Book picks similar to
Courtney's Quest by Courtney King Dye
horses
adversity
author-american
biography-memoir
Rescued By Ghosts: A True Inspirational Survivor Story of Child Abuse, Bullying, a Radical Ultra-Fundamentalist Religion, Ghosts, and Supernatural Events (My Ghosts Book 1)
Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. - 2020
at a chair in the church? I was born and raised in a radical, abusive, fear-controlling, ultra-fundamentalist religious family. This is my true inspirational story of how I survived abuse and neglect as a child and then escaped the church by seeking truth and freedom against all odds. Most people never escape religions with cultish control because the brainwashing is virtually impossible to break... ... So how did these ghosts rescue me from this control? This church had many cult elements and produced Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, plus Jonestown, Guyana cult leader & mass murderer Jim Jones and controlled thousands of people with fear. Written in story form to inspire you, make you laugh, cry, and think. Why was the tiny child required to warn bullies three times? Like the book “Educated A Memoir” meets Ghosts and the Supernatural. You will love this true story because everyone loves to see the hero win! Get it now.
The Care Factor
Ailsa Wild - 2021
As a nurse, her skill is to care. When Covid-19 began to spread across the world in 2020, Sim volunteered to retrain to work in Melbourne’s intensive care units. And as she prepared to go back to ICU and case numbers began climbing, Sim started talking to her friend Ailsa. Through the exhaustion, the confusion, the many tears and the surprising moments of hilarity, Sim kept talking. And Ailsa started writing. In The Care Factor, Ailsa walks behind Sim as she faces the realities of the coronavirus. The result is a deeply human account of what the pandemic has really meant, not just for Sim and her fellow health professionals, but also for their patients, their families and friends, and the many who faced life in lockdown. This is a celebration of nursing, of friendship, and of the layers of connection and care that allow us to keep going when it feels impossible. 'This book has single-handedly restored my faith in humanity. Offering a rare and thrilling glimpse into the life of a frontline healthcare worker during the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Care Factor is full to bursting with spirit, guts, empathy and love. It humbled and moved me in so many ways. I can’t recommend it enough!' – Emily Bitto, author of Stella Prize winning novel The Strays
What Now, Lieutenant?
Robert Babcock - 2011
Such is this work by Bob Babcock. What makes this work unique is that it is based upon his wartime writing as it occurred, without the softening of time and the refining of modern memory applied to past experience. In it you will find the thinking of a young officer as he struggles to take in all that he is responsible for while experiencing everything himself for the first time. It is an honest, unvarnished look at Soldiering in 1966-1967 and is as fine an example of the early American experience in Vietnam that one is likely to come across...” The personal account of Bob Babcock’s experiences as a platoon leader and executive officer with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967.
Invisible Child
Mary Hayward - 2010
This compelling story is a tribute to all those brave women who believe in “yes we can”. Mary’s life was always a miracle of survival. It is a tale of courage and responsibility, as she battles to keep herself and baby sister from starvation and TB, sometimes with fun and laughter, and at other times so desperate that we are drawn to tears. But when her best friend steals a rifle, we listen to her heartbreaking plea to the Samaritans as her life is crushed. It is a story of heartbreak and passion, a blinding love so certain that it comes but once in a lifetime. She finds her freedom to study at university, and doing what she does best, saving damaged children like herself.
