Best of
Mental-Illness

2015

Carry the Ocean


Heidi Cullinan - 2015
    Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.Warning: Contains characters obsessed with trains and counting, positive representations of autism and mental illness, a very dark moment, and Elwood Blues.

Every Last Word


Tamara Ireland Stone - 2015
    Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Am I Normal Yet?


Holly Bourne - 2015
    She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

Dog Medicine


Julie Barton - 2015
    She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie's incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home.Psychiatrists, therapists and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a Golden Retriever puppy she named Bunker.Dog Medicine captures in beautiful, elegiac language the anguish of depression, the slow path to recovery, and the astonishing way animals can heal even the most broken hearts and minds.

All the Bright Places


Jennifer Niven - 2015
    But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink. This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.

Challenger Deep


Neal Shusterman - 2015
    Alternate Cover Edition for ASIN B00M70ESPOCaden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behaviour.Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence to document the journey with images.Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.Caden Bosch is torn.

Some Sort of Happy


Melanie Harlow - 2015
    She’s even more beautiful than I remember. Ten years ago she was an impossible dream, and now she’s right here in front of me, offering everything I ever wanted. But happiness never lasts, not for someone like me. I have to protect us both.****Sebastian Pryce. He’s the most complicated, frustrating, beautiful man I’ve ever met, and my body craves his with a hunger I’ve never known. My heart is his completely.Why won’t he let me in? ** SOME SORT OF HAPPY is a full-length standalone romance. **

Reasons to Stay Alive


Matt Haig - 2015
    Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt’s inspiring account of how, minute by minute and day by day, he overcame the disease with the help of reading, writing, and the love of his parents and his girlfriend (and now-wife), Andrea. And eventually, he learned to appreciate life all the more for it. Everyone’s lives are touched by mental illness: if we do not suffer from it ourselves, then we have a friend or loved one who does. Matt’s frankness about his experiences is both inspiring to those who feel daunted by depression and illuminating to those who are mystified by it. Above all, his humor and encouragement never let us lose sight of hope. Speaking as his present self to his former self in the depths of depression, Matt is adamant that the oldest cliché is the truest—there is light at the end of the tunnel. He teaches us to celebrate the small joys and moments of peace that life brings, and reminds us that there are always reasons to stay alive.

If You Feel Too Much: Thoughts on Things Found and Lost and Hoped For


Jamie Tworkowski - 2015
    The piece was so hauntingly beautiful that it quickly went viral, giving birth to a non-profit organization of the same name. Now, To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is an internationally recognized leader in suicide prevention and a source of hope, encouragement, and support for people worldwide.If You Feel Too Much is a celebration of hope, wonder, and what it means to be human. From personal stories of struggling on days most people celebrate to words of strength and encouragement in moments of loss, the essays in this book invite readers to believe that it’s okay to admit to pain and okay to ask for help. If You Feel Too Much is an important book from one of this generation’s most important voices.

Our Numbered Days


Neil Hilborn - 2015
    To date, it has been watched over 10 million times. Our Numbered Days is Neil’s debut full-length poetry collection, containing 45 of Neil’s poems including “OCD”, “Joey”, “Future Tense”, “Liminality”, “Moving Day”, and many, many never-before-seen poems.

Believarexic


J.J. Johnson - 2015
    But when her parents sign her into the Samuel Tuke Center, she knows it’s a terrible mistake. The facility’s locked doors, cynical nurses, and punitive rules are a far cry from the peaceful, supportive environment she’d imagined.In order to be discharged, Jennifer must make her way through the strict treatment program—as well as harrowing accusations, confusing half-truths, and startling insights. She is forced to examine her relationships, both inside and outside the hospital. She must relearn who to trust, and decide for herself what “healthy” really means.Punctuated by dark humor, gritty realism, and profound moments of self-discovery, Believarexic is a stereotype-defying exploration of belief and human connection.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye


Cynthia Hand - 2015
    When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Backlash


Sarah Darer Littman - 2015
    They've been talking online for weeks, so what's with the sudden change? And where does he get off saying horrible things on her wall? Even worse--are they true?It's been a long time since Lara's felt this bad, this depressed, this ugly. She's worked really hard to become pretty and happy - and make new friends after what happened in middle school.Bree used to be best friends with overweight, depressed Lara, but constantly listening to Lara's issues got to be too much. Secretly, Bree's glad Christian called Lara out. Lara's not nearly as amazing as people think. But no one realized just how far Christian's harsh comments would push Lara. Not even Bree.As online life collides with real life, things spiral out of control, and not just for Lara. Because when the truth starts to come together, the backlash is even more devastating than anyone could have ever imagined

How to Grow an Addict


J.A. Wright - 2015
    She’s not a party hound like the others in her therapy group—but then again, she knows she can’t live without pills or booze. Raised by an abusive father, a detached mother, and a loving aunt and uncle, Randall both loves and hates her life. She’s awkward and a misfit. Her parents introduced her to alcohol and tranquilizers at a young age, ensuring that her teenage years would be full of bad choices, and by the time she’s twenty-three years old, she’s a full-blown drug addict, well acquainted with the miraculous power chemicals have to cure just about any problem she could possibly have—and she’s in more trouble than she’s ever known was possible.

Made You Up


Francesca Zappia - 2015
    Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

Dear Adam


Jaclyn Osborn - 2015
    **Things weren’t supposed to turn out this way. My story should have been different. Happier. Maybe in another life, it would’ve been. But, life isn’t a fairy tale, and the good guys don’t always win.I didn’t mean to cause anyone pain. I just wanted to end my own. The letter, his words—crushed me. It seemed as if there was no other way out. Nothing can change what happened, and nothing could have prepared me for what came after those two words: Dear Adam.

The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder


David J. Morris - 2015
    Morris — a war correspondent, former Marine, and PTSD sufferer himself — has written the essential account of this illness. Through interviews with individuals living with PTSD, forays into the scientific, literary, and cultural history of the illness, and memoir, Morris has written a book that will speak not only to those with the condition and to their loved ones, but also to all of us struggling to make sense of an anxious and uncertain time.

The Fifth Floor


Julie Oleszek - 2015
    A decade of silence.Seven-year-old Anna loves the constant commotion of her big family. Most of all, Anna adores her ten-year-old sister Liz. They build forts, climb trees, and stick together, no matter what. One moment the two girls are dangling from their backyard swing set; the next, everything changes… Anna will never be the same.After 10 years of heartache and grief, seventeen-year-old Anna’s life is becoming increasingly difficult. She would like nothing more than to forget her past, but memories of her childhood are burned into her soul. Can she hide the unspeakable truth from years ago? Find out now in Julie Oleszek’s debut novel, The Fifth Floor."Julie Oleszek will take you on a compassionate journey that will change you and renew your faith in mankind. This book deserves to be on the Best Seller List."Sandra Whiteis

The Autumn Balloon


Kenny Porpora - 2015
    As the number of balloons grew, his mother fell deeper into alcoholism, drinking away her sorrows every night in front of the television, where her love of Regis Philbin provided a respite from the sadness around her. When their house was foreclosed upon, Kenny's mother absconded with him and his beloved dog and fled for the Arizona desert, joining her heroin-addicted brother on a quixotic search for a better life. What followed was an outlaw adolescence spent in constant upheaval surrounded by bizarre characters and drug-addicted souls. In the wake of unspeakable loss, Kenny convinced a college to take a chance on him, and turned to the mentors, writers, and poets he found to rebuild the family he lost, and eventually graduated from the Ivy League with a new life. Porpora's memoir is the story of a deeply dysfunctional but loving family, and follows his life from the chaos of his youth to his triumphs in the Ivy League. At times darkly comic, at times elegiac, The Autumn Balloon is a beautifully written testament to the irreplaceable bonds of family, even under the most trying circumstances, and one that marks the debut of an exciting new writer.

Letters Written in White


Kathryn Perez - 2015
    There’s no air in my lungs. My chest is as cold and hollow as a cave on a snowcapped mountain side. My heart no longer beats there. Frigid winds whistle through my ribs and the sadness inside me weeps like my favorite tree. Days ago, I met with death face to face. The mirror, our meeting place. My two darkened green eyes stared deeply into hers. I tilted my head to the side. She did too. “It’s time,” I whispered. “It’s time,” she whispered. And with that I turned away from her, the woman in the mirror who knew all of my secrets and all of my pain. I walked away from her and yet we’d never been closer than we were in that moment. The inner struggle was over. No more arguing with the woman in the mirror. No more arguing with myself. The choice was made. She was the victor. Or was I?That was the day Riah Winter died.

