For Freddie: A Mother's Final Gift to Her Son


Rachael Bland - 2019
    Courageous and life-affirming, this is a mother's final gift to her son. My beautiful son, I so wish that I didn't have to leave you now. But believe me, I tried EVERYTHING I could to stay around for you, and for every moment I could eke out of this life. From the start, it was not a fair fight. My cancer was too big, and too aggressive, and we didn't start on a level playing field. You were fourteen months old and at the beginning I was so full of fierce intention that we could get past this. I would lay you in your cot each night and silently intone from my mind to yours, 'I will do this Freddie, I will gladly take whatever they throw at me if it means we can stay together'. In 2016, beloved broadcaster and journalist Rachael Bland was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly afterwards she made the brave decision to share her story, and she spoke with beautiful poignancy through her blog and podcast, You Me & the Big C. Having been told that she only had a matter of months left to live and writing this in what was sadly her final days, Rachael brings her warmth, courage and humour to the page in this heart-warming and heart-breaking story. Part memoir, part advice, For Freddie beautifully encapsulates the grace and fearlessness in which Rachael lived her life. This is her legacy and an incredible final gift to her son.

Love, Medicine & Miracles


Bernie S. Siegel - 1986
    A wonderful book that every patient and skeptic physician should read If we follow Bernie Siegel's advice, we may all stay younger and healthier for many more years. In these pages is found a precious secret, that of health and well-being. I thank God for bernie and his book and know that it is and will be a blessing to all humanity. Love, Medicine and Miracles deserves to be on the same shelf with Norman Cousin's Anatomy of an Illness. Bernie Siegel, M.D., practices surgery in New Haven and teaches at Yale University. In 1978, Siegal started ECaP (Exceptional Cancer Patients), a specialized form of individual and group therapy based on "carefrontation," a loving, safe, therapeutic confrontation that facilitates personal change and healing. This experience led to his desire to make everyone aware of his or her own healing potential. In 1988, he bacame president of the American Holistic Medical Association.

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland


Jim DeFede - 2002
    airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill. As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held on board for nearly 24 hours while security checked all of the baggage, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the townspeople. Local bus drivers who had been on strike came off the picket lines to transport the passengers to the various shelters set up in local schools and churches. Linens and toiletries were bought and donated. A middle school provided showers, as well as access to computers, email, and televisions, allowing the passengers to stay in touch with family and follow the news.Over the course of those four days, many of the passengers developed friendships with Gander residents that they expect to last a lifetime. As a show of thanks, scholarship funds for the children of Gander have been formed and donations have been made to provide new computers for the schools. This book recounts the inspiring story of the residents of Gander, Canada, whose acts of kindness have touched the lives of thousands of people and been an example of humanity and goodwill.

Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat


David Dosa - 2009
    A special gift. A life-changing journey. They thought he was just a cat. When Oscar arrived at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rhode Island he was a cute little guy with attitude. He loved to stretch out in a puddle of sunlight and chase his tail until he was dizzy. Occasionally he consented to a scratch behind the ears, but only when it suited him. In other words, he was a typical cat. Or so it seemed. It wasn't long before Oscar had created something of a stir. Apparently, this ordinary cat possesses an extraordinary gift: he knows instinctively when the end of life is near. Oscar is a welcome distraction for the residents of Steere House, many of whom are living with Alzheimer's. But he never spends much time with them -- until they are in their last hours. Then, as if this were his job, Oscar strides purposely into a patient's room, curls up on the bed, and begins his vigil. Oscar provides comfort and companionship when people need him most. And his presence lets caregivers and loved ones know that it's time to say good-bye. Oscar's gift is a tender mercy. He teaches by example: embracing moments of life that so many of us shy away from. Making Rounds with Oscar is the story of an unusual cat, the patients he serves, their caregivers, and of one doctor who learned how to listen. Heartfelt, inspiring, and full of humor and pathos, this book allows readers to take a walk into a world rarely seen from the outside, a world we often misunderstand.

