Book picks similar to
GUTS by Janet Buttenwieser
non-fiction
biography
memoir
nonfiction
Faith Among Shadows
Malcolm Leal - 2009
While on special assignment with the Cuban Special Forces, Malcolm receives a blow from a sniper rifle that almost ends his life. It is in this moment of darkness that Malcolm calls upon this God in faith, thus beginning his miraculous journey in search of truth, and his eventual discovery of and conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Forty Thousand to One
Ben Petrick - 2012
Over the past year, author and former Major League baseball player Ben Petrick has developed a loyal readership for his stories about his remarkable life, beginning with his meteoric rise from prep hero to big-league catcher; to the concealment of his stunning Parkinson's diagnosis after his rookie season; to his return home to a very private life with his wife and daughter; and finally to his decision to undergo a highly risk procedure to lessen his symptoms — not once, but twice.
The Barefoot Surgeon: The inspirational story of Dr Sanduk Ruit, the eye surgeon giving sight and hope to the world's poor
Ali Gripper - 2018
They both have a God-given talent and skill...' - Ray Martin'If I've done one thing in life I'm proud of, it's launching Ruit into the world'. - Fred Hollows'One of the greatest people I've ever met.' - Joel Edgerton'I've known Dr Sanduk Ruit for over thirty years. He is one of our greatest living eye surgeons and humanitarians... Watching him give the gift of sight is like watching someone give a second life.' - Richard GereInspiring and uplifting, this is the extraordinary story of Dr Sanduk Ruit who, like his mentor Fred Hollows, took on the world's medical establishment to give the life-changing gift of sight to hundreds and thousands of the world's poorest and most isolated people. It is the story of a boy from the lowest tiers of a rigid caste system who grew up in a tiny, remote Himalayan village with no school to become one of the most respected ophthalmologists in the world and a medical giant of Asia.Compelling and compassionate, it is also the story of a young doctor who became Fred Hollows' medical soul mate and who chose to defy the world's medical establishment and the lure of riches to make the world a better place.
The Silver Lining: An Insightful Guide to the Realities of Breast Cancer
Hollye Jacobs - 2014
It soon evolved into a daily must-read for thousands of women worldwide. Now, in a graceful, exquisitely illustrated work with full-color photographs by award-winning photographer Elizabeth Messina, Jacobs offers an informative, therapeutic guide for people who have been diagnosed with the disease.Part personal memoir, part professional guide, The Silver Lining is the book that Jacobs wished she’d had when she began her fight with cancer. She covers what every patient can expect as they go through their specific treatment and teaches other big issues, such as nutrition and how to talk to children about illness. While the book is brimming with action steps to help negotiate each phase of treatment and recovery, every chapter concludes with “Silver Linings”—the sources of inspiration and perspective that buoyed Jacobs through her own journey and that, taken together, comprise the heartbeat of the book.“Like a good friend, this book will be by your side as you travel through the world of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery,” says Dr. Susan Love, surgeon, breast cancer research advocate, and author of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book. An invaluable guide, a gorgeously rendered object of beauty, The Silver Lining will be the manual for breast cancer patients and their loved ones.
Lecretia's Choice: A Story of Love, Death and the Law
Matt Vickers - 2016
In Lecretia’s Choice, Matt tells the story of their life together, and how it changed when his proud, fiercely independent wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour and forced to confront her own mortality. The death she faced—slow, painful, dependent—was completely at odds with how she had lived her life. Lecretia wanted to die with dignity, to be able to say goodbye well, and not to suffer unnecessarily—but the law denied her that choice. With her characteristic spirit, she decided to mount a challenge in New Zealand’s High Court, but as the battle raged, Lecretia’s strength faded. She died on 5 June 2015, at the age of forty-two, the day after her family learned that the court had ruled against her. Lecretia’s Choice is not only a moving love story but compulsory reading for everyone who cares about the dignity we afford terminally ill people who want to die on their own terms. In 2015 Matt Vickers supported his wife, Lecretia Seales, in her campaign to gain the right to choose how she died. Lecretia’s Choice is his first book.
