-
“Reinhart writes in a conversational tone, as if she’s telling a juicy story to a good friend… A memoir that crafts a neatly resolved narrative.” —Kirkus Reviews When Leah Reinhart was six years old, her family moved to an unlikely neighborhood on a hill much like the country—a place where everyone dressed and lived like they were living a real-life Little House on the Prairie. Yet their new home was in Oakland, California, and everything surrounding Leah’s neighborhood was the polar opposite of their old-fashioned lifestyle. As an already scared little white girl in a predominantly African American city, Leah quickly learned that would have to face many of her fears—or get eaten alive. And in her search for love and belonging, she also found that things aren’t always as they appear. As she got to know her neighbors, most of whom belonged to the neighborhood church, she began to realize that the hood was sometimes much safer than the country. Over the course of her life—learning from the streets, a cult, trial and error, and many years of therapy—Leah developed an eye for patterns. She learned how the belief system she’d absorbed during her childhood manifested in her teenage years and young adulthood. Ultimately, she learned how to change her thoughts and accept herself—and in doing so, she broke free of the cycle she’d been imprisoned by. Author: Leah E. Reinhart Publication Date: June 5, 2018 -
Many Hands Make Light Work is the rollicking true story of a family of nine children growing up in the college town of Ames, Iowa in the ’60s and ’70s. Inspiring, full of surprises, and laugh-out-loud funny, this utterly unique family champions diversity and inclusion long before such concepts become cultural flashpoints. Cheryl and her siblings are the offspring of an eccentric professor father and unflappable mother. Mindful of their ever-expanding family’s need for cash, her parents begin acquiring tumbledown houses in campus-town, to renovate and rent. Dad, who changes out of his suit and tie into a carpenter’s battered white overalls, like Clark Kent into Superman, is supremely confident his offspring can do anything, whether he’s there or not. Mom, an organizational genius disguised as a housewife, manages nine children so deftly that she finds the time―and heart―to take in student boarders, who stir their own offbeat personalities into this unconventional household. The kids, meanwhile, pour concrete, paint houses, and, at odd moments, break into song, because instead of complaining, they sing as they work, like a von Trapp family in painters caps. Free-wheeling and contagiously cheerful, Many Hands Make Light Work is a winsome memoir of a Heartland childhood unlike any other. Author: Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy Publication Date: August 6, 2019 -
Any woman who wants to marry can . . . once she learns how. Marriage Minded's A to Z format, packed with warmth, wisdom, and humor, makes the process fun and informative. You will learn how to overcome obstacles, meet men, and date constructively; you’ll read about single women of all ages who became happily married; and in Marcia Naomi Berger, you’ll have a sensitive guide to creating the lasting, loving union you’ve always wanted. After her parents divorced, Berger became a long-term commitmentphobe who stayed single for many years. Now happily married for more than thirty-three years, this psychotherapist and clinical social worker’s mission is to help others create marriages that fulfill them―emotionally, spiritually, physically, and materially. Author: Marcia Naomi Berger Publication Date: September 14, 2021 -
What do politics, living donor kidney transplants, and the current opioid crisis all have in common? Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen, best friends since nursing school, could never have imagined that they’d end up as amateur sleuths searching to find a killer—for the second time! Jackie, a stay-at-home mom with marriage troubles, is racing the clock to get her young son, Wyatt, a living kidney donor to avoid the ravages of dialysis. Sarah, who has been living her career in the fast-paced world of organ transplantation, is helping expedite Wyatt’s kidney transplant. Then a much-despised hospital colleague turns up dead of an opiate overdose—despite the fact that she’d never used drugs—and Sarah smells foul play. Her curiosity and tenacity pull Jackie, once again, into a life-and-death adventure that neither woman could have expected. Armed with smarts, tenacity, big hearts, and their raucous senses of humor, the pair gets the help of a few colorful friends to pursue the killer and take on the mission in the only style they both know how: straight on and arm-in-arm as the friends they’ve always been. Author: Amy Peele Publication Date: April 13, 2021 -
When recent Harvard grad Helen Zuman moved to Zendik Farm in 1999, she was thrilled to discover that the Zendiks used go-betweens to arrange sexual assignations, or “dates,” in cozy shacks just big enough for a double bed and a nightstand. Here, it seemed, she could learn an honest version of the mating dance—and form a union free of “Deathculture” lies. No one spoke the truth: Arol, the Farm’s matriarch, crushed any love that threatened her hold on her followers’ hearts. An intimate look at a transformative cult journey, Mating in Captivity shows how stories can trap us and free us, how miracles rise out of crisis, how coercion feeds on forsaken self-trust. Author: Helen Zuman Publication Date: May 8, 2018 -