Junkbox Diaries: a day in the life of a heroin addict
Herbert Stepherson - 2017
What is a junkbox? A person who is just so all consumed by addiction and drugs that they do not care about what goes into their body. They don't shower, they barely eat, and the only sleep they get is a result from a high dose shot of some "high quality" heroin. Herb Stepherson was born in Jonesboro, Georgia. He is the middle child of three boys. He is thirty-one years old and spent his youth like most young boys in central Georgia, riding bikes and playing sports—baseball in particular. Since 2002, he has been involved in the fight for his life. He has been battling the nightmares of addiction for the past fourteen years. His first drug use was at fifteen, which was alcohol and from there quickly progressed to prescription pain medication and ultimately cocaine and heroin. Heroin and cocaine took him to the absolute edges of humanity. He ended up homeless, eating food out of dumpsters, and strung out in some of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago, in the dead of winter. The winter months are brutal in the Midwest. Herb slept in abandon buildings, airport terminals, and under bridges clinging to two basic needs: more heroin and to be numbed from the wreckage that this drug was creating in his life. All the while trying his best to keep hope alive that maybe one day he would finally be able to conquer this demon of addiction and recover. Today, Herb celebrates life as a young man in recovery! He is an intervention coordinator, a budding young writer, a loving and active father to his five-year-old son, Lucas, and speaks on behalf of numerous agencies in his community hoping to shed some light on the true battles with heroin addiction. So, why are you doing this, Herb? Why are you displaying all these horribly intimate pieces of your life for all the world to see? Don't you know that the world looks down on the whole addiction thing? I am doing this because I hate the disease. I'm displaying all these things because someone has to. The silence, the taboo, and the shame have to end. Don't hate the addict. Hate the disease. I'm writing all this to expose what this thing is doing to people. To our brothers, sisters, moms, and dads. I'm doing this because I want everyone to know that I have indeed suffered from this thing. I'm doing this because there is too much focus on the problem and not enough on the solution. I know that the world looks down on the whole addiction thing, which is another reason I am doing this. For more information, visit: JunkboxDiaries.com HerbStepherson.com Dedication: This book is dedicated to many people. It is dedicated to anyone and everyone who has ever been touched by the nightmare the disease of addiction is. To all the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters who have lost someone to the disease of addiction. This book is dedicated to the addicts out there—clean or using. There is hope. This book is for anyone and everyone who thinks that addicts are lost causes. This book is for the purpose of silencing the taboo, shame, and guilt that still shrouds the disease and the addict.
Not Normal: The uncensored account of an extraordinary true life story
Paul Connolly - 2018
An uncensored account of his extraordinary true life story and his lifelong struggle to overcome an abusive childhood and build a 'normal' life for himself and his family. Put out with the rubbish at 2 weeks old and into the care system of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Paul Connolly was sent to the notorious St Leonard’s home in Essex, where he heard that he was 'Not Normal' almost daily amongst years of mental, physical and sexual abuse. Childhood friendships made and lost. Total Neglect. Starvation. Sending an illiterate, very angry young man out into the world. After years of extreme violence in London during the 1980's and 90's mixing with gangsters and a dark underworld, Paul confronted memories and demons from his past in the most shocking ways - eventually discovering that six from eight of the childhood friends he grew up with in St Leonard's were no longer alive. Great friends and a loving heart transformed Paul’s world and Paul has gone on to help thousands of people as a specialist conditioning coach, sports injury expert, celebrity personal trainer, presenter and best selling author. He works with various charities and is a core participant in the historical child abuse enquiry providing a voice for many of those no longer able to speak up. Above all else, Paul is now most proud of being a loving father to his two sons. Life has been anything but normal and the demons will never go away, but Paul has learned to smile at them as many of the people that predicted the worst for him are now where they told this vulnerable little boy he would end up. This is Paul Connolly’s story and it is Not Normal
When My Mind Wanders It Brings Back Souvenirs
Gordon Kirkland - 2005
Kirkland is a master at finding the small hidden bits of humor in events that the rest of us might just as easily overlook. His goal with his writing has always been to let his readers laugh with him and at him, and by doing so, finding a way to laugh at themselves. His previous books have been called "a must-have for all of us who love to just sit back and laugh." This book follows that tradition.Recipient of the 2006 Stephen Leacock Award of Merit for Humour (Canada.)
Diary of Indignities
Patrick Hughes - 2007
With full-color photo essays, the author guides readers past good taste, sense and even logic into the magical, mayhem-ridden world known as his life.
Three Strides Before the Wire: The Dark and Beautiful World of Horse Racing
Elizabeth Mitchell - 2002
Focusing on the 1999 Derby winner Charismatic, Mitchell traces this horse's amazing and ultimately tragic story, from the birth of a foal through its surprising rise to fame. Mitchell also follows the major players in Charismatic's life, including the family who bred him, the trainer, the owners, and the famed jockey Chris Antley, whose own story is more tragic than that of his horse. Through these interlocking stories a sense of familiarity with the key players in the industry evolves, as well as a greater understanding of the heart and soul of a sport that has fascinated human beings for centuries.
