Resilient Memoir

From her first strokes as a novice, Ginny Gilder found herself in a new world, training with Olympic rowers and participating in the famous Title IX naked protest, which helped define the movement for equality in college sports. Short, asthmatic, and stubborn, Gilder made the team against all odds and for the next 10 years devoted herself to answering a seemingly simple question: how badly do you want to go fast?

Close Enough to Perfect is the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of Chris and Al Noyes, married for 28 years until tragedy hit on a commercial airline flight. The story speaks of soul mates, happy places, mental illness, adventure, and sorrow. Christine Noyes has chosen to share a very personal and private journey with her audience, and this memoir does it in such a beautifully penned way that it feels like the listener is a party to the story from a very close friend indeed, told with deep emotion and a splash of bourbon.

A gorgeously crafted memoir about resilience, family, and forging your own way, by a woman born without legs. At the age of three, Eileen Cronin first realized that only she did not have legs. Her boisterous Catholic family accepted her situation as "God's will", treating her no differently than her 10 siblings, as she "squiddled" through their 1960s Cincinnati home. But when starting school, even wearing prosthetics, Cronin had to brave bullying and embarrassing questions.

Author, Entrepreneur, and Founder and CEO of the JR Law Group, Jeremy "J.R." Robinson details his extraordinary journey as he navigated a tough childhood in Louisiana to become the esteemed veteran and lawyer that he is today. J.R. pulls no punches as he speaks about his complicated relationship with his mother, tackling race and societal issues, and incarceration. Endure reveals important life lessons that people of all walks of life can relate to and illustrates the importance of endurance when faced with challenges.

In Parkinson’s and Other Denials, Ron Palmer invites readers into a deeply personal journey through the tremors of life—both literal and figurative. This poignant collection of poetry explores the fragility of the human body and the resilience of the human spirit, weaving themes of love, loss, humor, and introspection. With every verse, Palmer balances vulnerability with hope, crafting a tribute to perseverance in the face of life’s uncertainties.

As a journalist, Leigh Sales often encounters people experiencing the worst moments of their lives in the full glare of the media. But one particular string of bad news stories - and a terrifying brush with her own mortality - sent her looking for answers about how vulnerable each of us is to a life-changing event. What are our chances of actually experiencing one? What do we fear most and why? And when the worst does happen, what comes next?

When Mark Henick was a teenager in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, he was overwhelmed by depression and anxiety that led to a series of increasingly dangerous suicide attempts. One night, he climbed onto a bridge over an overpass and stood in the wind, clinging to a girder. Just as Henick’s feet touched open air, a man in a brown coat encircled his chest and pulled him to safety. This near-death experience changed Henick’s life forever. So-Called Normal is Henick’s memoir about growing up in a broken home and the events that led to that fateful night on the bridge.

Armando Trinidad has been facing adversity his whole life, and what has he gotten from it? He's been able to be resilient and overcome it all with strength and optimism. This is a story of resilience, of power and overcoming the most difficult situations. When you think it can't get any worse, it can, and Mando teaches us that no one else but you can pull yourself out of that situation.

Filled with love for land, history, and people, it is more than anything else—a family story and a love story told with enormous humanity and feeling. How the son (one of six), born at the height of the displacements to a disabled father and illiterate mother, a believer in peaceful resistance, became a leading poet and writer in Palestine, before being forced, with his own young family in tow, to flee and start a new life in Australia.

This captivating book is a testament of the power that lies within every woman. Linda urges every listener to embrace their own dreams, overcome obstacles, and create a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

Beyond stereotypes and sensationalism, "African Polygamy" dives deep into the lived experience of this complex cultural practice. In this autobiography's 8th book, the author navigates the nuances and realities of polygamy in Africa, challenging misconceptions and offering a genuine, human perspective. Forget sensational headlines and simplified narratives. This book: Demystifies the practice: Forget "multiple wives" - delve into the diverse forms of polygamy, exploring its historical roots, social implications, and personal impact on both men and women. Offers an insider's view: Experience...

