Book picks similar to
Diary of a Survivor: Nineteen Years in a Cuban Women's Prison by Ana Rodriguez
box-29
non-fiction
socialism-communism
memoirs-autobiographies
Falling with Wings: A Mother's Story
Dianna De La Garza - 2018
Dianna tells her story from the very beginning in this complete and genuinely affecting memoir.She had big plans of becoming a country music star, but her life went in a different direction than her dreams. She developed an eating disorder early in life to gain a sense of control in her strict upbringing. As she continued to struggle with body image and her obsession with being perfect her entire adult life, she was also met with other difficult situations. Her husband and father of her two eldest daughters, Dallas and Demi, had his own troubles that effected the entire family. She coped with alcohol and pills, forming a long-lasting addiction.She's had terrible lows but also some great highs as she watched her daughters break out in Hollywood to become strong, empowered young women.As a mother caring for daughters with addictions while continuing to battle her own, Dianna offers a unique perspective. And as a family, they have survived everything life has thrown at them and come away from it stronger than ever.Dianna tells her story of living through and surviving adversity--with tremendous strength, love and faith.
A Widow's Walk Off-Grid to Self-Reliance: An Inspiring, True Story of Courage and Determination
Annie Dodds - 2014
When her husband passed away after a long, trying illness, Annie Dodds was forced to sell almost everything to settle his estate. Homeless, with little money, she wondered if it might be time to pursue a decades-old dream of living a quiet, self-sufficient life alone, off-grid. One day, when her son told her he knew of an old house on fifty acres, she knew it was time. Feeling empowered and prepared by having read so much over the years, she loaded her belongings into the back of her pickup truck. But as she pulled into the driveway that first day, she could not imagine the challenges she would face, the obstacles she would overcome, the self-doubts she would master, and the soul-strengthening peace and contentment she would find living in a rundown old home on fifty acres of country heaven. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- March, 2014: Thank you to all who pointed out some embarrassing editing oversights in the book. We're pleased to report those issues have been fixed. Those readers who own copies with the errors now have collector's items, of a sort. Thanks again. ~Mason Marshall Press
Outside Passage: A Memoir of an Alaskan Childhood
Julia Scully - 1998
An instant classic, "Outside Passage" offers the spare, vivid account of enduring a hardscrabble childhood in the '30s and '40s at the edge of America.
Play Hungry: The Making of a Baseball Player
Pete Rose - 2019
As baseball's Hit King, he shattered records that were thought to be unbreakable. And during the 1970s, he was the leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds team that dominated the game. But he's also the greatest player who may never enter the Hall of Fame because of his lifetime ban from the sport. Perhaps no other ballplayer's story is so representative of the triumphs and tragedies of our national pastime.In Play Hungry, Rose tells us the story of how, through hard work and sheer will, he became one of the unlikeliest stars of the game. Guided by the dad he idolized, a local sports hero, Pete learned to play hard and always focus on winning. But even with his dad's guidance, Pete was cut from his team as a teenager--he wasn't a natural. Rose was determined, though, and never would be satisfied with anything less than success. His relentless hustle and headfirst style would help him overcome his limitations, leading him to one of the most exciting and brash careers in the history of the sport.Play Hungry is Pete Rose's love letter to the game, and an unvarnished story of life on the diamond. One of the icons of a golden age in baseball, he describes just what it was like to hit (or try to hit) a Bob Gibson fastball or a Gaylord Perry spitball, what happened in that infamous collision at home plate during the 1970 All-Star Game, and what it felt like to topple Ty Cobb's hit record. And he speaks to how he let down his fans, his teammates, and the memory of his dad when he gambled on baseball, breaking the rules of a sport that he loved more than anything else. Told with candor and wry humor--including tales he's never told before--Rose's memoir is his final word on the glories and controversies of his life, and, ultimately, a master class in how to succeed when the odds are stacked against you.
That's Why I'm Here: The Chris and Stefanie Spielman Story
Chris Spielman - 2012
In 1998 his wife Stefanie was diagnosed with breast cancer, and so began an 11-year journey that brought joy and suffering to the Spielmans, as well as hope and inspiration to thousands of others. In That's Why I'm Here, Spielman traces his storied career, recalls his courtship of Stefanie Belcher, cherishes the growth of their four children and invokes the deep spiritual faith that gave their family wisdom and comfort in times of struggle. Though there are plenty of on-the-field tales in the book, it's not just for football fans. It's for people whose lives have been touched by cancer, for people whose own faith has wavered, for people who want to meet a woman of tremendous beauty, grace and strength. Though Stefanie passed away on Nov. 19, 2009, her memory and inspiration live on. With laughter and tears, joy and heartbreak, this book lets you know her spirit is still here.
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson | Chapter Compilation
Ethan Thomas - 2016
The ship was called “magnificent”, consuming as much as one hundred forty tons of coal every day even if it just stands still on the dock, and standing seven stories tall from dock to bridge. She was considered by engineers and shipbuilders as one of the finest examples of man’s ingenuity and creativity. In addition, out of all the ships that were converted for use in the war, the Lusitania was the only one that was exempted and continued on as a cruise ship. However, its job of carrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean was not the thing that made her famous today. Read more.... Download your copy today! for a limited time discount of only $2.99! Available on PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. © 2015 All Rights Reserved by Unlimited Press Works, LLC
The 20-Month Legend: My Baby Boy's Fight with Cancer
Steve Tate - 2018
The once-star collegiate football player finds himself fighting for his son’s life. This memoir takes you through the various challenges of raising a family of six kids and balancing a career, all while his son battles to defeat the odds of survival. Both Steve and his high school sweetheart, Savanna, found hope and happiness through the example of their 20-month-old son Hayes.
