Five-Dog Epiphany: How a Quintet of Badass Bichons Retrieved Our Joy

Five-Dog Epiphany: How a Quintet of Badass Bichons Retrieved Our Joy

Author: Marianne Leone

Publisher: Akashic Books

Published: 2024-09-03

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 1636141935

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A new installment in best-selling author Ann Hood’s Gracie Belle imprint, actress Marianne Leone’s (The Sopranos, etc.) memoir explores how a bereaved couple and a pack of rescue dogs rediscovered joy IN FIVE-DOG EPIPHANY, MARIANNE LEONE writes about the joy that can be summoned after a great loss, "when you look into the eyes of another damaged creature and know that your happiness is a mirror and an echo and a prayer, and that the little soul reflecting all that energy is happy too, at last." This memoir is a moving and sometimes surprisingly funny exploration of grief and the mutual healing that can occur between rescue dogs and people who have experienced a soul-crushing loss. Leone and her husband, actor Chris Cooper, lost their only child suddenly in 2005. Jesse was seventeen, a straight-A student, and a brilliant poet, who was also quadriplegic and nonverbal except with the assistance of a computer. When six-year-old Jesse miraculously blurted "dog" to Santa, Goody appeared on his bed on Christmas morning. Goody was followed by Lucky, Frenchy, Titi, and Sugar, all rescues adopted after Jesse’s passing. After Jesse’s death, Leone grew a tumor the size of her premature son at birth, her husband disappeared into dark acting roles (Breach, Married Life), and Leone fainted during the filming of a scene in The Sopranos where she is standing in front of her television son’s coffin. This is the story of a bereaved couple and a pack of rescue dogs finding their way to a new life, everyone licking their wounds, both corporal and spiritual, and the rediscovery of joy.


Ma Speaks Up

Ma Speaks Up

Author: Marianne Leone

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2017-04-25

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 0807060054

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The acclaimed actress and author of Jesse: A Mother’s Story tells the "entertaining and moving" story of her outspoken, frequently outrageous Italian immigrant mother (Tom Perrotta) Marianne Leone’s Ma is in many senses a larger-than-life character, one who might be capable, even from the afterlife, of shattering expectations. Born on a farm in Italy, Linda finds her way to the United States under dark circumstances, having escaped a forced marriage to a much older man, and marries a good Italian boy. She never has full command of English—especially when questioned by authorities—and when she is suddenly widowed with three young children, she has few options. To her daughter’s horror and misery, she becomes the school lunch lady. Ma Speaks Up is a record of growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, with the wrong family, in the wrong religion. Though Marianne’s girlhood is flooded with shame, it’s equally packed with adventure, love, great cooking, and, above all, humor. The extremely premature birth of Marianne’s beloved son, Jesse, bonds mother and daughter in ways she couldn’t have imagined. The stories she tells will speak to anyone who has struggled with outsider status in any form and, of course, to mothers and their blemished, cherished girls.


Amal the Thirsty Gamal

Amal the Thirsty Gamal

Author: Robert A. Schorr

Publisher:

Published: 2021-07-06

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781645438694

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Amal the Thirsty Gamal is for every child who might be struggling with how he or she is perceived by others. (Oh yes, camels care about that, too!) Our little hero has spent too many years listening to all the wrong voices and thinking all the wrong things: about his hump, about his appearance, about himself. But-oh!-get ready! Because "wise men" have joined this particular caravan journey, and when one of them speaks up around the campfire one night, everything changes for little Amal the Gamal!


Knowing Jesse

Knowing Jesse

Author: Marianne Leone

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: 2010-09-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781439183922

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Jesse Cooper was an honor-roll student who loved to windsurf and write poetry. He also had severe cerebral palsy and was quadriplegic, unable to speak, and wracked by seizures. He died suddenly at age seventeen. In fiercely honest, surprisingly funny, and sometimes heartbreaking prose, Jesse’s mother, Marianne Leone, chronicles her transformation by the remarkable life and untimely death of her child. An unforgettable memoir of joy, grief, and triumph, Knowing Jesse unlocks the secret of unconditional love and speaks to all families who strive to do right by their children.


The Mindful Millionaire

The Mindful Millionaire

Author: Leisa Peterson

Publisher: St. Martin's Essentials

Published: 2020-07-14

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1250261929

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“Leisa has a truly unique gift and has designed a path that will transform your relationship with money.”—Grant Sabatier, author of Financial Freedom and creator of Millennial Money In the world of personal finance the biggest challenge is the sense that there’s never going to be enough. It is this mindset of scarcity, and not the amount spent on lattes, that holds people back the most from achieving their financial dreams. Using techniques she’s developed as a financial planner and spiritual coach, Leisa Peterson guides you to dig deeper and discover the root of your financial thinking to change not just the way you save and spend, but the way you live your life. Through powerful practices, compelling stories and extensive research, The Mindful Millionaire meets you wherever you are in your money journey by exploring: *Where your current money habits come from and why you feel the way you do about money and success. *How to break the cycle of fear, grief, and shame that often surrounds your money habits. *How to write a new money story that inspires joy, satisfaction and prosperity. *Why wealth building isn’t just about positive thinking and “manifesting” things into reality. *How to stop financial self-sabotage and procrastination. *Where practical financial advice misses the mark. *The most effective tools for changing how you think and feel about money. *What true financial independence looks like and how to discover the millionaire within. “This book helps you realize your intrinsic value so your financial decisions reflect what matters most to you. This is the key to true financial freedom."—Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D., Founder of BNI and New York Times bestselling author of Truth or Delusion? Busting Networking’s Biggest Myths “If you've read other finance books and still felt empty, this is the book you've been waiting for.”—Joe Saul-Sehy, Creator and Co-Host, Stacking Benjamins Podcast