In this insightful, funny, and whip-smart book, acclaimed writer Evette Dionne explores the minefields fat Black women are forced to navigate in the course of everyday life. From her early experiences of harassment to adolescent self-discovery in internet chatrooms to a diagnosis of heart failure at age twenty-nine, Dionne tracks her relationships with friendship, sex, motherhood, agoraphobia, health, pop culture, and self-image.

Fleeing intimate partner violence at age 20, Julie was stalked by her ex-partner for more than 10 years, rarely mentioning it to friends, let alone addressing it publicly. The contrast between her public career as a brave champion for women with her own private life of violence and fear meant a shaky and exhausting balancing act. Resilience Is Futile is a story of survival, courage, and ultimately, hope. But it is also a challenge to the ways we understand trauma and resilience. It is the story of one survivor who won’t give up and refuses to shut up.

In her debut memoir, Toni talks candidly about her colorful life. This powerful account is an unexpected pause-resister that will have you on the edge of your seat wondering what happens next. From her early childhood battle with a congenital facial defect, through debilitating battles in school to her traumatic entry into the adult world, it details her struggle with anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, and a longing for love and happiness.

Lauri Fitz-Pegado explores her life's journey, and how her training in dance helped establish the skills—balance, endurance, perseverance—that informed her approach to the challenges that she faced, both professionally and personally, as an African American woman. This memoir is particularly relevant today, during our national conversation reassessing our assumptions, our past, as well as our path forward. In telling her story, the author reveals her insights and observations about history and its consequences, about opportunity and obstacles, and about loss and redemption.

"Resilience Across Borders: From Iran to America" encapsulates the riveting memoir, "SplendidVenus, A Dream," weaving a tapestry of courage, perseverance, and the pursuit of freedom. Across its expansive 89,000-word narrative, the author unveils a rich mosaic of life experiences set against the tumultuous backdrop of post-revolutionary Iran. Within this landscape of societal constraints and pervasive misogyny, the author embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery and resilience, ultimately charting a course towards the shores of America.

The Alkasem brothers, Riyad and Bashar, spend their childhood in Raqqa, the city that would later became the capital of ISIS. As a teenager in the 1980s, Riyad witnesses the devastating aftermath of the Hama massacre—an atrocity by the Assad regime. Wanting to expand his notion of government and justice, Riyad moves to the US to study law, but his plans are derailed and he eventually falls in love with a Southern belle. Bashar, meanwhile, stayed in Syria and embarked on a brilliant legal career under the same corrupt Assad government that Riyad despised.

On July 23, 2007, Dr. William Petit suffered an unimaginable horror: Armed strangers broke into his suburban Connecticut home in the middle of the night, bludgeoned him nearly to death, tortured and killed his wife and two daughters, and set their house on fire. He miraculously survived, and yet living through those horrific hours was only the beginning of his ordeal. Broken and defeated, Bill was forced to confront a question of ultimate consequence: How does a person find the strength to start over and live again after confronting the darkest of nightmares?

This book is about a journey. A journey of perspective. We all go through life with our own perceptions and expectations based on our pasts, experiences, and beliefs. Beliefs of how things are or how they should be. We interpret experiences and assign meanings to them. Many times, the meanings we assign, and the perceptions we have based on them, are very limited. We project our preconceived notions into situations which oftentimes keeps us from fully understanding or appreciating the opportunities we have at our fingertips.

The daughter of an Auschwitz survivor, author Bracha Horovitz spent her childhood surrounded by people who worked fervently to establish the fledgling nation of Israel after its 1948 independence. Inspired by their resilience and fortitude, Bracha set her heart on living a life that would honor her family, her community, and her heritage. At eighteen, Bracha joined the Israel Defense Forces. Alongside other female soldiers, she parachuted from planes, marched through hot deserts, and learned to shoot machine guns. Intense military training taught her that women, too, can be fierce fighters.