All the Things We Never Knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness


Sheila Hamilton - 2015
    Even as a reporter, Sheila Hamilton missed the signs as her husband David's mental illness unfolded before her. By the time she had pieced together the puzzle, it was too late. Her once brilliant and passionate partner was dead within six weeks of a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, leaving his wife and nine-year-old daughter without so much as a note to explain his actions, a plan to help them recover from their profound grief, or a solution for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt that they would inherit from him.All the Things We Never Knew takes readers on a breathtaking journey, from David and Sheila's early romance through the last three months of their life together and into the year after his death. It details their unsettling spiral from ordinary life into the world of mental illness, examines the fragile line between reality and madness, and reveals the true power of love and forgiveness.

Your Voice Is All I Hear


Leah Scheier - 2015
    I was the one he loved, the only one who believed him, even when his own mother had locked him up and thrown away the key.And now, I was going to pass down the white tiled hallway, knock on his doctor’s office door, slam his secret notebook on her desk and make her read it, make her understand what he was hiding, make her see what only I had seen.April won’t let Jonah go without a fight.He’s her boyfriend—her best friend. She’ll do anything to keep him safe. But as Jonah slips into a dark depression, trying to escape the traumatic past that haunts him, April is torn. To protect Jonah, she risks losing everything: family, friends, an opportunity to attend a prestigious music school. How much must she sacrifice? And will her voice be loud enough to drown out the dissenters—and the ones in his head?

The Princess and the Fog: A Story for Children with Depression


Anthony Lloyd Jones - 2015
    She had everything a little girl could ever want, and she was happy. That is, until the fog came...The Princess and the Fog is picture book to help sufferers of depression aged 5-7 cope with their difficult feelings. It uses vibrant illustrations, a sense of humour and metaphor to create a relatable, enjoyable story that describes the symptoms of childhood depression while also providing hope that things can get better with a little help and support. The story is also a great starting point for explaining depression to all children, especially those who may have a parent or close family member with depression.With an essential guide for parents and carers by clinical paediatric psychologists, Dr Melinda Edwards MBE and Linda Bayliss, this book will be of immeasurable value to anyone supporting a child with, or affected by, depression, including social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, arts therapists, pastoral care workers and school staff, as well as parents and carers.

True Love Way


Mary Elizabeth - 2015
    It’s betrayed her.Unable to escape the imbalance she was born with, waking up in the morning is a never-ending game of Russian Roulette. After moving to a new town, she’s afraid no one will understand the cloud cover above Castle Rain, Washington isn’t the only reason everything’s gloomy.Until she’s introduced to Dillon Decker, her new neighbor. Dillion offers Penelope stability like she’s never known before. He shines a light on her dark days, and he’s determined to be the cure to her madness. But when friends turn to lovers, and one lover becomes a caretaker, how much can either of them tolerate before they're swallowed whole?A story about epic first loves and the struggle to keep it sane. The true love way.

Loving the White Liar


Kate Stewart - 2015
    He was handsome, charming, witty, and irresistible. Jayden Monroe came along when I was struggling with indecision and made things simple, turned monochrome into vivid color, and forever altered my perspective on life. I was not naive enough to believe in happily ever after, but with Jayden, it seemed possible . . . until I realized something wasn’t quite right. You see, I met a man who would be anyone I needed him to be, and after I found out that fact, I knew it would be impossible to walk away. His disorder, however, would change everything I ever thought about love and what it truly meant to accept someone for who they are. This is not my sob story; this is his success story. This is an ADHD love story and is for mature audiences only. This book contains explicit sex and strong language.

Small Acts of Disappearance


Fiona Wright - 2015
    Fiona Wright is a highly regarded poet and critic, and her account of her illness is informed by a keen sense of its contradictions and deceptions, and by an awareness of the empowering effects of hunger, which is unsparing in its consideration of the author’s own actions and motivations. The essays offer perspectives on the eating disorder at different stages in Wright’s life, at university, where she finds herself in a radically different social world to the one she grew up in, in Sri Lanka as a fledgling journalist, in Germany as a young writer, in her hospital treatments back in Sydney. They combine research, travel writing, memoir, and literary discussions of how writers like Christina Stead, Carmel Bird, Tim Winton, John Berryman and Louise Glück deal with anorexia and addiction; together with accounts of family life, and detailed and humorous views of hunger-induced situations of the kind that are so compelling in Wright’s poetry.

Running Like China


Sophie Hardcastle - 2015
    not until we're in the thick of it. It was like that for Sophie Hardcastle, as the joy she'd always known disappeared. She was constantly tired, with no energy, no motivation and no sense of enjoyment for anything. Her hours became empty. And then, the month before she turned seventeen, that emptiness filled with an intense, unbearable sadness that made her scream and tear her skin.In this brave, bold and beautifully told memoir, Sophie lays bare her story of mental illness - of a teenage girl using drugs, alcohol and sex in an attempt to fix herself; of her family's anguish and her loss of self. It is a courageous and hopeful story of adaptation, learning to accept and of ultimately realising that no matter how deep you have sunk, the surface is always within reach.

Bad Blood


Mary Monroe - 2015
    His family taught him that anything less than the best simply isn’t an option. Now he’s out to prove he can be the most successful Garrett—and Rachel McNeal fits the bill. She’s pretty, hard-working, good in bed—and willing to finance his dreams. He thinks she’s perfect wife material—until he meets her relatives and discovers they’re far from perfect. No problem, Seth’s got a truly flawless replacement lined up to give him the good life he’s entitled to…Steady and sensible, Rachel always believed the best about people. She thought Seth was the man of her dreams. But she can deal with the hurt and move on. Until she discovers the true reason Seth dumped her—and just how deep his contempt for her runs. She’s done forgiving, much less forgetting. And taking his world apart piece by piece is only the beginning of her long-game payback…

My Heart and Other Black Holes


Jasmine Warga - 2015
    With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.

Mot: A Memoir


Sarah Einstein - 2015
    In the wake of an attempted sexual assault, she must come to terms with the facts that she is not tough enough for her job managing a local drop-in center for adults with mental illness and that her new marriage is already faltering. Just as she reaches her breaking point, she meets Mot, a homeless veteran who lives a life dictated by frightening delusion. She is drawn to the brilliant ways he has found to lead his own difficult life; traveling to Romania to get his teeth fixed because the United States doesn’t offer dental care to the indigent, teaching himself to use computers in public libraries, and even taking university classes while living out of doors.Mot: A Memoir is the story of their unlikely friendship and explores what we can, and cannot, do for a person we love. In unsparing prose and with a sharp eye for detail, Einstein brings the reader into the world of Mot’s delusions and illuminates a life that would otherwise be hidden from us.

Keeping Secrets


Lisa Eugene - 2015
    She’s also been waging a war in her head for as long as she can remember. Depression. Hatred. Self-loathing. These feelings feed the pain inside her, fueling her quest for a perfection that she can never achieve. In one life-changing moment, Dex Blakewell crashes into her world. Dex is funny, gorgeous, and irresistible. He chases away the darkness and fills her with light and laughter. An unusual friendship blossoms, making no demands or expectations. Friendship turns into an unexpected love and a delicious passion. Alexa realizes that the only thing tethering her to sanity is their connection. But even Dex’s strength can’t keep her demons at bay forever. When life overwhelms her, the outside world starts to mirror her inner turmoil. And when Dex discovers she’s been keeping horrible secrets, will she finally shatter or find a way through the darkness? Will the promise of love be enough to save her from self-destruction?***WARNING: This book is for mature audiences and deals with topics and situations that some readers may find deeply emotional. That being said, I hope that many may find inspiration from these words. ***

Autistic blessings and Bipolar me.: A Frank and Brutally Honest Diary of a Mother with Bipolar and Her Two Autistic Boys


E.J. Plows - 2015
    Throughout the period between 2004 to 2009 myself Noah and Moses were all given a diagnosis of something life changing, but as a mother I refused to be labelled and judged by a medical condition. I am Emma Plows; I am not Emma Plows with Bipolar. It’s my understanding that when you discover your child is on the autistic spectrum you really need to accept the diagnosis. Accept it, let it grow and don’t hinder its development. Autistic people cannot understand how the world works like we can and have difficulty understanding how people think, but we can. We have that capacity to understand them, if we choose too we should take advantage of that capacity. If we don’t accept that our children are autistic, then we are only condemning ourselves and our children to a life of frustrating misery. Work with it, not against it, it doesn’t matter why they behave the way they do as we cannot change it, but we must find the beauty in the condition and all the positives it has to offer, if we try, it gets easier and can become very rewarding.

