Illness Fiction

Dolores Mendoza is not thriving. She was recently diagnosed with a chronic bladder condition called interstitial cystitis. The painful disease isn’t life-threatening, but it is threatening to ruin her life. Just when things seem hopeless, Dolores meets someone poised to change her fate. Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones is glamorous, autistic, and homeschooled against her will by her overprotective mother. After a rocky start, the girls form a tentative partnership

Jonah’s fiancée is in a coma, and he’s wondering if life is still worth living. Do they still have a chance at happiness? Jonah can’t catch a break. While his fiancée, Mary Lou, is in a coma, he loses hope for their future, so he decides to numb the pain with alcohol. In a drunken stupor, he kisses his best friend’s beautiful younger sister, and he gets caught in the act by Mary Lou’s parents. Now, Jonah is wondering if life is still worth living. He’s made a mess of things, and even if Mary Lou does wake up, she will probably never forgive him. Will God redeem Jonah’s ...

Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time...well, last time things got ugly.

A History of the Present Illness takes listeners into overlooked lives in the neighborhoods, hospitals, and nursing homes of San Francisco, offering a deeply humane and incisive portrait of health and illness in American today....In the tradition of Oliver Sacks and Abraham Verghese, Aronson's writing is based on personal experience and addresses topics of current social relevance. Masterfully told, A History of the Present Illness explores the role of stories in medicine and creates a world pulsating with life, speaking truths about what makes us human.

In 1860 America, contrary women are often declared insane. When Hannah True witnesses a young woman being assaulted, she rushes to her rescue and is taken into custody for interfering with the arrest of a fraudulent voter. The judge orders Benita Walton, who dressed as a man and attempted to vote, committed to the Brookdale Lunatic Asylum. He gives Hannah a warning: stifle her impulses and leave physical rescues to men or face prison. Concern for Benita’s welfare leads Hannah to have her family commit her to Brookdale. Inside the asylum, Hannah learns Benita has been removed from the ...

The Story of a Victim of Mind Control An utterly dark and disturbing exploration into the deepest recesses of the human psyche. The biblical indictment to Eve that states: ‘Your desire shall be for your husband . . .’ rings all too true for Goldie Benelak, a woman that stalks her estranged husband, only to become embroiled within the machinations of the CIA in its use of her as an unwitting assassin in the killing of her love rival. 'Betrayal' is a tale of social mores and changing identities that delves in part into the realm of non-fiction with regards to US covert operations: the ...

This is the story of 17-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was 12. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time - a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins. Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the Earth.

Fall in love with Perfectly Hopeless—a poignant and breathtaking young adult romance about borrowed hearts, fleeting moments, and the courage to love, even when it feels impossible. What if the person who made you believe in love was already running out of time? Under the summer willows, Maven never expected to find Henri—a boy with a borrowed heart and a fading future. Henri never planned to let anyone in—not when he’d already made peace with his fate. Their days together are stolen, beautiful, and bittersweet. As Henri refuses the transplant that could save him, Maven clings to ...

Ollie and Moritz are two teenagers who will never meet. Each of them lives with a life-affecting illness. Contact with electricity sends Ollie into debilitating seizures while Moritz has a heart defect and is kept alive by an electronic pacemaker. If they did meet, Ollie would seize, but turning off the pacemaker would kill Moritz. Through an exchange of letters, the two boys develop a strong bond of friendship that becomes a lifeline during dark times.

From a comic mastermind comes this brilliant collection of stories. Three teenagers believe they are witches. A woman defaces a local billboard. A bored landlord tries to influence his son's best friend. A cul-de-sac WhatsApp group discusses eggs at length. A heavily pregnant woman finds a way to time travel and a girl discovers joy on a stolen bicycle. Each tale paints a life in miniature and offers an escape chute from the catastrophes of modern life.

Teenager Cason Martin is the youngest ballerina in the Atlanta Ballet Conservatory. She never really had a choice of whether she learned to dance or not. Her mother, the conservatory's artistic director, has made all the decisions in Cason's life. But that's about to change. Cason has been hiding an injury, and it's much worse than anyone imagines.

A Biblical Fiction book bringing God's goodness and forgiveness to life...In the town of Naraah, near the region of Judea, Sapphira begins a desperate quest to find a physician to heal her beloved husband Aaron, who is near death. Living in a time when women are considered possessions, Sapphira fears her brother will force her to marry a cruel man if Aaron doesn't survive. Sapphira's frantic search forces her to associate with criminals and leads her into committing actions she'll regret. When she hears about the miraculous healings by Jesus of Nazareth, she convinces her friends to set out...

Leann sells Volvos and recently had her Uncle Ron move in with her. She's having an affair with her boss, Ed, who claims to have an agoraphobic girlfriend, Kelly. Leann decides Ed is a loser and ends the affair. She feels bad about it and decides to tell Kelly everything. But when she gets to Ed's house she finds Kelly behind a barred window claiming she's being held against her will. Kelly ends up coming home with Leann, who doesn't know what to do with the stray girl. Everything Leann thought she knew about Ed, about Kelly, seems to be wrong. Kelly claims Ed is a sadistic murderer who ...

Do you struggle to fall asleep? Are you looking for a new way to relax before bedtime? How can you stop overthinking, calm your mind and sink into peaceful, restful, and regenerating sleep? A natural remedy to treat insomnia is to listen stories that allow you to channel your inner creativity and free your mind in ways that you can’t do during the day. Don't hesitate one more day. Don't let your insomnia keep you up at night. You have finally found out a valid solution to overcome anxiety and stress that drain of your energies!

Noblewoman and cultivator Li Yao is called to a small village to investigate a mysterious illness that has drained residents of their chi. Accompanying her are her suitors, Xiang An and Shen Wei, both more trouble than they're worth in Li Yao's eyes. Perhaps not all is as it seems.

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: To cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease.

Mental illness though can still carry a stigma. A case of ‘you’re not trying hard enough’, ‘or knuckling down and getting on with it’. But in more recent decades mental issues have come to be recognised as an illness, a disease rather than an affliction. We all remember horror stories of lobotomy’s and electric shock being used to ‘cure’ what society viewed as anti-social behaviour but illness, mental or physical is very real. Depression, schizophrenia, breakdown, psychosis are alarming events to have or to witness.

Isaiah loves football. In fact, football saved Isaiah’s life, giving him structure and discipline after his sister’s death tore his family apart. But when Isaiah gets knocked out cold on the field, he learns there’s a lot more to lose than football. While recovering from a concussion, Isaiah wonders what his life would look like without the game. All his friends are on the team, and Isaiah knows they can’t win without him. The scholarship offer from Cornell is only on the table if he keeps playing.

Peaceful Tales - three lighthearted stories that are designed to help you fall asleep quickly and naturally. All YOU need to do is lie back, close your eyes, and listen. What could be easier? Remember being read to sleep as a child? Wasn't it one of your favorite things? Well, who says you have to be a kid for it to work? Not me.

As if her parents' divorce and sister's departure for college weren't bad enough, 14-year-old Ricky Bloom has just been diagnosed with a life-changing chronic illness. Her days consist of cursing everyone out, skipping school - which has become a nightmare - daydreaming about her crush, Julio, and trying to keep her parents from realizing just how bad things are. But she can't keep her ruse up forever.