Saving Bobby: Heroes and Heroin in One Small Community


Renee Hodges - 2018
    She believed that if he could address his back problems, he’d have a better chance of a long-term recovery—but she was completely unprepared for the lengthy journey that followed. Unlike other books about addiction, SAVING BOBBY begins after Bobby has left the structure and protection of rehabilitation centers and half-way houses. Told in part through journal entries and e-mails, this raw, deeply moving memoir describes the resources and holistic process used to help Bobby reclaim his life, including the importance of being in a community that can move past the shame and stigma of addiction. A riveting and timely read for those concerned about America’s most pressing epidemic. —Claude T. Moorman, III, MD, Executive Director, Duke Sports Sciences Institute and Head Team Physician, Duke Athletics

The Canadian Manifesto


Conrad Black - 2019
    It is our turn," writes Conrad Black in this scintillating manifesto for how Canada can achieve an exalted role in world affairs. For over 400 years we have toiled in the shadows of our potential and achieved an indifferent recognition among other nations. Chipper, patient, and courteous, we have pursued an improbable destiny as a splendid nation in the northern section of the new world, a demi-continent of relatively good and ably self-governing people, but most would agree we have neither developed a vivid national personality nor realized our true potential. Our main chance, writes Black, is now before us and it is not in the usual realms of military or economic dominance. With the rest of the West engaged in a sterile and platitudinous left-right tug of war, Canada has the opportunity to lead the advanced world to its next stage of development in the arts of government. By transforming itself into a controlled and sensible public policy laboratory, it can forge new solutions to the tiresome problems besetting welfare, education, health care, foreign policy, and other governmental sectors the world over, and make an enormous contribution to the welfare of mankind. Canada has no excuse not to lead in this field, argues Black, who offers nineteen visionary policy proposals of his own. "This is the destiny, and the vocation, Canada could have, not in the next century, but in the next five years of imaginative government.

Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation


Dan Fagin - 2013
    Eight years later, a schoolteacher who lived four miles away gave birth to a boy whose cherubic smile belied the fast growing tumors that soon riddled his face and chest. The doctors predicted he would not reach his first birthday. They were wrong, but that was only one of many surprises that would eventually come to light in Toms River, culminating in 2001 with a record legal settlement believed to top $35 million and an unprecedented government study confirming the existence of a long-suspected cluster of childhood cancer linked to polluted water and air. A detective story rooted in a scientific quest thousands of years old, Toms River is a tale of dumpers at midnight and deceptions in broad daylight, of corporate avarice and government neglect, and of a few brave individuals who would not keep silent.

Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence


Gavin Francis - 2022
    Recovery and convalescence are words that exist at the periphery of our lives - until we are forced to contend with what they really mean.Here, GP and writer Gavin Francis explores how - and why - we get better, revealing the many shapes recovery takes, its shifting history and the frequent failure of our modern lives to make adequate space for it.Characterised by Francis's beautiful prose and his view of medicine as 'the alliance of science and kindness', Recovery is a book about a journey that most of us never intend to make. Along the way, he unfolds a story of hope, transformation, and the everyday miracle of healing.

Before I Say Goodbye: Recollections and Observations from One Woman's Final Year


Ruth Picardie - 1998
    For Ruth, a journalist, it seemed natural to write about her illness. She published only five columns for Observer Life magazine before she became too sick to continue, but her moving, funny, and very human account drew a huge response from readers all over England. Before I Say Goodbye juxtaposes these columns with correspondence from readers, e-mails to her friends, letters to her children, and reflections by her husband and her sister. The result is a courageous and moving book, entirely devoid of self-pity, that celebrates the triumph of a brave and wonderful woman's spirit. An international bestseller in England, Picardie's sobering yet ultimately life-affirming book is destined to become a classic.

The Peach Truck Cookbook: 100 Delicious Recipes for All Things Peach


Jessica N. Rose - 2019
    Their only reservation: Where were the luscious peaches that Stephen remembered from his childhood in Georgia? Amid Nashville’s burgeoning food scene, the couple partnered with his hometown peach orchard to bring just-off-the-tree Georgia peaches to their adopted city, selling them out of the back of their 1964 Jeep Gladiator in Nashville’s farmer’s markets. Since starting their company in 2012, Stephen and Jessica have attracted a quarter of a million followers on social media and have delivered more than 4.5 million peaches to tens of thousands of customers in 48 states. With The Peach Truck Cookbook, the couple brings the lusciousness of the Georgia peach and the savory and sweet charms of Southern cooking, as well as the story behind their success and an insider’s guide to the Nashville food scene, to readers everywhere. From first bites to easy lunches to mouth-watering dinner dishes and sumptuous desserts, The Peach Truck Cookbook captures the Southern cooking renaissance with fresh, delectable, farm-to-table recipes that are easy to follow and feature peaches in every form. Whether you’re craving peach pecan sticky buns, peach jalapeno cornbread, white pizza with peach, pancetta, and chile, or minty peach lemonade—or have always wanted to try your hand at making a classic peach pie—Stephen and Jessica have you covered. Many of Nashville’s most celebrated hotspots and chefs, including Sean Brock, Lisa Donovan, and Tandy Wilson, have contributed recipes, so you’ll also get a how-to on cult menu items such as Sean Brock’s Double Cheeseburger with Peach Ketchup, Mas Tacos Peach Tamales, and Burger Up’s Peach Truck Margarita. Also included are beautiful photographs illustrating each recipe and a pocket peach education—as Jessica and Stephen take you through peach varieties, best harvesting practices, and everything you need to know to have a peach-stocked pantry. Full of character and charm, The Peach Truck Cookbook is not only an essential addition to the peach-lover’s kitchen, it will bring the beauty of summer to your table all year round.