A Blind Guide to Stinkville


Beth Vrabel - 2015
    Sure, she uses a magnifier to read books. And a cane keeps her from bruising her hips on tables. Putting on sunscreen and always wearing a hat are just part of life. But life has always been like this for Alice. Until Stinkville.For the first time in her life, Alice feels different—like she’s at a disadvantage. Back in her old neighborhood in Seattle, everyone knew Alice, and Alice knew her way around. In Stinkville, Alice finds herself floundering—she can’t even get to the library on her own. But when her parents start looking into schools for the blind, Alice takes a stand. She’s going to show them—and herself—that blindness is just a part of who she is, not all that she can be. To prove it, Alice enters the Stinkville Success Stories essay contest. No one, not even her new friend Kerica, believes she can scout out her new town’s stories and write the essay by herself. The funny thing is, as Alice confronts her own blindness, everyone else seems to see her for the first time.This is a stirring small-town story that explores many different issues—albinism, blindness, depression, dyslexia, growing old, and more—with a light touch and lots of heart. Beth Vrabel’s characters are complicated and messy, but they come together in a story about the strength of community and friendship.

Midnight Jesus: Where Struggle, Faith, and Grace Collide


Jamie Blaine - 2015
    Humans looking for wholeness, looking for Jesus.Painting beauty where it seems none exists, Midnight Jesus helps readers transcend their own struggles, showing how truth can come from the strangest places. They will meet people like• Skeeter and Wookie, two homeless guys who show that community happens wherever there is shared need and a willingness to give• Pastor Ponder who holds an altar call after his sermon at the psych ward and says it's the best church service he’s ever had• Kat, the tattooed hairdresser who dreams about Jesus and longs for spiritual connection, who shows that you can’t judge a book by its cover• Jesus, who makes an invisible cameo in every storyAs Blaine writes, “I am one wrecked and dirty treasure, but God still decides I am worth the effort to save.” Jamie Blaine is the kind of writer whose view of the commonplace transforms life into the transcendent.

Sugar Baby Beautiful


J.J. McAvoy - 2015
    Her present is detached and dull. And her future? Well, before meeting Theodore Darcy, the famed film director, writer, producer and CEO of Darcy Entertainment, she would have expected more of the same. Love is just a fantasy and she wants no part of it—even if she can’t deny the undeniable attraction between the two of them.So their arrangement is simple: sex with no strings attached.But as their intimacy becomes more powerful, so do Felicity’s demons. Can Theo really shoulder her past and his own? And could Felicity even let him?

Pure


Rose Bretécher - 2015
    Pure is the true story of her life with intrusive sexual thoughts – a rampant but little-known symptom of the disorder. It tracks her farcical ten-year path to redemption, from the time she was first seized by graphic mental images to her eventual recovery through therapy, acceptance and love.The book describes her obsessive questioning of her identity and her compulsive search for an answer: driving across the world in a double-decker bus; debating the respective erotic allure of Cherie and Tony Blair; watching Jake Gyllenhaal's face turn into a chubby vagina... Eventually, after stepping back from the iron railings of a snow-swept balcony in east London, she finds joy in the inescapable truth that when it comes to who we are, there are no neat conclusions.At its core, Pure is about uncertainty and insecurity, and how trying to banish these things in the pursuit of happiness will paradoxically make us unhappy. It's about finding beauty in greyness, and embracing the unfathomable weirdness of the human mind.

Why is Dad So Mad?


Seth Kastle - 2015
    After a decade fighting wars on two fronts, tens of thousands of service members are coming home having trouble adjusting to civilian life; this includes struggling as parents. Why Is Dad So Mad? Is a narrative story told from a family’s point of view (mother and children) of a service member who struggles with PTSD and its symptoms. Many service members deal with anger, forgetfulness, sleepless nights, and nightmares.This book explains these and how they affect Dad. The moral of the story is that even though Dad gets angry and yells, he still loves his family more than anything.

The Pause


John Larkin - 2015
    But there’s something in Declan’s past that just won’t go away, that pokes and scratches at his thoughts when he’s at his most vulnerable. Declan feels as if nothing will take away that pain that he has buried deep inside for so long. So he makes the only decision he thinks he has left: the decision to end it all. Or does he? As the train approaches and Declan teeters at the edge of the platform, two versions of his life are revealed. In one, Declan watches as his body is destroyed and the lives of those who loved him unravel. In the other, Declan pauses before he jumps. And this makes all the difference.One moment. One pause. One whole new life. From author of The Shadow Girl, winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2012 Prize for Writing for Young Adults, comes a breathtaking new novel that will make you reconsider the road you’re travelling and the tracks you’re leaving behind.

Said the Manic to the Muse


Jeanann Verlee - 2015
    When unexpectedly delivered into life-changing tumult, the author experienced a rash of manic episodes and a severe depression which culminated in a psychotic break and eventual attempt to take her own life all in the span of a single year. Introduced through the careful prophecy of three archetypes: Medea, Jezebel, and Kali each a woman largely misrepresented and wholly misunderstood these poems detail the story of one woman s struggle to maintain both strength and sanity in the face of abandonment and aging. From dangerous trysts and barroom brawls to grief-induced psychosis, Said the Manic to the Muse recounts the year she lost everything, including her mind. The year of fire. The year of the river. The year she almost didn t survive."

If


Nina G. Jones - 2015
    NOT erotica. Standalone novel.

Days Made of Glass


Laura Drake - 2015
    When their guardian is killed in a fire, rather than be separated by Social Services, they run. Life in off the grid in L.A. isn’t easy, but worse, there’s something wrong with Angel.Harlie walks in to find their apartment scattered with shattered and glass and Angel, a bloody rag doll in a corner. The doctor orders institutionalization in a state facility. Harlie’s not leaving her sister in that human warehouse. But something better takes money. Lots of it.When a rep from the Pro Bull Riding Circuit suggests she train as a bullfighter, rescuing downed cowboys from their rampaging charges, she can’t let the fact that she’d be the first woman to attempt this stop her. Angel is depending on her.It’s not just the danger and taking on a man’s career that challenges Harlie. She must learn to trust—her partner and herself, and learn to let go of what’s not hers to save.A story of family and friendship, trust and truth.

The Other Side of Silence: A Psychiatrist's Memoir of Depression


Linda Gask - 2015
    Artfully crafted and told with warmth and honesty, this is the story of Linda’s journey, interwoven with insights into her patients’ diverse experiences of depression -inextricably linked with problems in the past and the present such as vulnerability, fear, loss, loneliness, dependence and grief.  She sets out to convey, in a new and original way, how it truly feels to experience this devastating illness, what psychotherapy is about, and the role of medication—and provides hope for those who suffer from depression and their loved ones while busting the stigma of mental illness.

Paint My Body Red


Heidi R. Kling - 2015
    Sometimes it's red...They think I'm next. That I'll be the seventh kid to step in front of a train and end my life. With the rash of suicides at my school, Mom's shipped me off to my dad's Wyoming ranch for “my own safety.” They think I’m just another depressed teenager whose blood will end up on the tracks. They don't know my secrets...or what I’ve done. I wasn't expecting Dad to be so sick, for the ranch I loved to be falling to bits, or for Jake—the cute boy I knew years ago—to have grown into a full-fledged, hot-as-hell cowboy. Suddenly, I don't want to run anymore, but the secrets from home have found me...even here. And this time, it's up to me to face them—and myself—if I want to live...

Fall of Knight


Steven Cross - 2015
    School, bullies and medications are his realities. Then there are also the ghosts, the hallucinations and of course – the monster.In the middle of it all, when everything seems to lose purpose, hope comes shining down on Dean’s miserable life. Her name is Ella and for one reason or another, she actually wants to be close to Dean. With Ella’s help, the lost teenage boy decides that he could finally win a battle or two – both in real life and in his writing.But hope is a tricky thing. And the monster seems to know that.When secrets buried down for almost a decade come out in the open, what do you do?

Grind


Tiana Laveen - 2015
    GRIND 2. GRIT The book had to be divided due to a high page count. However, the SECOND BOOK, ‘Grit’, is being simultaneously released with ‘Grind’. Therefore, there is no wait time for the reader and no lingering cliffhanger. Thank you. WARNING: This book has adult themes. Though the author does not consider this erotica, there are detailed scenes of a sexual nature as well as mature content. Please be advised. BLURB: Skilled welder by day and drummer by night, Zenith Taylor has inherited a healthy self-confidence and an enviable work ethic from his Iroquois grandparents. Yet, past suffering stops him from forming emotional ties and seeking meaningful connections. Such as love for a woman… Enter Silver Faye, a top notch professional with a zesty personality. Recent grief has left her feeling emotional and guilty to the point where she’s built a wall around her heart. One evening though, Fate brings her face to face with Zenith… Silver and Zenith share a love for repairing the seemingly unfixable. The attraction is undeniable, and as they begin to forge a friendship, deeper feelings set in. The past is hard to overcome… but eventually, long-held beliefs, pain and trauma are exposed, explored, and released, creating a healing that only they can provide for one another. GRIND is a tale of true love, of two souls lost finding their path, of getting out of one’s way and becoming bigger and better than one could ever imagine. GRIND is a gritty urban love story where bad boy meets bad girl — and they become something good, TOGETHER.

