The Life She Once Knew: The Incredible True Story of Queena, The Bloomingdale Library Attack Survivor
The Life She Once Knew: The Incredible True Story of Queena, The Bloomingdale Library Attack Survivor

Author: Vanna Nguyen

Publisher: Ambassador International

Published: 2020-11-10

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 162020746X

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In 1981, a young woman faced death as she lay on the floor of a small boat in the South China Sea fleeing the life she once knew in Vietnam. In 2008, her teenage daughter lay fighting for her life after being brutally raped and abandoned while returning books at a library near Tampa, Florida. The attack in front of the Bloomingdale library left Queena with a traumatic brain injury, sentenced to a life unable to walk, see, or speak. As Vanna Nguyen lovingly poured herself into caring for her now severely disabled daughter, she also battled with reliving her own Vietnam War survival story. And she must decide, can she forgive the attacker whose unforgivable decision changed both their lives as they knew them forever? In The Life She Once Knew, Vanna candidly chronicles the deeply spiritual and emotionally powerful journeys of these two strong women as they fight for their lives and their futures decades apart.

Waiting is the Night: Finding Hope When You’re Stuck on the Other Side of Dawn
Waiting is the Night: Finding Hope When You’re Stuck on the Other Side of Dawn

Author: Shannon Brink

Publisher: Ambassador International

Published: 2023-05-09

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 164960372X

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We all go through seasons of waiting, times when God just seems to have closed His ears to us and turned His back. During those seasons, it’s easy for us to give up hope and lose heart. But what if we hold on to the hope that God is working behind the scenes, even if we can’t see Him? What can we learn from those times of waiting? Shannon Brink has experienced those seasons herself—after various injuries forced her to stay in bed for weeks on end, while she was facing possible infertility but longed to be a mother, as door after door closed on her dreams of living in a far-away land, and now as she waits for sleep to come while battling chronic insomnia. As a former nighttime nurse, Shannon knows that the hardest time of the waiting season is at night, when our thoughts take over and worry invades. Drawing from her own experiences and from the examples of God’s people in the Bible who also experienced seasons of waiting, Shannon encourages the reader to hold on to the One Who created us and has only our good in mind. While waiting in the dark, cling to the Light.

The Longest Goodbye: A Family's Hope-Filled Journey Through Alzheimer's
The Longest Goodbye: A Family's Hope-Filled Journey Through Alzheimer's

Author: Shelly Calcagno

Publisher: Ambassador International

Published: 2022-11-15

Total Pages: 91

ISBN-13: 1649603371

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Are we ever ready to say goodbye? She looked out into the yard sprinkled with spring dandelions. “Yellow flowers,” she said, searching for her words. We knew something wasn’t right. That’s when things began to fall apart for our family, when our longest goodbye journey began—the defining before-and-after moment. And now, looking back, it’s been almost a decade of slow loss and drawn-out grief as we slowly let go of our beautiful mom. In the middle of it all, though, we have learned to look for hope and chase down joy, discovering that, in spite of our pain, there are always gifts to be found, even on the hardest of days. Alzheimer’s disease affects almost fifty million people worldwide. It touches people across every walk of life. So, how do millions of people figure out how to love as they let go? The Longest Goodbye is a collection of stories and moments not just about the clinical side of memory loss–but the emotional heart journey. It is a story that shows how joy and grief are often intertwined and wrapped up together in the glorious mess of life. The Longest Goodbye encourages readers to remember the ones they love while they are still here and to intentionally celebrate and live through the pain and hard days. It’s filled with tears, hope, and bitter-sweet moments all held together by the beautiful love of a mother and daughter holding onto a life filled with memories, while learning to let go and say goodbye.

Becoming Dangerous
Becoming Dangerous

Author: Katie West

Publisher: Weiser Books

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1578636701

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"Edgy and often deeply personal, the twenty-one essays collected here come from a wide variety of writers. Some identify as witches, others identify as writers, musicians, game developers, or artists. What they have in common is that they've created personal rituals to summon their own power in a world that would prefer them powerless. Here, they share the rituals they use to resist self-doubt, grief, and depression in the face of sexism, slut shaming, racism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression"--

Scarred
Scarred

Author: Sarah Edmondson

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2019-09-17

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1797201468

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As seen in the HBO docuseries THE VOW: The shocking and subversive memoir of a 12-year-NXIVM-member-turned-whistleblower, and her inspiring true story of abuse, escape, and redemption. "'Master, would you brand me? It would be an honor.' From the second I climb onto the table, acutely aware that I am lying in the sweat of my sisters, I will have blocked that out. Lying there completely naked, I am at my most vulnerable but determined to prove my strength. I try to keep my legs closed as my body wills itself to protect my most private area. . . . I tell myself: I am a warrior. I birthed a human. I can handle pain. But nothing could have ever prepared me for the feel of this fire on my skin." Scarred is Sarah Edmondson's compelling memoir of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, the 12 years she spent within the organization (during which she enrolled over 2,000 members and entered DOS—NXIVM's "secret sisterhood"), her breaking point, and her harrowing fight to get out, to expose Keith Raniere and the leadership, to help others, and to heal. Complete with personal photographs, Scarred is also an eye-opening story about abuses of power, female trust and friendship, and how sometimes the search to be "better" can override everything else. • In the tradition of Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman, Escape by Carolyn Jessop, and Troublemaker by Leah Remini • This tell-all follows Sarah from the moment she takes her first NXIVM seminar, to the invitation she accepts from her best friend, Lauren Salzman, into DOS, to her journey toward become a key witness in the federal case against its founders • Evokes questions about friendship, ethics, good and evil, making it a brilliant selection for book clubs Audio edition read by the author.

The Anatomy of Fake News
The Anatomy of Fake News

Author: Nolan Higdon

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0520975847

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Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, concerns about fake news have fostered calls for government regulation and industry intervention to mitigate the influence of false content. These proposals are hindered by a lack of consensus concerning the definition of fake news or its origins. Media scholar Nolan Higdon contends that expanded access to critical media literacy education, grounded in a comprehensive history of fake news, is a more promising solution to these issues. The Anatomy of Fake News offers the first historical examination of fake news that takes as its goal the effective teaching of critical news literacy in the United States. Higdon employs a critical-historical media ecosystems approach to identify the producers, themes, purposes, and influences of fake news. The findings are then incorporated into an invaluable fake news detection kit. This much-needed resource provides a rich history and a promising set of pedagogical strategies for mitigating the pernicious influence of fake news.

Too Blessed to Be Stressed
Too Blessed to Be Stressed

Author: Debora M. Coty

Publisher: Barbour Publishing

Published: 2011-08-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1607426080

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If you often find yourself struggling with the stresses of finances, health, career, relationships, self-image, or family, then this humor-filled volume is just what you need. With simple, practical tips for attaining the peace you crave—the peace that passes all understanding—you’ll discover healing, refreshment, and revitalization for your spirit, body, and mind.

Reunion Planner
Reunion Planner

Author: Phyllis A. Hackleman

Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Com

Published: 2009-06

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 0806345594

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If there is a reunion in your future, whether as the organizer or a helping hand, Reunion Planner is one book you won't want to be without. Reunion Planner leaves nothing to chance. The contents include sections on the following: choosing the proper kind of reunion, recruiting volunteers, selecting the time and place, creating the program, guest speakers, budgeting, notifying the participants and promoting the event, planning meals and decorations, accommodations and transportation, souvenirs and fund raisers, photographers and videographers, building a genealogy, and finishing touches from road signs to thank-you notes and more.