Essays Life

“Giorgio’s compassion is memorable.” –KIRKUS REVIEW It wasn’t a typical response to depression. Reaching a new low in her life, Kathie Giorgio, a natural skeptic, decides to fight her sadness by publically posting one moment of happiness every day on Facebook. The response is overwhelming. People flock to her page to see each day’s new post. Soon, Kathie launches Today’s Moment Of Happiness Despite The News as her blog. She vows to continue this daily Today’s Moment for a year. And what a year! Her husband loses his job not once, but twice. Her autistic daughter is so ...

The Girl's Best Friend is a collection of essays from the popular Essence.com column of the same name, which serves as the inspiration for the award-winning and best-selling novel, Ladies Who Lunch & Love. Nathan starts from the premise that you are amazing just as you are and works from there. His advice is practical and uses the art of storytelling to share his thoughts on love, life, relationships, and sharing your spirit with the world. He includes essays from some of his favorite and dearest "sister-friends" to give color and support for why he is considered, "The Girl's Best Friend." ...

When my claustrophobic sister Julie Ann and her down-in-the-back husband Jody were trapped on a stalled elevator in a posh hotel, they were not alone in their distress. Two young male execs were with them. As soon as the elevator lurched heart-stoppingly close to a place near a floor level, the two young men were able to wedge open the elevator door just enough to squeeze up and through. The two executives escaped, leaving behind my sister-- a grandmother-- and her husband Jody, her hero. I heard later from my sister that, “Jody couldn’t believe his eyes--two young men leaving me behind...

The Jerusalem Syndrome is a genuine psychological phenomenon that often strikes visitors to the Holy Land - the delusion that they are suddenly direct vessels for the voice of God. Marc Maron seems to have a distinctly American version of the Jerusalem Syndrome, which has led him on a lifelong quest for religious significance and revelation in the most unlikely of places.

"Three bicycles. Seven ghosts. A crumbling apartment block on the hill. Fame. Tenderness. The statue of Peter Pan. Silk. Melancholy. The banana tree. A love story." Virginia Woolf wrote that in order to be a writer, a woman needs a room of one's own. Now, in Real Estate, acclaimed author Deborah Levy concludes her groundbreaking trilogy of living autobiographies with an exhilarating, boldly intimate meditation on home and the specters that haunt it.

Ever wondered what happened to the cyclewala who exchanged old clothes for shiny new utensils? Or why steel dabbaswere once the true MVPs of our school days? From the joy of leftover achar masala parathas to the tragic decline of kirana stores, this book is a nostalgic, humorous, and thought-provoking ride through India’s past and present. With witty observations and heartfelt memories, the author dives into the quirks of everyday life—be it the art of recycling before it became "cool," the struggles of modern safety, or even the fate of penguins as they drift toward extinction. Packed ...

It is not an exaggeration to say that Michael Gerson possessed one of the most important consciences of his generation. As the chief speech writer for George W. Bush, he wrote the words that rallied and ennobled the nation after September 11th. He helped design and champion Bush’s PEPFAR program, which saved upwards of 20 million lives as HIV ravaged Africa. Defiant Hope is his writings about the things he loved—humanity, God, his dog, and his boys.

In Don't Call Me Princess, Orenstein's most resonant and important essays are available for the first time in collected form, updated with both an original introduction and personal reflections on each piece. Her takes on reproductive justice, the infertility industry, tensions between working and stay-at-home moms, pink ribbon fear-mongering and the complications of girl culture are not merely timeless - they have, like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, become more urgent in our contemporary political climate.

Fiction author Stephanie Haddad steps out of her comfort zone to talk openly and honestly about herself, her life, and her view on some regular old “life stuff.” This collection of 15 brief essays is designed for reflection and thought, but also just for fun. There’s also a bonus short story at the end—one a lot of parents should be able to relate to quite easily! Stephanie is not a health expert, life coach, or great thinker of her time—although that would be pretty fantastic. However, this book offers some of her thoughts, which will strike close to the heart for many women and ...

