Biography & Autobiography

Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyonce Knowles-Carter

4,000.00

Beyoncé. Her name conjures more than music, it has come to be synonymous with beauty, glamour, power, creativity, love, and romance. Her performances are legendary, her album releases events. She is not even forty but she has already rewritten the Beyoncé playbook more than half a dozen times. She is consistently provocative, political and surprising. As a solo artist, she has sold more than 100 million records. She has won 22 Grammys and is the most-nominated woman artist in the history of Grammy awards. Her 2018 performance at Coachella wowed the world. The New York Times wrote: “There’s not likely to be a more meaningful, absorbing, forceful and radical performance by an American musician this year or any year soon.” Artist, business woman, mother, daughter, sister, wife, black feminist, Queen Bey is endlessly fascinating.

Queen Bey features a diverse range of voices, from star academics to outspoken cultural critics to Hollywood and music stars. Some of the essays include

“Beychella is Proof That Beyoncé is the Greatest Performer Alive. I’m Not Arguing.” by Luvvie Ajayi
“On the Journey Together,” by Lena Waithe
“All Her Single Ladies” by Kid Fury
“Beyoncé the Brave” by Reshma Saujani
“Beyoncé’s Radical Ways” by Carmen Perez
“The King of Pop and the Queen of Everything” by Michael Eric Dyson
“The Beauty of Beyoncé” by Fatima Robinson
“King Bey” by Treva B. Lindsey
“Meridonial: Beyoncé’s Southern Roots and References” by Robin M. Boylorn
“B & V: A Love Letter” by Caroline Clarke

Born A Crime: Young Readers Edition

4,500.00

Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, shares his remarkable story of growing up in South Africa with a black South African mother and a white European father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child to exist. But he did exist–and from the beginning, the often-misbehaved Trevor used his keen smarts and humor to navigate a harsh life under a racist government.

In a country where racism barred blacks from social, educational, and economic opportunity, Trevor surmounted staggering obstacles and created a promising future for himself thanks to his mom’s unwavering love and indomitable will.

This honest and poignant memoir adapted from the #1 New York Times bestseller Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood will astound and inspire readers as well as offer a fascinating perspective on South Africa’s tumultuous racial history.

BORN A CRIME IS SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING OSCAR WINNER LUPITA NYONG’O!

Serena

6,000.00

Serena Williams is the most successful tennis player – male or female – of the modern, professional era, with more Grand Slams than either Steffi Graf or Roger Federer.

Always a fierce competitor, her story – which began on the cracked public courts of Compton, L.A. – is also one of overcoming challenges through sheer determination, drive and talent.

In this innovative illustrated biography, Serena’s tennis is explored like never before: stunning graphics explore her serving patterns, signature power groundstrokes, and her movement – as well as showcasing her astonishing records, spanning over two decades in the tennis elite.

Drawing on conversations with Serena over the course of her career, and on interviews with those closest to her, this is the ultimate celebration of arguably the greatest tennis player of all time and, without question, a true global icon.

Bitcoin Billionaires

4,500.00

Ben Mezrich’s 2009 bestseller The Accidental Billionaires is the definitive account of Facebook’s founding and the basis for the Academy Award–winning film The Social Network. Two of the story’s iconic characters are Harvard students Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss: identical twins, Olympic rowers, and foils to Mark Zuckerberg. Bitcoin Billionaires is the story of the brothers’ redemption and revenge in the wake of their epic legal battle with Facebook.

Planning to start careers as venture capitalists, the brothers quickly discover that no one will take their money after their fight with Zuckerberg. While nursing their wounds in Ibiza, they accidentally run into an eccentric character who tells them about a brand-new idea: cryptocurrency. Immersing themselves in what is then an obscure and sometimes sinister world, they begin to realize “crypto” is, in their own words, “either the next big thing or total bulls–t.” There’s nothing left to do but make a bet.

From the Silk Road to the halls of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bitcoin Billionaires will take us on a wild and surprising ride while illuminating a tantalizing economic future. On November 26, 2017, the Winklevoss brothers became the first bitcoin billionaires. Here’s the story of how they got there―as only Ben Mezrich could tell it.

My Mother’s Daughter

10,000.00

Chief Mrs Taiwo Taiwo, an unstoppable force, passionate and driven to deliver change, and to help others in Nigeria, especially in her hometown of Lagos. She brings her energy, humour, and disarming honesty to every page—from her encounters with brutal racism as a child in the UK, her fresh perspective on 1960s Europe as a teenager, to her cultural disconnect on returning to Lagos in the early 1970s.

With clear-sightedness and determination, she takes on daunting business battles and philanthropic challenges in education, urban renewal, and grief counselling. Taiwo’s life has privilege but also tragedy. Her story shows us a determined Nigerian who has taken life full-on and delivers everything she can to make things better for people who pass her way. Despite numerous setbacks, she remains optimistic and passionate for change.

