Dancing with a Porcupine: Parenting wounded children without losing your self


Jennie Lynn Owens - 2019
    So what do you do when you're parenting a child who has experienced trauma or has extra challenges? You often feel alone and inadequate. You want so much to help your child, but you are at the end of your own rope. You feel guilty that sometimes you want to just quit.What can you do -- how can you make it through the day -- how can you help your child while also taking care of yourself?Maybe someone you love is parenting a traumatized child. Or perhaps you are a social worker, counselor, or other professional who sees families like these every day. You want to know how to better help them.In Dancing with a Porcupine, Jennie Owens shares with humor and raw honesty the compelling story of her struggle to save her own life while caring for three children she and her husband adopted from foster care. How could she stay loving, giving, and forgiving in the midst of a daily battle with children acting out the rage, resentment, and pain of their own traumatic pasts?When faith, endurance, and creativity are not enough, what's next?

The match : complete strangers, a miracle face transplant, two lives transformed


Susan Whitman Helfgot - 2010
    But his heart was failing. After months of waiting for a heart transplant, he died during the operation. Hours after his death, his wife Susan was asked a shocking question: would she donate her husband’s face to a total stranger?The stranger was James Maki, the adopted son of parents who spent part of World War II in an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Rebelling against his stern father, a professor, by enlisting to serve in Vietnam, he returned home a broken man, addicted to drugs. One night he fell facedown onto the electrified third rail of a Boston subway track.A young Czech surgeon who was determined to make a better life on the other side of the Iron Curtain was on call when the ambulance brought Maki to the hospital. Although Dr. Bohdan Pomahac gave him little chance of survival, Maki battled back. He was sober and grateful for a second chance, but he became a recluse, a man without a face. His only hope was a controversial face transplant, and Dr. Pomahac made it happen.In The Match, Susan Whitman Helfgot captures decades of drama and history, taking us from Warsaw to Japan, from New York to Hollywood. Through wars and immigration, poverty and persecution, from a medieval cadaver dissection to a stunning seventeen-hour face transplant, she weaves together the story of people forever intertwined—a triumphant legacy of hope.

Literal Leigh Romance Diaries: The Complete Collection Boxed Set


Melanie James - 2015
    Leigh Epstein and friends are single, twenty-something-year-old school teachers, living relatively normal lives until Leigh stumbles upon a magic writing desk. What will happen with Leigh and her band of magical misfits as they bounce from disaster to catastrophe when she discovers the extent of her powers? Will anyone be safe from the calamity when Leigh is magically compelled to write hot, steamy romance titles like Four-bitten Fangtasy, Bangin’ the Billion-Were, Sleighing the Elfa, and Regurgitant…or anything else for that matter? Chaos is sure to ensue when you add in three sexy hot roofers, magical brownies, a paranormal pet shop, a hot SEAL with amnesia, zompires, Fur-Con, and Leigh’s psychotic familiar, Luna. Follow along as Leigh takes on The Witches Union Local 1313, galloping golems, and pesky ghosts just to name a few.

Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn't Last and What Your Church Can Do about It


Mark DeVries - 2008
    Again. What goes wrong? Why do youth ministries crumble? And what is the cost to students, parents, volunteers and church staff? Is a sustainable youth ministry possible, even after a youth pastor leaves? Youth ministry expert Mark DeVries knows the answer is yes, because he helps build sustainable youth ministries through his coaching service called Youth Ministry Architects. So take heart: No matter what state the youth ministry at your church is in--in need of a leader and volunteers, full of battles and stress, large or small in number--it can be built to survive and to last for the long haul. Based on his own experience and on his many conversations and interviews with churches in crisis, DeVries pinpoints problems that cause division and burnout and dispels strongly held myths. He then provides the practical tools and structures pastors and church leaders need to lay a strong foundation for your ministry so that it isn't built on a person or the latest, greatest student ministry trend. His accessible guidancehelps senior pastors and search committees create a realistic job description for a youth pastor provides tips for making wise hiring decisions equips youth pastors to build a strong volunteer team offers creative solutions to help youth pastors set and keep boundaries gives a road map for navigating church politics and more Building a sustainable youth ministry is not easy, and it's not quick. But with commitment to the process, hard work and DeVries's guidance, you can put together a healthy youth ministry--one that fits your church and lasts for the long haul. Youth ministry can last. Here's how.

The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith


Marcus J. Borg - 2003
    Being born again, for example, has nothing to do with fundamentalism, but is a call to radical personal transformation. Talking about the kingdom of God does not mean that you are fighting against secularism, but that you have committed your life to the divine values of justice and love. And living the true Christian way is essentially about opening one's heart—to God, and to others. Above all else, Borg believes with passion and conviction that living the Christian life still makes sense.

About Alice


Calvin Trillin - 2006
    You mean I peaked in December of 1963?I’m afraid so.But he never quit trying to impress her. In his writing, she was sometimes his subject and always his muse. The dedication of the first book he published after her death read, “I wrote this for Alice. Actually, I wrote everything for Alice.”In that spirit, Calvin Trillin has, with About Alice, created a gift to the wife he adored and to his readers.

Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal


Melanie Warner - 2013
    She began an investigative journey that took her to research labs, university food science departments, and factories around the country. What she discovered provides a rare, eye-opening, and sometimes disturbing, account of what we're really eating. Warner looks at how decades of food science have resulted in the cheapest, most abundant, most addictive, and most nutritionally inferior food in the world, and she uncovers startling evidence about the profound health implications of the packaged and fast foods that we eat on a daily basis.Combining meticulous research, vivid writing, and cultural analysis, Warner blows the lid off the largely undocumented, and lightly regulated, world of chemically treated and processed foods and lays bare the potential price we may pay for consuming even so-called healthy foods.