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood


Jennifer Senior - 2014
    Award-winning journalist Jennifer Senior now asks: what are the effects of children on their parents?"All Joy and No Fun is an indispensable map for a journey that most of us take without one. Brilliant, funny, and brimming with insight, this is an important book that every parent should read, and then read again. Jennifer Senior is surely one of the best writers on the planet."-Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on HappinessIn All Joy and No Fun, award-winning journalist Jennifer Senior isolates and analyzes the many ways in which children reshape their parents' lives, whether it's their marriages, their jobs, their habits, their hobbies, their friendships, or their internal senses of self. She argues that changes in the last half century have radically altered the roles of today's mothers and fathers, making their mandates at once more complex and far less clear. Recruiting from a wide variety of sources-in history, sociology, economics, psychology, philosophy, and anthropology-she dissects both the timeless strains of parenting and the ones that are brand new, and then brings her research to life in the homes of ordinary parents around the country. The result is an unforgettable series of family portraits, starting with parents of young children and progressing to parents of teens. Through lively and accessible storytelling, Senior follows these mothers and fathers as they wrestle with some of parenthood's deepest vexations-and luxuriate in some of its finest rewards.Meticulously researched yet imbued with emotional intelligence, All Joy and No Fun makes us reconsider some of our culture's most basic beliefs about parenthood, all while illuminating the profound ways children deepen and add purpose to our lives. By focusing on parenthood, rather than parenting, the book is original and essential reading for mothers and fathers of today-and tomorrow.

Kate: Kate Middleton: Princess in Waiting


Claudia Joseph - 2009
    Sophisticated beyond her years, as well as academically gifted, Kate has charmed William's louche circle of friends as well as the House of Windsor.Yet behind her polished veneer lies the extraordinary tale of an impoverished working-class family that overcame deprivation and adversity to rise to the upper echelons of society.Claudia Joseph has spoken to members of Kate's family and friends, who have provided an intriguing insight into the extraordinary journey her family has made from the mining villages of Durham to an apartment in the royal residence of Clarence House.Drawing on exclusive interviews and containing previously unpublished photographs, this is an authoritative account of Kate Middleton's life so far.

Angels by My Side: Stories and Glimpses of These Heavenly Helpers


Betty Malz - 2013
    Riveting true stories and biblical insights fill this inspiring exploration of how angels intervene in our lives every day--whether or not we're aware of them.

Energy Speaks: Messages from Spirit on Living, Loving, and Awakening


Lee Harris - 2012
    It provides practical guidance and inspiration on the things that matter most to us — including love, sex, money, personal power, self-expression and purpose, emotional healing and well-being, and how to have peace with our families — as well as more esoteric topics, such as how to invoke the help of our spirit guides and angels. This empowering book is the work of a great emerging spiritual teacher. It is filled with tools that you can use to break free of limitations and transform your life.

In the Body of the World


Eve Ensler - 2013
    Yet she spent much of her life disassociated from her own body—a disconnection brought on by her father’s sexual abuse and her mother’s remoteness. “Because I did not, could not inhabit my body or the Earth,” she writes, “I could not feel or know their pain.”But Ensler is shocked out of her distance. While working in the Congo, she is shattered to encounter the horrific rape and violence inflicted on the women there. Soon after, she is diagnosed with uterine cancer, and through months of harrowing treatment, she is forced to become first and foremost a body—pricked, punctured, cut, scanned. It is then that all distance is erased. As she connects her own illness to the devastation of the earth, her life force to the resilience of humanity, she is finally, fully—and gratefully—joined to the body of the world.Unflinching, generous, and inspiring, Ensler calls on us all to embody our connection to and responsibility for the world.http://us.macmillan.com/inthebodyofth...