El olvido que seremos es una obra conmovedora de Héctor Abad Faciolince que narra la vida y obra de su padre, el médico Héctor Abad Gómez. Dedicó sus últimos años a la defensa de la igualdad social y los derechos humanos hasta su trágico asesinato en Medellín.
Este libro es una reconstrucción amorosa y paciente de un personaje excepcional. Está lleno de sonrisas y canta el placer de vivir, pero también muestra la tristeza y la rabia provocadas por su muerte.
Conjurar la figura del padre es un reto literario que ha sido abordado por muchos autores como Kafka y Philip Roth. Ahora, este libro desgarrador de Abad Faciolince se suma a esa tradición, escrito con valor y ternura.
Already an internet phenomenon, these wise and insightful lessons by popular newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Regina Brett will make you see the possibilities in your life in a whole new way.
When Regina Brett turned 50, she wrote a column on the 50 lessons life had taught her. She reflected on all she had learned through becoming a single parent, looking for love in all the wrong places, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer, and making peace with a difficult childhood.
Brett now takes the 50 lessons and expounds on them in essays that are deeply personal. From "Don't take yourself too seriously-Nobody else does" to "Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift," these lessons will strike a chord with anyone who has ever gone through tough times--and haven't we all?
On a sunny day in June, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood went for a swim. And then everything — absolutely everything — changed.
Now she's counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, "That's her — that's Shark Girl," as she passes.
In the meantime, there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about her art? What about her life?
In this striking first novel, Kelly Bingham uses poems, letters, telephone conversations, and newspaper clippings to look unflinchingly at what it's like to lose part of yourself — and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again.
My name is Alan Christoffersen. You don’t know me. ‘Just another book in the library,’ my father would say. ‘Unopened and unread.’ You have no idea how far I’ve come or what I’ve lost. More important, you have no idea what I’ve found.
What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida.
The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.
A life-changing journey, both physical and spiritual, The Walk is the first of an unforgettable series of books about one man’s search for hope.
Jason Blake is an autistic 12-year-old living in a neurotypical world. Most days, it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong. But Jason finds a glimmer of understanding when he comes across PhoenixBird, who posts stories to the same online site as he does.
Jason can be himself when he writes, and he thinks that PhoenixBird—her name is Rebecca—could be his first real friend. But as desperate as Jason is to meet her, he's terrified that if they do meet, Rebecca will only see his autism and not who Jason really is.
By acclaimed writer Nora Raleigh Baskin, this is the breathtaking depiction of an autistic boy’s struggles—and a story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in.
Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it - somehow.
In this breakthrough story, reminiscent of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, from multiple Coretta Scott King Award-winner Sharon Draper, readers will come to know a brilliant mind and a brave spirit who will change forever how they look at anyone with a disability.
The Jesuit Guide to Everything offers a practical spirituality for real life, inspired by the teachings of St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus (aka the Jesuits). Known for his practical spirituality, the "way of Ignatius" has helped millions—from the doubtful seeker to the devout believer—find freedom, make friends, live simply, work sensibly, fall in love, experience joy, and enter into a relationship with God.
The Ignatian goal of "finding God in all things" means that every part of our lives can lead us to God. This book shows us how this is possible, with user-friendly examples, humorous stories, and anecdotes from the heroic and inspiring lives of Jesuit saints and average priests and brothers, as well as examples from Martin's twenty years as a Jesuit.
The Jesuit Guide to Everything translates these insights of St. Ignatius for a modern audience and reveals how we can find God—and how God can find us—in the real world of work, love, suffering, decisions, prayer, and friendship.
Inspired by the Upanishads sacred writings and the poetry of Zen and Taoism, Voyager is an inspirational and transformational work that conveys the ineffable truth of existence: we are pure awareness at our center, human in appearance.
There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens. This is the light that shines in your heart.
We are voyagers, set on a course to find our unique purpose in life. In our heart lies the key to true peace and happiness. Each of the twenty-five chapters presents a voyage toward our inner, True Self, bringing a deeper and wider perspective along the way. Exploring the shores of human-beingness ever more deeply, we realize Soul is the lighthouse—the light that guides us safely home.