Chiseled: A Memoir of Identity, Duplicity, and Divine Wine


Danuta Pfeiffer - 2015
    
 This is a story of navigating identities through a remarkable life. Danuta Pfeiffer was an unwed teenage mother escaping to the tundra of Alaska; a journalist who inadvertently became a television evangelist with a ringside seat to a presidential campaign; a wife c aught in a web of deceit and substance abuse. Through it all, she clings to her father’s legacy, sustained by his tales of fortitude and endurance when faced with the horrors of war. Finally, living happily as a winemaker in Oregon, she finds she must once more reinvent herself, when during a sojourn to the Carpathian Mountains of Poland she uncovers long-buried family secrets. Chiseled is the story of one woman brave enough to chip away at a life of lies and finally arrive at a shining core of truth.

The Fall of the Prodigal


Michelle Lindo-Rice - 2015
    Michael Ward is at the top of his game and he doesn't need anyone or anything. Money is his new best friend--until he's arrested for a heinous crime. As much as he hates to admit it, Michael needs his brother, Keith Ward, the man who stole his wife and children. Will Michael open his heart to forgive his brother? Verona "Tiger" Stachs has been Michaels' attorney for years. She's in love with him, but is tired of being treated as his guinea pig. A lapsed Christian, Verona finds herself being drawn closer to God. She thought she was through with God, but soon discovers He's nowhere through with her. Which relationship will she choose? Keith Ward's a prominent minister and family man, yet he yearns to rekindle his relationship with his brother. When Michael calls him explaining that he desperately needs his help, Keith jumps at the chance to set things right with Michael. Will Keith be able to lead Michael into the light?

Elena Vanishing


Elena Dunkle - 2015
    Every day means renewed determination, so every day means fewer calories. This is the story of a girl whose armor against anxiety becomes artillery against herself as she battles on both sides of a lose-lose war in a struggle with anorexia. Told entirely from Elena's perspective over a five-year period and co-written with her mother, award-winning author Clare B. Dunkle, Elena's memoir is a fascinating and intimate look at a deadly disease, and a must read for anyone who knows someone suffering from an eating disorder.

Curious Reality: From the World of "Spilt Milk"


D.K. Cassidy - 2015
    Cassidy, the best-selling author of Spilt Milk: A Collection of Stories, continues the story of some of the characters that first appeared in Spilt Milk. Everyone believes in their own version of reality. Will the past deeds of Caleb, Joy, and George come back to haunt them? Discover realities on the spectrum between normal and fantasy. Earlier experiences shape the present and future. Choices change lives. • Can a murderer decide to stop killing? • Can a woman regain the confidence she had in her twenties? • Can a lonely man find the perfect companion? Welcome to the world of Curious Reality. Are any of your realities curious?

Wicked Good Witches


Starla Silver - 2015
    Suspenseful. Wickedly Addictive. For Readers 18 and Older. A Story of Duty, Romance, and Magic off the Coast of Maine... This Book Includes Two Complete Novels:Book 1, Demon Street Blues Book 2, Alpha Knows BestAlso Available in Wicked Good Witches:Book 3, Bye Bye BloodsuckerBook 4, Ghast Me GentlyBook 5, A Nightmare to RememberBook 6, A Stake With a ViewBook 7, Bite Me Baby!Book 8, Vampire InterruptedBook 9, Hexed and Dangerous (coming winter 2015)The Howard Witches, three siblings charged with protecting The Demon Isle...Charlie, the werewolf.Michael, the empathic death reader.Melinda, living under self-inflicted house arrest. Her gift: prophetic dreams of people about to die.Their mentor, the four-hundred year old Vampire, William Wakefield. Charming, ridiculously handsome, and walking a dangerous line between sinking into darkness and living in the light. In constant temptation to declare his love for the one woman that could be his undoing. Come stalk the streets of The Demon Isle... you'll go up against witches, vampires, werewolves, demons, shapeshifters, ghosts, mermaids, faeries and a host of other devious supernatural creatures waiting to wreak havoc on The Demon Isle. Where fans of the paranormal come to vacation and immerse themselves in fantasy. Where magic comes to life, mysteries abound, and you might just find yourself laughing, crying, and most definitely, falling in love.

Broken


Angela B. Chrysler - 2015
    Streaks of blood malform its face. Death becomes its withered eyes and the shadows whisper, “Lies.”When William, a young journalist, seeks out Elizabeth, an acclaimed author, in hopes to write her biography, the recluse grants him twenty-four hours to hear her story. What unfolds are a wide range of traumas that teeter on the edge of macabre and psychological thriller. While toggling the lines of insanity, Elizabeth examines her neglect, rape, abuse, torture, and pedophilia-filled past. The more Elizabeth delves into her psyche, the more William witnesses the multiple mental conditions Elizabeth developed to cope with a life without love, comfort, protection, trust, physical human contact, affection, therapy, or medication. With the use of existentialism, I wrote Broken in an attempt to philosophically determine what I had become and why. Instead, I found the awareness I needed to seek help. Broken is the road map I took to arrive at "Awareness."

Hope and Other Luxuries: A Mother's Life with a Daughter's Anorexia


Clare B. Dunkle - 2015
    But it's when you let down your guard that the ax falls. Just after one daughter successfully conquered her depression, another daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder. Co-published with Elena Vanishing, the memoir of her daughter, this is the story—told in brave, beautifully written, and unflinchingly honest prose—of one family's fight against a deadly disease, from an often ignored but important perspective: the mother of the anorexic.

Coping with BPD: DBT and CBT Skills to Soothe the Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder


Blaise A. Aguirre - 2015
    And whether you are feeling depressed, anxious, worried, or angry, you might struggle just to get through each day. So, how can you start balancing your moods and managing your symptoms? This helpful guide addresses over fifty of the most common struggles people with BPD face every day, and offers accessible, evidence-based solutions to help you feel better and get back to living your life.You'll discover powerful DBT and mindfulness skills to help you set personal limits, manage intense emotions and moods, and address issues like substance abuse and doing harm to yourself and others. In addition, you'll learn how to deal with the inevitable negative self-talk, feelings of paranoia, and self-invalidation.If you’re ready to take charge of your BPD—instead of letting it take control of you—this book will be your go-to guide. Perfect for everyday use, the practices within will help you manage your symptoms as they arise.

Twisting My Kaleidoscope


Shannon Love - 2015
    Enchanted by a voice in her head, she becomes suspicious of humanity--most of all Charles, her husband, believing he wishes her dead. Shannon's hallucination, along with relentless delusions, send her into a state of terror, landing her in a Chinese psychiatric hospital, as the only foreigner. Then, after sinking deeper into madness, she must be evacuated to the U.S. for intense treatment. Meanwhile, her husband, with his undying love, holds firm to his matrimonial vow "for better or for worse," and never gives up on his wife--even through the turmoil of a relapse. Shannon eventually returns to him as her sane self but concedes that she may have never broken free, if not for his eternal devotion.

Voices from the Front: An Oral History of the Great War


Peter Hart - 2015
    In Voices from the Front, oral historian Peter Hart brings together accounts from across the conflict, from soldiers, sailors and airmen, from officers and privates alike. In the course of his research, he talked to men who saw their friends die in front of them, who were seriously wounded themselves, men who refused to fight on principle and those whose indomitable spirit carried them through thick and thin. Sometimes they were there at crucial turning points in the war - going over the top in the slaughter of the Somme in 1916 or punching through the German lines to victory in 1918 - and sometimes they sweated, toiled and suffered on a forgotten front, thousands of miles from home.In the vein of The Beauty and the Sorrow, this is the First World War seen through the eyes of the men who experienced it for themselves.

A Different Kind of Same: A Memoir


Kelley Clink - 2015
    Though he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teenager and had attempted suicide once before, the news came as a shock—and it sent Kelley into a spiral of guilt and grief. After Matt’s death, a chasm opened between the brother Kelley had known and the brother she’d buried. She kept telling herself she couldn’t understand why he’d done it—but the truth was, she could. Several years before he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she’d been diagnosed with depression. Several years before he first attempted suicide by overdose, she had attempted suicide by overdose. She’d blazed the trail he’d followed. If he couldn’t make it, what hope was there for her?A Different Kind of Same traces Kelley’s journey through grief, her investigation into the role her own depression played in her brother’s death, and, ultimately, her path toward acceptance, forgiveness, resilience, and love.

Lady Injury


Melissa C. Water - 2015
     Constant anxiety and an abusive past brought me to intentionally, and repeatedly cut my leg, burn my wrist, and beat my arm with a wrench. I was admitted to a psychiatric ward. My fear of regaining the weight I lost, and losing my violent means of coping, causes me to fight against the help I so desperately needed. I went where all the rules were made for me and I had to obey. People cried out in fits. I've seen them destroy the things in their path. I've heard the staff call for security and, moments later, I'd see the patient get carried away by a dozen strong men. Soon, that patient was tied to a bed in an isolation room. My heart ached for those that got tied down. I had no idea that I would soon become one of them. Let me tell you about how I dealt with the loss of my secrets, and how my family reacted to my need to bleed. Let me introduce you to the unique men and women admitted to the ward alongside me. Let me tell you what all this was like for me. This story has descriptive detail of acts of self-injury. I warn you of triggering content.

