In The Grrl Genius Guide to Life, stand-up comic and Grrl Genius Club founder Cathryn Michon explains why she is a genius and demonstrates how you can become one, too, by following her easy twelve-step program.The first step in the program is the most important: Admit that you are a Grrl Genius. Acknowledge that you are beautiful, intelligent, and talented and that you are the only person in the world who can decide just how great you are. In subsequent steps, you will learn to embrace the domestic arts, love your Grrl Genius good looks, celebrate your sexuality, appreciate your Grrl Genius mother, and pass the Grrl Genius message on to others!Filled with little-known facts about such unacknowledged Grrl Geniuses as Mozart's younger sister Nannerl and Einstein's wife Mileva, as well as hilarious, embarrassing stories from Michon's own life, The Grrl Genius Guide to Life is a must-read for Grrl Geniuses and Enlightened Males everywhere. Michon shares her most humiliating memories -- singing show tunes at her aunt's funeral, crying uncontrollably in an airplane bathroom and holding up the flight -- as well as her moments of triumph, like attending the birth of her niece (a future Grrl Genius) and getting liposuction that not a single human being noticed. This is an uproarious roller-coaster ride through the life of a self-declared Genius -- in which Michon writes about everything from doughnuts to divorce, from physics to push-up bras -- and a comic inspirational guide for those aspiring to Grrl Geniushood.Cathryn Michon is a genius -- just because she says she is. Read her book, and you will become one, too. As with any twelve-step program, becoming a Grrl Genius takes work. All your life you have been telling yourself that your butt is too big, your ideas are too small, and your love for creme-filled doughnuts is inherently evil. With the help of The Grrl Genius Guide to Life, you will learn to recognize your own brilliance, shamelessly proclaim it to the rest of the world, and eat all the Krispy Kreme doughnuts you want. In case you need inspiration, Michon has included numerous Grrl Genius slogans and Little Pink Post-it Notes; in case you get hungry, she has included her recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. So go on -- take the first step. Read the book that is guaranteed to change your life forever (or at the very least to make you laugh yourself silly) -- and declare your Genius to yourself and the world!

    

    It's a way of life. Alcoholics Anonymous-The Big Book-has served as a lifeline to millions worldwide. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous sets forth cornerstone concepts of recovery from alcoholism and tells the stories of men and women who have overcome the disease. With publication of the second edition in 1955, the third edition in 1976, and now the fourth edition in 2001, the essential recovery text has remained unchanged while personal stories have been added to reflect the growing and diverse fellowship. The long-awaited fourth edition features 24 new personal stories of recovery. Key features and benefits·the most widely used resource for millions of individuals in recovery·contains full, original text describing A.A. the program·updated with 24 new personal stories

    This River picks up where Brown left off in his first memoir, describing his tenuous relationship with sobriety, telling of agonizing relapses, and tracking his attempts to become a better father.This is the heartbreaking and at times uplifting tale of Brown’s battles, peeking into his former life as an addict and detailing his subsequent ascent to sobriety and fight for redemption.

    . . . But when I started to come down, I couldn’t face being plunged into the icy cold water of my real life. I couldn’t bear to have those feelings return. I did another line, bigger than the first. It made me feel calm, confident, excited about my future. Meth was the answer to all my problems.As a beautiful, ambitious, and fearless young woman, Allison Moore had everything going for her: She had been the star student of her recruit class and was quickly promoted to vice cop at the Maui Police Department, while earning the respect of her colleagues and a stellar reputation. But when a doomed love affair with another cop led Allison to seek a desperate escape, her life took a sudden and violent plunge.Using her position of authority and skills of manipulation, Allison hid her addiction from her lover and her department for as long as possible. She fabricated an elaborate story that she had ovarian cancer and needed to seek treatment on the mainland, while actually traveling to get a steady supply of meth from a brutal Seattle drug dealer. When her intensifying dependence on meth put her at the mercy of the ruthless dealer, he made her a prisoner in his house, subjecting her to unthinkable physical and sexual abuse, and monitoring her every move through a web of hidden cameras.Astounding, gripping, and told firsthand in a deeply sympathetic voice, Shards spares no detail of Allison’s horrific experiences and the tangle of addiction and betrayal that cost her the career she loved, the colleagues who adored her, and the island that was once her paradise.

