Mays recalls his childhood in rural Alabama, his early playing career, and his life as a star rookie in the glory days of New York baseball.

    A true tale of wickedness, despair, and redemption. Not to be missed. Born into a Dark and Secretive World of Domestic Violence ”What kind of life is this you live? Can you remember even one day you didn’t go to bed afraid and wake up afraid?” These are the words Jena Parks says, looking in the mirror as a child. Imagine being a child and every day a desperate struggle to survive. This was the life Jena endured from birth until the day she escaped the living nightmare of her father’s abuse. In The Fear of the Blow, Jena tells her candid personal story of the cruelty, abuse, and terror her father inflicted upon her, her brother, and her mother. She provides an insider perspective on the horrors of domestic violence and child abuse that inform and inspire the reader to help those who struggle. Unthinkable Horrors - a True-Life Story From the opening passages, Parks tells us of being witness to spousal abuse as her father would hit and kick her mother. She then begins to recount stories of her father’s “games” in which he would routinely nearly strangle his children. Verbal and physical beatings were a daily occurrence. Jena lived in terror of her father’s rage, often made worse by his alcoholism. She tells of the delight he would take in threatening to kill her or her mother. How Could This Kind of Domestic Abuse Continue Unchallenged? Parks helps the reader to understand how domestic violence can take root and go unchallenged for years - often until too late. She reminds us that child abuse, spousal abuse, and domestic violence thrive in silence - and that they form the most secretive and horrific epidemics known today. It is through educating ourselves about the reality of domestic violence that we can gain insight into the extensive and crippling effects on the children who are born into and raised inside of that dark world. And this empowers us to speak up and take action to help those in need. The Fear of the Blow is sure to break your heart, open your mind, and inspire courage and faith. Join the Fight to Raise Awareness Jena Parks is a committed to raising awareness about the prevalence of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse. She has written The Fear of the Blow in the hope of empowering others to speak up and to find a safe way out before it's too late. Because Child Abuse and Domestic Violence thrive in the silence please join Jena on her mission to shine a light on this epidemic. The only way we can stop it is to reveal it, to stand up and tell the truth, tell our stories and create real change in a still broken system that traps so many helpless women and children inside this Russian roulette life. Jena’s experiences expose the extreme cruelty and wickedness of which some are capable, but also points you to the place where one can always find hope and a safe harbor. Click the Buy button on this page to get your copy today.

    It was the U.K.’s worst rail disaster in years. On the morning of October 5, 1999, two rush-hour commuter trains collided just outside London. Hundreds were feared dead. Though he was traveling in the front-most carriage, the novelist Andrew Rosenheim survived the crash. In “The Secrets of Carriage H,” Rosenheim recalls in heart-pounding detail the events of that day and opens up about the emotional rollercoaster that consumed him for months thereafter. Told with the rich textures of a novel and the bare heart of a memoir, “The Secrets of Carriage H” explores the unspoken consequences of survival and offers brutal, sometimes hilarious insight into the human condition. Andrew Rosenheim was born and raised in Chicago, but has lived in England for the last thirty-five years. He worked in publishing for many years at Oxford University Press and then as the Managing Director of Penguin Press. He is the author of seven novels, most recently Fear Itself and The Little Tokyo Informant. His writing has appeared in The Times, The New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, and many other publications. Married, he lives with his wife and twin daughters near Oxford and is the editor of Kindle Singles in the U.K.Cover design by Evan Twohy.

    She and her father, Jerry Shults, were thriving as the owners of the Gas Pipe stores in Dallas, Texas, as well as other successful businesses, when a government lawsuit threatened to take everything—their businesses, their money, and their freedom. Accused of crimes she hadn’t committed, Amy spent the next four years fighting to stay out of prison, but that wasn’t all she had to fight along the way. When one life-altering change after another shook up Amy’s world, she gained a new perspective on herself and on what matters most in life. From an exhausting and demoralizing situation came a new outlook of gratitude, but also remorse and humility. Although Amy’s actions in the past had not all been illegal, she had let the allure of money guide her decisions rather than using her moral compass; the shocking turn of events that resulted from those decisions led to profound changes and made a lasting impact on Amy’s life.