Altered State


Ella Dominguez - 2015
    Intended for readers aged 18+. Beauty lies in the truth. A wife with a thirst for revenge desperately trying to save her marriage while hiding in the shadows of her memories... A woman with questionable intentions, a sketchy past and a taste for unavailable men... A husband in love with his wife, a man mesmerized by his mistress, a willing hostage caught between two obsessive women. A murderer, a liar and a cheater. You think you know which one is which, but nothing is as it seems. After all, everyone wears a mask. Some are just better at hiding the truth than others. Lies will be exposed, truths revealed, and blood shed - all in the name of something far more potent than love and much more toxic.

Untangled: A story of resilience, courage, and triumph


Alexis Rose - 2015
     She repressed the memories of her past until a family tragedy forced her to face what her life had been. A history of abuse, torture, and threats to maintain her silence or be killed, could no longer be denied. This is the story of facing the truth and risking the consequences of breaking the silence. The author learns to accept the effects of the trauma that echo through her daily life as PTSD. Through years of self-exploration she learns to live her life fearlessly, with eyes wide open. Ultimately this book is about resilience; hope for victims who have suffered trauma and for the people who support them.

Hakomi Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice


Halko Weiss - 2015
    This book, written and edited by members of the Hakomi Institute—the world’s leading professional training program for Hakomi practitioners—and by practitioners and teachers from across the globe, introduces all the processes and practices thattherapists need in order to begin to use this method with clients. The authors detail Hakomi's unique integration of body psychotherapy, mindfulness, and the Eastern philosophical principle of non-violence, grounding leading-edge therapeutic technique in an attentiveness to the whole person and their capacity for transformation.

Gator Girl: Fairy Tale Ending Book - 8


Kari Nelson - 2015
    What is it going to take for them to have their happily ever after? An Act of GOD! It all seems so impossible, yet the answers have been there all along, secretly guiding you along until this last and greatest reveal. HRH Prince Stephen Lyons delivers his last hard screw with your hearts and mind. Kelsey discovers why everyone lies and hides everything from her at long last. How will it all end? WELL THIS IS IT! THE ENDING AT LONG LAST!!! Mature audience's only 18+, foul language, Erotica, Violence

The Quotable Jung


C.G. Jung - 2015
    G. Jung (1875-1961) was a preeminent thinker of the modern era. In seeking to establish an interdisciplinary science of analytical psychology, he studied psychiatry, religion, mysticism, literature, physics, biology, education, and criminology. He introduced the concepts of extraversion and introversion, and terms such as complex, archetype, individuation, and the collective unconscious. He stressed the primacy of finding meaning in our lives.The Quotable Jung is the single most comprehensive collection of Jung quotations ever assembled. It is the essential introduction for anyone new to Jung and the Jungian tradition. It will also inspire those familiar with Jung to view him in an entirely new way. The Quotable Jung presents hundreds of the most representative selections from the vast array of Jung's books, essays, correspondence, lectures, seminars, and interviews, as well as the celebrated Red Book, in which Jung describes his own fearsome confrontation with the unconscious. Organized thematically, this collection covers such topics as the psyche, the symbolic life, dreams, the analytic process, good and evil, creativity, alchemical transformation, death and rebirth, the problem of the opposites, and more. The quotations are arranged so that the reader can follow the thread of Jung's thought on these topics while gaining an invaluable perspective on his writings as a whole.Succinct and accessible, The Quotable Jung also features a preface by Judith Harris and a detailed chronology of Jung's life and work.The single most comprehensive collection of Jung quotations ever assembledFeatures hundreds of quotesCovers such topics as the psyche, dreams, good and evil, death and rebirth, and moreIncludes a detailed chronology of Jung's life and workServes as the ideal introduction to Jung and the Jungian tradition

Studies in the Horror Film: Stanley Kubrick's The Shining


Danel Olson - 2015
    This landmark edition also includes rare and unpublished photographs, archival material, seminal reprints, and galleries of artwork & posters inspired by the Kubrick film, all on heavy acid-free paper in two full-color, brilliantly-designed Smyth-sewn paperback.

Choices...


Sarah Ann Walker - 2015
    Until she has an accident.Recovering, things begin changing in and around her.Samantha is no longer loved and trusted, and she's no longer happy.When her life becomes little more than grey darkness, She slowly loses everyone who ever mattered to her.Through a series of choices made, Samantha become nothing but a memory of her former self.

Seattle Stories Box Set


Con Riley - 2015
    The last thing he’s looking for is a new lover, but as Theo discovers, sometimes life has its own plans.Two men bring Theo closer to acceptance, only just when he’s ready to commit, Theo finds he isn't the only one haunted by the past.~ hurt comfort, angst, online relationships, hope and healing, and age is just a numberSaving SeanNo more running from love…Nearly a year after being rejected for another man, Seattle paramedic Peter Morse is still pining when the one that got away asks him for a favor. His mission: track down Sean Reid.Everything about Sean stirs Peter’s protective instincts, but he never anticipated falling for someone so hell-bent on running from him. Asking for help is a bitter pill for Peter to swallow, but if he can’t, how can he expect Sean to accept his help—and his love—in turn?~ hurt comfort, men in uniform, angst, forced proximity, and the power of found familyAiden’s LuckNo more hiding the truth…House-sitting for a friend is supposed to be a lucky break for Aiden Daly—an escape from the mental load he carries without his family knowing. Discovering his new housemate, Marco, is the image of his first crush turns it into a nightmare.When a crisis finally brings Aiden to his breaking point, accepting support from Marco is a gamble, but it could be just what Aiden needs to turn his luck around.~ enemies to lovers, hurt comfort, angst, and an irrepressible Italian

Shelterbelts


Candace Simar - 2015
    The neighbor she hopes to marry chooses a town girl for his new wife.The Potato King listens to the radio preacher and prays for a miracle. Eddy Root fears a return to the asylum. A German war bride struggles to find acceptance in this tight-knit Scandinavian community. Woven throughout is the man who walks lizards, a grieving father, a disillusioned pastor, and the neighborhood gossipmonger. Shelterbelts chronicles the life of a community struggling to return to normal after war. This is a story true to history of those difficult times while rich in the complications of the human spirit.

Quiet Lies


R.L. Griffin - 2015
    I swept the ashes of myself into a pile that I kept safe for thirteen years. Believe me it wasn’t pretty, oh but people thought we were perfect. I hate myself most days. I hate that I feel for him as much as I loathe who I’ve become with him. This story is hard to hear. You know what the worst part is? You’ll see part of you in me. You’ll hate that. You won’t tell anyone. My story is about cracks. A description or telling of how cracks in a marriage, a life, a personality, a heart and a mind begin and continue for years without anyone knowing. You don't always see what causes the fissure, but you feel it. Can you remember who you were before all of this started, before your life became a jumble of deceit, longing and regret?This book isn’t for anyone who needs a happily ever after. This book isn’t for anyone who needs a fun time out from their life. This book isn’t for anyone, but me. This is my story. I won’t apologize for it.

I am an Aspie Girl: A book for young girls with autism spectrum conditions


Danuta Bulhak-Paterson - 2015
    In this book, Lizzie explains what it's like to be an Aspie Girl, including how she has a special talent for blending in with her friends, how she gets really tired after being at school all day, how she worries about making mistakes, and how she finds it hard to understand how she is feeling.By simply, clearly and positively explaining the social differences associated with Asperger's Syndrome, or Autism Spectrum Disorder, in young girls, this book will help Aspie Girls aged 5 years and over to understand their diagnosis, recognise their unique strengths and celebrate their differences, and find ways of coping with difficulties. This positive and celebratory book also contains helpful discussion points for parents and professionals to explore further with the girls in their care.

Deep Down


Mia Hopkins - 2015
    When she’s suddenly fired from her restaurant job, desperation drives her to find work on a fishing boat despite her fears of the ocean. To make matters worse, she’s stuck in close quarters with her new captain—a man whose raw physicality drives her out of her mind with lust.Free-spirited and roguish, Sam Lamont is a commercial fisherman aboard his own dive boat, the Bravado. When he makes a bad deal with a deadly loan shark who threatens to take his boat, Sam is in danger of losing both his business and his way of life. On top of that, he’s got to train his new deckhand—a beautiful hard-ass who just so happens to be sexy as hell.A female sushi chef with mad knife skills. A deep-sea diver who's pissed off a Mexican drug cartel. Together, they're in trouble, and the only way out is down.