How To Turn Down A Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story

4,500.00

The improbable and exhilarating story of the rise of Snapchat from a frat boy fantasy to a multi-billion dollar internet unicorn that has dramatically changed the way we communicate.

In 2013 Evan Spiegel, the brash CEO of the social network Snapchat, and his co-founder Bobby Murphy stunned the press when they walked away from a three-billion-dollar offer from Facebook: how could an app teenagers use to text dirty photos dream of a higher valuation? Was this hubris, or genius?

In How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars, tech journalist Billy Gallagher takes us inside the rise of one of Silicon Valley’s hottest start-ups. Snapchat developed from a simple wish for disappearing pictures as Stanford junior Reggie Brown nursed regrets about photos he had sent. After an epic feud between best friends, Brown lost his stake in the company, while Spiegel has gone on to make a name for himself as a visionary―if ruthless―CEO worth billions, linked to celebrities like Taylor Swift and his wife, Miranda Kerr.

Aretha: The Queen of Soul – A Life in Photographs

7,000.00

Aretha Franklin’s voice was legendary, unforgettable: deeply rooted in gospel, yet versatile enough to brilliantly interpret R&B, rock, soul, pop, and jazz standards, it fueled a six-decade career. Her vocal wallop was a mix of preaching, rebuke, and elation. From the languorous “I Never Loved a Man (the Way That I Love You),” to the funky “Chain of Fools,” to the fiercely feminist “Think,” to the definitive, demanding version of Otis Redding’s “Respect,” Franklin’s songs played out against the tumultuous sociopolitical backdrop of the late ’60s like a soundtrack meant to set things right. Her accolades were many: she received the Kennedy Center honor in 1994, won 18 Grammys®, was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and performed for presidents and the Pope.

Illustrated with 85 photos, and with insightful text from noted radio personality and author Meredith Ochs, Aretha explores the diva’s life, from her formative years growing up in Detroit, to her singing and recording career from the 1950s until her untimely death in 2018, to her numerous honors, awards, and causes, including her advocacy for civil rights and the arts.

The Disruptors: 50 People Who Changed The World

4,500.00

Meet 50 women and men who broke the rules . . . and changed the world.

What does Charles Darwin have in common with Johannes Gutenberg—or with Jackson Pollock, Martin Luther, Betty Friedan, Steve Jobs, and DJ Kool Herc? They were the disruptors, upending cultural, technical, spiritual, or scientific paradigms and altering the way we live forever. Bestselling author Alan Axelrod presents engaging profiles, accompanied by original line drawings, of 50 visionaries who rewrote the rules. Their innovations range from the printing press (Gutenberg) to the fight for women’s equality (Friedan), from the smartphone (Jobs) to the invention of hip-hop (Herc).

The Will To Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo (Hardback)

20,000.00

The Will to Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo is fundamentally a deliberative evaluation of leadership and enterprise management. It is as much a biographical portrait of Nigeria’s ‘Czar of Advertising’ as it is a story of the major developments in the world of marketing communications in Nigeria as it involves Shobanjo. It sheds light on his persona and gives a comprehensive overview of who he is. It is a lucidly engaging work through which the reader understands his parentage, family life and most poignantly, his professional and business life. In a land with few authentic heroes or achievers, Biodun Shobanjo’s contributions, achievements and place are deservedly presented. The avalanche of information provided, the depth of treatment given to it, and the sources consulted make this work a productive venture. The reader is assured of an excursion in history, career development, ambition, decision – making, entrepreneurship, business management, office politics, people management, success and failure. It is a positive work that is faithful to its theme: the path to success is guided by the will to win.

The Mauritanian

8,000.00

When The Mauritanian was first published as Guantánamo Diary in 2015—heavily redacted by the U.S. government—Mohamedou Ould Slahi was still imprisoned at the detainee camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, despite a federal court ruling ordering his release, and it was unclear when or if he would ever see freedom. In October 2016 he was finally released and reunited with his family. During his fourteen-year imprisonment the United States never charged him with a crime.

Now he is able to tell his story in full, with previously censored material restored. This searing diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir—terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious. The Mauritanian is a document of immense emotional power and historical importance.

The Will to Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo (Paperback)

10,000.00

The Will to Win: The Story of Biodun Shobanjo is fundamentally a deliberative evaluation of leadership and enterprise management. It is as much a biographical portrait of Nigeria’s ‘Czar of Advertising’ as it is a story of the major developments in the world of marketing communications in Nigeria as it involves Shobanjo. It sheds light on his persona and gives a comprehensive overview of who he is. It is a lucidly engaging work through which the reader understands his parentage, family life and most poignantly, his professional and business life. In a land with few authentic heroes or achievers, Biodun Shobanjo’s contributions, achievements and place are deservedly presented. The avalanche of information provided, the depth of treatment given to it, and the sources consulted make this work a productive venture. The reader is assured of an excursion in history, career development, ambition, decision – making, entrepreneurship, business management, office politics, people management, success and failure. It is a positive work that is faithful to its theme: the path to success is guided by the will to win.

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