By simply experiencing ourselves without distraction of mind, we see through personal drama to our inner true nature. We are all connected in the still ocean of pure awareness.
It is only the mind which appears as the world and as bondage; there is no world other than the mind. On inquiry, this mind turns out to be nothing more than ripples (thoughts) in the still ocean of pure Awareness.
Pure awareness is an art that requires practice to quiet the surface of mind and still the moving waters of our emotional seas. Awakening is recognizing all world appearances are illuminated from the light that shines in our heart.
We stand at the bow of our ship. The sky is clear, the sea is calm... Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find.
Su Yen left Taiwan feeling hopeless and broken. In England, specifically in Oxford, her tutor introduces her to the sympathy, understanding, and beauty of English poetry and its potential healing power. Through the beauty of the language and the humanity of culture, she slowly revives.
This real-life story tells of a young woman from Taiwan, an interior designer, who comes to England for further study. She has two ambitions: to find a new meaning for her life, which has been broken by her experiences in Taiwan, and to immerse herself in the English culture she has read and dreamed about since childhood. Overcoming problems of lack of money and the difficulties of engaging with an unfamiliar language and culture, Su Yen achieves both her goals through her discoveries of the beauties and sympathy of English poetry, painting, and architecture, and the friendliness of many of the people she meets.
Su Yen's forgotten past is gradually revealed and healed with the magic of English poetry, which leads her to see the profound meaning of life. This book will appeal to readers with an interest in discovering English history and culture.
Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter.” In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.
In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness, when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.
Written with charm and wit, The Happiness Project is illuminating yet entertaining, thought-provoking yet compulsively readable. Gretchen Rubin's passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire you to start your own happiness project.
Cuore: An Italian Schoolboy's Journal is a beloved children's novel by Edmondo De Amicis, first issued on October 17, 1886, coinciding with the first day of school in Italy. The book's success was immense, quickly becoming a staple in Italian literature and translated into numerous languages.
About the Author: Edmondo De Amicis (1846-1908) was a renowned Italian novelist, journalist, poet, and short-story writer. His experiences, including his participation in the battle of Custoza during the Third Independence War, greatly influenced his literary work.
Cuore captures the essence of school life and the moral lessons learned within its walls. It is a heartwarming collection of stories that reflect the values of friendship, kindness, and courage, making it an enduring classic for readers of all ages.
From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, comes a beautiful, haunting autobiography.
Agassi’s incredibly rigorous training begins when he is just a child. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return. And yet, despite his raw talent, he struggles early on. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world’s best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon. Overnight he becomes a fan favorite and a media target.
Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. Alongside vivid portraits of rivals from several generations—Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer—Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals a shattering loss of confidence. And he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.
In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. Inspired by her quiet strength, he fights through crippling pain from a deteriorating spine to remain a dangerous opponent in the twenty-first and final year of his career. Entering his last tournament in 2006, he’s hailed for completing a stunning metamorphosis, from nonconformist to elder statesman, from dropout to education advocate. And still he’s not done. At a U.S. Open for the ages, he makes a courageous last stand, then delivers one of the most stirring farewells ever heard in a sporting arena.
With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi’s game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed, and power.
The Snowball is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha”. This book recounts the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom.
Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world’s richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term “simple.”
When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett, she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him, she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.
Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer’s questions, talking, and giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—opening his files and recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett’s legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people’s lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.
Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses.
Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand.
By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.
Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was nothing short of spectacular. Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant. "Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle. Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix audiences everywhere.
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is a deeply felt and inspirational work by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This book serves as a passionate call to arms against the pervasive human rights violation of the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.
Join Kristof and WuDunn on an odyssey through Africa and Asia where they introduce us to extraordinary women. Among them is a Cambodian teenager who escapes sex slavery, an Ethiopian woman who overcomes devastating childbirth injuries to become a surgeon, and a Zimbabwean mother of five who earns her doctorate and becomes an AIDS expert.
Through these compelling stories, the authors illustrate how unleashing women's potential is key to economic progress. They show how small acts of help can transform lives and emphasize that emancipating women globally is not only right but also a strategic approach to fighting poverty.