Anne grew up in an abusive home, leading to severe depression and a determination to do better as a mother. One of her sons wants a dog from the time he is a baby; Anne very much does not. For years she appeases him with creatures who live in cages and tanks, but on his tenth birthday she can no longer say no—and she proceeds to fall in love with their new four-legged family member, Mattie. Then Mattie dies a sudden and tragic death, and Anne feels herself begin to sink back into depression. Trying to cope, she immediately adopts Milo—a dog who, unbeknownst to her, has already been returned to the rescue by several families due to his aggressive behavior. But even after she realizes Milo is dangerous, she’s committed to trying to give him a chance at a good life. Anne’s journey takes the reader from dog school into the deep woods as she perseveres with Milo’s lifelong rehabilitation and her unwavering efforts to be a good mother to her sons. Working with Milo strengthens Anne and expands her ability to love. Ten years later, when Milo dies, Anne faces another choice: close the door to that part of her heart, or risk loving another dog after two tragic losses? Author: Anne Abel Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024 -
For fans of Breaking Bad and Narcos, a searingly honest and unforgettable memoir that challenges women to rethink everything they know about survival, resilience, and finding their voice. At twenty-one, Brenda Coffee surrendered herself to her marriage and became a woman who would do almost anything her charismatic and powerful older husband, Philip Ray, wanted. Regardless of whether it was dangerous, adventurous, sexual, or illegal, she wanted to be the one woman he couldn’t live without. Brenda and Philip’s life together was a fairy tale until it wasn’t. Until Philip, the founder of two high-profile, groundbreaking public companies, began making real cocaine in their basement and became addicted. Until the Big Six tobacco companies threatened their lives for creating the first smokeless cigarette—Brenda coined the terms vape and vaping—and brutal Guatemalan military commandos forced her into the jungle at gunpoint. A suspenseful, fast-paced memoir that reads like a thriller, Maya Blue will strike a chord with those who’ve lost their voice or had trouble finding their power. It will resonate with those who live with an addict or have grieved the loss of a spouse. But above all, it is an inspiring reminder that as long as you never surrender your voice and always keep your wits about you, you can survive almost anything. Author: Brenda Coffee Publication Date: May 20, 2025 -
“A beautifully written, challenging, and thought-provoking book, one that truly leads us to insights and recognitions that make it possible to contemplate a world that works for all. I haven’t seen anything like it. Trenshaw’s book contributes to helping us see the world at the margins with clarity.” —Margaret J. Wheatley, author of So Far From Home, Perseverance, Turning to One Another, and Leadership and the New Science When Cynthia Trenshaw, recently widowed, moves to Berkeley, she thinks the reason she has transplanted herself is to earn her master’s degree in theology. But when, step by unexpected step, she is drawn into the cultural borderlands where society’s “invisible people” reside, she encounters dispossessed and demanding teachers not listed on any academic roster—and becomes immersed in a heady curriculum of helplessness and joy, wisdom and pain. A book that encourages readers to receive the generosity and reciprocity of the margins, Meeting in the Margins offers guidance for how we can all, as individuals, begin to repair the rift between the margins and the mainstream of society—simply by being profoundly present. Author: Cynthia Trenshaw Publication Date: October 6, 2015 -
Life―and death―may be hard; but joy is simple. Lannette Cornell Bloom, a typical, overworked nurse, wife, and mom of two, was forty-three when her mother was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. She quit her job and dove headlong into the familiar role of caretaking. This choice―to slow down and be present for the hardest year of her life―resulted in an awakening. In unexpected moments, as childhood memories flooded into the present, Lannette glimpsed bits of magic that existed just beyond the pain. Without knowing it, she was experiencing a mindful dying process with her mother―and it was a journey that would change the way she lived the rest of her life. A touching and soulful memoir that gracefully uncovers the beauty that is often lost within the dying process, Memories in Dragonflies is a beautiful portrait of what it means to be human and a gentle reminder to enjoy every moment, because even the simplest ones bring lasting joy. Author: Lannette Cornell Bloom Publication Date: August 21, 2018 -
