Letter to Louis


Alison White - 2018
    I've never quite known how to explain what our daily life is like. I wanted to write how it is in order to give others a greater understanding of disability and caring. And to be totally honest, I wanted to write something that would make people consider being Louis's friend.So here is me introducing you: Louis, this is your story. Readers, this is my son.

I Just Remembered


Carl Reiner - 2014
    At least that’s how it works when you’re dealing with the legendary mind of Carl Reiner. In his 2013 memoir, “I Remember Me,” Carl treated us to ninety years of professional and personal anecdotes, ranging from witty, weird and heartwarming to insightful, informative, and always funny – usually a combination of at least two, sometimes three or four, of the aforementioned. Carl had taken us on a nostalgic trip through every corner, every nook and cranny, of his life. Or so we thought. But over the next two years, new “old memories” kept coming… and coming… and coming… until, before too long, another book was born. In addition to the above adjectives, “I Just Remembered” adds a whole new batch: the mysterious saga of the gold money clip and the rubber bands; the beautiful and bizarre Joyce Kuntz; the shocking story of Jack Parr and Fidel Castro; never before heard revelations about William Shakespeare; whimsical journeys down the information superhighway via Twitter, Google and YouTube; and for good measure, truly useful health tips for a long and happy life. “I Just Remembered” is the perfect companion to “I Remember Me,” and it will have you asking, over and over, “How could he have forgotten that?!” He didn’t. He just remembered.

Reach!: Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power


Laila Ali - 2002
    She has received a firestorm of media coverage, and her recent bout with Jacqui Frazier was the most highly publicized female boxing fight ever. Now, she offers her formula for physical, emotional, and mental power in a motivational memoir that delivers 15 rounds of straight-talking, hard-hitting advice. She reveals how she overcame child abuse, weight issues, isolation, and overall bad behavior by tenaciously developing a talent that she enjoyedprofessional boxing. She demonstrates how to sidestep feelings of self-pity and defeatism and achieve success in all arenas: diet, family, personal relationships, physical training, and more. Combining spiritual inspiration with practical guidance, Laila Alis program will show readers of all ages and backgrounds how to transform the demons of self-doubt into positive, winning energy.

Flying Drunk: The True Story of a Northwest Airlines Flight, Three Drunk Pilots, and One Man's Fight for Redemption


Joseph Balzer - 2009
    July 26, 1990 - present: Joe Balzer fights for redemption and to regain all that he has lost. Flying Drunk is his story.Since he was a young boy, Joe Balzer dreamed of flying. He pursued his goal with a vigorous passion and earned his pilot licenses, piling up hours of flight time with a wide variety of planes and jets with one overarching goal: to one day fly for a major airline. But Joe had a problem. He was an alcoholic and refused to admit to himself that he had a problem.His alcoholism caught up with him in March 1990, when Joe was arrested with two other pilots for flying a commercial airliner while under the influence of alcohol. His world began crumbling around him and his new marriage faced the ultimate test. He lost his promising career and his dignity. Every major media outlet, including The New York Times, Newsweek, and Time Magazine covered the shocking story for the stunned American flying public. The trial that followed drained Joe's life's savings and federal prison nearly broke him. Flying Drunk is Joe's bittersweet and thoroughly chilling memoir of his twisted journey to a Federal courtroom, his time in the notorious Federal penitentiary system in Atlanta, and his struggle to recapture all that he held dear.Today, Joe is a recovering alcoholic, celebrating more than nineteen years of sobriety. The long road back from perdition led him to American Airlines, where good people and a great organization recognized a talented pilot who had cleaned up his act and was ready to fly again, safely.Flying Drunk is an incredible journey of the human spirit, from childhood to hell, and back again. Everyone should read and heed its message of hope and redemption. No one who does will ever forget it.

The Kalam Effect: My Years With The President


P.M. Nair - 2008
    Abdul Kalam.

Saving Izzy: The Abandoned Dog Who Stole My Heart


Jon Katz - 2010
    Having found his human, Izzy wants to go with Jon wherever he may be, and jumps fences and chews through locks to do so. Jon has been through this before with his dog Orson, and isn't sure he can cope with the responsibility and potential heartache again. But Jon's motley collection of animals - from Jesus the baby donkey to Elvis the surprisingly sociable steer, as well of course as farm manager and Border collie Rose - form an ideal refuge for Izzy. And as Jon and Izzy decide they are perfect companions, Jon realises just how much life on the farm has taught him about patience, perseverance and love.Please note, Saving Izzy is the UK title for the book published in the US as Dog Days.

Danger, Man Working: Writing from the Heart, the Gut, and the Poison Ivy Patch


Michael Perry - 2017
    Mine is predicated on formative years spent cleaning my father’s calf pens: Just keep shoveling until you’ve got a pile so big, someone has to notice. The fact that I cast my life’s work as slung manure simply proves that I recognize an apt metaphor when I accidentally stick it with a pitchfork. . . . Poetry was my first love, my gateway drug—still the poets are my favorites—but I quickly realized I lacked the chops or insights to survive on verse alone. But I wanted to write. Every day. And so I read everything I could about freelancing, and started shoveling."  The pieces gathered within this book draw on fifteen years of what Michael Perry calls "shovel time"—a writer going to work as the work is offered. The range of subjects is wide, from musky fishing, puking, and mountain-climbing Iraq War veterans to the frozen head of Ted Williams. Some assignments lead to self-examination of an alarming magnitude (as Perry notes, "It quickly becomes obvious that I am a self-absorbed hypochondriac forever resolving to do better nutritionally and fitness-wise but my follow-through is laughable.") But his favorites are those that allow him to turn the lens outward: "My greatest privilege," he says, "lies not in telling my own story; it lies in being trusted to tell the story of another."