This book is essential reading for every global citizen, offering clarity, anger, sadness, and ultimately, hope.
Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him. It is a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.
Tracy Kidder, author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the enduring classic Mountains Beyond Mountains, gives us the superb story of a hero for our time. Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts.
He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing.
Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness. An extraordinary writer, Tracy Kidder once again shows us what it means to be fully human by telling a story about the heroism inherent in ordinary people, a story about a life based on hope.
Once a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner; to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. It has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever written.
Originally self-published in 1978 and sold at road races out of the trunk of the author’s car, reading the book became a rite of passage for many runners, and tattered copies were handed down like sacred texts from generation to generation.
Once a Runner is the story of Quenton Cassidy, a collegiate runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the political and cultural turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his school’s athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes’ protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team.
Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life: a head-to-head match with the greatest miler in history.
This audiobook is a rare insider’s account of the incredibly intense lives of elite distance runners; an inspiring, funny, and spot-on tale of one man’s quest to become a champion.
Alif lahir di pinggir Danau Maninjau dan tidak pernah menginjak tanah di luar ranah Minangkabau. Masa kecilnya adalah berburu durian runtuh di rimba Bukit Barisan, bermain bola di sawah berlumpur dan tentu mandi berkecipak di air biru Danau Maninjau.
Tiba-tiba saja dia harus naik bus tiga hari tiga malam melintasi punggung Sumatera dan Jawa menuju sebuah desa di pelosok Jawa Timur. Ibunya ingin dia menjadi Buya Hamka walau Alif ingin menjadi Habibie. Dengan setengah hati dia mengikuti perintah Ibunya: belajar di pondok.
Di kelas hari pertamanya di Pondok Madani (PM), Alif terkesima dengan “mantera” sakti man jadda wajada. Siapa yang bersungguh-sungguh pasti sukses.
Dia terheran-heran mendengar komentator sepakbola berbahasa Arab, anak menggigau dalam bahasa Inggris, merinding mendengar ribuan orang melagukan Syair Abu Nawas dan terkesan melihat pondoknya setiap pagi seperti melayang di udara.
Dipersatukan oleh hukuman jewer berantai, Alif berteman dekat dengan Raja dari Medan, Said dari Surabaya, Dulmajid dari Sumenep, Atang dari Bandung dan Baso dari Gowa. Di bawah menara masjid yang menjulang, mereka berenam kerap menunggu maghrib sambil menatap awan lembayung yang berarak pulang ke ufuk.
Di mata belia mereka, awan-awan itu menjelma menjadi negara dan benua impian masing-masing. Kemana impian jiwa muda ini membawa mereka? Mereka tidak tahu. Yang mereka tahu adalah: Jangan pernah remehkan impian, walau setinggi apa pun. Tuhan sungguh Maha Mendengar.
Bagaimana perjalanan mereka ke ujung dunia ini dimulai? Siapa horor nomor satu mereka? Apa pengalaman mendebarkan di tengah malam buta di sebelah sungai tempat jin buang anak? Bagaimana sampai ada yang kasak-kusuk menjadi mata-mata misterius? Siapa Princess of Madani yang mereka kejar-kejar? Kenapa mereka harus botak berkilat-kilat? Bagaimana sampai Icuk Sugiarto, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ibnu Rusyd, bahkan Maradona sampai akhirnya ikut campur?
Ikuti perjalanan hidup yang inspiratif ini langsung dari mata para pelakunya. Negeri Lima Menara adalah buku pertama dari sebuah trilogi.
A thrilling, inspiring account of one of the greatest charm offensives in history—Nelson Mandela's decade-long campaign to unite his country, beginning in his jail cell and ending with a rugby tournament.
In 1985, Nelson Mandela, then in prison for twenty-three years, set about winning over the fiercest proponents of apartheid, from his jailers to the head of South Africa's military. First, he earned his freedom and then he won the presidency in the nation's first free election in 1994. But he knew that South Africa was still dangerously divided by almost fifty years of apartheid. If he couldn't unite his country in a visceral, emotional way—and fast—it would collapse into chaos.