For fans of Ann Patchett and Louise Erdrich, a contemporary women’s fiction novel set in northern Wisconsin about one grief-stricken family’s journey toward redemption and forgiveness in a rural town divided by the past. After years away, Margaret Payne returns to her rural northern Wisconsin hometown on a work assignment, only to find it still haunted by the tragic accidental shooting of her younger brother, Bean. Amidst the lingering pain, Margaret uncovers plans for a development on Dell Landing, a hill home to generations of Indigenous people—including Mr. Kipp, the reclusive man responsible for Bean’s death. With her mother trapped in denial, her father consumed by anger, and a town bitterly divided, Margaret must confront both the past and the present, rising tensions. Facing Mr. Kipp will test everything she believes, but before it’s over, Margaret will discover the freeing power of unconditional forgiveness—even for her brother’s killer. A poignant, redemptive tale, Mercy Town reminds us how forgiveness, even in the deepest sorrow, heals wounds, binds us as human beings, and remains truly unconditional. Author: Nancy Chadwick Release Date: September 16, 2025 -
When Quenton wants to take Alix home to France after years of exile in England, she is torn between the restoration of her fortune and her dream to build her Sterling Wood Stable into a successful racing business. She finds an unlikely friend in her uncle’s companion, Nicholas Griffon. Caught by her surprising fondness for him, Alix does not realize shadows from the past are stalking her—until she’s trapped by their darkness. Author:Diane Shute Publication Date: June 5, 2018 -
Why are we so determined to be loved rather than to love ourselves? Why is it so hard to forgive our imperfections and remember that we’re extraordinary? Why are we so willing to listen to others’ voices when our own voice is right here, screaming to be heard? Full of the stories that have brought her to this moment and the accompanying wisdom those experiences have lent her, Mighty Gorgeous is Amy Ferris’s answer—tender, fierce, irreverent—to these questions, and much more. Why? Because we are not on this earth to master suffering; we are here to create magic. Because perfection is overrated; all of our flaws and imperfections and scars are our beauty marks. Because all women deserve to speak their truth, to be heard and seen, to awaken to their own greatness. Because life is so very hard and so very brutal at times, bitter and cruel and excruciatingly difficult to navigate, and sometimes we need a light to guide us through that darkness. Because it’s time for us all to come home to ourselves—and Amy’s here to cheerlead you all the way to your own front door. Author: Amy Ferris Pub Day: October 3, 2023 -
“Sullivan’s candid, moving memoir of how her life has been shaped by her sister is emotional, easily readable, and instantly relatable. This is a must-read for anyone who cares for a person with autism or other developmental disability, as well as a wonderful tale of resiliency and tenacity that will touch the hearts of a broad swath of readers.” —Booklist “The memoir is often heartbreaking, but Sullivan’s depictions of a complicated and loving family and the unique issues faced by siblings of the severely disabled provide a sense of hope and closure.” —Kirkus Reviews Mikey & Me will resonate with anyone considered the typical one in a family with a special needs child. Author Teresa Sullivan’s memoir about growing up with her profoundly disabled sister reveals the incessant challenges that confront family caregivers, and the resulting expectations placed on “typical” siblings. Sullivan’s honesty about her self-destructive coping mechanisms will strike a cord with anyone who has struggled with addiction, as will her hard-won recovery. Mikey & Me is an unflinching and insightful exploration of the relationship between two sisters, one blind and autistic, unable to voice her own story, the other gifted with the heart and understanding to express it exquisitely for her. Author: Teresa Sullivan Publication Date: August 29, 2017 -
2017 Gold Medal IPPY Award in Autobiography/Memoir “A wonderful, thoughtful and inspiring story of love and courage—the kind of tale that teaches us to take chances, and that we CAN overcome our own obstacles.” —Betsy Stone, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of Happily Ever After They first meet in Paris in the spring of 1996. David is a divorced American attorney living on a converted barged moored on the banks of the Seine; Roni Beth is single, an empty-nested clinical and research psychologist, working from her home in Connecticut. Now in their fifties, both had signed off on loving again. This memoir tells the inspiring story of their intense and transformative twenty-two month transatlantic courtship. Along the way, David the loner, living amid the beauty, freedom and pleasures of Paris, brings Roni Beth, a responsible and overextended professional haunted by earlier loss and trauma, back to her core as a woman, while she helps him reclaim connections that tie him to a larger world. They wrestle internal demons (mostly hers) and external threats (friends, family and different perspectives) as they share adventures in their respective worlds. The tensions of a romance played out across six time zones are captured through fanciful and reflective letters and fax correspondence – flirting, musing, laughing, arguing and whining. Over twenty-four Atlantic crossings, they move into the shared reality that confronts them with parts of themselves that had yearned for compassion and psychic space. As their respective needs become clear, they navigate the clutter on their paths and bridge the geographic distance with courage, joy and integrity. Author: Roni Beth Tower Publication Date: October 25, 2016 -
