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Mind Estranged: My Journey from Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery


Bethany Yeiser - 2014
    While slowly losing her sanity, she traveled the world. She returned to the U.S. unable to work or study—and soon found herself homeless, delusional, and controlled by voices that talked to her and gave her orders in her mind.Bethany’s memoir enables the reader to enter into the mind of a person with schizophrenia, homeless and roaming the streets. While living in the shadows of society, her illness drove her to refuse all contact with her family and friends, and eventually led to her arrest and hospitalization. Against all odds, she recovered from schizophrenia, returned to college, and graduated with honors.Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, a professor of psychiatry who treated Bethany, writes, “Bethany is living proof that recovery from schizophrenia is possible with good medical care, solid family support and the courage to keep fighting the tormenting voices that ordered her every move and controlled her every thought. MIND ESTRANGED is also a powerful message of encouragement and support for any human being facing an overwhelming challenge at some point in life.”

Mind Without a Home: A Memoir of Schizophrenia


Kristina Morgan - 2013
    With the intimacy of private journal-like entries and the language of a poet, she carries us from her childhood to her teen years when hallucinations began to hijack her mind and into adulthood where she began abusing alcohol to temper the punishing voices that only she could hear.This is no formulaic tale of tragedy and triumph: We feel Kristina's hope as she pursues an education and career and begins to build strong family connections, friendships and intimacy-and her devastation as the insistent voices convince her to throw it all away, destroying herself and alienating everyone around her. Woven through the pages of her life are stories of recovery from alcoholism and the search for her sexual identity in relationships with both women and men. Eventually, her journey takes her to a place of relative peace and stability where she finds the inner resources and support system to manage her chronic illnesses and live a fulfilling life.

The Happy Hoofer


Celia Imrie - 2011
    Celia Imrie was born one of five children to an aristocratic mother who married beneath her station. Desperate to be a ballet dancer, Celia was told by the Royal Ballet School that she was too big and in a desperate effort to lose weight Celia became anorexic. She underwent highly controversial ECT and brainwashing treatment. It didn't work and she eventually cured herself.

The Namo Story: A Political Life


Kingshuk Nag - 2013
    From his humble beginnings as a RSS pracharak to his rise in the Hindutva ranks, and from being Bharatiya Janata Partys master planner to one of the its most popular and controversial state chief ministers, Modis mantra of change and development is gradually finding many takers. Though he evokes vastly different reactions among the citizens for his alleged role during the Godhra aftermath, what is absolutely clear is that he indeed is racing towards the centre stage, making the 2014 General Elections look more like a Presidential system where, you either vote for him or against him. And that, as they say, is the Modi effect. Kingshuk Nag paints the most vivid portrait of the extraordinary politician who is poised to take on a new role in the coming years.

I'm Fine...and Other Lies


Whitney Cummings - 2017
    Look at you, ogling my book page. . . . I presume if you're reading this it means you either need more encouragement to buy it, you're very bored in an airport, or we used to date and you're trying to figure out if you should sue me or not.Here are all the stories and mistakes I've made that were way too embarrassing to tell on stage in front of an actual audience; but thanks to not-so-modern technology, you can read about them here so I don't have to risk having your judgmental eye contact crush my self-esteem. This book contains some delicious schadenfreude in which I recall such humiliating debacles as breaking my shoulder while trying to impress a guy, coming very close to spending my life in a Guatemalan prison, and having my lacerated ear sewn back on by a deaf guy after losing it in a torrid love affair. In addition to hoarding mortifying situations that'll make you feel way better about your choices, I've also accumulated a lot of knowledge from therapists, psychotherapists, and psychopaths, which can probably help you avoid making the same mistakes I've made. Think of this book as everything you'd want from the Internet all in one place, except without the constant distractions of ads, online shopping, and porn.I'm not sure what else to say to say, except that you should buy it if you want to laugh and learn how to stop being crazy. If you're bored at an airport, I'm sorry and welcome to most days of my life on the road. And if we used to date, see you in court.

My Squirrel Days


Ellie Kemper - 2018
     “A pleasure. Ellie Kemper is the kind of stable, intelligent, funny, healthy woman that usually only exists in yogurt commercials. But she’s real and she’s all ours!” —Tina Fey “Ellie is a hilarious and talented writer, although we’ll never know how much of this book the squirrel wrote.”—Mindy KalingMeet Ellie, the best-intentioned redhead next door. You’ll laugh right alongside her as she shares tales of her childhood in St. Louis, whether directing and also starring in her family holiday pageant, washing her dad’s car with a Brillo pad, failing to become friends with a plump squirrel in her backyard, eating her feelings while watching PG-13 movies, or becoming a “sports monster” who ends up warming the bench of her Division 1 field hockey team in college. You’ll learn how she found her comedic calling in the world of improv, became a wife, mother and New Yorker, and landed the role of a bridesmaid (while simultaneously being a bridesmaid) in Bridesmaids. You’ll get to know and love the comic, upbeat, perpetually polite actress playing Erin Hannon on The Office, and the exuberant, pink-pants-wearing star of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If you’ve ever been curious about what happens behind the scenes of your favorite shows, what it really takes to be a soul cycle “warrior,” how to recover if you accidentally fall on Doris Kearns Goodwin or tell Tina Fey on meeting her for the first time that she has “great hair—really strong and thick,” this is your chance to find out. But it’s also a laugh-out-loud primer on how to keep a positive outlook in a world gone mad and how not to give up on your dreams. Ellie “dives fully into each role—as actor, comedian, writer, and also wife and new mom—with an electric dedication, by which one learns to reframe the picture, and if not exactly become a glass-half-full sort of person, at least become able to appreciate them” (Vogue.com).