In 16 brilliantly observed true stories, Sam Harris emerges as a natural humorist in league with David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Carrie Fisher, and Steve Martin, but with a voice uniquely his own. Praised by the Chicago Sun-Times for his "manic, witty commentary", and with a storytelling talent the New York Times calls " New Yorker - worthy," he puts a comedic spin on full-disclosure episodes from his own colorful life. What better place to find painfully funny material than in growing up gay, gifted, and ambitious in the heart of the Bible belt?

On the Shortness of Life was written by Seneca around the year 49AD. He argues that we waste so much time because we do not properly value it. We expend great effort in protecting other valuables such as money and property, but because time appears intangible, we allow others to occupy it and take time away from us. Wise people, on the other hand, understand that time is the most valuable of all resources, and with effort can free themselves from external control to engage in meaningful introspection and create an intentional life.

Stunning essays, like from a stun-gun. Essays that will make you laugh, weep, cringe, gasp, anger but mostly surprise. 55 essays including How To Have A Happy Death, Wisdom That Is Timeless, Athleticism Is Superior To Capitalism, Etiquette Before Righteousness.

Incisive, wide-ranging and witty, it explores the questions, anxieties and agendas that consume our lives. Pandora Sykes interrogates the stories we’ve been sold and the ones we tell ourselves - from happiness to wellness, womanhood to consumerism - in ways that are both surprising and reassuring.

If you are captivated by creative storytelling—brimming with vivid imagery and emotional honesty—you will love Mark Johnson’s fourth book, I Think I’ll Prune the Lemon Tree. Set against the warm and rugged landscape of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, it features thirty-nine serendipitous, provocative, and humorous essays. Mark’s true stories and desert fantasies chronicle his triumphs as a gay man and journey with husband Tom to build a healthy, open, and literary life in Arizona, while revisiting indelible memories from his Illinois, Missouri, and North Carolina past. Throughout his ...

Bad Dogs Have More Fun is an unforgettable collection of more that 75 newspaper columns by John Grogan, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Marley & Me. Combining humor, wit, poignancy and affection, these columns provide insight into the intriguing and wonderful world we live in.

Early in her career, Katie Pryal learned that being a professor isn’t easy if your brain isn’t quite right. “I was a junior in college when I finally realized that I was different in a way that my medically inclined parents would call ‘clinical.’” In these deeply personal, fiery essays, Pryal tells her story of transformation that began the moment she chose to publicly disclose her own mental illness and leave her career in higher education to begin fighting for a better world for people with psychiatric disabilities.

For over 60 years, since his award-winning debut, The Room on the Roof, was published, Ruskin Bond has charmed and entertained us with characters ranging from the animal world to humans to ghostly spirits, and his magic touch has often presented to us a world unhurried, tucked away in hills and valleys. What does it mean to be an octogenarian loved by the young and old alike? To be synonymous with the smell of pinewood and rambling mountain paths? In short, what is it that makes him Bond?

This is a book out of all literary categories, of an essay nature, written in the first person. It combines metaphysics, religion, esotericism, philosophy, science and psychology. The common denominator is the individual, the human being, and how it relates to the whole. It can be hard for those whose connection is positive, clear and defined. But it becomes an atypical survival manual for those who are lost, those who have not found themselves at all, or for those who need an explanation and meaning to their lives that has not achieved any creed, thought, or hope... "Advertising has us ...

Of a Happy Life is an essay written by Seneca around the year 58 AD. It was intended for his older brother Gallio, to whom Seneca also dedicated his dialogue entitled De Ira (On Anger). It is divided into 28 chapters that present the moral thoughts of Seneca at their most mature. Seneca explains that the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of reason - reason meant not only using logic, but also understanding the processes of nature.

I’m not a musician. Not that I haven’t tried. My brain just doesn’t seem to be wired for it. I’m not a student of music either, at least not in the academic sense. I don’t work in music, but I do listen to music while I work. And I’m definitely not a music nerd. By that I mean I don’t memorize who’s in what band or who produced whatever album. The point I’m trying to make is, there’s no good reason why I should be writing a book about my personal music history, other than the fact that music is everything to me. Music has a hold on so many of us. It comforts us. It pumps...