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The Measure of a Man
Sidney Poitier's memoir—related at a gentle pace in that famously warm voice with its faint Bahamian lilt—illuminates not only his struggles as a young black actor but also the convictions that have made him an icon of decency. (Harper, $32.95)
Ten Thousand Sorrows After being plucked out of a Korean orphanage, journalist Elizabeth Kim was sent to live with a religiously strict family in the U.S. The bleakness of both experiences is made more striking by the unadorned dignity of her writing and her reading. (BDD, $25.95)
The Daughter of Time Because Derek Jacobi enjoys himself so much narrating Josephine Tey's classic mystery about Richard III and the princes in the tower, the listener does too. (Audio Partners, $24.95)
Horse Heaven The latest winning entry from novelist Jane Smiley is full of track legend and lore, and though actress Mary Beth Hurt stumbles a bit at the start, she hits her stride long before the homestretch. Truly a best bet. (Random House, $25.95)
The Banyan Tree Christopher Nolan's compelling epic of an Irishwoman's life across eight decades is in many ways the story of 20th-century Ireland itself. Fiona Shaw's masterly vocal control and sensitivity to Nolan's language serve to modulate the author's often headily lush prose. (Time Warner, $24.98)
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