You're a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass): Embracing the Emotions, Habits, and Mystery That Make You You


Mike McHargue - 2020
    Everyone wants to be a good person, but few of us, twenty years into the new millennium, have any idea how to do that.In You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass), McHargue addresses these issues. We like to think we’re in control of our thoughts and decisions, he writes, but science has shown that a host of competing impulses, emotions, and environmental factors are at play in every action we undertake. Touching on his podcast listeners’ most pressing questions, from relationships and ethics to stress and mental health, and sharing some of the biggest triumphs and hardships from his own life, McHargue shows us how some of our qualities that seem most frustrating—including “negative” emotions like sadness, anger, and anxiety—are actually key to helping humans survive and thrive. In doing so, he invites us on a path of self-understanding and, ultimately, self-acceptance.You’re a Miracle (and a Pain in the Ass) is a guided tour through the mystery of human consciousness, showing readers how to live more at peace with themselves in a complex world.

Out Of The Shadows


Tessa Van Wade - 2021
    It is not a random attack, as she soon discovers. The stranger who rescues her tells her she’s part of a hidden race of people whose oppressive government is on the verge of a violent uprising. Against her will, she is drawn into a maze of deception and conspiracy, which defies everything she has ever known. As she attempts to separate fact from fiction, she becomes too entrenched to retreat. Her only hope is to discover the truth before it is too late. In this first installment of The Velieri Uprising, newfound novelist Tessa Van Wade, creates a deeply layered world of unforgettable characters in a fast-paced struggle for survival.

First Survivor


Mark Unger - 2018
    With the world’s best doctors and the advocacy of his parents, Louis Unger would fight the battle for his young life. At age 3, Louis was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. He battled this treacherous cancer for 5 years with the leadership of the neuroblastoma team at Memorial Sloan Kettering. After relapsing with the cancer in his brain, his incredible team of doctors developed a new treatment protocol that cured him. His grit and incredible attitude led to a breakthrough that would change how cancer is treated today. This protocol is now helping to save many other children who are diagnosed with a brain relapse.

Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness


Matt Samet - 2013
    Matt Samet lived to climb, and craved the challenge, risk, and exhilaration of conquering sheer rock faces around the United States and internationally. But Samet's depression, compounded by the extreme diet and fitness practices of climbers, led him to seek professional help. He entered the murky, inescapable world of psychiatric medicine, where he developed a dangerous addiction to prescribed medications—primarily "benzos," or benzodiazepines—that landed him in institutions and nearly killed him.With dramatic storytelling, persuasive research data, and searing honesty, Matt Samet reveals the hidden epidemic of benzo addiction, which some have suggested can be harder to quit than heroin. Millions of adults and teenagers are prescribed these drugs, but few understand how addictive they are—and how dangerous long-term usage can be, even when prescribed by doctors.After a difficult struggle with addiction, Samet slowly makes his way to a life in recovery through perseverance and a deep love of rock climbing. Conveying both the exhilaration of climbing in the wilderness and the utter madness of addiction, Death Grip is a powerful and revelatory memoir.

The Last Kiss: A True Story of Love, Joy and Loss


Leslie Brody - 2012
    But six years after their wedding, they learned that Elliot, only 55, had pancreatic cancer - and would be lucky to live for a year or two.With a journalist's eye for intimate detail, Leslie shows how they made the very most of the time they had left together. Told with heart, humor and compelling immediacy, The Last Kiss is a love story about the life-affirming power of a passionate marriage, the importance of loyal friends, and the resilience of children growing up through one of life's harshest trials.This is the most important story she has ever told.

My Last Rock Bottom


Sara Berelsman - 2013
    Sara was a writer, and drinking seemed to be an element of the identity. As a writer, she searched for the story that would define who she was, and her drinking was a part of her. She drank socially at first, with friends or family, at parties, or festivals. She drank at home sometimes, a glass of wine or two. It was when the two glasses of wine turned into two bottles of wine, when her blacked-out drunken behavior began destroying her marriage, when she began combining her drinking with pills - prescribed or otherwise - this is when Sara began to realize she had a problem. It wasn't until she hit her last rock bottom that she understood her story. If she were to continue drinking, her marriage would be over. She knew she had to quit. So she did. Sara quickly learned that sobriety wasn't easy. She had never realized before what a focal point alcohol had been in her life. This new world she was in felt strange and unnatural. Sometimes the daily battle felt impossible. But inside the struggle she found words. One day, she threw on her husband's oversized Nike sweatshirt, drove her daughter to school, and came home to write. The words just poured out of her. Now she had a story. Despite the struggles she faced and still faces, Sara has remained sober. This is her story.