Changing Normal: How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer
Marilu Henner - 2016
Within days of their first meeting in 2003, they were planning a life together, and soon they were inseparable as Michael became ever more integrated into Marilu’s family. But after only months they were thrown the ultimate curveball: Michael was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and then lung cancer. Marilu refused to lose the love of her life so easily. With the knowledge she had gained on her own health journey, chronicled in several of her bestselling books, Marilu set about finding a path for Michael that would use the best of Eastern and Western medicine to beat his cancers and return Michael to optimal health. Michael eschewed most traditional treatments and with Marilu’s help—aided by knowledgeable and sympathetic doctors—he forged his own path. In this moving and informative book, Marilu tells the story of their fast-paced romance and how this contrasted with the day-to-day battle for Michael’s life. Michael tells the story from his point of view: the search for the cause of his cancer, the mental anguish he felt as he realized how responsible he was for his condition, the physical and mental hardships that he had to overcome, and the triumph of love that made it all worthwhile. Not a “how-to” book in the traditional sense, Changing Normal is a book of empowerment, a call for all those facing similar challenges to take responsibility for their lives, to search for the causes of their illness and address them directly. Written with an engaging voice, a sense of humor, and life-changing wisdom, Changing Normal is a personal and touching look at how Marilu and Michael faced down a cancer diagnosis and came out the other side happier, healthier, and more in love than ever.
Medical School: Stumbling Through with Amnesia (Playing Doctor, #1)
John Lawrence - 2020
Those manic blogs from the hospital wards during under-slept call nights (which left a few friends wondering if he had invaded the hospital pharmacy) were the genesis for this book, Playing Doctor. This is a journey through medical training as interpreted by someone who told their college career advisor that the only thing they did not want to be was a doctor-not that medical schools want you believing their training was interpretive, like a modern dance company's version of Grey's Anatomy-and started school with a traumatic brain injury. This entertaining, heartfelt demystification of medical school via the confusion that seemed to litter John's medical trail, takes readers along the studies and clinical wards that miraculously teach students how to care for patients. The follow up books cover residency.
Scatterling of Africa: My Early Years
Johnny Clegg - 2021
Suspended for a few seconds, they float in their own space and time with their own hidden prospects. For want of a better term, we call these moments “magical” and when we remember them they are cloaked in a halo of special meaning.’For 14-year-old Johnny Clegg, hearing Zulu street music as plucked on the strings of a guitar by Charlie Mzila one evening outside a corner café in Bellevue, Johannesburg, was one such ‘magical’ moment. The success story of Juluka and later Savuka, and the cross-cultural celebration of music, language, story, dance and song that stirred the hearts of millions across the world, is well documented. Their music was the soundtrack to many South Africans’ lives during the turbulent 70s and 80s as the country moved from legislated oppression to democratic freedom. It crossed borders, boundaries and generations, resonating around the world and back again. Less known is the story of how it all began and developed. Scatterling of Africa is that origin story, as Johnny Clegg wrote it and wanted it told. It is the story of how the son of an unconventional mother, grandson of Jewish immigrants, came to realise that identity can be a choice, and home is a place you leave and return to as surely as the seasons change.
Patient 71
Julie Randall - 2017
Out of the blue she went from a fit, healthy, fun-loving wife and mother of two, to not knowing what had happened. Or why.Rushed to hospital by ambulance, it was discovered Julie had a malignant brain tumour. Diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Advanced Melanoma, she was told to get her affairs in order because she didn't have long to live.After getting over the initial shock, Julie fought off the fear and started searching for hope. She found an American experimental drug trial, but was told there was only room for 70 patients and the numbers were full. Julie had promised her teenage daughters that she would find a way to 'fix it' so she refused to take no for an answer. Her tenacity paid off and she flew to Oregon and the Providence Cancer Center. She became PATIENT 71.Not everyone survives a cancer diagnosis. Julie is one of the lucky ones. She discovered that when you push the boundaries, refuse to give up and never lose sight of your goal... extraordinary things can happen.
Skinhead... The Life I Chose: Memoirs of a Real Skin
Spike Pitt - 2014
It is NOT about Nazism, or Neo-Nazism, and definitely not about politics; it is the story of how the ebullience of youth can be corrupted and misinterpreted by propaganda and the media. Warning This story contains a lot of strong language, British slang and outspoken opinions that may be offensive to some; it is nevertheless the truth.