One Direction


Lynn Peppas - 2013
    From their start on the UK TV show X Factor to sold-out concerts, MTV Video Music Awards, and chart-topping hits, Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis, and Zayn show no signs of slowing down. The group's first album Up All Night made history as the first debut album by a British group to enter at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. Full-color photos and fascinating facts make this book a must for any 'Directioner.'"--Provided by publisher.

In Pieces


Sally Field - 2018
    Powerful and unforgettable, In Pieces is an inspiring account of life as a woman in the second half of the twentieth century.

I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain


Courtney Robertson - 2014
    A working model and newly single, Courtney fit the casting call: She was young, beautiful, and a natural in front of the cameras. Although she may have been there for all the right reasons, as the season unfolded and sparks began to fly something else was clear: She was not there to make friends.Courtney quickly became one of the biggest villains in Bachelor franchise history. She unapologetically pursued her man, steamrolled her competition, and broke the rules—including partaking in an illicit skinny-dip that sealed her proposal. Now, after a very public breakup with her Bachelor, Ben Flajnik, Courtney opens up and tells her own story—from her first loves to her first moments in the limo. She dishes on life before, during, and after the Bachelor, including Ben's romantic proposal to her on a Swiss mountaintop and the tabloid frenzy that continued after the cameras stopped rolling.For the first time ever, a former Bachelor contestant takes us along on her journey to find love and reveals that “happily ever after” isn't always what it seems. Complete with stories, tips, tricks, and advice from your favorite Bachelor alumni, and filled with all the juicy details Courtney fans and foes alike want to know, I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends is a must-read for every member of Bachelor nation.

Over the Moon: My Autobiography


David Essex - 2012
    But as a teenager he developed a passion for music that set him on a very different path, and ultimately led to super stardom. It wasn't, however, an easy start. Scraping a living on the edges of show business was a hard slog, and he endured many disappointments. Then aged 23, he went along to an audition for a new musical called Godspell and won the role of Jesus that was to shoot him to fame. Within a year he was starring in smash hit film, That'll Be the Day, and had written and recorded his first number one single "Rock On." It was the start of Essex Mania, and a long journey of undreamt-of adventure. From Godspell to EastEnders it's been an amazing life, and here is David's full incredible story—in his own words.

Travels with Charlie


Sol Smith - 2014
    In Travels with Charlie, William and Charlotte Stronghold quit their jobs and sell their belongings in order to set sail and find a new home somewhere between their native California and the green mountains of Vermont. Along the way, they fall in love and into hate with the popular culture that binds Americans together. The lines are blurred between shady roadside attractions and heralded national monuments, between the natural wonders of the country and the loud and annoying tourists who populate them, between the concepts of place and self. A head-on collision, a single burrito nearly a yard long, dead presidents, something that is probably a bear, and a Canadian sex club provide the backdrop for this story that is part romance story, part tall-tale, and part coming of age memoir. At times sweet and heartbreaking, almost always bitingly funny, Travels with Charlie is an American story about life on the road, in the tradition of Huck Finn, On the Road, and Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley.

The Man Behind the Da Vinci Code: The Unauthorized Biography of Dan Brown


Lisa Rogak - 2005
    Through personal interviews with friends and former colleagues, as well as newspaper articles and transcripts collected over the course of Brown's career, Rogak paints an insightful picture of this enigmatic author.

Shang-a-lang: Life as an International Pop Idol


Les McKeown - 2003
    It is a remarkable story of extremes, and a no-holds barred account of Rollermania.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Brunette Ambition


Lea Michele - 2014
    Lea Michele is one of the hardest working performers in show business. Whether she’s starring as Rachel Berry on Glee, rocking a glamorous look on the red carpet, recording her solo album, or acting as the spokesperson for L’Oreal, Lea is the ultimate multi-tasker. She knows better than anyone that it is difficult to be your best self and keep things in perspective when your to-do list is overflowing and you are faced with challenges, so she’s developed a foolproof system for remaining healthy and centered. In Brunette Ambition, she reveals the lessons and advice that have worked for her--from beauty and fashion secrets to fitness tips, and career insights. Supplemented with never-before-seen photos and revealing anecdotes, it’s the book Lea wishes she’d had in her teens and early twenties: A practical and inspirational guide to harnessing tenacity and passion and living the fullest life, no matter what obstacles life puts in your way.

A Lotus Grows in the Mud


Goldie Hawn - 2005
    She writes about her childhood dreams of becoming a ballerina. She takes us on a tour of her go-go years in 1960s New York City, the phenomenon of TV’s Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, her Oscar-winning debut in Cactus Flower and Hollywood stardom. She writes intimately about the challenges of love, anger and fear, and the importance of compassion and integrity. She speaks openly about her family, her partner Kurt Russell, her children; her faith, her curiosity for that which she doesn’t yet know, and her thirst for knowledge. Most of all, it is a trip back through a life well lived by a woman well loved.