Resilient Memoir

This amazing memoir follows the story of Reggie Williams - ex-NFL linebacker, former Disney executive, renaissance man, and the epitome of determination in the face of extreme challenges.

In 2008, Celeste Mergens was working with an overcrowded orphanage on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, when she learned that menstruating girls sat on cardboard in their rooms for several days each month. This set into motion a simple idea—combining a washable, long-lasting pad with taboo-breaking education-that became a catalyst for an unlikely global movement for equity. Written in short, evocative chapters, The Power of Days tells the story of Mergens's quest to rally a global response to elevate menstrual health.

In the rolling fields of the Deep South, where the bonds between humans and animals run deeper than the soil, Horses Who Made Me–Me! takes you on an emotional journey of love, loss, and self-discovery. Dee Jordan built her life around horses—magnificent creatures that offered her joy, purpose, and a connection to something greater than herself. From the spirited Lipizzans she raised to the beloved Freyja, who taught her about strength and resilience, Dee’s equine companions shaped her world as she navigated the triumphs and tragedies of marriage, motherhood, and mental health. But ...

Tumors, injuries, ruptured vascular malformations—there is almost no such thing as a non-urgent brain surgery when it comes to kids. For a pediatric neurosurgeon working in the medical minefield of the brain—in which a single millimeter in every direction governs something that makes us essentially human—every day presents the challenge, and the opportunity, to give a new lease on life to a child for whom nothing is yet fully determined and all possibilities still exist.

When award-winning ESPN producer Lisa Fenn returned to her hometown for a story about two wrestlers at one of Cleveland's toughest public high schools, she had no idea that the trip would change her life. Both young men were disadvantaged students with significant physical disabilities. Dartanyon Crockett was legally blind as a result of Leber's disease; Leroy Sutton lost both his legs at 11, when he was run over by a train. Brought together by wrestling, they had developed a brother-like bond as they worked to overcome their disabilities.

In 2012, on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device left Dan Crenshaw's right eye destroyed and his left blinded. Only through the careful hand of his surgeons, and what doctors called a miracle, did Crenshaw's left eye recover partial vision. And yet, he persevered, completing two more deployments. Why? There are certain stories we tell ourselves about the hardships we face—we can become paralyzed by adversity or we can adapt and overcome. We can be fragile or we can find our fortitude. Crenshaw delivers a set of lessons to help you do just that.

As the “Seeing Eye Girl” for her blind, artistic, and mentally ill mother, Beverly Armento was intimately connected with and responsible for her, even though her mother physically and emotionally abused her. Beverly’s mother regained her sight and went on to enjoy a moment of fame as an artist, but these positive turns did nothing to stop her disintegration into delusions. In this memoir, Beverly shares the coping strategies she invented to get herself through the trials of her young life, and the ways in which school and church served as refuges over the course of her journey.

Drawing from over two decades of service in the British Army, including five tours in Afghanistan and deployments in Bosnia and Sierra Leone, Captain Kailash Limbu shares the core principles that have shaped his journey as a soldier and a man. Through the metaphor of the khukuri, a symbolic and essential tool for every Gurkha, he illustrates how mindset and behaviour are crucial to overcoming challenges, achieving success and leading with honour.

On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in 81 years and killed about 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with 18 people losing their lives on the mountain.

The riveting, heartbreaking, and inspiring story of two sisters who survived a childhood riddled with violence, neglect, and abandonment, but went on to become gifted healers - one a theologian, the other as a therapist. Their stories, inextricably woven together, narrate how they pulled each other out of the hell of shame, fear, poverty caused by their parents and toxic religion, and into lives of profound meaning and service to the world.

An unexpected journey. An unbreakable spirit. At 26, Non Reyes had it all—a loving family, a promising future, and an adventurous spirit. But in a single instant, everything changed. A devastating accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, forcing him to rebuild his life in ways he never imagined. In An Unexpected Ride, Non shares his deeply personal journey of resilience and rediscovery of purpose after tragedy. With raw honesty and a touch of humor, he reflects on the struggles, triumphs, and everyday victories of life with a disability—offering hope to anyone facing their own ...