Dark Side: The Haunting


J.M. Barlog - 1999
    Because only a miracle could have brought her through after a terrible car crash.Do you believe in ghosts?Jenny didn't either, until...A tenacious and talented surgeon made Jenny almost as good as new. Almost.Accidents happen--sometimes. But sometimes accidents are planned. Somebody wanted Jenny Garrett dead, and now Detective Rick Walker has to find out who and why. But Jenny can't help with the investigation. Jenny's memory of the accident, and the weeks preceding it, are gone. Yet somehow Rick has to get to the truth before the killer tries again.But the real horror in Jenny's life transcends far beyond the stalking of an earthly killer. Jenny is being terrorized by a Doppelganger--a ghostly image of herself. Dwight Mackenzie believes in ghosts. So much so, that he is willing to help Jenny uncover the truth behind her torment.But the real truth is: there is only one way to escape the vicious torment of a Doppelganger.

Big As All Hell And Half Of Texas (Memoirs of Marlayna Glynn Brown)


Marlayna Glynn - 2013
    This final volume candidly explores the pertinent societal question: how does an ill-equipped adult child of alcoholics navigate life after a childhood fraught with abuse, scarcity and neglect? Continuing her engrossing journey from the moment City of Angeles ends, Glynn Brown shares the vignettes of her life - replete with enlightening mistakes, edifying consequences, forgiveness and personal redemption. Big As All Hell And Half Of Texas is an honest and inspirational account of Glynn Brown's ultimately successful battles with depression, divorce, single parenting, and ill-fitting love affairs."This memoir is a journey in self-examination lived not as a victim but as a searcher always hoping that the universe will smile the next day. The author asks several questions of herself. Perhaps the most searing query is, "Why am I not enough?" The answer suggested is that finding someone who sees any one of us as enough is a challenge that may consume a lifetime. And, perhaps, even more critically, is that moment when we find that we are more adequate than we believed, that those who reject are more deeply wounded or lost than we imagined. Marlayna's tale is compelling, painful, joyous, and riveting." - R. Vincent

The Roar of a Dragon


Robert Blanchard - 2016
    He is horrified by his ghastly appearance and unstable magical powers. The world is overrun by evil that originated in Delmar not long after Aidan's death. With the help of a time-traveling wizard apprentice, Aidan must travel back to his own time and set things right.But after his bitter exile, does he really want to?

Scrag - Up the Hill Backwards


Jesamine James - 2013
    This is my story of how a paedophile entered my life, home and family when I was six years old.I highlight how he attempted to break my mind, soul and spirit for his total control over me, and how I fought for my sanity, survival and freedom against his evil and constant onslaught of abuse.I was Marie; now I'm Jes.“Even when I die, I'll come back to haunt you.”It's time for Jes to bury Marie's ghosts forever.Six-year-old Marie finds her world has changed and become one of confusion, deceit and abuse.No longer called by her birth name, she is unaffectionately referred to as Scrag - a shortened version of Scraggy-knickered-nut-rag.Her will to survive manifests quite bizarre tactics, as she deviates off course into a childhood of insanity, paranoia, glue-sniffing, self-harming and messages from David Bowie ringing through her ears.Her mind contrives strategies to cope with the continued onslaught that it seems destined to endure.Adulthood is her escape route if she can survive the wait, but can demons be truly locked away in the past forever?This is the story of one child's mind at the mercy of a real life monster.

I'll Be There (But I'll Be Wearing Sweatpants)


Amy Weatherly - 2022
    Amy Weatherly and Jess Johnston address common obstacles to true connection and offer a confessional, hilarious, and practical guide for building friendships in the middle of this crazy, rollercoaster life.If you've ever wondered why it seems like such a struggle to make and maintain friendships as an adult--it's not just you. The number of Americans who claim to have no close friends has drastically increased over the last few decades. Loneliness doesn't care what age you are, how many Instagram followers you have, or where you call home. It doesn't care how "put together" you appear to the outside world. Women have a collective wound that only authentic sisterhood can heal.In I'll Be There (But I'll Be Wearing Sweatpants), Amy Weatherly and Jess Johnston, creators of the popular online community "Sister, I Am With You," offer an-easy-to-follow road map to the place we all desperately want to be--standing beside other women who see us, know us, and love us for who we truly are. With hilariously relatable vulnerability and actionable steps we can all take today to build deep and satisfying friendships, Amy and Jess show us how to break free from unhealthy habits that block us from connection;find the confidence to live freely and without fear of rejection; andintentionally pursue friends in everyday life.I'll Be There (But I'll Be Wearing Sweatpants) won't talk down to us, or boss us around. It won’t give cliché or empty advice that leaves us feeling even more discouraged than before. This book will snuggle up beside us, grab a fuzzy blanket, and say "Let me show you how to do it. I’ve been there too. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible, and it’s so much better together."