The Red Devil : A Memoir About Beating The Odds


Katherine Russell Rich - 1999
    Hailed by critics nationwide and winner of two 1999 Books for a Better Life Awards, this book shares the author's bold tale of illness, joy, mortality, and the improbable triumph of love in the midst of despair.

Killing for You: A Brave Soldier, a Beautiful Dancer, and a Shocking Double Murder


Keith Elliot Greenberg - 2017
    A KILLER PLOT Twenty-six-year-old actor Daniel Wozniak was unemployed, facing eviction, and deep in debt for his upcoming wedding. So he devised a diabolical plan: He asked his neighbor Sam Herr, a young war veteran, to help him move some things into the attic of an empty theater. There, Wozniak shot Herr twice in the head before taking his ATM card and cell phone. Hours later,Wozniak performed on stage with his fiancée in a local production of the musical Nine, convinced that he had gotten away with murder… A DRAMATIC LAST ACT Wozniak dismembered his victim’s body and hid the pieces. Then he lured Herr’s college friend Juri “Julie” Kibuishi to Herr’s apartment and shot her twice in the head. The police immediately declared Herr a prime suspect—just as Wozniak had planned. But when Herr was declared missing, and his ATM withdrawals led authorities to Wozniak at his bachelor party, the actor was forced to play the role of a lifetime in a shocking murder investigation that would be his greatest—and final—performance… Includes 8 pages of photos

The Essential Stephen King: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels, Short Stories, Movies, and Other Creations of the World's Most Popular Writer


Stephen J. Spignesi - 2001
    Ranks the horror writer's written works and films, discussing reasons for the ranking, quotes, information on revisions and film adaptations, and a summary of the work's plot and main characters.

Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World: Leaving a Lasting Legacy


Ken Ham - 2004
    Parents also face a disturbing trend of young people leaving home and leaving the Church - and want to insure their children have a strong foundation of biblical faith and understanding. Discover how to create an incredible faith legacy in your family! Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World presents empowering insight for: surviving the culture wars as a family, educating children-the Bible offers guidance, practical tips for raising spiritually-healthy children, solutions to the root cause of dysfunctional families, discovering biblical authority as a parent, and discipline-necessary and lovingly administered. Ken Ham is joined by his brother, Steve Ham, in presenting this powerful look at how the principles and truth of Genesis are vital to the strong and lasting foundation of a family. Sharing their own stories of growing up in a Genesis family and sharing this legacy within their own families, it is an intensely personal and practical guide for parents.

The Art of Rest: Faith to hit pause in a world that never stops


Adam Mabry - 2018
    But you can. You need to. And it's wonderful. It's time to learn the art of rest.

Writer, M.D.: The Best Contemporary Fiction and Nonfiction by Doctors


Leah Kaminsky - 2010
    Writer, M.D. celebrates this rich tradition with a collection of fiction and nonfiction by today’s most beloved physician-writers, including,• Abraham Verghese, on the lost art of the physical exam• Pauline Chen, on the bond between a med student and her first cadaver• Atul Gawande, on the ethical dilemmas of a young surgical intern• Danielle Ofri, on the devastation of losing a patient• Ethan Canin, on love, poetry, and growing oldThese essays and stories illuminate the inner lives of men and women who deal with trauma, illness, mortality, and grief on a daily basis. Read together, they provide a candid, moving, one-of-a-kind glimpse behind the doctor’s mask.

Walk Of Shame Series


Victoria Ashley - 2017
    This place is dirty. The boys are dirty and addictive..." Meet the dirty talking male strippers! Slade- The Sex Addict Hemy- The Heartbreaker Cale- The Virgin Stone- The Go Getter Styx- The Giver Kash- The Protector (Coming soon) Catch up now and be prepared for the final Walk of Shame man COMING SOON! WARNING! ONLY READ IF YOU LIKE YOUR MEN DEMANDING AND DIRTY WITH EVEN DIRTIER MOUTHS. NOT EVERYONE CAN HANDLE THE EXTREME HOTNESS OF THE WALK OF SHAME MEN. THINK YOU CAN?

Simple Secrets to a Happy Life


Luci Swindoll - 2012
    Everyone reads one of her books and wants to know this woman personally. Everyone feels that sweet sense of connection, where it seems that she is sharing from her plainest, deepest self, and seeing into yours . . . She's the world's soul mate." -Anne Lamott Is it possible to stay full of life, laughter, love, and the Lord through eight decades in this crazy world? Is that even realistic? Yes! There is hope, and Luci Swindoll is living proof.With heart and humor, this best-selling author and beloved speaker lays out the truths that can help us all become a little more creative, organized, healthy, and happy. This is not a complex prescription for how to become superwoman. These are simple secrets, the wisdom produced by years of walking with God and living well.We don't need more tips for "having it all," but we could all use insight on "having "what matters,"" and there is no better guide than Luci Swindoll. Luci has spent eight decades accumulating the stories, memories, verses, and practical tips that make up "Simple Secrets to a Happy Life." Whether traveling the world or building life-long friendships, singing in the opera or working for Mobil Oil, every step has taught her a little more about how to love God, love her neighbor, and love herself.The result is both personal and universal. Organized into fifty short chapters, her reflections form a simple and profound outline for making the most of the lives God has given us.We could all use a little more joy in our lives, which means we could all use a little more Luci. Visit her through these snapshots of wisdom. You'll find yourself drawn back again and again.