Book picks similar to
Nurse Jack: True hospital stories, hospital covering up a rape, crime, drug abuse, tragic loss, and comical stories. by Jack S. Houston
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non-fiction
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Fresh off the Starship
Ann Crawford - 2018
Join her on this whimsical journey as she discovers the beauty of life and love on Earth.Author Ann Crawford's trademark optimism brings us a witty and wise book filled with memorable characters and insights into what makes us all so very human.
Because
Joshua Mensch - 2018
Its story begins when Mensch is ten years old and first meets Don, the charming director of a youth wilderness camp and a lifelong friend of his parents. What follows is a harrowing account of sexual and psychological abuse, told from the evolving perspective of a child entering adolescence. Because unfolds through a series of precise, jewel-like scenes that render the shifting and uncertain landscapes of childhood memory with vividness and precision. Its swift, convincing music, propelled by the powerful litany of the word "because," builds a heartbreaking tale of genuine power whose characters are as complex and fully realized as those in a novel. An unflinching take on the vulnerabilities and dangers of childhood, Because succumbs neither to self-pity nor platitudes, but instead finds consolation in the healing power of its own narrative act.
The Honey Bee: A Business Parable About Getting Un-stuck and Taking Control of Your Financial Future
Jake Stenziano - 2019
The Honey Bee tells the story of Noah—a disappointed, disaffected salesman who feels like his life is going nowhere until the day he has a chance encounter with a man named Tom Barnham, the beekeeper. In his charming, down-home way, Tom the “Bee Man” teaches Noah and his wife Emma how to grow their personal wealth using the lessons he learned from his beekeeping passion. Full of concrete lessons delivered through chapter after chapter of engaging vignettes, each of which includes actionable advice for new or aspiring entrepreneurs. Workbook-style sections at the end of each chapter help bring the lessons home, including questions to help you apply the lessons to your own business, and links to rich digital resources for even more information on how to get started creating your own multiple streams of income.
Hazard: A Sister's Flight from Family and a Broken Boy
Margaret Combs - 2017
Margaret Combs shows how her Southern Baptist family coped with the lived reality of autism in an era of ignorance and shame, the 1950s through the 1970s, and shares her own tragedy and anguish of being torn between helping her brother and yearning for her own life. Like many siblings of disabled children, young Margaret drives herself to excel in order to make up for her family’s sorrow and ultimately flees her family for what she hopes is a “normal” life.Hazard is also a story of indelible bonds between siblings: the one between Combs and her sister, and the deep and rueful one she has with her disabled brother; how he and she were buddies; and how fervently she wanted to make him whole. Initially fueled by a wish that her brother had never been born, the author eventually arrives in a deeper place of gratitude for this same brother, whom she loves and who loves her in return.
I Dream He Talks to Me: A Memoir of Learning How to Listen
Allison Moorer - 2021
In the years since his autism diagnosis, Allison and John Henry have embarked on an intense journey filled with the adventure, joy, heartbreak, confusion, and powerful love lessons that are the hallmarks of a quest for understanding.In I Dream He Talks to Me, Allison details the meltdowns and the moments of grace, and how the mundane expectations of a parent turn into extraordinary achievements. The saying goes, “If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism”; no two stories are alike, and yet there are universal truths that apply to all parent-child relationships. With gorgeous prose, Allison shares her and John Henry’s experience while also creating a riveting narrative that will speak to anyone who parents—and who has questioned their own ability to do so. An exploration of resilience and compassion—both for ourselves and for others—I Dream He Talks to Me is also a moving meditation on our place in the world and how we get there; what words mean, what they don’t; and, ultimately, how we truly express ourselves and truly know those whom we love.
The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives: A Novel
Tim Darcy Ellis - 2020
When England's Sir Thomas More offers him the role of tutor to Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, he eagerly accepts.While publicly navigating life as a 'New Christian,' Vives is quickly drawn into the secretive and dangerous world of London's Jewish community. With a foot in each world, he is torn between the love of two women.Inside the Tudor court, the king and queen separately seek Vives's assistance to support their opposed demands. He must betray one to help the other, knowing his decision could cost him his life. Whom will he choose? Will his wily skills allow him to manipulate them both? Not only his survival but that of his family and his entire people hang in the balance.
