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Biographies and Memoirs

Sometimes your just want to read a snappy story that makes you learn. These are those stories.

Cover image of Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II. Contains a girl dressed in red coat and hat, carrying a small brown suitcase. She is holding the hand of an unseen adult. The girl is reflected in the water puddle on the cobblestone streets. There are also three war planes reflected in the puddle.

This year's Mildred L. Batchelder Award, given to an outstanding children's book translated into English, is the wonderful Italian middle grades memoir Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II. Sensitive and age appropriate, this standout book is an ideal shared read aloud for older children.

Don't waste your time on hearts this Valentine's Day. Steal something that matters - like art! (But, you know, don't.)

Southern Festival of Books logo

This year’s Southern Festival of Books is October 14-16!  The festival is in-person again this year and takes place at Nashville Public Library and War Memorial Plaza.  It is free and open to the public.

Cover of Bravo!: Poems About Brave Hispanics by Margarite Engle

During Hispanic Heritage Month we intentionally recognize the many contributions made by persons of Latin American, Hispanic, and Latina/o descent to every part of U.S. American life. Check out these picture book biographies about Hispanic and Latino trailblazers, strivers, and justice seekers. 

Headshot of Ashley Bryan. He is an older African American man with white hair and a mustache,

During a career spanning over six decades, Ashley Bryan (1923-3022) illustrated more than 70 children's picture books in a variety of media and in several genres. 

Page from Newsweek magazine, from September 2001

This is part II in the series commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks. This post continues with more library staff memories of that day. 

New Nonfiction

2021 has been a great year for nonfiction so far.  Here are four titles you may have missed:

The difficult periods of life will hurt, but beauty can still found within them. Katherine May recounts a painful season and the inevitability of sadness in her nonfiction book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.   

If you weren't able to check out any physical books from the Library before self-isolating at home, or perhaps the one you have hasn't turned out to be very good - don't worry! Here are some recommendations for titles to check out NOW from the Library's Overdrive page. 

In honor of African American History Month, and to highlight a few individuals in Metro Archives' new display on Nashville women, this blog post is dedicated to a few notable women of Music City.

Mark your calendars! The Southern Festival of Books is October 11-13.  The festival takes place at Nashville Public Library and War Memorial Plaza and is free and open to the public.

Emily Guendelsberger spent several months working at an Amazon fulfillment center in Kentucky, a Convergys call center in North Carolina, and a McDonald’s in San Francisco.  Her account of this time is an enraging, eye-opening, essential book.

This spring, as we read the 2019 Nashville Reads book Hidden Figures, and reimagine our country’s history together, there’s no better place than Nashville Public Library to explore the "hidden figures" in our own local history. Dr. Margaret Rhea Seddon is one of these local hidden figures with an incredible story about reaching the stars.

Born in rural Kenya and educated in the United States, Wangari Maathai was the first woman in East Africa to earn a doctoral degree, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and is the founder of the Green Belt Movement. Her incredible story is the subject of several picture book biographies for children.

The 28 days of February will never be enough to highlight the full depth and breadth of black history in the United States and around the world. Picture books are an ideal (and beautiful) way, however, to address the gaps in our knowledge of the contributions of African Americans to History writ large.

The announcement of the Caldecott, Newbery, and other recipients of the American Library Association (ALA) Youth Media Awards is a cause for celebration! Did your favorites win? Or what books will now be on your reading list? Check out our round-up (with links to our collection) below

A fresh new year means it is time to set a fresh new reading goal. Whether you are hoping to finally break 100 books read in a year, or you are hoping to finish at least one book this year, here are a few ways you and I can reach our goals.

Punk rock is the voice of the silenced. It rises in troubling times, disquiets in times of peace.  We take a look at some of  Nashville Public Library's most punk rock books by pioneers who were there for its rise, its fall, and its revival. After all, libraries are punk: what's more punk than free access to information?

In The Recovering, author Leslie Jamison confronts her own alcoholism with the help of a chorus of famous drinking writers: Raymond Carver, Jean Rhys, Charles Jackson, and Denis Johnson, to name a few.  

An award winning game designer tells what it was like to be at the center of Gamer Gate.

It’s almost that time of year again. We’ll soon know who is going to play in the World Series. Will the Cubs repeat or will it be another 108 years until we once again know the joy of victory?

Glen Campbell died yesterday. While his death was not unexpected, it does give us pause to look back on his stellar career and graceful goodbye.

He wrote with Bob Dylan, played Dolly Parton’s husband, penned prize-winning off-Broadway plays and maintained a dignity to his work through the years that never betrayed his rough beginnings. When you consider a modern day Renaissance man, you could easily be referring to Sam Shepard. 

 

What happens if all your dreams come true when you're still teenager? Usually, you become Justin Bieber. Wil Wheaton avoided the path taken by most child actors, but his journey was still as bumpy as it was beautiful.

Let me start out by saying that I usually have a harder time focusing on essay books, which may or may not be attributed to some mild attention problems. However, I loved every moment of Alan Cumming’s essays in You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams

 

In honor of African American History Month, I'm recognizing the first African American woman elected to the Tennessee State Senate—Senator Thelma Harper of District 19. Prior to her 1991 historic election to the State Senate, Harper served 8 years on Davidson County's Metro Council.  

December 10th is Human Rights Day and the library has the information to help you answer "What is that?"

It's December, which means it's time for "best of" lists everywhere you look. Hurray!

It's been a rough week: we've lost some talented people. Longing to know more about Gwen Ifill, Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen, or Janet Reno? We offer these selections.

Imagine being a single mother to thirteen girls - all before you turn 21! Not many people would choose that life, but Katie did.

Since New Year’s is all about making resolutions, I think one of the best resolutions a reader can make is to diversify what they read throughout the year. That being said, POPSUGAR has created a 2015 Reading Challenge, a list of different genres or themes to use as a jumping off point to expand your reading horizons.Here are a few highlights from the POPSUGAR list, and what I'll be reading for each one.