Has there ever been a time in your life when you’ve felt alone or unsure where to turn for answers? It may have come with the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, loss of a job, a death of a loved one, or any trauma that threatened everything you knew to be true. In Unexpected: Finding Resilience through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith, Dr. Jill Carnahan introduces a new paradigm for listeners who are going through uncertain times. For the skeptic or the faithful, Unexpected is a valuable guide for living an extraordinary life of love and resilience.

As a young femme in 1990s Manila, Geena Rocero heard, “Bakla, bakla!,” a taunt aimed at her feminine sway, whenever she left the tiny universe of her eskinita. Eventually, she found her place in trans pageants, the Philippines’ informal national sport. When her competitors mocked her as a “horse Barbie” due to her statuesque physique, tumbling hair, long neck, and dark skin, she leaned into the epithet. By seventeen, she was the Philippines’ highest-earning trans pageant queen.

In Chasing Life, Robert Pardi takes us on an unforgettable journey through his life with Desiree, his spirited, brilliant wife, whose diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer transformed their relationship and reshaped his perspective on love, life, and loss. This memoir is more than a story about illness; it's about the power of love that defies the odds, courage that grows in the darkest places, and the life lessons learned in the shadow of terminal illness. Desiree, a dedicated palliative care physician, faced her own illness with the same tenacity she brought to helping her patients, ...

After receiving a devastating brain cancer diagnosis, Jay Hewitt had a decision to make: Should he give up on faith or practice what he preached and trust that with God all things are possible? In I Am Weak, I Am Strong, Jay chronicles his journey of turning toward Jesus even when circumstances urged him to turn away. Faith in action for Jay included competing in an IRONMAN triathlon while undergoing cancer treatment. His race was a grand gesture of love for his young daughter—and a call to resilience for all of us. I Am Weak, I Am Strong reminds us that our true "superpower" comes from God.

From award-winning journalists John Quiñones and María Elena Salinas comes One Year in Uvalde, a narrative that builds on yearlong ABC News reporting from Uvalde, Texas, chronicling how the community is forging on through grief with hope and activism in the shadow of tragedy.

In "The Brutal Truth Behind My Evil Father," Daniel Weclaw bares the harrowing chapters of his true-life memoir, recounting the agonizing years of abuse endured in his childhood at the hands of his father. This gripping narrative unearths the haunting effects that cast a long shadow over his formative years, leaving scars both seen and unseen. With unwavering candour, Daniel chronicles the tumultuous path he treads through the aftermath of this trauma, wrestling with the emotional turmoil that lingered. The legacy of his past cast its pall over his growth, weaving a narrative of struggle, ...

For decades, Kathleen Buhle chose to play the role of the good wife, beginning when, as a naïve young woman from a working-class family on the South Side of Chicago, she met the dashing son of a senator in Oregon. Within months, Kathleen found herself pregnant and engaged. Determined to build her family on a foundation of love, Kathleen was convinced her and Hunter’s commitment to each other could overcome any obstacle. But when Hunter’s drinking evolved into dependency, she was forced to learn how irrevocably a marriage can fall apart under the merciless power of addiction.

The Best Life Stories by Reader's Digest are 150 of the best hand-picked real-life tales of resilience, joy, and hope - all in 150 words or less!

What happens when a young woman’s spontaneous trip turns into a lifelong adventure in Japan? At just 24, Suzy left behind her familiar life in Israel, chasing the allure of the Far East. What began as a brief escape to Thailand—quickly turned into a bold leap into the unknown. There, she became a hostess in Tokyo, married a local businessman in a traditional Oriental marriage, and bravely adapted to Japanese culture, balancing stark contrasts between Israel and Japan. This autobiography offers more than a tourist’s view of Japan, revealing the real challenges of cultural adaptation, ...