He would need all the charisma and strategic acumen he had honed during half a century of activism, and he'd need a cause all South Africans could share. Mandela picked one of the more farfetched causes imaginable—the national rugby team, the Springboks, who would host the sport's World Cup in 1995.
Against the giants of the sport, the Springboks' chances of victory were remote. But their chances of capturing the hearts of most South Africans seemed remoter still, as they had long been the embodiment of white supremacist rule. During apartheid, the all-white Springboks and their fans had belted out racist fight songs, and blacks would come to Springbok matches to cheer for whatever team was playing against them. Yet Mandela believed that the Springboks could embody—and engage—the new South Africa. And the Springboks themselves embraced the scheme.
Soon South African TV would carry images of the team singing "Nkosi Sikelele Afrika," the longtime anthem of black resistance to apartheid. As their surprising string of victories lengthened, their home-field advantage grew exponentially. South Africans of every color and political stripe found themselves falling for the team.
When the Springboks took to the field for the championship match against New Zealand's heavily favored squad, Mandela sat in his presidential box wearing a Springbok jersey while sixty-two-thousand fans, mostly white, chanted "Nelson! Nelson!" Millions more gathered around their TV sets, whether in dusty black townships or leafy white suburbs, to urge their team toward victory. The Springboks won a nail-biter that day, defying the oddsmakers and capping Mandela's miraculous ten-year-long effort to bring forty-three million South Africans together in an enduring bond.
John Carlin, a former South Africa bureau chief for the London Independent, offers a singular portrait of the greatest statesman of our time in action, blending the volatile cocktail of race, sport, and politics to intoxicating effect. He draws on extensive interviews with Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and dozens of other South Africans caught up in Mandela's momentous campaign, and the Springboks' unlikely triumph. As he makes stirringly clear, their championship transcended the mere thrill of victory to erase ancient hatreds and make a nation whole.
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is a captivating tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love. This enchanting novel follows the life of Calla Lily Ponder, a young girl growing up in the small town of La Luna, Louisiana.
Guided by the mystical Moon Lady, a protective feminine force, Calla Lily thrives in her hometown until the end of her first love pushes her to the vibrant Crescent City. There, she discovers her unique gift of "healing hands," a power that allows her to change lives and alleviate pain.
Join Calla Lily on her journey as she attends a prestigious beauty academy in New Orleans, with dreams of opening her own salon. Experience the adventures, new friendships, and the inevitable setbacks that come with life in the Big Easy.
Filled with Southern charm and sassy wisdom, this novel is a heartwarming exploration of the power of home and the magic of everyday life.
Wesley the Owl is a funny and poignant story about the unique bond between a biologist, Stacey O'Brien, and a barn owl named Wesley. This remarkable tale spans over two decades, beginning on Valentine's Day 1985, when Stacey first met a four-day-old baby barn owl with nerve damage in one wing.
With a heart full of love and a scientist's eye, Stacey gave Wesley a permanent home, caring for him with a mice-only diet and documenting his life stages. From a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful adolescent and a gorgeous adult owl, Wesley's journey is filled with humor, love, and loyalty.
Stacey shares insights into Wesley's individual personality, intelligence, and playful nature. Their bond deepens as she makes important discoveries about owl behavior and communication, coining the term "The Way of the Owl" to describe his inclinations.
The story also brings us inside the prestigious research community at Caltech, a place filled with eccentric scientists committed to studying and helping animals. As Stacey faces her own life-threatening illness, Wesley's insistent love and courage become a source of strength and rescue.
Enhanced by wonderful photos, Wesley the Owl is an engaging, heartwarming, and often funny story of a complex, emotional, non-human being capable of reason, play, and, most importantly, love and loyalty.
Before I Die tells the story of Tessa, a young teenage girl who has only months to live. In this brilliantly crafted novel, which is both heartbreaking yet life-affirming, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up.
Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.
Young Elizabeth O'Connor is the little sister John Brady always longed for. But she wants much more than that from her spiritual mentor. As she blossoms into a beautiful young woman intent on loving John, he must push back the very real attraction he feels for her. His past just won't let him go there.