Out of the Wild: Seven Years in the Wilderness
Charlie Paterson
Away from all the modern conveniences and comforts most take for granted, his tale is one of adversity, building a dream with dogged determination. Battling against considerable and powerful opposition, bureaucracy, severe lack of money, unforgiving nature, loneliness and ultimately his own ill health; only to find the dream fulfilled will almost destroy him. A sometimes spiritual and critical tale of self-discovery where ultimately his growing faith in God literally saves him from a very sorry end in the mountainous wilderness of New Zealand. A story that exposes wilderness living as it truly is, not for the faint hearted. However, Out of the Wild is more than just a candid wilderness survival tale, but includes some very interesting snippets of New Zealand's early pioneer history associated to the Fiordland National Park, the Hollyford Valley, Martins Bay, the beautiful deserted ghost town of Jamestown Bay and even the fabled "lost ruby mine" in the inaccessible Red Hills. For the outdoor and "back to basics" enthusiasts Charlie details his accounts of hunting red deer in the thick Fiordland rainforest around his wilderness home to using the old traditional methods to store his kills, through to trapping introduced predators destroying the special rainforest ecosystems of Fiordland. "Out of the Wild" is a very unique New Zealand wilderness tale which will appeal to the outdoor conservative types.
BEGINNING GROUND WORK: Everything We've Learned about Relationship & Leadership (eBook Nuggets from The Soul of a Horse)
Joe Camp - 2012
They owned virtually everything ever written or videoed by Monty Roberts, Clinton Anderson, and the Parellis and they were bouncing back and forth from one to the other testing what worked best with their horses. But Joe was longing for a compressed, congealed, shuffled together guide to the basics. Not just what works best but why. Now he has one. He wrote it. And now it's yours. A book of the good stuff crammed with everything Joe & Kathleen have learned about relationship and leadership. And why it all works. Including an entire chapter on fear. This book can change your relationship with your horse and teach you to trust yourself to trust yourself. With free Kindle apps, download this book to your computer, iPhone, Android, Blackberry, iPad, Kindle , or all of the above for one teeny little price of 99 cents! The stories you love and the information you need will always be with you. What Readers and Critics Are Saying About Joe Camp “Joe Camp is a master storyteller.” The New York Times “Joe Camp is a gifted storyteller and the results are magical. Joe entertains, educates and empowers, baring his own soul while articulating keystone principles of a modern revolution in horsemanship.” Rick Lamb, Author and TV/Radio host “The Horse Show” "This book is fantastic It has given me shivers, made me laugh and cry, and I just can't seem to put it down!" Cheryl Pannier, WHO Radio AM 1040 Des Moines “One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” Michae Korda The Washington Post “Joe Camp is a natural when it comes to understanding how animals tick and a genius at telling us their story. His books are must-reads for those who love animals of any species.” Monty Roberts, Author of New York Times Best-seller The Man Who Listens to Horses “Camp has become something of a master at telling us what can be learned from animals, in this case specifically horses, without making us realize we have been educated, and, that is, perhaps, the mark of a real teacher. The tightly written, simply designed, and powerfully drawn chapters often read like short stories that flow from the heart.” Jack L. Kennedy, The Joplin Independent “This book is absolutely fabulous! An amazing, amazing book. You’re going to love it.” Janet Parshall’s America "Joe speaks a clear and simple truth that grabs hold of your heart." Yvonne Welz, Editor, The Horses Hoof Magazine "I wish you could hear my excitement for Joe Camp's new book. It is unique, powerful, needed." Dr. Marty Becker, best-selling author of several Chicken Soup for the Soul books and popular veterinary contributor to ABC's Good Morning America “I got my book yesterday and hold Joe Camp responsible for my bloodshot eyes. I couldn't put it down and morning came early!!! Joe transports me into his words. I feel like I am right there sharing his experiences. And his love for not just horses, but all of God's critters pours out from every page.” Ruth Swander – Reader “I love this book! It is so hard to put it down. I don't want it to end! Every person who loves an animal must have this book.
