Self Biography

Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking. Performing as a living statue in a wedding dress, she wordlessly asked thousands of passersby for their dollars. When she became a singer, songwriter, and musician, she was not afraid to ask her audience to...

Chronicle of a Spiritual Journey recounts personal stories that seem like random worldly occurrences. Yet, upon closer scrutiny, each story reveals a parallel spiritual relevance as well. The stories range from eating breakfast with Superman at an airport to loading iron pellets into the Edmund Fitzgerald. Entertaining and engaging, Chronicle of a Spiritual Journey tells the spiritual tales of one man’s life, but it’s more about the collective spiritual journey of us all.

As a child, Peter J. Bissonnette heard these words and made it his mission to prove them wrong. In Count on Me, Peter shares his remarkable journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of Canada’s most respected business leaders. From an English boarding school to military service, from seminary life to the fashion world of Vancouver, Peter’s path was anything but conventional. But it was in the high-stakes world of telecommunications where his relentless determination, sharp instincts, and unwavering faith propelled him to the top.

Today, even as so many of us spend hours in front of screens and in the virtual world, there is a growing movement that recognizes the power in the personal, the imperfect, the handmade. Eric Gorges, a metal shaper, taps into that hunger to get back to what's "real" through visits with the fellow artisans he has profiled for his popular public television program. In this book, he tells their stories and shares the collective wisdom of calligraphers, potters, stone carvers, glassblowers, engravers, wood workers, and more while celebrating the culture they've created.

Gail Muller was told she’d be in a wheelchair by the age of 40. At 41, she set out to hike one of the world’s toughest treks: the Appalachian Trail - a 2,200-mile journey that would help her reclaim her life and heal her mind and body. An inspiring, moving, and uplifting memoir for fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love.

National icon Willie Nelson has evolved over the years from country music outlaw swimming against a whiskey river to a Zen-like figure of wisdom and contentment. In this autobiographical collection of life advice, The Tao of Willie, one of America's truest hearts reveals the spiritual and practical lessons learned from decades of hard knocks and good bounces.

By combing through the journals that Hannah has kept for much of her life, this collection of narrative essays delivers a fuller picture of her life, her experiences, and the things she's figured out about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship, and fame. Revealing what makes Hannah tick, this sometimes cringeworthy, poignant collection of stories is sure to deliver plenty of Hannah's wit and wisdom - and hopefully encourage you to try your hand at her patented brand of reckless optimism.

"The figure looking back at me was little more than a skeleton with just a thin layer of tissue paper for skin, drawn over the stick-like bones. I stood staring for a good couple of minutes, considering what I'd become. And my verdict? Brilliant, I thought. It's been worth every moment of all that hard work". Say the name Nikki Grahame and most people will remember the bubbly, highly strung and hugely entertaining Big Brother 7 contestant.

The first thing Sophia Amoruso sold online wasn’t fashion - it was a stolen book. She spent her teens hitchhiking, committing petty theft, and dumpster diving. By twenty-two, she had resigned herself to employment, but was still broke, directionless, and working a mediocre day job she’d taken for the health insurance. It was there that Sophia decided to start selling vintage clothes on eBay. Eight years later, she is the founder, CEO, and creative director of Nasty Gal, a $100 million plus online fashion retailer with more than 350 employees.

Tia Toomey, the world’s fittest woman, has won the CrossFit Games an incredible six years in a row and is undeniably a true warrior. She has also trained for the Winter Olympics in bobsledding, competed in the Summer Olympics in weightlifting, and was a Commonwealth Games gold medalist. She is, in short, one of the most accomplished and dominant athletes in human history. But for Tia physical fitness is only a small part of overall strength. More important is building mental toughness.

When Dave Munson set out to create the greatest leather bag in the world, he had no idea he would be creating one of the most respected and recognized leather brands in the world at the same time. From dodging hitmen in Mexico to getting launched into the air by a raging bull, living in one of the most dangerous cities in the world with Blue, his beloved black Lab and even accidentally working for the mafia. It came together.

What happens when you're the threat? Sergeant John Kelly discovered during his thirty-year career in law enforcement that the biggest threat to his own survival wasn't the multiple attempts on his life, but came from within. When facing external dangers, risks are mitigated, intelligence is gathered, and a plan is devised to address the threat. But when everyone turns to you for answers, and there's nothing left but pain and despair, sometimes heroes need help!

From the director, executive producer, and star of IT ENDS WITH US Justin Baldoni, a gripping, deeply honest, fearless personal and societal exploration of masculinity and what it means to be a man. The effects of traditionally defined masculinity have become one of the most prevalent social...

As an associate of the Gambino family, Ferrante relied on his instincts to pull off some of the biggest heists in US history. By the age of 21, he had netted millions of dollars for his employers. His natural talent for management led Mafia bosses to rely on him. After being arrested and serving an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence, Ferrante went straight. He realized that the Mob's most valuable business lessons would allow him to survive and thrive in the real world.

In this "incendiary" memoir, a woman fights the criminal justice system to release her incarcerated sister after she kills her longtime abuser (Publishers Weekly). In September 2017, a knock on the door upends Michelle Horton’s life: she learns that her sister has just shot her partner and is...

It's an axiom of business that great companies grow their revenues and profits year after year. Yet quietly, under the radar, a small number of companies have rejected the pressure of endless growth to focus on more satisfying business goals. Goals like being great at what they do, creating a great place to work, providing great customer service, making great contributions to their communities, and finding great ways to lead their lives. In Small Giants, veteran journalist Bo Burlingham takes us deep inside 14 such remarkable companies.

John Tesh has achieved more in life than he ever dreamed possible. But the road to success has been anything but easy - and those challenges have become the secret to his success. Through his story, we can learn how to be relentless, how to achieve what we didn't think was possible, and how to handle our inevitable discouragements.

The Grammy- and Academy Award- nominated singer-songwriter's haunting, lyrical memoir, sharing the story of an unthinkable act of violence and ultimate healing through art Mobile, Alabama, 1986. A fourteen-year-old girl is awakened by the unmistakable sound of gunfire. On the front lawn, her...

Elizabeth Arden was a household name on six continents and a millionaire several times over before her death in 1966. Arden counted British royalty and social elites from the overlapping worlds of New York, Hollywood, London, and Paris among her clients. She revolutionized skin care and cosmetics, making it acceptable for all women to embrace glamour and wear makeup—not just actresses and prostitutes. She created a successful international business empire before women gained the vote and at a time when virtually no woman owned or ran a national company.

Nicolas Hamilton has been exceeding expectations since day one. Born with a form of cerebral palsy, Nicolas was told that he would never walk and would need a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Today he not only walks everywhere but he is the first disabled athlete to ever compete at the top level of British motorsport, The British Touring Car Championship, where he lines up on the grid alongside some of the world's best drivers. Now That I Have Your Attention follows Nicolas's remarkable journey and shares the valuable, tough, and often surprising lessons learned throughout his life.