIBA Award Winner. Debut Author
Woodlief, Jennifer: A Wall of White, Atria Books, 2009 – A narrative account of the worst disaster in American skiing history, the 1982 Lake Tahoe Avalanche, in which seven people were killed and one woman was saved after spending nearly five days buried alive.