Death Comes to Happy Valley: Penn State and the Tragic Legacy of Joe Paterno
Jonathan Mahler - 2012
The winningest coach ever in college football, crafter of The Grand Experiment that put honor and academics above all else, finished his days under the dark cloud of shame and unspeakable child abuse. How? Why? What mix of fandom, ego, and unfettered power brought Penn State and its beloved coach to this? Just days after Paterno’s death comes this insightful look at the rise of Penn State under the 46-year reign of the man affectionately known as Joe Pa. Acclaimed writer Jonathan Mahler, author of the bestseller "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning", has been immersed in reporting the Paterno saga since the scandal broke last fall. His penetrating narrative traces the arc of Paterno’s career from dogged Ivy League quarterback to visionary coach to unassailable icon. Over the years, as his fame and reputation grew, Happy Valley (as State College, Pennsylvania, was often called) morphed into the realm of Paterno; the chant “We Are Penn State” could just as easily have been “We Are Coach Paterno.” It was perhaps inevitable that what Mahler calls “a slow rot” began to pervade Joe Pa’s football program, culminating with the horrific scandal that rocked Penn State and forever altered the Paterno story. "As it all unraveled," Mahler writes, "he seemed to resemble less his hero Aeneas, building a new nation—Penn State Nation—in Happy Valley, than King Lear, clinging stubbornly to the throne when he no longer had the judgment required to remain in it, then succumbing to the grief and anguish that accompanied the collapse of everything he had so painstakingly built."Mahler’s admiring yet honest assessment shows what can happen when a school, and an entire community, falls under a cult of personality. Part eulogy, part post-mortem, part wise appraisal, "Death Comes to Happy Valley" is a thoughtful farewell to the larger-than-life man who was, in fact, merely mortal.***"An elegant book with a perfect ratio of reportage, biography and criticism. It gently pulls Joe Pa off the pedestal upon which he has long stood." — Dwight Garner, The New York Times***Jonathan Mahler is a contributing writer to the "New York Times Magazine" and the author of the bestselling "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City" (the basis for the ESPN mini-series “The Bronx Is Burning”) and "The Challenge: How a Maverick Navy Officer and a Young Law Professor Risked Their Careers to Defend the Constitution—and Won."
The Clash
Joe Stummer - 2011
Strummer, Jones, Simonon and Headon tell it like it was. Accept no substitutes.The unique story of the Clash, by the Clash. The Clash were a band like no other. Pioneers of punk rock, their incendiary gigs, intelligent songwriting, definitive style and passionate idealism caught the spirit of the times and made them a worldwide phenomenon. Rolling Stone magazine declared London Calling one of the greatest albums of all time, their autobiographical documentary Westway to the World won a Grammy, and their music lives on, influencing emerging bands and exciting new audiences today.This is the only book to be created by the band and is now available as an eBook. The Clash: trendsetters, icons, revolutionaries. One of the most influential bands of their time, they have inspired bookshelves of commentary, but this is the only book to be created by the band themselves. With unprecedented access to the Clash archives and original interviews with band, this publication tells it like it was. The full story from the last gang in town. Strummer, Jones, Simonon and Headon in their own words.Reviews‘One of the greatest bands of all time.' The Edge, U2 'A massive inspiration for me.' Bernard Sumner, Joy Division and New Order 'I adore The Clash.' Pete Townshend, The Who'One of England's greatest bands.' Nick Hornby ‘What could be more fun than a book about The Clash written by The Clash - What makes this tome more worthy than the reams of unofficial Clash literature available is that in it, the band tells their story in their own words - it's packed with little secrets and playful digs - Brilliant.' Short List 'Thrilling - This is a treasure trove of hitherto undiscovered gems. Long overdue.' Classic Rock ''This book is a cracker - crammed with Clash bits and bobs.' The Sunday Times
Rules for the Unruly: Living an Unconventional Life
Marion Winik - 2001
Winik's amusing tales of outrageous mistakes, haunting uncertainty, and the never-ending struggle to stay true to her heart strike a powerful chord with creative, impassioned, independent-minded free spirits who know they're different -- and want to stay that way. Winik's seven Rules for the Unruly are: THE PATH IS NOT STRAIGHT · MISTAKES NEED NOT BE FATAL PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ACHIEVEMENTS OR POSSESSIONS BE GENTLE WITH YOUR PARENTS · NEVER STOP DOING WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT MOST LEARN TO USE A SEMICOLON · YOU WILL FIND LOVE Rules for the Unruly shows us how taking risks, living creatively, and cherishing our inner weirdness can become the secret of our happiness and success, not our downfall.
How My Breasts Saved the World: Misadventures of a Nursing Mother
Lisa Wood Shapiro - 2004
Any woman can benefit from Shapiro's hard-won education."--"BUST magazine "Shapiro's memoir . . . offers a welcome real-life complement to weightier breastfeeding advice."--"Brain, Child magazine In this hilarious breastfeeding tell-all--the first of its kind-- Lisa Wood Shapiro recounts her misadventures of new motherhood from the delivery of her daughter and her rookie days as a food source to the bittersweet end of weaning. This may be the information age, but so much of nursing still exists in the smart gal's rumor culture. Only after Shapiro shares her own nursing saga, complete with lactation consultants, chocolate binges, and a new use for green cabbage, do her friends and relatives confess to their own travails. Breastfeeding may be natural, but it is not always instinctual, and one doesn't have to go it alone. There are professionals who can make it work without pain, and it does get easier. Whether or not your breasts have been involved in any world-saving activities, you won't be able to put this book down until you've read the last line.