American Flowers


Michael A. McLellan - 2015
    Chris spent his childhood desperately trying to gain his alcoholic parents' love. Allie was dragged through an ugly divorce before narrowly escaping being molested by her mother's new boyfriend. A chance meeting draws the two together and Allie is quickly caught up in Chris' new-found lifestyle. Plagued by poor choices, Chris sets into motion a chain of events that drags them deeper into the murky world of meth. Ultimately pursued by both the police and Chris' volatile tempered drug dealer, Chris and Allie are forced to confront their only real enemy: themselves.

Summer Nights


Sarah KettlesL.S. Mooney - 2015
    The collected stories run the gamut from first love to heartbreak, revenge to forgiveness, redemption to murder. They, like the thirteen authors who contributed them, are widely varied, but they each demonstrate the same truth:A lot can happen in a single night.With stories from:Jenny Adams Perinovic Gabriella CrivilareCristina R. Guarino Antonius M. HogebrandtNeil Kettles Sarah Kettles Valerie LawsonAdriana Marachlian Kyrie McCauley L.S. MooneySusan Nystoriak Kate Sheeran Swed R.B. Stewart

Jabbering with Bing Bong


Kevin Spenst - 2015
    Jabbering with Bing Bong chronicles the heartbreaking and slapstick pursuit of truth in the realms of religion, mental health, and poetic form itself. Praise for Jabbering with Bing Bong:“Belief and disbelief rub up against each other in this startling and flawless debut collection. … These important poems do not redeem so much as allow the possibility of redemption.”—Jen Currin, author of The Inquisition Yours“Fearless, attentively probing, and sonically sharp, he is a rare counter-theosophist rhapsodist. Spenst’s Jabbering…is the work of a remarkable shepherd.”—Sandra Ridley, author of The Counting House“Kevin Spenst provides further proof that the best writing these days is in the practice of poetry. Hang on tight as you are winged deftly through the human strains…curiosity, sexuality, death, religion and striving—it’s all here.”—Dennis E. Bolen, author of Black Liquor“Kevin Spenst’s muscular vocabulary, vigorous pace and nimble references to cultural details enliven his exploration of topics ranging from adolescence to God to Fenris wolf.”—Sarah Klassen, author of Journey to Yalta

Buzz Books 2015: Young Adult Fall/Winter


Publishers Lunch - 2015
    Now everyone can share the same access to the newest YA voices the publishing industry is broadcasting for the fall/winter season.Excerpts include new work from established leaders in the field (James Dashner, Jennifer Donnelly, Patrick Ness, and Lauren Oliver), authors best-known for their adult books (Eleanor Herman and Cammie McGovern), and newsmaking titles such as the highly graphic History of Glitter and Blood, Illuminae, and The Thing About Jellyfish.You will find a full range of YA titles previewed here —dystopian, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, humor, literary and more — and you will find some works for tweens and middle-grade readers. As always, many are sure to make bestseller and “best of” lists.Four of our titles will be featured at this year’s Book Expo America convention on their own YA or Middle Grade Editors Buzz panels: Everything Everything, Nightfall, This Raging Light, and The Thing About Jellyfish. Plus, half of our 20 Buzz Books: Young Adult authors will be in attendance at BEA.Start reading some of the best future books right now, and then share the fun by telling your friends and family to download this free edition of Buzz Books for themselves at any major ebookstore or at buzz.publishersmarketplace.com.And for even more great reads, be sure to look for Buzz Books 2015: Fall/Winter, also available now (9780990835394), for the best in adult fiction and nonfiction.

A Distant Voice


Bridie Blake - 2015
    It finds you.Violet Hayes knows how to survive the year living with her grandmother in the small town of Wandorah, Tennessee.• Make Rose happy• Don’t sing or play guitar• Avoid Sally Shaw• Ignore Carter JenkinsIt seems simple enough, right? Wrong.• How do you keep a depressed sister happy?• How do you deny yourself your dream?• How do you avoid a friendship?• And how do you ignore a boy when he’s everywhere you turn?Violet’s to-do list just became a whole lot harder.

For Their Own Good


Bradette Michel - 2015
    Inspired by true events, For Their Own Good begins in 1857 when New York physician, Adam Fletcher leaves his familiar existence in the east to take the position of medical doctor at the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane. Almost immediately, Adam realizes his observations do not match Superintendent McFarland’s arrogant descriptions of the institution’s innovative treatment practices. “Dr. McFarland told us we were the only ones who could cure the unfortunates under our care. Our benevolent kindness would lead them to sanity. At first I believed him, but it was not long before I learned of unspeakable acts committed on those lost souls.”—For Their Own GoodAdam’s loyalty to Dr. McFarland is tested by the plight of four female patients committed to the asylum as a result their families’ selfish interests. Mrs. Packard, locked up by her pastor husband for her religious beliefs and isolated from her family by Dr. McFarland, implores Adam to get word of her situation to the outside. Mrs. Jenkins, recovering from a breakdown after the death of her husband, seeks Adam’s help to protect Georgia, a child deserted in the asylum and mistreated by the staff. Pearl, a prostitute, begs Adam to bring news of her daughter, who has been abandoned in a local brothel. Adam is most disturbed by the repeated rapes of Angelique, a lesbian. Dr. McFarland condones the assaults as treatment for her sexual inversion.The heroic actions of Adam and these extraordinary women take place against the backdrop of a society with no room for women who challenge the existing order. For Their Own Good’s characters fight against almost insurmountable odds for the lives they deserve.

Lithium Realm: My Bipolar Hell


Ashlynn Stone - 2015
    Living undiagnosed with bipolar disorder and general anxiety disorder her entire life, Ashlynn Stone quickly spirals out of control at the same time her popularity in the new club she and her husband joined, soars. The close relationship she had with her family is gone. Her once impeccable reputation at work is now tarnished and the loving relationship she had with her husband hangs by a thread. Fighting for her sanity, she turns to drugs and a friend who only causes more damage. Will her wild and carefree ways cause her to lose it all? Will her marriage to Seth last? Will she find the help she needs? Join Ashlynn as she opens up and shares her deepest secrets, ones her family has yet to learn. Share her darkest moments and ugliest times. She discusses her drug use, the hell her family put her through and intimate moments about her and her husband’s lifestyle as swingers. If you or someone you know suffers from bipolar disorder or general anxiety disorder, this book will give you hope.

Your Life After Trauma: Powerful Practices to Reclaim Your Identity


Michele Rosenthal - 2015
    An undiscovered allergy to the medication turned me into a full-body burn victim almost overnight. By the time I was released from the hospital I had lost 100% of my epidermis. Even more importantly, I had completely lost myself.”Now a professional coach who specializes in helping trauma victims rebuild their lives, Michele Rosenthal struggled with the effects of medically-induced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for over 25 years before reaching a full recovery. Today, she is 100% free of symptoms of PTSD. In this book, she applies her personal experience and professional wisdom to offer readers an invaluable roadmap to overcoming their own trauma, in particular the loss of sense of self that often accompanies it.If you suffer from the effects of trauma or PTSD, whether it was caused by a single-incident like a car accident, or from chronic childhood abuse, domestic violence, illness, or war trauma, you are well aware of how disconnected you feel from the person you most deeply wish to be. Trauma interrupts—even hijacks—your identity. To cope, you may rely on mechanisms to keep your emotions, triggers, and responses in check, but these very habits can often prevent the true restoration of safety, stability, and inner connection. How can you rediscover your sense of self so that you honor who you were before the trauma (even if that trauma began at birth), understand who you are at this very moment, and determine who you want to be going forward?Like a therapist in your back pocket, Your Life After Trauma guides you in finding answers to these tough questions. Expertly written by a helping professional who keenly understands the post-trauma identity crisis that is so common among trauma and PTSD sufferers, it is a simple, practical, hands-on recovery workbook. Filled with self-assessment questionnaires, exercises, tips, and tools—not to mention insightful personal and professional vignettes—it takes readers through a step-by-step process of healing the identity crisis, from understanding some of the basic brain science behind trauma and why you feel the way you do, to recognizing who you were (or had the potential to be) before the trauma, who you are today, after the trauma, and who you want to become. With this book by your side, it is possible to regain a sense of calm, confidence, and control on your road to recovery.

Rock Bottom


Jamie Canosa - 2015
    Sometimes you can point to a single event and say, ‘That’s where everything changed.’ And sometimes the change is so gradual you don’t even realize it happened until you're looking in the mirror one morning and no longer recognize the person staring back at you.My name was Rylie Stark. And I had everything.The looks. The money. The brains. The athleticism. Even my very own Prince.Everything, until . . .The thing about being on top of the world is . . . . . . it leaves you a . . . long, long . . . way to . . . fall.**Reader be aware that this book contains issues not suitable for all audiences, including drug use and instances of dubious consent.