Unfortunately, Lizzie won't let him go anywhere else--until she discovers he is not all that he seems. Can true love survive such revelations?
Full of romance and relationships that readers have come to love, A Passion Denied is the final book in the popular Daughters of Boston series.
A new story of common wisdom from the bestselling author of The Traveler’s Gift. Orange Beach, Alabama, is a simple town filled with simple people. But like all humans on the planet, the good folks of Orange Beach have their share of problems – marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, businesspeople on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as the many other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses.
Fortunately, when things look the darkest – a mysterious man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up. An elderly man with white hair, of indiscriminate age and race, wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and leather flip flops carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul. Communicating what he calls “a little perspective,” Jones explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things that others miss. “Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely,” he says. “Don’t squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure…and they matter forever.”
Jones speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what we can do about it.
Like The Traveler’s Gift, The Noticer is a unique narrative blend of fiction, allegory, and inspiration. Gifted storyteller Andy Andrews helps us see how becoming a “noticer” just might change a person’s life forever.
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local "powhitetrash." At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime.
Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors ("I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare") will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.
The Midwife is an unforgettable true story and the basis for the hit PBS drama Call the Midwife. At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in post-war London's East End slums.
The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies all over London—from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives to the woman with twenty-four children who can't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city's seedier side—illuminate a fascinating time in history.
Beautifully written and utterly moving, The Midwife will touch the hearts of anyone who is, and everyone who has, a mother.
The Temptation of St. Antony is a profound work that deeply influenced the young Freud and served as an inspiration for many artists. This book was Flaubert's lifelong endeavor, taking thirty years to complete.
Based on the story of the third-century saint who lived on an isolated mountaintop in the Egyptian desert, it presents a fantastical narrative of one night during which Anthony is besieged by carnal temptations and philosophical doubt.
Anne Frank Remembered is the astonishing autobiography of Miep Gies, the woman who helped hide the Frank family during the harrowing years of World War II.
For more than two years, Miep Gies and her husband bravely risked their lives to provide food, news, and emotional support to the hidden families. Their acts of bravery are a beacon of hope and humanity amidst the darkness of the Nazi occupation.
Miep's story is not just about the past; it is a timeless reminder of the power of love and courage. From her own remarkable childhood as a World War I refugee to the poignant moment she places Anne's diary—a legacy of hope—into Otto Frank's hands, her memories are recounted with simple honesty and shattering clarity.
This book resonates with courage and heartbreaking beauty, offering a glimpse into the life of a true unsung hero of the Holocaust.
Three Days To See is a remarkable essay by the renowned author and activist, Helen Keller. This work invites readers into the imaginative and perceptive world of Keller, who, despite being blind and deaf, offers an inspiring perspective on experiencing life.
In this essay, Keller imagines what she would do if she were given just three days to see the world. She shares her desires to witness the beauty of nature, the faces of loved ones, and the vibrant life of a bustling city. Her reflections are both profound and heartfelt, encouraging readers to appreciate the simple joys and wonders of the world around them.
This essay not only highlights Keller's incredible insight but also serves as a powerful reminder of the value of sight and the richness of human experience. It is a timeless piece that continues to inspire and move readers across generations.
What is leadership? What qualities do true leaders have? Can you learn to be a leader? These questions and more are answered in this insightful book.
Described are the most common virtues of a leader, with past and present examples that illustrate these qualities in action.
Grace is a heartwarming and inspirational Christmas novel in the tradition of The Christmas Box, The Gift, and The Christmas List. The New York Times bestselling author, Richard Paul Evans, returns with a holiday novel of hope, love, and redemption.
She was my first kiss. My first love. She was a little match girl who could see the future in the flame of a candle. She was a runaway who taught me more about life than anyone has before or since. And when she was gone, my innocence left with her. As I begin to write, a part of me feels as if I am awakening something best left dead and buried, or at least buried.
We can bury the past, but it never really dies. The experience of that winter has grown on my soul like ivy climbing the outside of a home, growing until it begins to tear and tug at the brick and mortar. I pray I can still get the story right. My memory, like my eyesight, has waned with age. Still, there are things that become clearer to me as I grow older.
