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Biography & Memoirs Book Discussion Group

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The Biography and Memoirs Book Group meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at 10:30 a.m. at the Katy Geissert Civic Center Library.  Hosted by the Katy Geissert Civic Center Library ~ 3301 Torrance Blvd. Torrance, CA  90503 ~ 310-618-5959.

 

 

AdobeAdobe Days by Sarah Bixby Smith
Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.

In this rollicking reminiscence Sarah Bixby Smith tells of Los Angeles when it was “a little frontier town”. She came there in 1878 at the age of seven from the San Justo Rancho in Monterey County. Sarah recalls daily life in town and at San Justo and neighboring ranches in the bygone era of the adobes. Exerting a strong pull on her imagination, as it will on the reader’s, is the story of how her family drove sheep and cattle from Illinois to the Pacific Coast in the 1850s. The daughter of a pioneering woolgrower, Sarah Bixby Smith became a leading citizen of California.

 

 

 

RavenThe Raven King: Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of his Lost Library by Marcus Tanner
Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. 
Seizing the Hungarian throne at the age of fifteen, Matthias Corvinus, the "Raven King,” was an effervescent presence on the fifteenth-century stage. But Hungary, invaded by Turkey after Matthias's death in 1490, yielded its treasures, and the Raven King’s exquisite library of two thousand volumes, witness to a golden cultural age, was dispersed first across Europe and then the world. The quest to recover this collection imbued Hungarians with the mythical conviction that the restoration of the lost library would seal their country's rebirth. In this thrilling and absorbing account, Marcus Tanner tracks the destiny of the Raven King and his magnificent bequest, uncovering the remarkable story of a life and library almost lost to history.

 

 

american ciceroAmerican Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll by Bradley J. Birzer
Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

Before his death in 1832, Charles Carroll of Carrollton - the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence - was widely regarded as one of the most important founders. This is his biography. Today, Carroll's signal contributions to the American Founding are overlooked, but the fascinating new biography American Cicero rescues Carroll from unjust neglect"

 

 

 

 

doctors blackwellThe Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura
Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

Elizabeth Blackwell believed from an early age that she was destined for a mission beyond the scope of "ordinary" womanhood. Though the world at first recoiled at the notion of a woman studying medicine, her intelligence and intensity ultimately won her the acceptance of the male medical establishment. In 1849, she became the first woman in America to receive an M.D. She was soon joined in her iconic achievement by her younger sister, Emily, who was actually the more brilliant physician

 

 

 

raymond chandlerRaymond Chandler: A Biography by Tom Hiney
Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

"The hell with posterity, I want mine now," Chandler once stated in a letter to a friend. He got his wish, making fortunes in his lifetime both as an oil-company executive and a writer, and since his death in 1959 he has been hailed not only as one of the nation's greatest mystery authors but one of American literature's Olympians, period. The author is equally acute in discussing Chandler's years as an oil executive in Los Angeles, his marriage to a woman 18 years his senior, his alcoholism, and the Philip Marlowe mysteries that made him rich and famous in middle age. A sympathetic, unflinching look at a gifted artist and very unhappy man.

 

 

seabiscuitSeabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. 

Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. 

 

 

 

 

haciendaThe Hacienda: A Memoir by Lisa St. Aubin de Teran
Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 10:30 a.m

From a prize-winning British author comes a lush, absorbing memoir--an "Out of Africa" set in the Venezuelan Andes. Tremendously atmospheric, "The Hacienda" brilliantly evokes the unique confluence of time, place, and people that shaped this powerful writer.

 

 

 

 

 

on writingOn Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King 
Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.

 

 

View our previous selections here.

 

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