Born by the River: The true story of a young girl growing up along the Mississippi River during the summer of 1963
Jenness Clark - 2016
Born by the River is Clark’s account of her nine-month trip around the river to visit extended family, all connected by marriage but markedly different in culture, class, and traditions—circumstances certain to provoke discord. A coming-of-age story set in a time and place deeply divided, Clark’s memoir explores her family’s past, referencing the area’s history from 1820 to 1964. The region acts as a conflicted backdrop, threatening the hopes, the dreams, and the American way of life for the author’s family. Alternating in viewpoint between the reflections of the adult Clark as she looks back on life and her stirring impressions during the time of her river journey, Born by the River is an inspirational memoir lifted from family destruction and the prejudices of a socially divided region.
Missing and Presumed Dead
Michael Fleeman - 2019
The disappearance of the beautiful, vivacious hostess at a popular Myrtle Beach, South Carolina restaurant made international headlines and triggered a sweeping high-stakes investigation that exposed a twisted web of deception, betrayal, sexual obsession, police corruption and revenge. But Heather's body was never located. A series of sensational trials involving a handsome restaurant coworker and his Disneyland-obsessed wife resulted in shocking verdicts – but no body – as her family desperately sought closure and fought for justice, and a resort town struggled to regain calm.
Read this latest gripping true crime from the bestselling author of BETTER OFF DEAD.
A Walk In His Shoes: One family's struggle. A son's battle with addiction.
Dustin John - 2015
With a lucrative job, a wife, and a home of his own, he was destined for a life of fortune, prosperity and comfort. That was before heroin. This unique and gripping tale is the first of its kind to tell the story of addiction through the eyes of both father and son. Together, Dustin and Dallas shine a blinding light on the dark life of a junky. As Dustin decides to travel across the western states in search of a safe haven, Dustin wanders within a few footsteps of his own demise. Instead of finding freedom, however, his addiction cascades into corruption, deceit, and evil. As alcohol and drug abuse continues to ravage every community in America, this groundbreaking memoir offers important insight into the inner workings of an active user, as well as the pain of those loved ones who must helplessly stand by as the family structure disintegrates from addiction.
In the Flesh: My Story
Michael Gabriele - 2017
Prepare to walk in the sandals of a life you never completely contemplated. Dare to endure a sacrifice you never ventured to appreciate. Savor a love you will never fully fathom.Relive the greatest story ever told through the eyes of the one who cured the incurable and walked on water ... who challenged both religious and political establishments ... who suffered all the brutality of a Roman crucifixion ... and who victoriously abandoned his tomb. Let Jesus lead you through a riveting adventure that deeply explores his personal thoughts, joys, fears, frustrations, even his most profound prayers as he walked this earth in the flesh - fully divine and fully human, on a mission to save mankind.IN THE FLESH - MY STORY transcends the conventional to uncover a raw, unrestrained, fast-moving exclusive — the most influential figure in human history personally telling his side of the story.www.InTheFleshBook.com
Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire
Dan Conway - 2019
Reading this book was nothing short of thrilling." – Manhattan Book ReviewAt the start of this riveting memoir, Dan Conway is a brash young executive in a vast corporation, slogging his way up the ladder while struggling with depression and an addiction he thought he had defeated long ago. As he begins to realize that the mix of nightmarish bureaucracy and his unruly "flip side" have doomed any chance of success, Dan stumbles upon cryptocurrency, tumbling down the rabbit hole to discover a strange, anarchic, but captivating world. He decides to wager everything—his savings, his marriage, his family, his future—on the fledgling crypto, Ether.In Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire, readers join Dan on a rollicking, harrowing, frequently hilarious journey, including his: struggle to rise through the corporate ranks; battle with addiction and its aftermath; bid to reinvent himself; efforts to hold his marriage and family together; and the costs–and thrills–of risking it all."For Conway, crypto was only partly about the money. It was also about finding liberation and salvation." – ForbesDan details in a non-technical and non-preachy way how the idea of blockchain-based decentralization has convinced a generation of dreamers, misfits and gamblers to too often bet more than they can afford to lose. He illustrates how public blockchains like Ethereum could disrupt the nature of work itself in the coming years, upending stultifying centralized corporations in favor of "trust machines" and peer-to-peer cooperation. In the process, readers take a thrilling ride with Dan on a turbocharged adventure through crypto, not knowing if he will make history or lose everything he holds dear.
