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  Days of Fear - A Firsthand...

  Daniele Mastrogiacomo

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  “An Italian journalist skillfully recounts his 15 terror-filled days and nights in the hands of the Taliban. . . . Graphic and harrowing.” —Kirkus Reviews 
   
  On March 5, 2007, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, foreign news correspondent on assignment in Kandahar, his driver and his interpreter were captured by the Taliban. His captors threatened to execute him if Italy did not immediately withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. When Italy refused this demand, the driver, twenty-five-year-old Sayed Agha, was decapitated before Mastrogiacomo’s eyes. A video of this horrifying event was shown around the world, and Mastrogiacomo spent the rest of his time in captivity convinced that a similar fate would soon befall him. 
   
  His jail, however, was not a dark room hidden away in some urban periphery, but a kind of open-air prison: to escape detection, his captors dragged him from village to village, through opium plantations, along dusty roads and over rugged mountains, from one end of Afghanistan to the other. It was a captivity that consisted in a continuous and nerve-racking confrontation with a world that bore no resemblance to that which he had ever known. Indeed, the ultimate significance of this book lies in its author’s ability to draw from his experience not only a hostage’s tale of captivity but also a story that lies at the heart of the eternal human drama: that of a man’s encounter with The Other. 
   
  As brilliantly crafted as a first-rate suspense novel and with the kind of emotional impact associated with the best literary fiction, Mastrogiacomo’s story of courage and tenacity in the face of imminent danger is unforgettable.

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  All Cheeses Great and Small: A...

  Alex James

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  This is the story of Alex James’s transition from a leading light of the Britpop movement in the 1990s, to gentleman farmer, artisan cheese-maker and father of five.				 
  All Cheeses Great and Small is the follow-up memoir to Alex James's first book, Bit of a Blur, the story of his excessive pop star lifestyle during the nineties. But now Alex has grown up, fallen in love and got married. He has also fallen passionately for his new home, an enormous rambling farmhouse in the Cotswolds, set in two hundred acres of beautiful British countryside.				 
  The farm represents not just a new house for Alex, but also a new career. As he breathes new life into the old farm he chances across an unexpected calling: making cheese. His cheeses, Blue Monday, Farleigh Wallop and Little Wallop have received widespread media interest and are now sold through many outlets.				 
  The story culminates with an account of the triumphant reformation of Blur for Glastonbury 2009. It will also include illustrations by Graham Coxon.				 
  As a Sunday Times bestselling author, Alex James's transition from music to cheese-making is not just a biography, but an autobiography that captures the essence of his journey. His bestselling book, All Cheeses Great and Small, is a testament to his passion and dedication.				 
  For fans of David Nolan (Damon Albarn), Will Sergeant (Echoes), Elton John (Watford Forever), Peter Hook (Substance), and Kevin Cummins (Telling Stories).

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  First Lady - From Boyhood to...

  Alison Mau

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  Liz Roberts is a Kiwi pioneer; the first person to undergo a full surgical sex change in New Zealand. This inspirational memoir tells the story of how, with the help of medical specialists working in previously uncharted territory, she changed her name, her sex and her legal status in the 1970s, freeing her to live a new life as a woman. The little boy born Gary Roberts in 1950s Christchurch knew from his earliest years that he was different to the other boys. Gary overcame a violent childhood to train first as a florist, then a hairdresser. He moved to England and his talent as a couture clothing designer was spotted and encouraged. He released his own collection, which made headlines back in New Zealand. He also became sure that a permanent change of sexual identity was a real possibility and began treatment. It was Liz Roberts who returned to New Zealand. Ground-breaking surgery, two marriages, and much heartbreak punctuated Liz's official transition from man to woman. Today, she still works as a designer and bespoke dressmaker. Her choices have made her enemies and admirers across the country, but few would doubt her strength and grace in tackling one of the most taboo life changes of all.

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  Fidelis - A Memoir

  Teresa Fazio

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  In 1998, Teresa Fazio signed up for the Marine Corps' ROTC program to pay her way through MIT. After the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001, leading to the War on Terror, she graduated with a physics degree into a very different world, owing the Marines four years of active duty. At twenty-three years old and five foot one, Fazio was the youngest and smallest officer in her battalion; the combined effect of her short hair, glasses, and baggy camo was less Hurt Locker than Harry Potter Goes to War. She cut an incongruous figure commanding more experienced troops in an active war zone, where vulnerability was not only taboo but potentially lethal.In this coming-of-age story set in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Fazio struggles with her past, her sense of authority, and her womanhood. Anger stifles her fear and uncertainty. A forbidden affair placates her need for love and security. But emptiness, guilt, and nightmares plague Fazio through her deployment—and follow her back home.

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  The Irrational Season

  Madeleine L'Engle

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  The bestselling author of A Wrinkle in Time contemplates the true meaning of faith in the third installment of her series of memoirs. Upon her death, the New York Times hailed Madeleine L’Engle as “an author whose childhood fables, religious meditations and fanciful science fiction transcended both genre and generation.” L’Engle has long captivated and provoked readers by exploring the intersection of science and religion in her work. In this intimate memoir, the award-winning author uncovers how her spiritual convictions inform and enrich the everyday.  The Irrational Season follows the liturgical year from one Advent to the next, with L’Engle reflecting on the changing seasons in her own life as a writer, wife, mother, and global citizen. Unafraid to discuss controversial topics and address challenging questions, L’Engle writes from the heart in this compelling chronicle of her spiritual quest to renew and refresh her faith in an ever-changing world and her ever-changing personhood.  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Madeleine L’Engle including rare images from the author’s estate.  

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  On This Day: July 8

  Emily Goldstein

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  On This Day: July 8. Daily podcast of historical and noteworthy activity on this calendar day. Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon; William Jennings Bryan delivered the Cross of Gold speech; John D. and Nelson Rockefeller born; death of Kim Il-Sung

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