Self Memoir

From the author of The Gift of an Ordinary Day comes an intimate memoir of loss, self-discovery, and growth that will resonate deeply with any woman who has ever mourned the passage of time, questioned her own purpose, or wondered, "Do I have what it takes to create something new in my life"?​ "No longer indispensable, no longer assured of our old carefully crafted identities, no longer beautiful in the way we were at 20 or 30 or 40, we are hungry and searching nonetheless".

One woman's quest to conquer her fears and embrace life - and to inspire others to do the same. Patty Chang Anker grew up eager to please and afraid to fail. But after thirty-nine years, she decided it was time to stop being a chicken. Motivated initially to become a better role model for her two young daughters, she vowed to face the fears that had taken root like weeds, choking the fun and spontaneity out of her life. She learned to dive into a swimming pool, ride a bike, do a handstand, and surf.

I'm Listening with a Broken Ear is a true story about a dying dog, Honeybun, the author found on a roadside and grudgingly rescued. A concomitant story of faith, persistence, and love unfolds as both she and her young daughter struggled to help Honeybun overcome severe issues of compromised health, aggression, and fear.

In 2012 Lenerd Louw is living the high life on Millionaires' Row in Clifton beach, Cape Town. The successful CEO of an insurance company and part-time playboy, he appears to have it all - gorgeous women, threesomes, ecstasy and cocaine on demand. But something doesn't feel right. He tries to drown a deep inner voice urging him to change his career, life - everything - by partying harder. By the end of December 2012, a massive shift occurs. He resigns as CEO, sells all his worldly possessions, and books a one-way ticket to Lima, Peru.

Today's heads of big companies are as recognizable to us as the most popular entertainers or sports stars, but the heart and soul of every organization are those leaders below the CEO. Today's celebrity CEO has become either a figurehead or an egomaniac, and often too public a personality to get the real work done. That work is done instead by teams of leaders - exceptional deputies who forge great partnerships to maximize both organizational and personal success.

A remarkable teenager who went from public assistance to a million dollar net worth shares his story and offers nine key principles to success. Farrah Gray is no ordinary teenager. He wears a suit and tie; he has an office on Wall Street and another one in Los Angeles...and he sold his first business at the age of 14 for more than a million dollars.

At seven years old, Lynnie Vessels stepped out of the bathtub to discover her father had just shot her mother with a shotgun across their dining room table. Literally standing naked in her mother's blood throughout the ensuing horror, she was magically transported into the loving eyes of her younger sister. Simultaneously, her older sister used words to convince her maniacal father to put down the gun. In those moments, the author came to understand the miraculous power of eye contact and words.

My descent into more than a dozen years of sex and cocaine addiction, and how a cow in a Vermont pasture pointed me toward recovery and redemption.

America knew George Zimmer for one of the most famous slogans in television advertising history: “I guarantee it.” Zimmer rode his promise to lead the Men’s Wearhouse to unimagined success as a retail giant. Now, years removed from his stunning dismissal as leader of the company he founded, I Guarantee It recounts the journey of Zimmer’s rise, the fall of the Men’s Wearhouse, and his personal renewal.

Wie werde ich erfolgreich und finanziell unabhängig? Wie nutze ich Hindernisse, um an ihnen zu wachsen? Wie treffe ich die richtigen Entscheidungen? Als Kind nach Deutschland eingewandert, aufgewachsen in einem »sozialen Brennpunkt«, schon im Studium die erste eigene Firma gegründet und heute Millionär: Unterhaltsam und temporeich erzählt Dawid Przybylski seine persönliche Lebens- und Erfolgsgeschichte.

My purpose was handed to me in the shape of an envelope, a simple paper container with a sealable flap that holds a little bit of hope for our everyday heroes. As it turned out, a life of stationery was my destiny, not a stationary life. And it all began on the heels of a broken heart. For the better part of my life, I dreamed of and even prayed for an epic love story, and this is a love story on so many levels. I just never expected it to come at such a great toll. But then again, if you look back through the course of history, the greatest love stories always do.

Motsi opens up about the determination, hard work and resilience it took to get to where she is today from the moment she fell in love with the glitterball world as a young child watching a dance tournament whilst on holiday. She takes us back to growing up in apartheid South Africa where she experienced exclusion and discrimination, raising money to compete in cut-throat international competitions and the huge leap of faith she took giving up her law degree, moving to Germany to be with her dance partner and throwing everything in to becoming the best dancer she could be.

Growing up with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Sam felt restricted by the labels other people put on to her. After a spinal fusion operation, which almost left her paralysed in her early twenties, she decided to quit her job and move from Lancashire where she'd grown up, to London to start the life she'd always envisioned for herself. In You Are the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread, Sam shares how she went from a young girl who was constantly underestimated to succeeding in becoming a strong independent woman who followed her dreams and stopped letting other people hold her back.

In searching for certainty about choosing the right path, there is a stark truth. The truth is that choice carries burden. The burden of past and future choices. Without a crystal ball to see the future, and without the right skills, relief from the burden of choice comes down to one shocking reality. It means giving up the ability to choose. Giving up choice, or more importantly, not taking responsibility for the outcomes, frees you of the burden of choice. However, that freedom comes at a huge cost.

A must-hear for people experiencing a life-changing crisis. This is one man’s coming-of-age journey after depression, imprisonment, and loss—how he restarted, rose again, and turned his personal story into a public platform to inspire others.

Mike Flynt was swapping stories with some old football buddies when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: getting kicked off the college team before his senior year. So, one of his pals said, "Why not do something about it?" Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt's only concern was his eligibility. He not only returned to college football, but actually made the team at his alma mater—Sul Ross State, an NCAA division III school.

She was born to a working-class family in Manchester. Her father was her inspiration. She idolized this charismatic man, and he told her every day that she was special. Emulating her beloved father’s work ethic, Mandy worked on a market stall at 13 years old, then went off to university at 18, always working to help financially. From nothing and nowhere, she built a successful career in an unexpected place. She was admired, respected, and had made it. Then her world literally fell apart, and life took her on a journey from abundance to rock bottom.

Stacie Broek was living the expat dream—three children in a central Tokyo private school, house and travel back home all paid for—until the morning when her carotid artery spontaneously ripped, causing blood to pool in her artery wall. Upon waking from a 10-hour surgery, Stacie couldn’t walk, talk, or feed herself. She couldn't remember her name, her children's names, or her own address. The new ignorance was menacing and dangerous. This once independent, full-of-moxie woman was reduced to a needy lump.

A spiritual guidebook for the modern woman stepping into the unknown, Wholeness Within follows author and spiritual career coach Emily Smith on her journey from fear and victimhood to rapturous self-acceptance. Throughout, Emily shares her personal experiences of battling grief, burnout, anxiety, career dissatisfaction, addiction, and depression, which ultimately led her to a personal rebuilding and the development of a breakthrough coaching method that can help women everywhere shed negative self-images, create a career they actually love, and reclaim their narratives.

In Our Brave Foremothers, discover an intergenerational, intercultural bouquet of Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous women lifted into the significance that they deserve. From Etel Adnan to Mary Jones, Thelma Garcia Buchholdt to Pura Belpré to Zitkála-Šá, here are 100 women of color who left a lasting mark on United States history. Including both famous and little-known names, the thoughtful profiles and detailed portraits of these women herald their achievements and passions.