    Scott Peck, renowned for his writings on spiritual growth and author of the classic, The Road Less Traveled, has inspired countless people with his words of wisdom and insight. Now, in Abounding Grace, Dr. Peck presents us with a collection of his favorite quotations on such essential aspects of life as happiness, love, faith, and virtue. Gleaned from writers and thinkers, both famous and obscure, ancient and modern, these words--sometimes paradoxical, sometimes humorous, always eloquent and thought provoking--serve as guideposts on the road to a more spiritual existence. In his commentary introducing each of the 12 parts of his book, Dr. Peck challenges us to live a life of consciousness, goodness, and wholeness, and to look within ourselves and seriously consider how we may make the most of who we are. Through questions, examples, and anecdotes from his own experiences, Dr. Peck provides an original, fascinating, and enriching reading experience, creating, in truth, An Anthology of Wisdom. Abounding Grace is divided into 12 parts: Happiness, Courage, Compassion, Purity, Perseverance, Courtesy, Faith, Goodness, Love, Respect, Strength, and Wisdom. Dr. Peck has written a lengthy introduction and a commentary for each of the 12 parts. Below is an excerpt from his commentary on Happiness:"Happiness as an unmodified goal will likely be self-defeating. . . . Seek to be loved and you probably won't be; seek to love, on the other hand, and you probably will be. Look solely for happiness, and I doubt you'll find it. Forget about happiness, seek wisdom and goodness, and happiness will probably find you." The following are a few quotations from the same part:"Happiness depends upon ourselves." -Aristotle"The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp." -John Berry"When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet." -Stanislaw Lec"We all may have come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now." -Martin Luther King Jr."Arrange whatever pieces come your way." -Virginia Woolf "Joy is not in things; it is in us." -Richard

    The addictions may be to alcohol or cocaine, gambling or food, violence or sex and love, but the path to recovery is the same. This is a book of plain-spoken wisdom for people with addictions and people who love them. Joe McQ has been a student of the Twelve Steps for twenty-eight years. He, like tens of thousands of others, lives them every day, one day at a time. In The Steps We Took, Joe takes us through them, one Step at a time, and helps us understand how they work--and how they can change our lives.

    Now Weight Watchers, one of the world's leaders in providing weight-loss information and services, opens its doors so readers everywhere can read the motivational stories of people who've lost weight successfully-and changed their lives along the way. Start Living, Start Losing shares 100 stories of everyday people and celebrities who reveal in compelling, moving, and sometimes humorous detail their journeys toward slimming down.

    The healing touchstone of millions, this modern classic by one of America's best-loved and most inspirational authors holds the key to understanding codependency and to unlocking its stultifying hold on your life.Is someone else's problem your problem? If, like so many others, you've lost sight of your own life in the drama of tending to someone else's, you may be codependent--and you may find yourself in this book--Codependent No More.The healing touchstone of millions, this modern classic by one of America's best-loved and most inspirational authors holds the key to understanding codependency and to unlocking its stultifying hold on your life.With instructive life stories, personal reflections, exercises, and self-tests, Codependent No More is a simple, straightforward, readable map of the perplexing world of codependency--charting the path to freedom and a lifetime of healing, hope, and happiness.Melody Beattie is the author of Beyond Codependency, The Language of Letting Go, Stop Being Mean to Yourself, The Codependent No More Workbook and Playing It by Heart.

    Now this witty social observer has again turned her discerning eye to her contemporaries, with Leap!, a no-holds-barred, illuminating, and hopeful look at the choices and challenges we face and the roads open to us.For many years Davidson earned a living as a successful journalist and screenwriter, but in her fifties she saw her life come apart: She could no longer find work, she endured a break-up with her partner, and her children left for college. For the first time ever, she had nothing to do. She felt adrift, but she found that she was not alone. In Leap!, Davidson sets out on a passionate quest to learn how to do the coming years well. Drawing on her own experience and that of others, she explores such questions as• How does a high-powered person learn to walk down the ladder gracefully?• How can women continue to be sensual and not touch-deprived?• How do we arrange to grow old with our friends? • What will be the fire at the center of our lives?• Why are we still here?Davidson interviews people from across the country and from all walks of life, including such icons as Carly Simon, Tom Hayden, Tracy Kidder, Jane Fonda, Ram Dass, and Iman, as well as teachers, writers, psychologists, businesspeople, and spiritual leaders. The candid portraits are both inspiring and cautionary.True to character, boomers will approach these years differently from previous generations, and there will be no single path. Some will feel free for the first time to take risks; others will embark upon a spiritual search; some will want to give back, to make the world a better place; others will want to play or make creativity a priority. But they will not fade quietly into the sunset. With Leap!, Sara Davidson holds up a mirror for readers, allowing them to see not only themselves and those around them but their potential future. With Davidson as a guide, the possibilities are boundless.

    In Hug Your People, he elaborates on his big secret: hiring, motivating, and keeping your biggest asset--great employees!

    Since it was first published, The Woman's Book of Courage has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of women.

    Insightful reflections reveal surprisingly simple things that can transform lives.

    A journey inside a well-known therapeutic school traces the transformation of four teenagers as they struggle through an intensive program of academics, wilderness survival, and group therapy.

    But these maxims emphasizing selflessness and compassion took on a life of their own, finding their way into countless speeches, advice columns, institutions, and homes. Thirty years later, they were reclaimed by Kent and formally published as Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments, an inspirational guide-for-living. Now Kent shares new stories of following these simple, sensible truths. This companion guide includes specific tools, exercises, and suggestions that the reader can use for personal introspection or group discussion.