Biographies and autobiographies

  • Let your mind run : a memoir of thinking my way to victory

    Creator

    Kastor, Deena

    Abstract

    From an Olympic medalist runner and the record-holder in the women's marathon and half-marathon, a lyrical, inspirational memoir on how harnessing the power of the mind can unlock hidden potential. Deena Kastor was a star youth runner with tremendous promise, yet her career almost ended after college. Her competitive method--run as hard as possible, all the time--brought her to the brink of burnout and fostered a frustration and negativity that threatened to obscure her success.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • Find a way

    Creator

    Nyad, Diana

    Abstract

    On September 2, 2013, at the age of sixty-four, Diana Nyad emerged onto the sands of Key West after swimming 111 miles, nation to nation, Cuba to Florida, in an epic feat of both endurance and human will, in fifty-three hours. Diana carried three poignant messages on her way across this stretch of shark-infested waters, and she spoke them to the crowd in her moment of final triumph: 1. Never, ever give up. 2. You're never too old to chase your dreams. 3. It looks like a solitary sport, but it's a Team.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • Crazy is my superpower : how I triumphed by breaking bones, breaking hearts, and breaking the rules

    Creator

    Mendez, A. J.

    Abstract

    Recently retired WWE superstar AJ Mendez Brooks is a powerhouse-strong, quirky, and totally confident. But that wasn't always the case. With humor and tremendous heart, she opens up for the first time about her harrowing struggle to understand her demons and the diagnosis that helped her gain control over her life. Everything I was told should be my greatest insecurities and weaknesses, everything that I've been labeled-SHORT, NERDY, SKINNY, WEAK, IMPULSIVE, UGLY, TOMBOY, POOR, REBEL, LOUD, FREAK, CRAZY-turned out to be my greatest strengths.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • Concussion (movie tie-in edition)

    Creator

    Laskas, Jeanne Marie

    Abstract

    Concussion is the riveting, unlikely story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the pathologist who made one of the most significant medical discoveries of the twenty-first century, a discovery that challenges the existence of America's favorite sport and puts Omalu in the crosshairs of football's most powerful corporation: the NFL. Jeanne Marie Laskas first met the young forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu in 2009, while reporting a story for GQ that would go on to inspire the movie Concussion.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • Carry : a memoir of survival on stolen land

    Creator

    Jensen, Toni

    Abstract

    A powerful, poetic memoir about what it means to exist as an indigenous woman in America, told in snapshots of the author's encounters with gun violence. "Essential ... We need more voices like Toni Jensen's, more books like Carry."'Tommy Orange, New York Times bestselling author of There There Toni Jensen grew up around guns: As a girl, she learned to shoot birds in rural Iowa with her father, a card-carrying member of the NRA.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • The boy who runs : the odyssey of Julius Achon

    Creator

    Brant, John

    Abstract

    In the tradition of Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nation by way of Christopher McDougall's Born to Run, this is the inspirational true story of the Ugandan boy soldier who became a world-renowned runner, then found his calling as director of a world-renowned African children's charity. "Julius can't remember who first saw the men. He heard no warning sounds'no dog barking or twig snapping. Until this point, events had moved too swiftly for Julius to be afraid, but now panic seized him.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • Ancestor trouble : a reckoning and a reconciliation

    Creator

    Newton, Maud

    Abstract

    Maud Newton's ancestors have vexed and fascinated her since she was a girl. Her mother's father, who came of age during the Great Depression in Texas, was supposedly married thirteen times, and survived being shot in the stomach by one of his wives. His father purportedly killed a man in the street with a hay hook, and later died in a mental institution. On her father's side, a Massachusetts ancestor was accused of being a witch, who cast sickness on her neighbor's ox and was later tried in court for causing the death of a child.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • 26 marathons : what I learned about faith, identity, running, and life from my marathon career

    Creator

    Keflezighi, Meb.

    Abstract

    Four-time Olympic marathoner Meb Keflezighi shares his lessons on life, family, faith, and running through a reflection on each of the 26 marathons he's run in his storied career. When four-time Olympian Meb Keflezighi ran his final marathon in New York City on November 5, 2017, it marked the end of an extraordinary distance-running career. Meb will be remembered as the only person in history to win both the Boston and New York City marathons as well as an Olympic marathon silver medal.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Random House Audio

    Not specified
  • The Zen of therapy : uncovering a hidden kindness in life

    Creator

    Epstein, Mark

    Abstract

    "A warm, profound and cleareyed memoir. . . this wise and sympathetic book's lingering effect is as a reminder that a deeper and more companionable way of life lurks behind our self-serious stories."--Oliver Burkeman, New York Times Book Review A remarkable exploration of the therapeutic relationship, Dr. Mark Epstein reflects on one year's worth of therapy sessions with his patients to observe how his training in Western psychotherapy and his equally long investigation into Buddhism, in tandem, led to greater awareness--for his patients, and for himself For years, Dr.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Penguin Audio

    Not specified
  • Undisputed truth

    Creator

    Tyson, Mike

    Abstract

    A bare-knuckled, tell-all memoir from Mike Tyson, the onetime heavyweight champion of the world—and a legend both in and out of the ring.   Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon—Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most thrilling and ferocious boxers of all time—and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Penguin Audio

    Not specified