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  Free - A Child and a Country at...

  Lea Ypi

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  Longlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-FictionA reflection on "freedom" in a dramatic, beautifully written memoir of the end of Communism in the Balkans.Lea Ypi grew up in the last Stalinist country in Europe: Albania, a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. While family members disappeared to what she was told were "universities" from which few "graduated," she swore loyalty to the Party. In her eyes, people were equal, neighbors helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world.Then the statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote and worship freely, and invest in hopes of striking it rich. But factories shut, jobs disappeared, and thousands fled to Italy, only to be sent back. Pyramid schemes bankrupted the country, leading to violence. One generation's dreams became another's disillusionment. As her own family's secrets were revealed, Ypi found herself questioning what "freedom" really means. With acute insight and wit, Ypi traces the perils of ideology, and what people need to flourish.

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  Hillbilly Gothic - A Memoir of...

  Adrienne Martini

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  "My family has a grand tradition. After a woman gives birth, she goes mad. I thought that I would be the one to escape." So begins Adrienne Martini's candid, compelling, and darkly humorous history of her family's and her own experiences with depression and postpartum syndrome.  Illuminating depression from the inside, Martini delves unflinchingly into her own breakdown and institutionalization and traces the multigenerational course of this devastating problem. Moving back and forth between characters and situations, she vividly portrays the isolation -- geographical and metaphorical -- of the Appalachia of her forebears and the Western Pennsylvania region where she grew up. She also weaves in the stories of other women, both contemporary and historic, who have dealt with postpartum depression in all its guises, from fleeting "baby blues" to full-blown psychosis.  Serious as her subject is, Martini's narrative is unfailingly engaging and filled with witty, wry observations on the complications of new motherhood: "It's like getting the best Christmas gift ever, but Santa decided to kick the crap out of you before you unwrapped it." New mothers and those who have struggled with parenthood -- whether or not they dealt with depression -- will find affirmation in this story of triumph, of escape from a difficult legacy, of hope for others, and of the courage to have another baby.

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  Old Man in a Baseball Cap - A...

  Fred Rochlin

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  Conceived in a storytelling workshop given by Spalding Gray, Old Man In a Baseball Cap is not your typical story of World War II. Rochlin recounts in gritty detail how he--an ordinary young man--was thrust into outrageous circumstances during an extraordinary time. Whether he's bumping up against the army's bigotry because he's Jewish, aiding in the delivery of a baby by cesarean section, being ordered to obliterate a Hungarian village, or parachuting from his plane in the middle of Yugoslavia and then walking 400 kilometers to safety with an amorous guide, Rochlin captures the Intensely powerful experience of a teenager away from home for the first time. Old Man In a Baseball Cap is an astonishingly fresh, candid look at "the last good war." At once naive, candid, and wise, Fred Rochlin's voice is unforgettable.

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  La Camorra: The Notorious...

  Charles River Editors

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   The history of Naples is long and tortured, or at least for centuries that was how its history has been told. Inhabited almost continuously from the Neolithic era to the present, Naples was founded by the Greeks and conquered by the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Naples passed between various foreign rulers for its entire history prior to Italian unification. Starting in 1040, when the Norman French invaders conquered Campania, Naples was ruled in a dizzying succession by Germans, then French, then Spanish, then Austrians, then Spanish, then French, and then Spanish. 
  	Nonetheless, Naples does not enjoy an excellent reputation, within the context of Italy or of Europe. High rates of petty crime, a decaying urban fabric and the infamous presence of the mafia (known in Naples as the Camorra) all combine to ensure fewer tourists venture to explore Naples, and many Italians (civilians and politicians alike) consider it the ultimate “problem city.” Nonetheless, it bears keeping in mind the words of one of Naples’ foremost historians, John Marino, who noted, “Naples, like each of Italy’s cities, [is] unique, but far less different than is generally believed.” The Neapolitan mafia is famous for its pervasive nature, which is due to the fact that it is organized in a horizontal, decentralized way. This means there is not one single “boss” who dictates policy and can be more strategic in how and when violence is deployed. Unlike other mafias, in the Camorra there has been no long-term reigning family, nor extensive coordination between families to form an alliance and function as a unified mafia for their shared benefit. 
  La Camorra: The Notorious History and Legacy of the Neapolitan Mafia examines how one of the world’s most famous mobs formed, its inner workings, and the events that made it feared around Italy. 

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  Summary of Chris Hadfield's An...

  Falcon Press

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  Summary of Chris Hadfield's An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth tells the Canadian astronaut’s life story and offers practical life advice based on this professional experience. Focusing on his training and his third and final mission to space, Hadfield demonstrates how the unusual way in which astronauts work is surprisingly applicable to everyday life…

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  Into the Sun - One of the first...

  Robert Duncan Milne

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  Robert Duncan Milne was born on 7th June 1844 in Cupar in Fife, Scotland. 
   
  Little is known of the life of this extraordinary author who created some of the most appealing science fiction stories ever written.   
   
  As an adult he lived in San Francisco and wrote short stories for local newspapers and periodicals of the time and principally for The Argonaut, the political and literary newspaper heavyweight of the area. 
   
  Robert Duncan Milne died in San Francisco, California on 15th December 1899.  He was 55. 
   
  Into the Sun is a compelling narrative of what happens when the doomed Earth falls into the sun.  Is survival possible?

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