    Written with passion and openness, this forty-day journey offers stories from Head's past and present, as he speaks candidly about his bouts of depression since finding God, his struggles against the darkness as he's tried to understand his faith, and how, through these times of weakness, God's written word has been one of the keys to making him stronger than he's ever been. Applying both the Old and New Testaments to every aspect of his life--from his time with Korn to his new solo career to his life-altering decisions to his relationship with his daughter--Head details how, no matter what the issue, God has always provided the guidance he's needed to become a stronger person.One part journal chronicling his evolving relationship with God, one part spiritual testament to the undeniable strength of the Bible, "Stronger" is a devotional unlike any other--both a moving tribute to the transformative power of the word and a no-holds-barred look at what it means to give yourself completely to Jesus Christ.

     In her late twenties, M.E. Evans hops on a plane to Italy on a mission to change her life and that’s exactly what happens. Unfortunately, personal growth isn’t always easy. In Naked, bestselling author, M.E. Evans tackles the dysfunctional family narrative and travel memoir in a way that is refreshingly honest, painfully vulnerable, and wildly entertaining. If you’ve ever set foot in a foreign country or picked up a travel memoir you probably think you already know what Naked is about: a dreamy personal account of the life-altering beauty that is Italy. And sure, that’s in there, nestled somewhere between the profound grief, bruised ego, debilitating anxiety, chronic depression, vagina paintings, a boyfriend with billowing chest hair and a mother-in-law who forcibly irons your underwear. Evans’ dream of a magical life abroad is marred by forbidden love, the death of her younger brother, and a batshit crazy family, yet she skillfully merges tragedy and humor for a wild emotional journey exploring what it means to be human–flaws and all. Evans’ wit, compassion, and vulnerability make reading this book a rarely authentic and relatable experience. You’ll cry, you’ll cackle, and you’ll want Evans to be your best friend.

    The letter was both a confession and an invitation for public scrutiny. “No matter where I was,” he recalls, “there was always a chance that someone had read my post and was waiting to catch me with a drink in my hand.” To help keep himself on the straight and narrow, Carr still has a counter at the top of his site, ticking off the number of days he’s gone without a drink.In this bracing (but zero-proof) tale of recovery, Carr delivers his own twelve steps to building a life without booze. His hard-earned advice, punctuated with anecdotes that are both cautionary and comic (a bender once took him to Iceland, where he drunkenly believed he’d get better Wi-Fi) is given with humility and goodwill. Along the way, Carr celebrates the simple yet overlooked pleasures of sobriety—weight loss, a renewed love life, the ability to buy a phone or laptop without promptly losing it in a bar. As he slowly discovers, a sober life actually CAN be fun. What’s more, he’ll remember it.

    From just about surviving the equivalent of 30 car crashes a game and crooning Adele for team spirit, to extensive field notes on the smell of the Scrum and the fine art of on-pitch relief. Then there's rugby's secret naked wrestling scene and how it was exposed.In my world, you never know how the ball will bounce...

     From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, "I am an alcoholic," to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. Now, in Between Breaths, Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety--which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam--and how she dealt with this anxiety as she came of age, eventually turning to alcohol for a release from her painful reality. The now-A&E Network reporter reveals how she found herself living in denial about the extent of her addiction, and how she kept her dependency a secret for so long. She addresses her time in rehab, her first year of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother who could never find the right balance between a career and parenting. Honest and hopeful, Between Breaths is an inspiring read. Winner of the Books for a Better Life Award in the First Book category Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

    Life was a despairing time in the 1950s, as Veronica sought desperately to keep away from his cruelty. Astonishingly, to her and her mother, she won a scholarship to Ackworth Boarding School where she began to shine above her class-mates. A champion in all sports, Veronica at last found some happiness until her brother-in-law came into her life. It was as if she had stepped from the frying pan into the re: he took over control of her life removing her from the school she adored, two terms before she was due to take her GCEs, so he could put her to work as a cheap option on his market stall. Abused for many years by these two men, Veronica eventually ran away and applied to the Prison Service, knowing it was the only safe place she could trust. This is the astonishing, and true story of Veronica Bird who rose to become a Governor of Armley prison. Given a ‘basket case’ in another prison, contrary to all expectations, she turned it around within a year, to become an example for others to match. During her life inside, her ‘bird’, she met many Home Secretaries, was honoured by the Queen and was asked to help improve conditions in Russian Prisons. A deeply poignant story of eventual triumph against a staggeringly high series of setbacks, her story is filled with humour and compassion for those inside.

