Mama Can't Hurt Me is the heartrending tale of Wairimu, a lonely country girl who struggles to find independence while quietly suffocating in a strict Christian upbringing. Craving adventure and excitement, she is immediately attracted to Ali, a young man surrounded by a seemingly mysterious and aristocratic aura. Wairimu has a secret admirer--Samuel, a born-again Christian who tries to warn her that Ali is a liar and womanizer who is not to be trusted with her innocence. But Wairimu is not convinced that Ali has undesirable intentions, and she continually sneaks off into the city, where Ali eventually steals her virginity. Her world begins to crumble as she discovers she is pregnant with an illegitimate child who will never be accepted by her staunch Christian family. Called a whore by her parents, Wairimu is chased away from her home and is forced to head back to the city--where she is immediately confronted with the grim realities of life on the streets. Wairimu must take a soul-searching journey, filled with abuse, guilt, betrayal, and raw greed--but with the unconditional love and support from one faithful friend, she will eventually learn that a life lived with regrets is no life at all.
New York Times Bestseller Over 2.5 million copies sold For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him "The Fittest (Real) Man in America." In Can't Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.
Discover the power, joy, and love of living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions. If technology is the new addiction, then multitasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it's no wonder we're distracted. But this isn't the way it has to be. Special education teacher, New York Times bestselling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections. Finding balance doesn't mean giving up all technology forever. And it doesn't mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. In these pages, Rachel guides you through how to: Acknowledge the cost of your distraction Make purposeful connection with your family Give your kids the gift of your undivided attention Silence your inner critic Let go of the guilt from past mistakes And move forward with compassion and gratefulness So join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart--and your hands--to the possibilities of each God-given moment.
"I own every writing book ever written, and Linda Sivertsen has done the near-impossible: given writing itself a personality . . . Her stories are cinematic, hilarious, heartfelt, and pitch-perfect—with energy and punch, so often lacking in nonfiction." —Terry McMillan, #1 New York Times bestselling author "A page-turning beach read doubling as how-to. Magic." —Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and blogger at The Bloggess "An engaging manual that offers writing advice with a big, broad, sunny worldview . . . fans of Sivertsen's podcast will devour this companion volume." —Kirkus Reviews 2023 International Book Awards Winner & 2023 Firebird Book Awards "Speak Up Talk Radio" Winner Imagine you're at a dinner party with some of the most successful authors of our time. "Book Mama" and Beautiful Writers Podcast co-creator Linda Sivertsen is the host. As she shares her story of the many hilarious, outrageous, and practical things she did to launch her bestselling writing career, your favorite writers chime in with their own anecdotes, leaving you enlightened and newly inspired. The wisdom in these pages will nourish anyone who appreciates the art of storytelling and dreams of living a creative life. Beautiful Writers is a love letter to reading, writing, and everyone who reads and writes. It's the book Linda wished she had when she was starting out. In it, she shares—and expands on—the best of advice and storytelling from her podcast and follow-up interviews with literary greats, including: Terry McMillan Cheryl Strayed Tom Hanks Van Jones Jenny Lawson Steven Pressfield Elizabeth Gilbert Anne Lamott Mary Karr Seth Godin Abby Wambach Martha Beck Marie Forleo Lee Child Patricia Cornwell Dean Koontz Maria Shriver Dr. Jane Goodall Sabaa Tahir Tomi Adeyemi Ann Patchett Dani Shapiro Danielle LaPorte Tosca Lee Joy Harjo Deepak Chopra This heartwarming, how-I-made-it writing memoir from a working writer you've never heard of with inspiration and advice from the legends you love will help aspiring authors avoid common pitfalls and energize career writers with a treasure trove of writing insights from their peers—the details you don't often hear but make a world of difference. Beautiful Writers is destined to become the evergreen companion for creatives everywhere, answering the burning question, "How did they bust through all obstacles to deliver, day after day, year after year, book after book?"