The Biopolitics of Disability: Neoliberalism, Ablenationalism, and Peripheral Embodiment


David T. Mitchell - 2015
    Thus, the book pushes beyond questions of impairment to explore how disability subjectivities create new forms of embodied knowledge and collective consciousness. The focus is on the emergence of new crip/queer subjectivities at work in disability arts, disability studies pedagogy, independent and mainstream disability cinema (e.g., Midnight Cowboy), internet-based medical user groups, anti-normative novels of embodiment (e.g., Richard Powers’s The Echo-Maker) and, finally, the labor of living in “non-productive” bodies within late capitalism.

Vile Men


Rebecca Jones-Howe - 2015
    Stolen moments on the subway, fear of intimacy, sexual perversion and dark fears come home to roost all unite in a powerful mixture of literary fiction, contemporary fairy tales, and late night confessions. Shocking and yet touching, unnerving and yet brutally honest, Rebecca Jones-Howe is an emerging author that you'll want to keep an eye on.

Mental


Justice Serai - 2015
    That’s me. Broken. My father pays heaps of money for doctors at the Norfolk Psychiatric Center to fix me. I’ve spent six months of my prime teenage years at this residential facility – a place for teenagers who’ve gone mental. That’s me. Mental. Just when I begin to feel myself fade away, a boy with a wolfish smile and mischievous eyes reels me in. Julian is broken too, but he believes in me enough for the both of us. Through him, I begin to experience this thing called hope. Doctors can’t fix me, my parents can’t either, but maybe it’s not me who needs fixing. After all, mental is only a state of mind. It all depends on who’s doing the thinking.

Pieces of Sky


Trinity Doyle - 2015
    She was in the local swimming club, and loved it; she lived with her parents and her brother, Cam, in the small coastal town she'd known all her life. She had friends, she had goals - she had a life. Now Cam is dead, her parents might as well be - and Lucy can't bear to get back in the pool. All she has to look forward to now is a big pile of going-nowhere.Drawn to Steffi, her wild ex-best-friend who reminds Lucy of her mysterious, unpredictable brother, and music-obsessed Evan, the new boy in town, Lucy starts asking questions. Why did Cam die? Was it an accident or suicide? But as Lucy hunts for answers she discovers much more than she expects. About Cam. About her family. About herself.

A Mood Apart: Depression, Mania, and Other Afflictions of the Self


Peter C. Whybrow - 2015
    Now, Peter Whybrow, one of the world's most distinguished psychiatrists, has updated his definitive account of mood disorders. In A Mood Apart he argues that disorders such as depression constitute afflictions of the self, exploring the human experience of manic depressive illness, and rediscovering the human being behind the diagnosis. Drawing on cutting-edge research and his experience as a clinician, he shows how the science and culture surrounding mood disorders have changed since the first edition. Nearly two decades since its original publication, A Mood Apart remains an essential book for anyone who has been affected by depression.

Seconds to Snap: One Explosive Day. A Family Destroyed. My Descent into Anorexia.


Tina McGuff - 2015
    In those few, short seconds, a black hole opened up in my life and I fell right in." Tina McGuff’s life was perfect – or so she thought. Living in Dundee with her devoted parents and three younger sisters, she was a happy, healthy, and confident 13-year-old. But all that changed in one horrifying act of revenge, and Tina’s world collapsed overnight. Terrified, lost, and confused, she turned to the one thing she thought she could control—food. And so began the biggest fight of her life. Tina’s life-or-death struggle with anorexia is told with devastating honesty in this extraordinary account of a girl at war with herself. Through her years in and out of psychiatric wards, Tina takes us to some of the darkest places of the mind. But in the end her courage, conviction, and sheer determination win out. It took Tina seconds to snap and a lifetime to recover—but today, as a passionate campaigner for mental health, she is living proof that there is always a reason to hope that one day, things will get better.

Wait 30 Minutes: Poems by Patrick Roche


Patrick Roche - 2015
    This collection contains poems which have garnered Roche over 5 million views through videos of his performances, as well as new poems previously unheard or unpublished.

Mum, I Wish I Was Dead: The story of a teenager who conquered depression


Adam Schwartz - 2015
    At the age of 10, he began periods of school refusal, bouts of destruction, physical illness, endless trials with unsuccessful drug regimes and contemplation of suicide. Finally, he was forced to drop out of high school and relinquish his hopes of further education and a bright, healthy future. Fortunately, Adam's story has a happy ending. As someone who has only just left those terrible years behind, his recollections of what it is like to be a child and teenager suffering with depression are vivid. 'Mum, I Wish I Was Dead' tells the story of Adam's journey through this illness and was written to help raise awareness of depression and give hope to both carers and sufferers. For more information, go to www.adamschwartz.com.au "Depression and related forms of mental ill-health plague at least half of young people as they face the challenges and ordeals of the transition from childhood to adulthood. They struggle with the 'hero's journey'. This book not only describes one such journey with great honesty and sensitivity, it also provides hope and proof of how to navigate the route. It could be a useful guide to the next generation who pass this way." - Professor Pat McGorry AO, University of Melbourne. Executive Director, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health "This is a brave, candid and beautifully written description of the effect of depression that will be of enormous educational value for sufferers, their family and health professionals. The book also serves to provide much-needed hope that, with appropriate treatment and support, the outcome can be very positive." - Professor Garry Walter AM, Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Sydney

Questing for a Dream


P.D. Workman - 2015
    Utter tragedy. What if the only way to find yourself is to lose who you thought you were? Life on a reservation isn’t easy. Nadie is a bright young teen that scorns the ways of her Cree band.Neglect and abuse are all too common. When tragedy strikes, tradition and ritual provide her little comfort.Grief-stricken, Nadie sets off on a quest to the white man’s land in search of something better. Something more. Instead, she finds darkness. Prejudice and discrimination. Incarceration. In her search for wholeness, Nadie discovers that traditions might be more than just empty rituals. They can be the path to healing and the journey home. A poignant, Native American Cree saga, full of all the feels. Perfect if you love a heartfelt coming-of-age story that encourages healing from the roots up. Read it today.

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path


Jay Michaelson - 2015
    Its eighty-two short, poetic, sometimes epigrammatic chapters draw on contemplative traditions, art, even pop songs. They are reflections on the path of surrender, alchemy, and the sacred. Written over a ten year period, and completed in the mourning period after the death of the author's mother, The Gate of Tears is not a self-help book. If anything, it is a self-helpless book, discovering a happiness deeper than transitory joys that emerges precisely when the resistance to sadness is released. As the contemporary Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das says in his foreword to the book, "the only thing that prevents happiness is searching for it."The Gate of Tears draws on Jay Michaelson's fifteen years as a student, and now a teacher, of Buddhist and Jewish contemplative paths. Michaelson is a rabbi, and holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought, and has taught Jewish mysticism in and outside the academic world. Yet he is also a longtime teacher of insight meditation in Western Buddhist and secular mindfulness contexts, who has sat many months-long silent meditation retreats. With his usual blend of erudition and accessibility, Michaelson weaves together Hasidic tales and Dharma teachings, Leonard Cohen and Langston Hughes. The Gate of Tears is not a New Age book with easy answers; it is infused with a contemporary sensibility, skepticism, and humor.All of us, if we are to be fully human, experience pain. The Gate of Tears is about how the embrace of that experience ennobles, empowers, and liberates us.Advance Praise"Jay Michaelson's incisive and exquisitely profound insights into our human condition come in full force in The Gate of Tears. Here we have an antidote to mindless feel-good ideology, and gentle instructions in attending to the fullness of our experience so we see the value in the downs, not just the ups. Our inner world will never seem the same." - Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence"The Gate of Tears is a beautifully written, transformative book. Jay Michaelson guides us, instead of denying, avoiding, explaining away or resisting sadness, to go right into the heart of it. There we find open space, true love of life, and, perhaps most redeeming, one another." - Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness"Jay Michaelson's writing is always bracing and brave, but The Gate of Tears has particular power. He guides us to explore -- and accept -- the truth of what he calls "ordinary sadness," and stop looking for happiness so that we might actually find it. Every chapter made me feel as if he was seeing me personally. This book will change your perspective and ease your load." - Abigail Pogrebin, author of Stars of DavidAbout the AuthorDr. Jay Michaelson is the author of six books, including Evolving Dharma: Meditation, Buddhism and the Next Generation of Enlightenment (North Atlantic, 2013) and the bestselling God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality (Beacon, 2011), as well as over 300 articles in The Daily Beast, Atlantic, Tricycle, The Forward, and other publications.

Inside His Reflection


Zathyn Priest - 2015
    Scars on Elijah’s face are clues of a broken soul, yet Harry can’t walk away. Not even when he learns Elijah sees a dead man in mirror reflections. Elijah’s sanity snaps. Blamed for crimes he didn’t commit, Elijah has already survived a brutal murder attempt and now hides under a Protection Program. Harry must have faith he is innocent and fight for Elijah’s stolen rights. Can Harry do this without losing his mind, his own rights, and the man he loves?

