But on land, she could never shake the feeling of being a fish out of water. Starting at age two, Nancy devoted her life to swimming, even qualifying for the 1988 Olympic Trials in the fifty-meter freestyle event. But nearly two decades later, when she hung up her cap and goggles, she was confronted with a different kind of challenge: learning who she was out of the lanes.In this honest, intimate memoir, Nancy reflects on her years wandering the globe, where tragic events and a lost sense of self escalate her dependence on booze. Thirty-three years after her first sip of alcohol, the swimmer comes to a stunning realization while living with her husband and son in Abu Dhabi—she’s drowning in the desert. Nancy looks to the Bedouin people for the strength to conquer one final opponent: alcohol addiction.

    Then came an irresistible opportunity: she won a fellowship to spend three months, all expenses paid, anywhere in the world to research and write a book. Did she choose a glittering metropolis, a romantic village, an exotic paradise? Um, no. Nell chose Bleaker Island, a snowy, windswept pile of rock off the Falklands. There, in a guesthouse where she would be the only guest, she imagined she could finally rid herself of distractions and write her 2,500 words a day. In three months, surely she'd have a novel, right?It's true that there aren't many distractions on Bleaker, other than sheep, penguins, paranoia and the weather. But as Nell gets to work on her novel--a delightful Dickensian fiction she calls Bleaker House--she discovers that an excruciatingly erratic Internet connection and 1100 calories a day (as much food as she could carry in her suitcase, budgeted to the raisin) are far from ideal conditions for literary production. With deft humour, this memoir traces Nell's island days and slowly reveals details of the life and people she has left behind in pursuit of her art. They pop up in her novel, as well, as memoir and novel start to reflect one another. It seems that there is nowhere Nell can run--neither a remote island nor the pages of her notebook--to escape herself.A whimsical, entertaining, thought-provoking blend of memoir and travelogue, laced with tongue-in-cheek writing advice, Bleaker House brilliantly captures the hopes, fears, self-torture and humour of being young and yearning to make a creative life. With winning honesty and wit, Nell's race to finish her book emerges as a fascinating narrative in its own right.

    Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt discovered early in their friendship that they shared a disturbing trait: as children, they navigated dangerous inner-city life without a father s guidance. In spite of this, they escaped delinquency and crime to form the Pact, dedicated to putting themselves on the road to success. Now, the Three Doctors make a new promise: to set aside their resentment, and rebuild the relationships with their fathers men they barely recognize. Told in alternating voices between father and son, "The Bond" explores the hard lessons of growing up without a father and suggests ways to stem the tide of fatherlessness in communities across the country. Honest, brave, and poignant, "The Bond" is a book for every child and every family."

    With remarkable honesty and wit, author Joan Kendall nimbly explores her upbringing in the prim and proper segregated South during the 1950s with an outrageously unpredictable and destructive alcoholic mother.Joan and her two sisters--Linda, the perplexing spendthrift, and Susan, the practical optimist--never knew which mother would appear on the scene: the charming Mary Poppins or the spiteful Cruella de Vil. Their loving father did his best, but behind closed doors, his criticism of their mother's drinking fueled her bizarre and neglectful behaviors and further withdrawal into an ocean of whiskey.The sisters often had each other's backs, and the family maid and daytime buffer, Jadie Bell, provided a fortress in their domestic war. Although Jadie Bell loved them as her own, she could not rid their home of gloom and shame.In Joan's adulthood, a lamentable family secret is divulged, and the pain and trauma of the past becomes clear. In this beautifully written memoir, Joan reveals her own brokenness, and shares her path to redemption, healing, and joy.

    This singular memoir--a classic American story--invites readers to Erin's corner of her beloved Maine to share the real person behind the "girl from Freedom" fairytale, and the not-so-picture-perfect struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that make Erin's life triumphant.In Finding Freedom, Erin opens up to the challenges, stumbles, and victories that have led her to the exact place she was ever meant to be, telling stories of multiple rock-bottoms, of darkness and anxiety, of survival as a jobless single mother, of pills that promised release but delivered addiction, of a man who seemed to offer salvation but in the end ripped away her very sense of self. And of the beautiful son who was her guiding light as she slowly rebuilt her personal and culinary life around the solace she found in food--as a source of comfort, a sense of place, as a way of bringing goodness into the world. Erin's experiences with deep loss and abiding hope, told with both honesty and humor, will resonate with women everywhere who are determined to find their voices, create community, grow stronger and discover their best-selves despite seemingly impossible odds. Set against the backdrop of rural Maine and its lushly intense, bountiful seasons, Erin reveals the passion and courage needed to invent oneself anew, and the poignant, timeless connections between food and generosity, renewal and freedom.

