New Biography & Memoir Books | September 2021

23 Sep 2021

New Biography & Memoir Books | September 2021

Looking for a new memoir or biography book to read? Don’t miss this week’s biography and memoir books by bestselling authors Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi, Jean Kanokogi, Danny R. Smith, Hannah Maguire, Joe Posnanski, Rick Bragg, and Abe Streep. Enjoy your new non-fiction picks!


Get Up & Fight: The Memoir of Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi, The Mother of Women’s Judo

by Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi & Jean Kanokogi

Release Date: June 1, 2021

A fascinating new memoir from Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi & Jean Kanokogi PhD…In 1959 Rusty’s well-earned first-place medal was ripped away from her because she was a woman. She fought in a judo championship against a man and won, but when the judges discovered her gender, they stripped her of her title. Women were not allowed. From that point on, Rusty had a new goal: to ensure that no woman would ever suffer such indignity ever again! This vow sparked a fifty-year career fighting for equality—a tireless battle she would take all the way to the Olympics.

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Nothing Left to Prove

by Danny R. Smith

Release Date: September 8, 2021

A new law enforcement memoir from former sheriff’s detective Danny R. Smith…From the streets of South Los Angeles to the elite homicide bureau, former sheriff’s detective Danny R. Smith saw some of L.A.’s darkest hours: a crack cocaine epidemic, unprecedented gang warfare, a spike in homicides that stunned the nation, the Rodney King riots. Nothing Left to Prove is the very personal story of one man’s career and its effect on his life, unveiled through Smith’s masterful storytelling. If you think you know cops, if you enjoy compelling true-crime stories, then you’ll love Danny R. Smith’s powerful narrative.

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The Baseball 100

by Joe Posnanski

Release Date: September 28, 2021

A new sports biography by Joe Posnanski…A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski that is already being hailed as “an instant sports classic” (New York Post), The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will. Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, The Baseball 100 is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it.

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RedHanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick

by Hannah Maguire

Release Date: September 14, 2021

A 2021 Listeners’ Choice British Podcast Awards Winner by Hannah Maguire…What is it about killers, cult leaders, cannibals, cults, and criminals that capture our imaginations even as they terrify and disturb us? With candor, humor, interviews with experts, research on real-life cases, and an unflinching dissection of what makes a killer tick, Bala and Maguire take us through the societal, behavioral, and cultural phenomena that make victims, and their murderers, our collective responsibility and to find out once and for all: what makes a killer tick?

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The Speckled Beauty

by Rick Bragg

Release Date: September 21, 2021

From the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All Over but the Shoutin’, the warm-hearted and hilarious story of how his life was transformed by his love for a poorly behaved, half-blind stray dog…Speck arrived in Rick’s life at a moment of looming uncertainty. A cancer diagnosis, chemo, kidney failure, and recurring pneumonia had left Rick lethargic and melancholy. Speck helped, and he is helping, still, when he is not peeing on the rose of Sharon. Written with Bragg’s inimitable blend of tenderness and sorrow, humor and grit, The Speckled Beauty captures the extraordinary, sustaining devotion between two damaged creatures who need each other to heal.

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Brothers on Three

by Abe Streep

Release Date: September 7, 2021

From journalist Abe Streep, the story of coming of age on a reservation in the American West and a team uniting a community…In Brothers on Three, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches, and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future. Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, about state championships and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood, finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.

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