    And when little Tamala Georgette Jones was born in 1970, she was considered country music's heir apparent. For the first four years of her life, Georgette had two adoring parents who showed her off at every opportunity, and between her parents, grandparents, older sisters, and cheering fans, Georgette's feet seldom hit the ground. But as in every fairy tale, dark forces were just around the corner. Her parents fought, and George drank. George and Tammy divorced when Georgette was four, and it would be years before she understood just what that meant. "The Three of Us "is an honest and heartfelt look into the life of a broken family living in the glare of the public spotlight. Like so many of her generation, Georgette had to make sense of loving two parents who couldn't love each other. With never-before-told stories about George and Tammy, it recounts Tammy's descent into prescription pill addiction, her dependence on her fifth husband, George Richey, and her untimely death at the age of fifty-five. Georgette opens up about her broken relationship with her father and what it took for them to come back together. Lastly, Georgette discusses the ups and downs of her adult life: failed marriages, illness, an arrest, and now, an unexpected but thrilling career as a musician. "The Three of Us "is a story of both extreme privilege and great trials, of larger-than-life people with larger-than-life problems. Rich in country music history, it contains twists and turns, highs and lows, but in the end, it stands as an intensely moving tale of love, loss, heartbreak, and what it means to be a family.

    Amber is introduced to drugs and becomes addicted without her mother's knowledge. She meets a dealer who feeds her habit. Whilst living together, they are raided by the police. Bailed to her mother's address with a £200-a-day addiction, Amber doesn't think her family will accept her back when they discover the truth. When she's charged by the police with dealing class A drugs and accepting stolen goods, she fears she'll go to prison. Trying to feed her habit alone, Amber meets a fellow addict who offers to introduce her to prostitution. The prospect terrifies her, but will her mother help her?An unflinching story that looks at drug addiction from two sides. The book's concluding section offers two sets of personal guidelines; one for addicts, the other for parents or partners of addicts, while the in-depth, harrowing real life story vividly illustrates the difficulties of overcoming addiction. In a society where 50% of teenagers experiment with drugs, Amber is every mother's child. She could be yours.

    Rick battled depression, anxiety, and PTSD as the chaos, neglect, and unpredictability of his childhood seemed to doom him to follow in his mother's footsteps.Well into adulthood, Rick stumbled through unemployment and divorce, using drugs and alcohol to numb the pain until he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Miraculously, though, he overcame the odds and today is a happy husband and father. How did this happen? Rick's answer is this: "It was the Lord."A message of hope to those who are drowning from an undeserved childhood, Leaving Cloud 9 speaks to millions who grew up poor, feeling ignored and hopeless, and who need the healing power of God. This indelibly American story conveys the steadfast love of Jesus and his power to deliver us from the most devastating of pasts.

    Soon wielding syringes, this forty-something husband and father of two children becomes the doper next door.During his yearlong odyssey, Tilin is transformed. He becomes stronger, hornier, and aggressive. He wades into a subculture of doping physicians, real estate agents, and aging women who believe that Tilin’s type of legal “hormone replacement therapy” is the key to staying young—and he often agrees. He also lives with the price paid for renewed vitality, worrying about his health, marriage, and cheating ways as an amateur bike racer. And all along the way, he tells us what doping is really like—empowering and scary.

    Against all logic, he applies and, against all logic, he advances. Fearless and funny, Shubaly is forced to interrogate not just the reality of the show but also his decisions, his addictions, his neuroses, his desires - indeed, his entire reality.