Behind the Secrets


Marita A. Hansen - 2015
    But it’s his sister he has the most to fear from, when Beth takes advantage of his boyfriend’s vulnerable condition.Good cop or bad cop? Saul is eaten away by guilt over what he did to Beth while undercover. No longer willing to keep the assault a secret, he heads down a destructive path that turns him into something far worse than an abuser.A Special Note for Behind the Lives readers who want to continue reading about the Rata family: BROKEN ENGLISH and GRAFFITI HEAVEN are spin off/prequel series from Behind the Lives.GRAFFITI HEAVEN (Graffiti Heaven #1) is an Edgy YA story based on Ash and Tiana's lives when they were 15.BROKEN ENGLISH (Part 1 and 2) from the Broken Lives series is based around Dante Rata and his relationship with his English Teacher. Both parts will be published mid 2016. Broken Lives is for mature readers due to the transgressive/taboo subject matter.

Pill Hill


Bryan W. Dull - 2015
    Based on the belief that he does not need help for what ails him mentally, he finds solace in a young woman that sleeps in the room across the hall. Enamored with a woman that he knows nothing about, Mason is faced to converse with other patients about their addictions and phobias as he tries to come to terms with his past and understand others. Sometimes the people that seem different can be the ones that understand the most.

Unhealthy Helping: A Psychological Guide to Overcoming Codependence, Enabling, and Other Dysfunctional Giving


Shawn Meghan Burn - 2015
    It’s just that some types of helping and giving are unintentionally unhelpful and unhealthy. Unhealthy Helping: A Psychological Guide to Overcoming Codependence, Enabling, and Other Dysfunctional Giving demystifies codependence and dysfunctional helping and giving by examining it through multiple psychological lenses. The book contains theory-and-research based answers for people who help and give in ways that are ultimately harmful to themselves or others. Loaded with research and real-life stories, including the author’s journey from unhealthy to healthy giver, Unhealthy Helping empowers people with psychological knowledge, self-assessments, and practical psychology-based strategies for personal and relationship change. Psychology professor and Psychology Today blogger Shawn Meghan Burn explores the dynamics of codependent and dysfunctional helping relationships, the difference between healthy and unhealthy helping, why some people are prone to unhealthy helping and giving, what codependence is and where it comes from, and how even the best of helping intentions can go wrong. Everyone faces helping and giving challenges. Unhealthy Helping will help you find that giving and helping sweet spot where your help is truly helpful and your giving is healthy for others, your relationships, and for you.

Better Off Dead: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Canadian Armed Forces


Fred Doucette - 2015
    In the 1960s he joined the Canadian Armed Forces and served in Cyprus in the 1970s and 80s and Bosnia in the 1990s. When he returned home to New Brunswick in 1999 after his last overseas tour, he was diagnosed with severe chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Eventually released from the army, Fred found a position with the Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS) program, where he supported serving soldiers and veterans for ten years. "Better Off Dead" chronicles Fred's efforts in helping to rehabilitate and support soldiers and veterans suffering from what the military terms operational stress injuries. We meet Ted, saved from a suicide attempt by a timely phone call; Bob, at wit's end and reluctantly seeking help to overcome severe PTSD; Roger, caught in a cycle of violence and drug and alcohol abuse; and Jane, diagnosed with PTSD after having been sexually assaulted while on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. These accounts are raw, desperate, and often angry, but as Doucette shows, there is hope and real progress for those able to obtain proper diagnosis and treatment.

Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue


Amy Ferris - 2015
    Editor Amy Ferris has collected these stories to illuminate the truth behind that stigma and offer compassion, solidarity, and hope for all those who have struggled with depression. Contributors to Shades of Blue include: Barbara Abercrombie, Sherry Amatenstein, Regina Anavy, Chloe Caldwell, Jimmy Camp, Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo, Marika Rosenthal Delan, Hollye Dexter, Beverly Donofrio, Beth Bornstein Dunnington, Matt Ebert, Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, Zoe FitzGerald Carter, Pam L. Houston, David Lacy, Patti Linsky, Mark S. King, Caroline Leavitt, Karen Lynch, Lira Maywood, C.O. Moed, Mark Morgan, Linda Joy Myers, Christine Kehl O’Hagan, Jennifer Pastiloff, Ruth Pennebaker, Angela M. Giles Patel, Alexa Rosalsky, Elizabeth Rosner, Kathryn Rountree, Kitty Sheehan, Jenna Stone, judywhite, and Samantha White. Shades of Blue brings the conversation around depression and sadness into the open with real, first-hand accounts of depression and mental health issues, offering empathy to all those who have been affected by these issues. It’s time to scream out loud against this silent annihilator: We are not alone.

Crazy Like Me


Erin Lee - 2015
    Add broken hearts, anger, envy, betrayal, and hope. Stir continuously for 50-minutes. Simmer and repeat. Soon, lives collide in yet another of Dr. Katherine Murphy's group therapy sessions. Who will bubble over this week? Might it even be Murphy, who struggles with her own relationship demons? Sometimes it's not about a happy ending; it's all about the crazy journey.

Heal Your PTSD: Dynamic Strategies That Work


Michele Rosenthal - 2015
    Now an award-winning blogger and post-trauma coach, Rosenthal has developed a program that not only helped her make a full recovery but has been helping survivors around the world move beyond their PTSD as well. In this book, she shares the very best tools that have helped so many come through to the other side of trauma.There are several elements that make PTSD recovery enormously challenging; this is a book about making it easier. The more safe and in control you feel--over your own internal experience--the more safe and in control you'll be as you examine how, when, and in what way to move toward recovery. -from the introductionThe book contains dozens of brief thought pieces on the many facets of healing as well as exercises to help you orient yourself to a life without PTSD. Rosenthal will guide you in breaking free of the maze of feelings and "trauma loops" that are keeping you from the life you deserve. It all starts with making simple choices that are life affirming. Read this book and healing and recovery can be yours.

Adult Babies: Psychology and Practices: Discovering the structure, motivations and needs of Adult Babies


Michael Bent - 2015
    Even to Adult Babies themselves the powerful drives and confusing needs can be a struggle to manage. In the Bent's second major work on the topic, this book dissects the psychological structure of Adult Infantile Regression and seeks to answer many of the seemingly unanswerable questions such as 'why are people attracted to diapers?', 'where did this all come from' and 'what do I do about this?' Discover more at www.abdiscovery.com.au This book is designed not just for Adult Babies themselves, but also family, friends, partners and therapists who want to simply understand what is going on. There is a lot more to Adult Babies than diapers and pacifiers. Read this book to learn more!

Fighting for Freedom in America: Memoir of a "Schizophrenia" and Mainstream Cultural Delusions


Tim Dreby - 2015
    Getting to the bottom of what’s going on in a fractured system, Clyde finds himself mysteriously compelled to break the codes of standard drug war conduct. After six months of uncanny threats and coincidences, he decides to go off a low dose of anti-psychotic medication. Stopped by police in an effort to exit the country, he ends up incarcerated in a State Hospital for three months and released to the streets. In the years that follow, Clyde moves through American disparities and cultural delusions, facing some of his worst fears come true.Clyde’s story reveals both the innards of “Schizophrenia” and how a person can learn to make peace with the forces that are following them around. With the mob breathing down his neck, Clyde is able to overcome homelessness, underemployment, and harassment. He is able to morph into someone who is fighting to gain attention for his successes in treating others who are in the throes of a “psychotic” episode. Readers Favorite Award 2016, Honorable Mention Non-Fiction Biography2015 Book Viral Book Award, ranked 8th BestHuman Relations Indie Book Award, winner of four categoeires

Recovery's Edge: An Ethnography of Mental Health Care and Moral Agency


Neely Laurenzo Myers - 2015
    Recovery's Edge sends us to urban America to view the inner workings of a mental health clinic run, in part, by people who are themselves in recovery from mental illness.In this provocative narrative, Neely Myers sweeps us up in her own journey through three years of ethnographic research at this unusual site, providing a nuanced account of different approaches to mental health care. Recovery's Edge critically examines the high bar we set for people in recovery through intimate stories of people struggling to find meaningful work, satisfying relationships, and independent living.This book is a recipient of the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize from Vanderbilt University Press for the best book in the area of medicine.

Behind the Wall: The True Story of Mental Illness as Told by Parents


Mary Widdifield - 2015
    The seven true stories in this book, told by nine parents, were selected from interviews conducted by sisters Mary and Elin Widdifield, and interwoven with one sister’s own experiences. Told with remarkable candor, these stories offer more insight than any single story or academic analysis. When mental illness enters the national discussion, it typically comes in the wake of a violent tragedy, attracting temporary attention and further misunderstanding. Behind the Wall posits that the true story of mental illness can be told most accurately by the people in the trenches: the parents who watched it all unfold.