    This is the story of how, for 460 days, I fought to save her and bring her home. “This book is impossible to put down. As inspiring as it is bone-chilling, this is an incredible story of hope and joy, grit and gumption by a determined mother who will stop at nothing to save her daughter.” —Jann Arden, singer-songwriter and bestselling author of Falling Backwards “A gripping, mother’s-eye view of Amanda Lindhout’s kidnapping ordeal...For any parent who has ever worried about, advocated for, and deeply loved a child, Lorinda Stewart’s honest, lion-hearted account will leave you both stunned and uplifted.” —Sara Corbett, coauthor of A House in the SkyOn August 23, 2008, Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped outside Mogadishu in Somalia. The kidnappers’ demand was simple: pay millions or Amanda would be killed. For the next 460 days, Amanda’s mother, Lorinda Stewart, did everything in her power to get her daughter back alive. A brave, small-town mother with no experience in hostage negotiations, Lorinda was called upon by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to be the lead communicator with “Adam”—the Somali man who identified himself as the English-speaking negotiator for Amanda’s kidnappers. In a secret “war room” in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Lorinda joined forces with federal officers and began answering calls from Adam, establishing a fragile rapport of trust with the man who held her daughter’s fate in his hands. She learned how to demand POLs (proofs of life) from Amanda’s hostage takers and even how to react to “bad calls”—getting through them despite having to listen to her daughter’s desperate cries for help and fearing Amanda was being abused and tortured. What was supposed to be a short negotiation stretched on, and weeks became months. As negotiations broke down, Lorinda found herself increasingly on her own. But she never gave up hope, even when the phone calls became more traumatic. Faced with the terrible possibility of her daughter’s death, Lorinda decided to bring in a private security company and raise money from donors to support the cause of bringing Amanda home. But would it be enough? One Day Closer is the true story of one mother’s heroic perseverance in the face of despair, and of the hope and healing to be found beyond trauma. It is also, above all, a tribute to the extraordinary power of a mother’s love.

    Jensen--you just never knew it. As the owner of the world's largest disaster management company, he has spent most of his adult life responding to tragedy. From the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, the Bali bombings, the 2004 South Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina to the 2010 Haitian Earthquake and the Grenfell Tower Fire, Jensen is at the practical level of international incidents, assisting with the recovery of bodies, identifying victims, and repatriating and returning their personal effects to the surviving family members. He is also, crucially, involved in the emotional recovery that comes after a disaster: helping guide the families, governments, and companies involved, telling them what to expect and managing the unmanageable. As he puts it, "If journalists write the first rough draft of history, I put the punctuation on the past."Personal Effects is an unsparing, up-close look at the difficult work Jensen does behind the yellow tape and the lessons he learned there. The chronicle of an almost impossible and grim job, Personal Effects also tells Jensen's own story, how he came to this line of work, how he manages the chaos that is his life, and the personal toll the repeated exposure to mass death brings, in becoming what GQ called "the best at the worst job in the world."A rare glimpse into a world we all see but many know nothing about, Personal Effects is an inspiring and heartwarming story of survival and the importance of moving forward. Jensen allows his readers to see over his shoulder as he responds to disaster sites, uncovers the deceased, and cares for families to show how a strong will and desire to do good can become a path through the worst the world can throw at us.

    Roth watches as his eighty-six-year-old father—famous for his vigor, charm, and his repertoire of Newark recollections—battles with the brain tumor that will kill him. The son, full of love, anxiety, and dread, accompanies his father through each fearful stage of his final ordeal, and, as he does so, discloses the survivalist tenacity that has distinguished his father's long, stubborn engagement with life.

    But when Yancey was in college, he uncovered a shocking secret about his father's death--a secret that began to illuminate the motivations that drove his mother to extreme, often hostile religious convictions and a belief that her sons had been ordained for a divine cause.Searching for answers, Yancey dives into his family origins, taking us on an evocative journey from the backwoods of the Bible Belt to the bustling streets of Philadelphia; from trailer parks to church sanctuaries; from family oddballs to fire-and-brimstone preachers and childhood awakenings through nature, music, and literature. In time, the weight of religious and family pressure sent both sons on opposite paths--one toward healing from the impact of what he calls a "toxic faith," the other into a self-destructive spiral.Where the Light Fell is a gripping family narrative set against a turbulent time in post-World War II America, shaped by the collision of Southern fundamentalism with the mounting pressures of the civil rights movement and Sixties-era forces of social change. In piecing together his fragmented personal history and his search for redemption, Yancey gives testament to the enduring power of our hunger for truth and the possibility of faith rooted in grace instead of fear."I truly believe this is the one book I was put on earth to write," says Yancey. "So many of the strands from my childhood—racial hostility, political division, culture wars—have resurfaced in modern form. Looking back points me forward."

    Set against the backdrop of the small, close-knit Pittwater community with its colorful characters and quirky history, this story is about what happens when you open the door to life, adventure, and love. But it's also about mothers and daughters, as Susan confronts her mother's new frailty and her own role in what has always been a difficult relationship. Where Salvation Creek was about mortality—living life in the face of death—The House is about stepping outside your comfort zone and embracing challenges, at any age. In turn funny and moving, Susan Duncan's beautifully written sequel reminds us to honor what matters in life, and to disregard what really doesn't.

