Memoir genre books (768)
601.
The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek EN
Country: North America / 
United States of America
United States of America
Description:
At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parent's decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians-the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Kurds-who worked, loved, and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country. Restoring her family's home as the country comes apart, she learns how to speak ... continue
602.
The House at Sugar Beach : In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper EN
LiberiaDescription:
The author traces her childhood in war-torn Liberia and her reunion with a foster sister who had been left behind when her family fled the region.
603.
The Illiterate by Ágota Kristóf EN
HungaryDescription:
In 2004, late in her legendary career, Ágota Kristóf wrote this slim dagger of a memoir about being a refugee after fleeing Hungary in 1956: a book all too prophetic of our world's raging crises of displacement
604.
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Based on a series of letters Mark Twain wrote from Europe to newspapers in San Francisco and New York as a roving correspondent, The Innocents Abroad (1869) is a burlesque of the sentimental travel books popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Twain's fresh and humorous perspective on hallowed European landmarks lacked reverence for the past-the ancient statues of saints on the Cathedral of Notre Dame are "battered and broken-nosed old fellows" and tour guides "interrupt every dream, every pleasant train of thought, with their tiresome cackling." Equally irreverent about American manners (inclu... continue
605.
The Jive Talker : An Artist's Genesis by Samson Kambalu EN
MalawiDescription:
What do you do when it looks like the odds were stacked against you before you were even born, when you're having trouble feeding a family that just keeps growing, when you've got a little too much of an affection for Carlsberg Brown and when the life president of your country, Malawi, keeps shuffling around the public health system that employs you, forcing you and your family into perpetual nomadism? You catch up on your reading, adding I'm OK, You're OK and Nietzsche to the bathroom library. Holding on to your dignity, you keep dressing up in threadbare three-piece suits you ordered from Lo... continue
606.
The Journey by Abdul Musa Adam EN
SudanDescription:
Abdul is just 7 years old when his parents are killed before his eyes.
As a brutal war sweeps Sudan, Abdul and his 3-year-old brother are forced to flee.
Their gruelling journey across the Sahara to a refugee camp in Chad is fraught with danger, and every day is a struggle against hunger and disease.
Until one day Abdul is offered a chance to escape. A chance that could save him, but will force him to make the most heartbreaking decision of his life.
Abdul's death-defying flight leaves deep scars. But his affinity with animals provides a lifeline, when he is offered the chance... continue
607.
The Killing Fields of Cambodia by Sokphal Din EN
CambodiaDescription:
'The Killing Fields of Cambodia' is a tale of survival through generosity, resourcefulness, and the strength of family. Harrowing, yet always hopeful, Sokphal's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.
608.
The Kingdom of Women : Life, Love and Death in China's Hidden Mountains by Choo WaiHong EN
SingaporeDescription:
Discover the kingdom where women rule. A truly fascinating account of one of the world's last matrilineal societies, told through the eyes of a woman who left her corporate life in Hong Kong to discover more about their culture.
609.
The Knowing by Tanya Talaga EN
Country: North America / 
Canada
Canada
Description:
From Tanya Talaga, the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Seven Fallen Feathers, comes a riveting exploration of her family's story and a retelling of the history of the country we now call Canada For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being sent to residential schools, "Indian hospitals" and asylums through a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada's greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonmen... continue
610.
The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed EN
UkraineDescription:
When everyday life becomes a state of emergency, how can yesterday’s words suffice? ‘We were so happy and didn’t know it...’ A thirty-three-year-old writer lives in a quiet European suburb with his wife and his dog. His parents have bought an apartment nearby. On weekends they go out for brunch, cook and see friends. Life is good; it is normal. Then the invaders come. The Language of War is about what happens when your world changes overnight. When you wake up to the sound of helicopters and the smell of gunpowder. When your home is hit by shells or broken into by gunmen, and you spend another... continue