Biography & Memoir Recommendations | July 2021

29 Jul 2021

Biography & Memoir Recommendations | July 2021

Don’t miss out on these insightful and informative new biographies. From true crime to public health, we recommend reading all of these unbelievable true accounts of some of the most unspeakable horrors in history. Read the latest from New York Times bestselling authors Tony Russo, Gwen Adshead, Eileen Horne, Sam Kean, Thomas Geve, John Glatt, and Leana Wen!


Dragged Into the Light: Truthers, Reptilians, Super Soldiers, and Death Inside an Online Cult

by Tony Russo

Release Date: May 25, 2021

As Seen on VICE TV’s “The Devil You Know” Season 2 Journalist Tony Russo follows Sherry Shriner’s cult, digs into its bizarre beliefs, and reports on the shredded lives and reputations surrounding an otherwise-nondescript woman who transformed herself into a web-based evangelist. The incredible story is documented in dogged reporting, surviving internet chats and transcripts, and voluminous police records.

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The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science

by Sam Kean

Release Date: July 13, 2021

From New York Times Bestselling Author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold history of science’s darkest secrets…Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.

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The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz: A Powerful True Story of Hope and Survival

by Thomas Geve

Release Date: July 27, 2021

An inspiring true story of hope and survival, this is the testimony of a boy who was imprisoned in Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen, and Buchenwald and recorded his experiences through words and color drawings…The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz, accompanied with 56 of Thomas Geve’s color illustrations, is the unique testimony of young Thomas and his quest for a brighter tomorrow. Do not miss out on this insightful new memoir.

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Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite

by John Glatt

Release Date: July 20, 2021

New York Times Bestselling Author John Glatt tells the true story of Thomas Gilbert Jr., the handsome and charming New York socialite accused of murdering his father, a Manhattan millionaire and hedge fund founder. Journalist John Glatt takes an in-depth look at the devastating crime that rocked Manhattan’s upper class. With exclusive access to sources close to Tommy, including his own mother, Glatt constructs the agonizing spiral of mental illness that led Thomas Gilbert Jr. to the ultimate unspeakable act.

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The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion

by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne

Release Date: July 20, 2021

An informative and insightful new book by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne…In eleven vivid narratives based on decades of providing therapy to people in prisons and secure hospitals, an internationally renowned forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist demonstrate the remarkable human capacity for radical empathy, change, and redemption. Moving, thought-provoking, and brilliantly told, The Devil You Know is a rare and timely book with the power to transform our ideas about cruelty and violence, and to radically expand the limits of empathy.

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Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health

by Dr. Leana Wen

Release Date: July 27, 2021

From medical expert Leana Wen, MD, Lifelines is an insider’s account of public health and its crucial role—from opioid addiction to global pandemic—and an inspiring story of her journey from struggling immigrant to being one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. Ultimately, Leana Wen insists, it is public health that ensures citizens are not robbed of decades of life, and that where children live does not determine whether they live.

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