A Paramedics Diary: Life and Death on the Streets
Stuart Gray - 2010
A Paramedic's Diary is his gripping, blow-by-blow account of a year on the streets - 12 roller-coaster months of enormous highs and tragic lows. One day he'll save a young mother's life as she gives birth, the next he might watch a young girl die on the tarmac in front of him after a hit-and-run. His is a world of hoax calls, drunks and druggies, terrorist bombings and gangland shootings. A gripping, entertaining and often amusing read. About the author:Stuart Gray has been a guest on Saturday Live on Radio 4 and the Simon Mayo Show and the Donal MacIntyre Show on Radio Five Live.He has also appeared on TV in Bizarre ER. The Times named him one of the 40 Bloggers who really count and said that he 'encounters more blood-curdling drama on a single shift than most people would in a year' and that his writing is 'compelling and plainly written.'
Apotheosis Now: Rabbit Hole to the Beyond
Yanhao Huang - 2021
Because externally, we are always trying to control what is “not me,” and internally, we always get perplexed trying to figure out whether our actions came from our “higher” or “lower” self. As Albert Einstein said: “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”This book will help you to understand:Why we have internal conflictsHow does our ego trap us in undesirable circumstancesHow do our beliefs limit usWhy thought-based teachings (Law of Attraction), or self-improvement advice don’t workHow do we really get what we wantWhy is happiness so rare for usWho we are reallyWhat is the nature of existenceWhat is the meaning of lifeHow do we know if there is a GodWhat is the process of spiritual enlightenmentMany of us are starting to become tired of this game of life. We have been comparing and striving all our life. But no matter how much success we have achieved—we are still hollow and still have found nothing fulfilling. We don’t even know if happiness exists because it is no longer a living thing in our experience—it has become dead, as we only know it as a concept or memory.We have sought self-help advice, philosophies, and religious teachings to transform ourselves but have not gotten anywhere. We have made some superficial improvements—like adopting a new mindset—but our core remains the same. We are still competitive, still fearful, and we get disturbed all the time.The problem with all attempts at self-improvement is that we do not address the fundamental problem, which is: who is the “you” who needs to be improved? We do not see that the one who is making the improvement is the same one who needs to be improved. The more we try to improve, the more conflict we introduce, within and without. The more knowledge we stuff in our heads, the more we become trapped in a conceptual prison of reality. Inevitably, the more confused we get in life.The book guides the reader out of their distorted beliefs to experience reality beyond the mind. When the deeper intelligence is allowed to flourish without our mind's interference, then the game of life becomes effortless.
The Replacement Chronicles
Harper Swan - 2016
Two Lives… separated by millennia but nevertheless linked irrevocably. What possible link could Mark Hayek, an introverted twenty-first century research scientist, have to Raven, a young healer who lived during the late Pleistocene? It has everything to do with an injured Neanderthal man taken captive by Raven’s band while he and his brothers were hunting bison. After Raven heals the captive, he leaves for his tribe, and she tries to forget him as she struggles to remain within the band. But it’s not possible to stay when several band members make her life with the group untenable. Seeking the Neanderthal man she’d helped and facing her fear of being alone on the dangerous steppes, she begins crossing that grassy land—but a woman like Raven isn’t destined to be by herself for long. In the future, Mark Hayek is forced into making his own journey when his uncle dies in the Levant. His travels place him firmly in the footsteps of his Neanderthal and Early Modern Human ancestors, crossing the same ancient lands as he struggles against the fate a wayward kinsman has imposed. He’s been made a pawn in a cruel game, but when he encounters a woman being held prisoner in a cave, he seeks a way to save her. Help arrives for the pair, flowing from an unexpected, ancient source, igniting a struggle deep within Mark to accept that the illogical as well as the logical make up existence. Peoples come and go, one group replacing another over time, and echoes from ancient events have always affected the future, but Mark and Raven discover that in certain environments echoes are able to bounce back and forth, blurring their origins.
Chunk (Kindle Single)
Brian Donovan - 2015
Chunk follows him along his crazy, overweight journey; from the chubby 10-year old who stole brownies and tricked his parents into thinking he’d lost weight, to the teenage boy who made regular after-school plans to eat entire pies, to the adult man who still hates working out and still loves Cinnabons. It’s a bracingly funny and delightfully uncomfortable collection of essays exploring food, fitness, and the funny things that happen when we try to slim down and grow up. Brian Donovan has written for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, National Public Radio, and, most recently, ABC’s The Neighbors. His work has also appeared on Chapelle’s Show, Funny or Die, and Off Broadway in New York City. His “Not a Match: My True Tales of Online Dating Disasters” is currently being developed for television. Cover design by Adil Dara.