    Oz, 2016 along with O, The Oprah Magazine 2003 and one of Oprah’s Choices as one of the Top 10 most talked about stories in 2010. Inside the life of a surrogate mother Susan Ring, a single mother of two who learns upon her second journey, with the same intended parents, she is pregnant with triplets. The parents demand a reduction to twins. The surrogacy agency informs Susan of the unbelievable, the parents no longer want the twins she is pregnant with, and the intended father is suffering from mental illness. The parents breach the contract, divorce, and abandon Susan and the twins at the hospital, ultimately insisting their children go to social services. Susan refuses to comply and boldly prepares to fight for parentage in a California court with no biological ties. It is a story of hope, love and letting go. This astonishingly honest memoir raises challenging ethical questions, redefines motherhood, and what it means to be a mother in today’s complex world of infertility. It recognizes how far advanced science has become, and how the law is lagging far behind. Above all, it is a story for our times.

    Every now and again she rips the pick out of my hand and tosses it inside the guitar . . . I hold it over my head, hole down, shaking it back and forth, the pick rattling around in there. And as it ricochets from side to side, I always think about pills. Maybe the pick has turned into oxy. Or Norco, codeine, Demerol. Maybe it's a pill and when it falls out I can gobble it up.After years of hard-won sobriety, while rebuilding a life with his wife and young daughter, thirty-five-year-old Joshua Mohr suffers a stroke--his third, it turns out-- which uncovers a heart condition requiring surgery. Which requires fentanyl, one of his myriad drugs of choice. This forced "freelapse" should fix his heart, but what will it do to his sobriety? And what if it doesn't work?Told in stunning, surreal, time-hopping vignettes, Model Citizen is a raw, revealing portrait of an addict. Mohr shines a harsh spotlight into all corners of his life, throwing the wild joys, tragedies, embarrassments, and adventures of his past into bold relief.Pulsing with humanity and humor, revealing the immediacy of an addict climbing out of the murky pit of his past, Model Citizen is a darkly beautiful, incisive confession.

    a ballsy paean to self-determination and body confidence ... McSharry's style is a pleasure: precise, colloquial, tightly paced. She's nailed the elusive directness central to the work of essayists like Lena Dunham. If you read one heart-breaking yet bouncy true-life memoir this summer, make sure it's this one.' Sunday Times 'An absolutely stunning piece of work ... just a fantastic book' Roisin Ingle'Hello there @louisemcsharry. Well, I LOVED your book and now I LOVE YOU TOO!!!!! You are INSPIRATIONAL!' Marian Keyes on Twitter'Louise is heartbreakingly honest. A sharp, well-observed, and ultimately inspirational read. Every woman of every age should read this book.' Louise O'Neill'Searingly honest ... at times makes for heart-breaking reading but Louise is at her most inspiring talking about her journey towards fat acceptance' Irish Daily Star'Louise's life reads like a thriller - I had goose-bumps throughout! Brave, funny, emotional and totally relatable for women.' Roz Purcell'Hugely enjoyable. So honest and insightful. I loved the positivity and the REALNESS! Will be amazing for young women to read.' Una Mullaly'Both heart-warming and heart-breaking. Vividly raw and surprisingly visceral, Louise makes you feel every single bit.' Angela Scanlon'Should be compulsory reading for all young people, male and female. Older readers will also be inspired by McSharry's no-nonsense approach ... Whether writing about sex, feminism, family or body acceptance, McSharry is compassionate, funny and wise' Irish Times'A mighty woman, with cojones the size of Mexico and coolness in the face of adversity not seen since John Wayne's heyday' Irish Independent'She's a straight shooter, honest and to the point' The HeraldLouise McSharry's passion is to talk to young women (and the men who love them), about being a woman in the modern world. Drawing on her own 33 years of life, she writes about everything from surviving a messed up childhood, to crashing out of education and still making it, to figuring out sex, weight, feminism, make-up, friendship, workplace politics and a whole lot more.Though she has the raw material (the early death of her father and being taken into care at seven because of her mother's alcoholism) the last thing Louise wanted do was to write a misery memoir. She wasn't keen on writing a cancer survival story either (she went through treatment while planning her wedding ... trying on white dresses while sweating and hairless - not a good look).So, though it has its sad moments, Fat Chance is honest, upbeat, irreverent and inspirational - just like a long chat with a best friend. A fabulous, funny and wise best friend!

    In 1-2-3 Magic Teen, internationally renowned parenting expert Thomas W. Phelan explains how to better understand your teenager, which problems are not worth fighting over, and why your child's behavior likely matches the definition of a normal adolescent. With helpful, straightforward advice backed up by research and parent-tested strategies, 1-2-3 Magic Teen will help you establish a calmer, more respectful home and family life and show you how to guide your teenager into healthy, functional young adulthood. In this book, you'll find tools and advice tailored for the challenges of a teen lifestyle, including: Forgetting to do chores Absence in family outings Drop in grades Missed curfews Parties and drinking Work responsibilities

    Yes his family had Friday-night dinners, and yes they kept a kosher house, but somehow it was never the most important part of his identity. He wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to be believing in. And yet he had to contend with the responsibility of his ancestry. That’s what first struck me about this book—how tradition and expectation sit heavily on one’s shoulders, and how Greene offers a fresh new voice for the generations of Jews who were born after the Holocaust.