Jesse

Jesse

Author: Marianne Leone

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-04-05

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1439184321

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Jesse Cooper was an honor-roll student who loved to windsurf and write poetry. He also had severe cerebral palsy and was quadriplegic, unable to speak, and wracked by seizures. He died suddenly at age seventeen. His mother, Marianne Leone, chronicles her transformation by the remarkable life and untimely death of her child. An unforgettable memoir of joy, grief, and triumph, this book unlocks the secret of unconditional love and speaks to all families who strive to do right by their children.--[book jacket].


Marty Pants #2: Keep Your Paws Off!

Marty Pants #2: Keep Your Paws Off!

Author: Mark Parisi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2018-02-06

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 0062427792

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Marty Pants is back! And in an unexpectedly hairy situation, Marty must put his deduction skills to the test as this new mystery might be leading to monstrous consequences. When Marty finds a ripped page from his sister's diary, the most crucial piece—revealing Marty's true identity—is still locked inside his sister’s room. Undaunted, Marty pieces the clues together and comes to the most logical conclusion: he's on a one-way trip to werewolfville! Superhuman speed. Howling. Hairiness. The evidence is mounting against him, and with his werewolf powers growing stronger, Marty is determined to protect his classmates from himself before it's too late—no matter what the cost! The second book in the Marty Pants series from the award-winning cartoonist behind the “Off the Mark” strip, Mark Parisi, is perfect for fans of Wimpy Kid, Big Nate, and laughing a lot.


Planet Claire: Suite for Cello and Sad-Eyed Lovers

Planet Claire: Suite for Cello and Sad-Eyed Lovers

Author: Jeff Porter

Publisher: Akashic Books

Published: 2021-01-05

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1617758698

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The second installment in Ann Hood’s Gracie Belle imprint challenges the traditional solemnity that characterizes nonfiction books of grief, loss, and sorrow. “Few readers will fail to be gripped by this tragically common story about death and what comes after for those left behind . . . A haunting and thought-provoking consideration of death and ‘how utterly it rips apart our lives.'” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review Planet Claire is the story of the untimely death of the author’s wife and his candid account of the following year of madness and grief. As his life unravels, Porter analyzes his sadness with growing interest. He talks to Claire as if to evoke a presence, to mark a space for memory. He reports on his daily walks and shares observations of life’s sadness, while reminiscing about various moments in their life together. Like Orpheus, the author searches for a lost love, and what he finds is not the dog of doom but flashes of an intimate symmetry that brighten the darkest places of sorrow. The second title from Ann Hood’s Gracie Belle imprint, Planet Claire takes readers on a journey of sorrow that recalls memorable works by C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed), Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking), and Julian Barnes (Levels of Life). Porter’s memoir, however, is also playful, quirky, and self-ironic in a way that challenges the genre’s traditional solemnity. Like the novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, this is an unpredictably funny account of heartbreak, as if to say there’s something about the magnitude of loss that troubles even earnestness.


A Dog's World

A Dog's World

Author: Jessica Pierce

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2023-04-18

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0691247749

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From two of the world’s leading authorities on dogs, an imaginative journey into a future of dogs without people What would happen to dogs if humans simply disappeared? Would dogs be able to survive on their own without us? A Dog’s World imagines a posthuman future for dogs, revealing how dogs would survive—and possibly even thrive—and explaining how this new and revolutionary perspective can guide how we interact with dogs now. Drawing on biology, ecology, and the latest findings on the lives and behavior of dogs and their wild relatives, Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff—two of today’s most innovative thinkers about dogs—explore who dogs might become without direct human intervention into breeding, arranged playdates at the dog park, regular feedings, and veterinary care. Pierce and Bekoff show how dogs are quick learners who are highly adaptable and opportunistic, and they offer compelling evidence that dogs already do survive on their own—and could do so in a world without us. Challenging the notion that dogs would be helpless without their human counterparts, A Dog’s World enables us to understand these independent and remarkably intelligent animals on their own terms.


Together Tea

Together Tea

Author: Marjan Kamali

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2013-05-21

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 0062236822

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A disillusioned immigrant grad student and her matchmaking mom return to the country they left behind in this heartwarming debut novel. Darya has discovered the perfect gift for her daughter’s twenty-fifth birthday: an ideal husband. Mina, however, is fed up with her mother’s endless matchmaking and grading of available Iranian American bachelors. After Darya’s last ill-fated attempt to find Mina a husband, mother and daughter embark on a journey to Iran, where the two women gradually begin to understand each other. But after Mina falls for a young man who never appeared on her mother’s spreadsheets and Darya is tempted by an American musician, will this mother and daughter’s tender appreciation for each other survive?