Memoir genre books (525)
491.
Veertig zweepslagen by Lubna Ahmad-al Hussein NL
SudanDescription:
Op 3 juli 2009 zat Lubna Ahmad Al-Hussein met vrienden in een groot restaurant in Khartoum. Plotseling viel de politie binnen en arresteerde haar en nog elf andere vrouwen wegens hun `onfatsoenlijke kledij : onder hun traditionele tuniek en sluier droegen ze een `sarwal , een soort broek die door de politie als verboden wordt beschouwd. Ze werd veroordeeld tot veertig zweepslagen. Lubna was niet de enige die dit overkwam: in Sudan worden hiervoor jaarlijks meer dan 40.000 vrouwen gearresteerd. Lubna besloot haar veroordeling wereldkundig te maken en het vonnis uit alle macht aan te vechten. Ze... continue
492.
Voyager : The Constellations of Memory by Nona Fernandez EN
Country: South America / 
Chile
Chile
Description:
One of the world's foremost spots for astronomical observation, the Atacama Desert in Chile is also where, in October 1973, twenty-six people were executed by Pinochet's Caravan of Death. Decades on, a petition gathers for a constellation's stars to be dedicated to them. Nona Fernández is made a god-mother to Mario Argüelles Toro, star HD89353, and asked to write a message to his family. When her own mother begins to suffer from fainting spells, Fernández accompanies her to neurological examinations. There, the mapping of her mother's brain activity - groups of neurons glowing and sparking on ... continue
493.
Waiting for Snow in Havana : Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire EN
Country: North America / 
Cuba
Cuba
Description:
A survivor of the Cuban Revolution recounts his pre-war childhood as the religiously devout son of a judge, and describes the conflict's violent and irrevocable impact on his friends, family, and native home.
494.
Walk Through Walls : A Memoir by Marina Abramovic EN
SerbiaDescription:
“I had experienced absolute freedom—I had felt that my body was without boundaries, limitless; that pain didn’t matter, that nothing mattered at all—and it intoxicated me.” In 2010, more than 750,000 people stood in line at Marina Abramović’s MoMA retrospective for the chance to sit across from her and communicate with her nonverbally in an unprecedented durational performance that lasted more than 700 hours. This celebration of nearly fifty years of groundbreaking performance art demonstrated once again that Marina Abramović is truly a force of nature. The child of Communist war-hero parents ... continue
495.
Walking : One Step at a Time by Erling Kagge EN
NorwayDescription:
A lyrical account of an activity that is essential for our sanity, equilibrium, and well-being, from the author of Silence ("A book to be handled and savored." --The Wall Street Journal) Placing one foot in front of the other, embarking on the journey of discovery, and experiencing the joy of exploration--these activities are intrinsic to our nature. Our ancestors traveled long distances on foot, gaining new experiences and learning from them. But as universal as walking is, each of us will experience it differently. For Erling Kagge, it is the gateway to the questions that fascinate him--Why ... continue
496.
Walking Since Daybreak by Modris Eksteins EN
LatviaDescription:
Part history, part autobiography, Eksteins relates the tragic story of the Baltic nations before, during, and after World War II through personal stories from his family. Photos and map.
497.
War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans EN
BelgiumDescription:
Shortly before his death in 1981, Stefan Hertmans' grandfather gave him a couple of filled exercise books. Stories he'd heard as a child had led Hertmans to suspect that their contents might be disturbing, and for years he didn’t dare to open them. When he finally did, he discovered unexpected secrets. His grandfather’s life was marked by years of childhood poverty in late-nineteenth-century Belgium, by horrific experiences on the frontlines during the First World War and by the loss of the young love of his life. He sublimated his grief in the silence of painting. Drawing on these diary entri... continue
498.
Wave by Sonali Daraniyagala FR
Sri LankaDescription:
The book opens and we are inside the wave: thirty feet high, moving at twenty-five mph, racing two miles inland. And from there into the depths of the author's despair: how to live now that her life has been undone? Sonali Deraniyagala tells her story - the loss of her two boys, her husband, and her parents - without artifice or sentimentality. In the stark language of unfathomable sorrow, anger, and guilt: she struggles through the first months following the tragedy -- someone always at her side to prevent her from harming herself, her whole being furiously clenched against the reality she ca... continue
499.
We Are Still Here : Afghan Women on Courage, Freedom, and the Fight to Be Heard by Nahid Shahalimi EN
Country: Asia / 
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Description:
A collection of first-hand accounts from courageous Afghan women who refuse to be silenced in the face of the Taliban, to be published for the first anniversary of the US leaving Afghanistan. After decades of significant progress, the prospects of women and girls in Afghanistan are once again dependent on radical Islamists who reject gender equality. When the United States announced the end of their twenty-year occupation and the Taliban seized control of the country on August 15th, 2021, so began a steep regression of social, political, and economic freedoms for women in the country. But just... continue
500.
We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I : A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh EN
PalestineDescription:
Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship. A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognise his father's courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Raja's own efforts in campaigning for Palestinian human rights. When Aziz is murdered in 1985, it changes Raja irre... continue