Finally Thin!: How I Lost Over 200 Pounds and Kept Them Off - And How You Can Too
Kim Bensen - 2008
Kim Bensen knows about weight loss. And weight gain. For decades, she tried every diet there was, but nothing seemed to work - for long anyway - and she yo-yoed her way to 350 pounds. But she never gave up and in 2001, despite years of heartbreak and discouragement, Kim tried again. This time "was "different and the results were phenomenal: 212 pounds lost forever, fourteen dress sizes, four ring sizes, one and a half shoe sizes, and 200 points of cholesterol gone for good! In the end, Kim not only changed her health and size, but also her career. The clamor of "How did you do it?" by desperately struggling individuals as well as the national media motivated her to sit down and pen into words what she had put into action. In" Finally Thin!, " Kim Bensen recounts her own success story and then breaks down her success into a ten-step system, showing readers exactly how she accomplished her weight-loss goal. From choosing the right diet for your needs to setting realistic goals, finding support, eating out, recovering from a slipup, the keys to maintenance, and even 75 recipes, this book covers it all in an upbeat, inspirational, and approachable tone. A must-have for anyone trying to lose weight, "Finally Thin!" will help dieters break free of the yo-yo cycle and achieve their ultimate goal--once and for all.
Inside Graceland: Elvis' Maid Remembers
Nancy Rooks - 2005
Nancy worked for Elvis from 1967 until his untimely death in 1977. Read her stories of what those years were like, of what the routines were at Graceland, and what it meant to be close to Elvis and his family on a daily basis. Read the sad account of her rushing upstairs, after a frantic call from Ginger Alden, and finding him on the bathroom floor. This book presents that picture, one that every Elvis fan will want to see."
Jack Nicklaus: My Story
Jack Nicklaus - 1984
Counting his two US Amateur Championships, Nicklaus was the winner of twenty major championships and more than one hundred professional tournaments around the world. He was named "Golfer of the Century" in 1988 by the PGA. Jack Nicklaus: My Story, now with a new afterword, is Jack Nicklaus's compelling, personal account of his legendary majors triumphs, along with many other competition highlights -- and some lowlights, too -- of one of the greatest sports careers of all time. Revealed with the unfailing candor and intensity that are his most distinctive personality traits, here is the Jack Nicklaus his legions of admirers, and even some of those close to him, have never known.
Trafficked
Sophie Hayes - 2012
At first, it was a typical whirlwind romance. But one day Bledi told her that love always comes at a price ...Bledi tricked Sophie into travelling to Italy, where he forced her to sell her body to help him pay off a debt. Terrified and ashamed, Sophie worked the dangerous Italian streets without rest, seeing as many as 30 clients in a night. She was completely at Bledi′s mercy for food, clothes and shelter. And without money, friends or family, she was trapped.But Sophie found the strength to keep going, clinging to life by a single thread of hope: that somehow she′d find a way to escape.
Cycling Home From Siberia
Rob Lilwall - 2009
. . My thoughts are filled with frozen rivers that may or may not hold my weight; empty, forgotten valleys haunted by emaciated ghosts; and packs of ravenous, merciless wolves."Having left his job as a high-school geography teacher, Rob Lilwall arrived in Siberia equipped only with a bike and a healthy dose of fear. Cycling Home from Siberia recounts his epic three-and-a-half-year, 30,000-mile journey back to England via the foreboding jungles of Papua New Guinea, an Australian cyclone, and Afghanistan's war-torn Hindu Kush. A gripping story of endurance and adventure, this is also a spiritual journey, providing poignant insight into life on the road in some of the world's toughest corners.
Girl Unbroken
Regina Calcaterra - 2016
Yet through it all they had each other. Rosie, the youngest, is fawned over and shielded by her older sister, Regina. Their mother, Cookie, blows in and out of their lives “like a hurricane, blind and uncaring to everything in her path.”But when Regina discloses the truth about her abusive mother to her social worker, she is separated from her younger siblings Norman and Rosie. And as Rosie discovers after Cookie kidnaps her from foster care, the one thing worse than being abandoned by her mother is living in Cookie’s presence. Beaten physically, abused emotionally, and forced to labor at the farm where Cookie settles in Idaho, Rosie refuses to give in. Like her sister Regina, Rosie has an unfathomable strength in the face of unimaginable hardship—enough to propel her out of Idaho and out of a nightmare.Filled with maturity and grace, Rosie’s memoir continues the compelling story begun in Etched in Sand—a shocking yet profoundly moving testament to sisterhood and indomitable courage.
Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey
Alison Wearing - 2000
Traveling with a male friend, in the guise of a couple on their honeymoon, Wearing set out on her own at every available opportunity. She went looking for what lay beneath the media's representation of Iran and found a country made up of welcoming, curious, warmhearted, ambitious men and women.With humor and compassion, Wearing gives Iranians the chance to wander beyond headlines and stereotypes, and in doing so, reveals the poetry of their lives--those whose lives extend beyond Western news stories of kidnapping, terrorism, veiled women, and Islamic fundamentalism.With this engrossing account, Wearing casts a sympathetic eye on the real people of Iran, so often invisible to the West.--Publishers Weekly
What the Stones Remember: A Life Rediscovered
Patrick Lane - 2004
He spent the first year of his sobriety close to home, tending his garden, where he cast his mind back over his life, searching for the memories he'd tried to drown in vodka. Lane has gardened for as long as he can remember, and his garden's life has become inseparable from his own. A new bloom on a plant, a skirmish among the birds, the way a tree bends in the wind, and the slow, measured change of seasons invariably bring to his mind an episode from his eventful past. What the Stones Remember is the emerging chronicle of Lane's attempt to face those memories, as well as his new self--to rediscover his life. In this powerful and beautifully written book, Lane offers readers an unflinching and unsentimental account of coming to one's senses in the presence of nature.