Self Memoir

Leftöver Crack is a band of drug-abusing, dumpster-diving, cop-hating, queer-positive, pro-choice crust punks who successfully blend ska-punk, pop, hip-hop, and death metal genres. They've been banned from clubs, states, and counties and kicked off multiple record labels. They've received teen-idol adoration and death threats from their fans. They've played benefits for a multitude of causes while leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

In this book, Seth Adam Smith expands on the philosophy behind his extraordinarily popular blog post "Marriage Isn't for You" shares how living for others can enrich every aspect of your life, just as it has his. With a mix of humor, candor, and compassion, he reveals how, years before his marriage, his self-obsession led to a downward spiral of addiction and depression, culminating in a suicide attempt at the age of twenty.

Laird Hamilton has been hailed as the world's greatest big-wave surfer. His first book, Force of Nature, allows listeners a rare glimpse inside the unique philosophy that has created his circumstances, and not the other way around. After all, this is a man whose biological father abandoned him shortly after he was born; whose first job was working on a pig farm; who dropped out of school in 11th grade. And then the career decision: surfer.

Here are 21 inspirational stories about role models and counting your blessings. The stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive will encourage listeners to stay upbeat, because there's always a brighter way to look at life. This book continues Chicken Soup for the Soul's focus on inspiration and hope, reminding us that each day holds something to be thankful for.

Behind every entrepreneur's success story, there's a never-ending list of gut-wrenching failures, missed opportunities, and jaw-dropping setbacks. Real estate mogul and serial entrepreneur Manny Khoshbin is one of those entrepreneurs with a story of perseverance that will make you believe in the American Dream all over again. Driven: The Never-Give-Up Roadmap to Massive Success goes beyond Manny's personal ride through the entrepreneurial journey to deliver the habits, mindset, and insights aspiring entrepreneurs need to turn dreams into reality.

From the moment she nearly drowned in a tank of cold water at the age of three, Ingrid Honkala was aware of other dimensions of life than those most of us normally experience. She was also gifted with the wise input of mysterious “Beings of Light” who gave her invaluable insights and assistance as she faced the challenges of growing up, falling in love, and finding her professional destiny as a research scientist and oceanographer.

The Gutter Guy is a raw, darkly funny inspirational memoir about overcoming failure, rebuilding self-worth, and earning confidence the hard way. Jason M. James wasn’t born confident. He didn’t have connections, a safety net, or a clear plan. What he had was rejection, meaningless jobs, financial highs and brutal crashes, and the growing fear that maybe everyone else had figured life out—and he hadn’t.

"That would never happen to me. I'm too strong. I would walk out." Those were KC Andrews' thoughts as a trainee nurse listening to a lecture on domestic violence. But when it happened to her, it took years to finally leave. She has now rebuilt her life from the ashes of a brutal marriage, and along the way met other women who have survived the fog of fear and feelings of worthlessness - and then on the outside, endured the disbelief and bureaucratic bungles of those who should have helped. But now, each woman's brilliance is emerging once again.

Like so many American women, Shauna M. Ahern spent decades feeling not good enough about her body, about money, and about her worth in this culture. For a decade, with the help of her husband, she ran a successful food blog, wrote award-winning cookbooks, and raised two children. In the midst of this, at age 48, she suffered a mini-stroke. Tests revealed she would recover fully, but when her doctor impressed upon her that emotional stress can cause physical damage, she dove deep inside herself to understand and let go of a lifetime of damaging patterns of thought.

Ashes and Sky is a deeply personal and powerful memoir about love, loss, and survival. When eighteen-year-old girl loses her beloved father in a tragic accident, her world shatters overnight. Thrust into adulthood, she becomes the backbone of her grieving family in Tehran, navigating silence, societal expectations, and the secret pain of a hidden trauma.

Why women’s brains work differently at night—and how we can harness that altered state for greater creativity, insight, and courage. In the winter of 2020, Annabel Abbs-Streets experienced a series of losses: her stepfather, then father, and finally her family’s puppy. Unmoored by grief...

In this nuanced mix of memoir, motivational musings, and wisdom, legendary celebrity stylist Ty Hunter recounts both the trying times and brightest moments of his life. Faced with physical, mental, and emotional obstacles that range from a gunshot wound to caring for his sick parents to simply existing as a Black, gay man in America, Ty channeled his energy into surmounting the unconquerable, along the way developing a resilient spirit—one that begs to be shared with the world.

Brian Pennie shouldn’t be alive today. His drug addiction was so bad that he was deemed too much of a risk for detox. Determined to confront his demons, he went cold turkey at home. On 8 October 2013, he was finally clean after 15 years of heroin addiction and something extraordinary happened: the world suddenly became beautiful. Given a second chance at life, he devoured every minute of it. Bit by bit he rebuilt his world, returning to university to study neuroscience in a bid to understand the source of his suffering.

My Mess Is a Bit of a Life has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher...

If you're fat and fail every diet, if you're thin but can't get thin enough, if you lose your job, if your child dies, if you are diagnosed with cancer, if you always end up with exactly the wrong kind of person, if you always end up alone, if you can't get over the past, if your parents are...

Ryan Blair knows about building a business from the ground up. Like many entrepreneurs he had no formal business education. But he had great survival instincts, tenacity, and, above all, a "nothing to lose" mindset.Blair's middle-class childhood came to an abrupt end when his abusive father succumbed to drug addiction and abandoned the family. Blair and his mother moved to a bad neighborhood, and soon he was in and out of juvenile detention, joining a gang just to survive. Then his mother fell in love with a successful entrepreneur who took Ryan under his wing.

A touching memoir of life with an alcoholic father who secretly works with the CIA, a dark pilgrimage through the valley of depression and addiction, and finding a faith to redeem and a strength to forgive. "This is a record of my life as I remember it—but more importantly, as I felt it." At...

In this acclaimed biography that earned him a spot on Nixon's infamous "enemies list," Garry Wills takes a thoughtful, in-depth, and often "very amusing" look at the thirty-seventh US president, and draws some surprising conclusions about a man whose name has become synonymous with scandal and the abuse of power (Kirkus Reviews).

Leaving her garden to the mercy of the slugs, award-winning writer Alys Fowler set out in an inflatable kayak to explore Birmingham's canal network, full of little-used waterways where huge pike skulk and kingfishers dart. Her book is about noticing the wild everywhere and what it means to see...

In this hilarious and inspirational memoir, Ross Mathews -- best known as "Ross the Intern" from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno -- chronicles his life growing up as an atypical kid in a small Northwestern farm town to living as an atypical adult in Los Angeles, to eventually being his loud...