Off the Deep End
W. Hodding Carter IV - 2008
He worshipped Mark Spitz, swam his heart out, and just missed qualifying for the Olympic trials in swimming as a college senior. Although he didn't qualify for the 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, or 2004 Olympics, he never stopped believing he could make it. And despite past failures and the passage of time, Carter began his quest once more at the age of forty-two. Maybe he's crazy. But then again, maybe he's onto something. He entered the Masters Championships. He swam three to four miles each day, six days a week. He pumped iron, trained with former Olympians, and consulted with swimming gurus and medical researchers who taught him that the body doesn't have to age. He swam with sharks (inadvertently) in the Virgin Islands, suffered hypothermia in a relay around Manhattan, and put on fifteen pounds of muscle. Amazingly, he discovered that his heartbeat could keep pace with the best of the younger swimmers'. And each day he felt stronger, swam faster, and became more convinced that he wasn't crazy. This outrageous, courageous chronicle is much more than Carter's race with time to make it to the Olympics. It's the exhilarating story of a man who rebels against middle age the only way he can—by chasing a dream. His article in Outside magazine, on which this book is based, was the winner of a Lowell Thomas award from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.
Flamin' Hot: The Incredible True Story of One Man's Rise from Janitor to Top Executive
Richard Montanez - 2021
Richard Monta�ez is a man who made a science out of walking through closed doors, and his success story is an empowerment manual for anyone stuck in a dead-end job or facing a system stacked against them. Having taken a job mopping floors at Frito-Lay's California factory to support his family, Monta�ez took his future into his own hands and created the world's hottest snack food: Flamin' Hot Cheetos. This bold move not only disrupted the food industry with some much-needed spice, but also shook up a corporate culture in which everyone stayed in their lane. When a top food scientist at Frito-Lay sent out a memo telling sales and marketing to kill the new product before it made it to the store shelves--jealous that someone with no formal education beyond the sixth grade could do his job--Monta�ez was forced to go rogue once again to save his idea. Through creative thinking, community building, and a few powerful mindset shifts, he outsmarted the naysayers who tried to get in his way. Flamin' Hot proves that you can break out of your career rut and that your present circumstances don't have to dictate your future.
Giovanni's Ring: My Life Inside the Real Sopranos
Giovanni Rocco - 2021
That lethal assignment brought the undercover operation to an end in March 2015, and the resulting string of high-profile arrests eviscerated the criminal organization.Giovanni’s Ring is not simply a chronicle of Giovanni Rocco’s adventures in the murky and dangerous Mafia world he inhabited, but also a fascinating window into the psychological struggles that such a life inevitably entails.“Rocco conveys the frustrations of his double life poignantly throughout this revelatory read, a captivating true-crime thriller from start to finish and a new gem for Mafia book fans.” —Booklist
This Won't Hurt Me A Bit: What it's really like to work in health care
Josh McAdams - 2019
Welcome to laughing until it hurts while covered in bodily fluids. Welcome to simple math at very high stakes. Welcome to an incredibly inappropriate sense of humor. Welcome to serving people on the most stressful days of their lives. Welcome to putting your hands in places you never imagined they'd be. Welcome to your front row seat to the ballad of life and death. That's not the welcome that this nurse was looking for, but that's the one he got. Irreverent and audacious, this brutally honest memoir covers what it’s like to come of age in an American Hospital. Welcome to a rollicking peak behind the curtain to what medical providers, and the health care system, are truly like.
Run, Ride, Sink or Swim: A Year in the Exhilarating and Addictive World of Women's Triathlon
Lucy Fry - 2015
And here's how she felt about the component parts of triathlon: swimming - fairly terrifying, especially in open water. Cycling - brilliant when done on a stationery bike, indoors. Running - sometimes fantastic, sometimes hideous. But as increasing numbers of her female friends continued to sign up to tri, Lucy couldn't help wondering: what was it about this exhausting pursuit that women seemed to find so magical, so transformative? The time had come to find out. Over one year, five triathlons and hundreds of training hours, Lucy uncovers the ins and outs of women's triathlon: how to wear a sports bra under a wetsuit, the competition and camaraderie, whether getting over 'jelly legs' makes you a more resilient human being - and finds that maybe she doesn't know her limits after all... Funny, warm and engaging, Run, Ride, Sink or Swim is for both the tri-curious and the dedicated tri-hard, and for any woman looking for inspiration to make the transition from sofa to start line.