Self Memoir

From surf-lifesaving to a hungover Army deployment, being broke with a gum infection in Europe, spooning Richie McCaw on a mountain, improvising make-up for Paul Holmes, running my first ultra-marathon and reinventing myself after redundancy: every wild, brilliant and hilarious experience has taught me something new. Whether it's how not to care about being judged, how to fake it till you make it, how to throw yourself into the unknown or how to push through the pit of despair, I've come to love that we are all works in progress. If I fail from time to time, that's okay too.

Our beauty rituals are so often based around things we think we need to fix, grow, and develop—sometimes tipping into dangerous obsession. So, what seismic shift does it take to break free from this mentality? In Ugly, Anita uncovers where these beauty standards started, unpicks why they've been perpetuated, and unmasks the structures that continue to support them. From the ever-growing cosmetic surgery industry, to the hidden pitfalls of "pretty privilege," it is time to finally break free from those limiting beauty standards.

The motivating host of one of the nation's largest leadership conferences offers a collection of inspirational and applicable life lessons through conversations with various high-profile people. One Question invites you to peer over the shoulder of a master interviewer with access to today's best and brightest as he delivers carefully crafted questions and collects answers guaranteed to surprise, challenge, and inspire.

"The same energy that created stars and galaxies lies dormant within your belly." So begins Master Yan Ming Li's spell­binding memoir recounting the challenges of growing up as a spiritually gifted child in a land where exploration of the unseen realms was forbidden. Like a Chinese Harry Potter, Li found solace in a mysterious and power­ful force he called the Light. But this is not a work of fiction. It's a true story. In the minutes of this audiobook, we learn how all of us can gain access to this benevolent, healing, and boundless Light. It is, in fact, our birthright.

Throughout my life I have done things my way, and they have always worked out - as if I've had luck in my corner. All of my optimism and bravado came to a crashing halt one cold December holiday night, when after an evening out with good friends, I suffered an accident. I was beaten with a pipe and later found under a moving train, resulting in quadriplegia. Given virtually no chance to walk again, I was devastated. But I also had hope, and lots of it. A fire that exists deep within, and has since childhood, burns on no matter the circumstances. I am here for a bigger mission. What would that mission now be?

Beth Lisick has had a lifelong phobia of anything slick, cheesy, or that remotely claims to provide self-empowerment. But on New Year's Day 2006, she wakes up finally able to admit that something has to change. Determined to confront her fears head-on, Beth sets out to fix her life by consulting the multimillion-dollar-earning experts. In Chicago, she gets proactive with The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. In Atlanta, she struggles to understand why "women are from Venus". She gamely sweats to the oldies on a weeklong Cruise to Lose with Richard Simmons on the high seas of the Caribbean.

When Sara Zaske moved from Oregon to Berlin with her husband and toddler, she knew the transition would be challenging, especially when she became pregnant with her second child. She was surprised to discover that German parents give their children a great deal of freedom - much more than Americans. In Berlin, kids walk to school by themselves, ride the subway alone, cut food with sharp knives, and even play with fire. German parents did not share her fears, and their children were thriving.

If you have ever questioned your self-worth or encountered difficulties and challenges in life that have disabled you or eroded your self-confidence and ability to move forward, Knocked 4 Six is a "must" listen. It is a dramatic account of the early years of the author, Ore. It captures the knocks and the trauma experienced by a young person who suddenly finds herself vulnerable and exposed to a world where she has to look from the outside in.

The Huck Finn of foreign correspondents provides a colorful account of old Honolulu, the island nobility, the City of Refuge on the Kona coast, and the active volcano of Kilauea. These selections of Mark Twain's newspaper dispatches are both charming and informative. The light touch of the great humorist is seldom missing as he reveals the "loveliest fleet of islands that lie anchored in any ocean".

John H. Johnson, the remarkable entrepreneur who founded the Ebony publishing empire, tells the story of his success. The wealthiest African-American in the US today, Johnson shares his rags to riches saga, from the many obstacles that confronted him to his ultimate triumph.

Joy's rise from single mother of three to the nation's most celebrated female inventor is truly what dreams are made of. Full of twists and turns, work and love, obstacles encountered and overcome, Inventing Joy is a binge-worthy book in every aspect. Dive in and be swept along for the ride as she relives her incredible and inspiring journey to joy. But there's more: Throughout her story, Joy points out her very own personal lightbulb moments - lessons she learned the hard way and principles she still relies on today.

Finding Your Leadership Soul is a series of reflections, framed around letters Carlos writes to three young men whom he had the opportunity to teach and mentor. All three of these young men - Josue, Angel and Shawn - have passed; too young and too common for young men of color these days. Thus, Carlos' letters take the form of lessons he wishes he could have shared, impacts he wishes he could have made.

I wrote this book because when I turned 41 I made a decision to be brave. To live brave - bolder and freer. You see, I thought our lives were supposed to change when we turned 40...but mine didn't. Yet every piece of it changed when I turned 41, when I set out to prove that it wasn't too late for me, that careless words wouldn't stunt me and rejection would not stop me. And maybe, just maybe, it will take you reading about the journey I took to finding my sense of self-worth in order for you to rightfully believe in yours.

A deeply personal, yet candid saga of a gay Secret Service Agent in the Obama era; an agent who was struggling with his own identity, marriage, discrimination, and balancing the demands that accompany being assigned to protect the most powerful people in the world.

From his unique vantage point as editor in chief of Make magazine, the hub of the newly invigorated do-it-yourself (DIY) movement, Mark Frauenfelder takes listeners on an inspiring and surprising tour of the vibrant world of DIY. The Internet has brought together large communities of people who share ideas, tips, and blueprints for making everything from unmanned aerial vehicles to pedal-powered iPhone chargers to an automatic cat feeder jury-rigged from a VCR.

John Tesh has achieved more in life than he ever dreamed possible. But the road to success has been anything but easy - and those challenges have become the secret to his success. Through his story, we can learn how to be relentless, how to achieve what we didn't think was possible, and how to handle our inevitable discouragements.

Dr. Jeffrey Gurian shares in his book Healing Your Heart, By Changing Your Mind - A Spiritual and Humorous Approach to Achieving Happiness how he has learned through his own personal experience and years of study to overcome all the above and more. Burdened with a severe stutter until he was in his 20's and beyond, seemingly unable to be helped by therapy, and combined with the confusion of A.D.D. and a bit of O.C.D. thrown in, he was faced with having to deal with that for the rest of his life.

Finally! A male survivor speaks out about male childhood sexual abuse. Randy offers survivors and their families answers to their questions of why victims act out the way they do, and strategies to start living with greater purpose and happiness. Unlike books based on academic theories and abstract philosophies, Randy Boyd talks candidly about what it takes for men, women, and their families to heal from the pain of childhood sexual abuse. Randy tells his story in a way that the lay-person can absolutely relate to.

As a young kid growing up in a farm town, Ross Mathews might as well have wished for a pet unicorn or a calorie-free cookie tree to grow in his front yard. Either of those far-fetched fantasies would have been more likely to come true than his real dream: working in television in Hollywood, California. Seriously, that stuff just doesn't happen to people like Ross. But guess what. It totally did.

Voici l'histoire de Jesse Livermore, le plus talentueux trader de la bourse de Wall Street. Sa clairvoyance, son style, ses principes, ses erreurs, ses succès, tout y est relaté. Jesse Livermore a connu la fortune puis la ruine, et de nouveau la fortune. Comment ? Découvrez-le au travers de ce savoureux audiobook, et apprenez auprès d'un des plus grands traders de son époque, voire de toute l'histoire !