This much I know: too many things were kept secret in those days. Things that never should have been hidden. And things that should have.
Eric is having a hard time adjusting to his family’s move from California to Utah. Then he meets Grace—his classmate and a runaway—dumpster diving behind the burger joint where he works. Eric decides the only thing to do is to hide Grace in the clubhouse in his backyard. With the adults concerned about the looming Cuban Missile Crisis and his father recovering from an immune disorder, Eric grows closer to Grace but can their new relationship survive the harsh realities of life?
In this poignant, sensitive, and realistic narrative, Richard Paul Evans shares Grace’s heartbreaking predicament and Eric’s realization that everything is not as simple as it might appear.
La suma de los días es una obra al tiempo emotiva y escrita en el tono irónico y apasionado que caracteriza a la autora, Isabel Allende. Nos entrega la suma de sus días como mujer y como escritora.
En las páginas de este libro, Isabel Allende narra con franqueza la historia reciente de su vida y la de su peculiar familia en California. Viven en una casa abierta, llena de gente y de personajes literarios, y protegida por un espíritu. El libro abarca hijas perdidas, nietos y libros que nacen, éxitos y dolores, un viaje al mundo de las adicciones y otros a lugares remotos del mundo en busca de inspiración. Además, trata de divorcios, encuentros, amores, separaciones, crisis de pareja y reconciliaciones.
También es una historia de amor entre un hombre y una mujer maduros, que han salvado juntos muchos escollos sin perder ni la pasión ni el humor. Es una mirada a una familia moderna, desgarrada por conflictos y unida, a pesar de todo, por el cariño y la decisión de salir adelante.
Skateboarding used to be my life. When I was fourteen years old, I was discovered by Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk and was on my way to turning pro. I toured the country, signed autographs, and had my photo in skate magazines. Then I got hooked on heroin and threw it all away. Soon I was living in an abandoned garage and begging for spare change. Ripping off my family and friends meant nothing to me. I was a dreamseller, pushing the fantasy that I was a recovering addict. Anything to get my precious next fix.
This is my story of struggling to survive on the streets and battling with addiction in rehab. It's a story of trust I betrayed and trust I had to earn back. It's also the story of my friendship with MTV and Jackass star Bam Margera. I would have died a junkie's death if not for him. Bam convinced me to write about how my addiction destroyed my career—and nearly my life.
Jerk, California tells the compelling story of Sam, a young man on a transformative journey across the country.
Battling the challenges of Tourette's Syndrome, Sam embarks on a quest to uncover the hidden truths of his family. Along the way, he discovers love and acceptance in unexpected places.
This novel is wrought with tension, romance, and hope, offering readers an inspirational tale of self-discovery and courage.
In this deeply compassionate work, Jean Vanier shares his profoundly human vision for creating a common good that radically changes our communities, our relationships, and ourselves. He proposes that by opening ourselves to others, those we perceive as weak, different, or inferior, we can achieve true personal and societal freedom.
Our society shuns weakness and glorifies strength. By embracing weakness, however, we learn new ways of living and discover greater compassion, trust, and understanding. This spirit of inclusion has extraordinary implications for the way we live our lives and build our communities.
Graced with physical beauty, though shallow of heart, Charity O'Connor is a woman who knows what she wants. She sets her sights on the cantankerous Mitch Dennehy, editor at the Irish Times, who has unwittingly stolen her heart. And although the sparks are there, Mitch refuses to fan the coals of a potential relationship with his ex-fiancee's sister.
But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat and she always gets what she wants--one way or another. Is revenge so sweet after all? Or will Charity get burned?
Full of intense passion, betrayal, and forgiveness, A Passion Redeemed will delight Lessman's fans and draw new ones.
The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics—a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long defined us and that is our best hope going forward.
In July 2004, four years before his presidency, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners’ minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Obama called “the audacity of hope.”
This book is a call for a different brand of politics—a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the “endless clash of armies” we see in congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of “our improbable experiment in democracy.” He explores those forces—from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media—that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.