"In the sequel to Sekret, Yulia and Valentine have escaped Russia to live in Washington, DC, where they are working with CIA psychics, including Yulia's increasingly erratic father"--
The complex, deeply binding relationship between mothers and daughters is brought vividly to life in Katie Hafner’s remarkable memoir, an exploration of the year she and her mother, Helen, spent working through, and triumphing over, a lifetime of unresolved emotions. Dreaming of a “year in Provence” with her mother, Katie urges Helen to move to San Francisco to live with her and Zoë, Katie’s teenage daughter. Katie and Zoë had become a mother-daughter team, strong enough, Katie thought, to absorb the arrival of a seventy-seven-year-old woman set in her ways. Filled with fairy-tale hope that she and her mother would become friends, and that Helen would grow close to her exceptional granddaughter, Katie embarked on an experiment in intergenerational living that she would soon discover was filled with land mines: memories of her parents’ painful divorce, of her mother’s drinking, of dislocating moves back and forth across the country, and of Katie’s own widowhood and bumpy recovery. Helen, for her part, was also holding difficult issues at bay. How these three women from such different generations learn to navigate their challenging, turbulent, and ultimately healing journey together makes for riveting reading. By turns heartbreaking and funny—and always insightful—Katie Hafner’s brave and loving book answers questions about the universal truths of family that are central to the lives of so many. Praise for Mother Daughter Me “The most raw, honest and engaging memoir I’ve read in a long time.”—KJ Dell’Antonia, The New York Times “A brilliant, funny, poignant, and wrenching story of three generations under one roof, unlike anything I have ever read.”—Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone “Weaving past with present, anecdote with analysis, [Katie] Hafner’s riveting account of multigenerational living and mother-daughter frictions, of love and forgiveness, is devoid of self-pity and unafraid of self-blame. . . . [Hafner is] a bright—and appealing—heroine.”—Cathi Hanauer, Elle “[A] frank and searching account . . . Currents of grief, guilt, longing and forgiveness flow through the compelling narrative.”—Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle “A touching saga that shines . . . We see how years-old unresolved emotions manifest.”—Lindsay Deutsch, USA Today “[Hafner’s] memoir shines a light on nurturing deficits repeated through generations and will lead many readers to relive their own struggles with forgiveness.”—Erica Jong, People “An unusually graceful story, one that balances honesty and tact . . . Hafner narrates the events so adeptly that they feel enlightening.”—Harper’s “Heartbreakingly honest, yet not without hope and flashes of wry humor.”—Kirkus Reviews “[An] emotionally raw memoir examining the delicate, inevitable shift from dependence to independence and back again.”—O: The Oprah Magazine (Ten Titles to Pick Up Now) “Scrap any romantic ideas about what goes on when a 40-something woman invites her mother to live with her and her teenage daughter for a year. As Hafner hilariously and touchingly tells it, being the center of a family sandwich is, well, complicated.”—Parade
Mama's parenting skills are put to the test when Omari breaks one of the most important family rules, with help from his brother and sister. Mama is determined to show her kids who's boss through her creative way of teaching them a lesson. But, even if Omari and his siblings learn their lesson, what will happen at Omari's big football game tonight?
WHEN MAMA CAN’T KISS IT BETTER is the raw account of a true story that shocked the nation in 2010. Gertz was America's most hated mother when news of a decision to place her adopted child in another family broke in the media. Called out by many as an unfit mother and an evil woman who threw away her child, she was catapulted into the national and international media. Her daughter, Emily suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, reactive attachment disorder, bipolar disorder, and other disorders. She had never bonded with Lori, her father or her siblings and had begun a spiral of self-destruction that often involved running into traffic and other dangerous behaviors. While Gertz recalls feeling isolated, accounts like hers are not rare. Stories like When Mama Can’t Kiss it Better are not told terribly often because of the stigma and finger pointing. She writes, “The mother is always blamed first when a child suffers from extreme behavioral disabilities.” There are millions of parents who are struggling to raise children with behavioral disabilities, who feel misunderstood, unheard, and judged, and who want to be reassured that there are others like them. With one in four Americans struggling with mental illness (NIMH) every year everyone in this country either lives with mental illness or knows someone who does. The greatest tragedy is that 60% of the adults and 50% of the children suffering from mental disorders will receive absolutely NO services or support for their mental illness. WHEN MAMA CAN’T KISS IT BETTER covers: * The adoption of their daughter Emily, early signs of trouble, their birthmother's suicide, the truth about her pregnancy and warnings about how to avoid what happened to the author and her family * Raw and honest details about her daughter's rages, suicide attempts, and hospitalizations * The turmoil that living with mental illness causes for everyone in the home and how it affects siblings and marriages * The difficulty in receiving support from physicians, educators, & clinicians * The author’s increasing desperation to find answers and help as rages and impulsivity became safety issues * Being judged by doctors, schools, and outsiders as "the problem" while her daughter collected diagnosis after diagnosis * The painful decision to place her daughter in another family and how she came to accept that she had to do the unthinkable * Parents worldwide waging verbal attacks on her since if the fault belonged to Gertz alone, it couldn't happen to anyone else Note from the Author: I spent the better part of six years writing this book, which began as the only way I could cope with what was happening in our lives. I just couldn’t believe the lack of resources there were when I reached out for them so vociferously and started documenting what was happening inside our family if not only to maintain my sanity. I am passionate about telling my story to help increase understanding of the enormous challenges parents of special needs children face in a culture that believes that motherly love and perseverance can cure all ills. For those on similar paths, the story of my journey to a sense of peace within the context of facing unrealized dreams, human limitations, broken hearts, and the unfair circumstances of life may help them find that same place of peace in the tough decisions within their own lives. I pray this book will bring attention to the need to better support parents and kids with mental illness and other invisible disabilities and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to call attention to such pressing societal issues. Keywords: Parenting, Disabilities, FASD, Mothering, Mental Illness, RAD, Bipolar, Memoir, Special Needs, Fetal Alcohol, Syndrome
