A Long Way Gone by Kshmael Beah and Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza

In A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007), Ishmael Beah tells his story of growing up in Sierra Leone during the civil war there, in the 1990’s, and his rescue by Unicef. (966.404 Beah)

Similarly, in Left to Tell (2006), Immaculee Ilibagiza tells her story of survival during the Rwandan holocaust in 1994 and the spiritual journey that fed her soul during the three months she spent hiding. (B Illibagiza)

-Deb

The Red Letter Diary by Lily Koppel

“The Red Letter Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal”

Imagine finding a 70-year-old diary, discovering a kindred spirit in the diary’s pages, and locating the writer of the diary (a woman in her nineties). Imagine being that woman seventy years later and receiving a phone call from a girl in her twenties (the young woman who found the diary), and reconnecting with those dreams, aspirations, and relationships of adolescence. This book provides a glimpse of Manhattan in the early 1930’s, through selected brief diary entries of artistic, literary Florence Wolfson. (B Howitt)

-Deb

Chopin in Paris by Tad Szulc

“Chopin in Paris: The Life and Times of the Romantic Composer”

An insightful look into the life of the man and his music. This is how a biography should be written.

-Brian