At the heart of this book is Barack Obama’s vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats—from terrorism to pandemic—that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy—where it is vital and where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories is a vigorous search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political consensus. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, Obama says, can Americans repair a political process that is broken, and restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes—“waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.”
The Message//REMIX is distinctive because the text is shaped by the hand of a pastor, Eugene H. Peterson. It features expanded introductions to each book of the Bible that explain the purpose of the book, who wrote it, and for whom it was written. These introductions help set the stage for the book and help you understand each book's unique message.
A reading Bible in contemporary language, The Message//REMIX also has a unique verse-numbering system, charts, maps, and a topical guide for students.
No one could reach her. Twelve-year-old Helen Keller lived in a prison of silence and darkness. Born deaf, blind, and mute, with no way to express herself or comprehend those around her, she flew into primal rages against anyone who tried to help her, fighting tooth and nail with a strength born of furious, unknowing desperation.
Then Annie Sullivan came. Half-blind herself, but possessing an almost fanatical determination, she would begin a frightening and incredibly moving struggle to tame the wild girl no one could reach, and bring Helen into the world at last.
The Shack is a cherished novel by William Paul Young that has touched lives worldwide. The story revolves around Mackenzie Allen Phillips, whose youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation. Evidence suggests she might have been brutally murdered in an abandoned shack in the Oregon wilderness.
Four years later, Mack is immersed in his Great Sadness when he receives a mysterious note, seemingly from God, inviting him to the shack. Despite his doubts, Mack returns to the scene of his worst nightmare on a cold, wintry afternoon. The encounter that awaits him has the potential to change his life forever.
Set against the backdrop of a world riddled with pain and questioning the relevance of religion, The Shack addresses the age-old dilemma: Where is God in a world filled with unspeakable suffering? Join Mack as he uncovers the astonishing truths that have captivated and transformed millions of readers.
Prisoner of Tehran is an extraordinary tale of faith and survival. Marina Nemat, brought up as a Christian, experienced a peaceful childhood in Tehran until the Iranian Revolution of 1979 changed everything. After expressing her discontent about her math lessons being replaced by Koran study, Marina was arrested one fateful evening.
She was taken to the notorious Evin prison, where interrogation and torture were part of the daily routine. At just sixteen, she was sentenced to death. Her prison guard, however, saved her from the execution but at a shocking price: marriage to him and conversion to Islam.
Marina lived out her prison days as his secret bride, grappling with complex emotions of hatred and gratitude. When her husband was murdered by his enemies at Evin, Marina's life took another dramatic turn.
Eventually, she returned to her family, but under the constant watch of the regime. Her story is a profound reflection on the cost of freedom and the resilience of the human spirit.
Prisoner of Tehran offers an intimate glimpse into revolutionary Iran and stands as a testament to the power of love in the face of evil and injustice.
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.
Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.
A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life ... as only a dog could tell it.
Anything Goes is a revelatory and insightful memoir, told with real heart and characteristic Barrowman charm. It traces the life and career of actor John Barrowman, from his Glaswegian childhood and American adolescence to his starring role in the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood.
John made a name for himself with remarkable West End achievements, including an Olivier Award nomination and success in the movies The Producers and De-Lovely. Television success was also assured when Torchwood won a Best Drama BAFTA.
John also lays bare his personal life: his emigration as a child, coming out to his family, turning down a job at Disney, and his civil partnership with long-term partner Scott Gill.
This is a wonderful tale of how one boy achieved his dreams, providing a no-holds-barred insight into the extraordinary experiences of one of the best-loved figures in show business.
A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture'. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave, 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams', wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would be next. She made headlines again when she was stripped of her citizenship and resigned from the Dutch Parliament.
Infidel shows the coming of age of this distinguished political superstar and champion of free speech as well as the development of her beliefs, iron will, and extraordinary determination to fight injustice. Raised in a strict Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries ruled largely by despots. She escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Under constant threat, demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from family and clan, she refuses to be silenced.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali’s story tells how a bright little girl evolves out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no other book could be more timely or more significant.