Mom's Marijuana: Life, Love, and Beating the Odds


Dan Shapiro - 2000
    In this hilarious, high-spirited, sometimes harrowing memoir, Shapiro invites us into his battle with cancer, his romance with an oncology nurse, his journey through graduate school, and his most important life lessons. He tells his story with wit and grace and indomitable spirit, showing us that only when the rhythm of life is stirred violently are able to discover its full beauty.

703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life


Nancy Makin - 2010
     Nancy Makin weighed an astounding 703 pounds in May 2000. She was forty-five years old and had diabetes and heart disease. Thanks in equal parts to shame and logistics, she'd been homebound for a dozen years. But all that changed after a gift from her sister: a computer. A technophobe, Nancy ignored it for months, until finally boredom and curiosity pushed her into cyberspace. And there, in a chat room, she found the friendliness, the support, and even the love she'd been missing for so long. Nobody flinched when Nancy spoke up; people treated her with the same respect accorded to everybody else. Thanks to these emotional connections, Nancy's life was transformed. She followed no diet plan; no pills, potions or ab-crunching exercises played a part. There was no silver bullet, no magical, elusive ingredient-and yet today Nancy has lost more than 530 pounds. Nancy's tale is one of redemption, a story of reevaluating her worth and insisting she had value simply because she was human. It will show a growing America that life is sweet and always worth living.

Endless Perfect Circles: Lessons from the little-known world of ultradistance cycling


Ian Walker - 2020
    

Veggies Not Included: Tales of a Triple Digit Weight Loss from the Fast Food Lane


Christine Leo - 2014
     Christine Leo lost 130 pounds following a wakeup call that included a gyno trip from hell, a bridal boutique snub and a Jumbotron screen. The girl who had been picked on and pushed around since primary school decided it was finally time to take back control of her life. Instead of following the diet paths most frequently traveled, she lost 7 pant sizes by counting calories in her favorite types of fast food (cheeseburgers, burritos, ice cream, cookies, and the like). She has kept the weight off for nearly five years and did it all without ever donning the dieting superhero cape most do. Readers looking for a down-to-earth weight loss perspective and a glimpse of the life after the new body euphoria has worn off will appreciate Veggies Not Included.