Law Man: Memoir of a Jailhouse Lawyer


Shon Hopwood - 2017
    Those who knew him well would never have imagined that, as a young man, he’d be adrift with few prospects and plotting to rob a bank. But he did, committing five armed bank robberies before being apprehended. Serving ten years in federal prison, Shon feared his life was over. He wasn’t sure if he could survive a cell block, but he was determined to try. Hopwood pumped-up in the prison gym to defend himself and earned respect on the basketball court. He reconnected with the girl of his dreams from high school through letters and prison visits; and, crucially, he talked his way into a job in the prison law library. Hopwood slowly taught himself criminal law and began to help fellow inmates rather than himself. He wrote one petition to the Supreme Court, which was chosen to be heard from over 7,000 other petitions submitted by the greater legal community that year. The Justices voted 9-0 in favor of Hopwood’s petition when the case was finally heard. What might have been considered luck by some, was dispelled when a second petition from him was selected to be heard by the Supreme Court. He didn’t grasp it yet, but Shon’s legal work was the start of a new life. Shon works on policy reform, and he is a cofounder of PrisonProfessors.com. He strives to improve outcomes of America’s prison system, and he tells his amazing story in Law Man.

Wonderfully Dysfunctional - It Must be Genetic


Buffi Neal - 2012
    A gypsy mother who refused to wear a bra and a father who refused to leave his first wife. A brother who slept under the coffee table and a sister who was kidnapped. A cheating minister, a missing uncle and a feisty red-headed grandmother who was longing to leave it all. I always knew my family was unusual, but I was lucky enough to have escaped that gene. Or was I? In a nursing home, seated next to my dying grandmother, I looked around at my family and it occurred to me that I fit right in. No bra, dirty sneakers and two ex husbands. Maybe it really is genetic - maybe I never had a chance. With the help of my siblings, I began a journey of self discovery as we recalled stories of our youth including juicy family secrets, inappropriate practical jokes and betrayal. On a journey to find normal, I found myself instead.

Say Yes to What’s Next: How to Age with Elegance and Class While Never Losing Your Beauty and Sass!


Lori Allen - 2020
    But she’s also a wife, mother, grandmother, and breast cancer survivor.Whether you’re feeling invisible, disappearing into the fabric of your couch a little more every year, or simply being indecisive about what’s next, Lori offers herself as the poster child of what to do, not do, and how to see your way through the unexpected.In Say Yes to What’s Next she addresses essential issues, such as don’t let yourself go, marriage is awesome, but it’s no fairytale, keep your mouth shut and your heart open to your kids (and they’ll bring you grandkids), make time to parent your parents, maintain a close circle of girlfriends, get off the couch and live your passion, take charge of your money, and what to do when life gives you a faceplant. Say Yes to What’s Next is a life makeover and therapy session from a relatable you-can-and-you-should-do-this straight-shooter as Lori helps women shape their own futures with confidence, style, and sass.

The Mayan Ouroboros: The Cosmic Cycles Come Full Circle


Drunvalo Melchizedek - 2012
    But what do the Mayans themselves have to say about these prophecies?In The Mayan Ouroboros, the muchanticipated followup to his bestselling Serpent of Light, spiritual researcher Drunvalo Melchizdek reveals for the first time what Mayan elders have told him about this period. In this book he explains how to prepare for this transition to a new 13,000year cycle by learning how to move out of our brain and into our hearts. He shares the Mayan insight of the importance of our heart connection to our survival and ability to thrive during these times.Plus The Mayan Ouroboros reveals:The untold positive side of the Mayan propheciesThe Mayan End Timea sevenyear period of transition which began in 2007The magnetic pole shift that is currently affecting humans around the worldThe new ways in which humans will begin to perceive and communicate in the world.The discovery of thousands of ancient Mayan codexes that are currently being decoded by the Mayans