Born into the baby boomer generation, Mary Helen Fein’s values and choices often typified the time. At age five, she identified what she calls “Moments of knowing”: moments of knowing more about love and creativity. As a child, her father was a loving successful New Yorker who left her mother to remarry another woman. Fein’s own mother was very beautiful, but desperately poor and an alcoholic, living in the projects on welfare. To get by, she remarried—but the man was evil, a child molester and a cruel stepfather. Fein traveled back and forth from coast to coast, spending school years with her mother and stepfather, and summers with her father, loving grandmother, and new stepmother. At age thirteen her mother dies, and Fein embarked on a new life in an upper-class New York suburb. Over the next thirty years she journeys through careers and healing, embracing the “spark” when it arrives over and over throughout her life, affecting her life choices and putting her on a spiritual path to Buddhism. With themes of spiritual practices, mental illness, poverty, and the power of psychotherapy, this book will appeal to self-help and memoir readers, showing how to find happiness, peace, and enduring love despite a traumatic childhood. Author: Mary Helen Fein Publication Date: April 9, 2025 -
Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the summer of 1969, Moon Water finds Nettie, sixteen, with her boyfriend wanting to break up just as they are figuring out the sex thing. Nettie’s lifelong nemesis is jabbing her with perfectly polished nails, while her hellfire- and- brimstone preacher refuses to baptize her. Amid this turmoil, a Monacan Indian medicine woman gives her a cryptic message about a coming darkness, a blood moon whose veiled danger threatens Nettie and those she loves. To prepare for the darkness, Nettie and her best friend, Win, make a treacherous journey into the mountains to build a mysterious dreamcatcher from ancient elements. A captivating, suspenseful standalone sequel to The Wiregrass, a Historical Novel Society’s Editor’s Choice and Southern Literary Review’s Read of the Month. Author: Pam Webber Publication Date: August 20, 2019 -
At seventeen, Barbara’s daughter Jennifer is in a horrific car accident and sustains a traumatic brain injury that sends her into a two-week coma. Once she awakens, a unique disability presents itself: Jenn lacks any traditional method of communication. Unable to speak or function on her own, Jenn must relearn basic life skills in a rehabilitation facility while Barbara and her family struggle to piece together their lives, now forever changed. When it becomes clear that Barbara and her husband cannot care for Jenn on their own, they move her to a group home. Over time, three creative, lighthearted women become Jenn’s caregivers, and with their support Jenn reenters the community and experiences travel and adventure, all while capturing the hearts of those around her with her engaging and quirky personality. Despite her disability, Jenn connects with everyone in her life. And Barbara ultimately realizes that Jenn’s lack of language doesn’t stop her from having a voice. A touching memoir that strikes a delicate balance between sorrow and joy, heartbreak and triumph, More Than You Can See is Barbara’s story of moving beyond tragedy and discovering profound and fulfilling life lessons waiting for her on the other side. Author: Barbara Rubin Publication Date: October 4, 2022 -
If there’s one thing Rebecca Galli knows, it’s the importance of staying fueled—daily. She’s had a lot to power through: Her seventeen-year-old brother’s death. Two children with special needs that include autism and epilepsy. Divorce. And her own paralysis. Galli has lived a life filled with unexpected loss—and learning. Infused with wisdom from Galli’s deep-thinking pastor father, her ever-optimistic, hostess-with-the-mostest mother, and other memorable family members and friends, Morning Fuel offers stories designed to inspire, encourage, or make you think. Sprinkled throughout are quotes from some of the greatest thinkers of our time—words that have bolstered Galli’s resolve to power through her darkest valleys. Each entry ends with questions that invite personal application and provoke further pondering. How you start your morning sets the tone for your whole day. Let the wisdom of Morning Fuel help you make that tone a positive one. Author: Rebecca Faye Smith Galli Publication Date: October 29, 2024 -
“. . . makes you feel as though a kindred soul is speaking to you.” —Readers’ Favorite At the age of sixty, Gretchen Staebler promises to spend one year in her childhood home caring for her stubbornly independent ninety-six-year-old mother—sort of a middle-aged gap year. Then her mother will move to assisted living and she will return to her own independent life. It doesn’t go as planned. Rather than a retrospective, this mother-daughter story unfolds in real time with gripping honesty, bringing the reader along with the narrator through the struggle, doubts, and complexities of caregiving and daughterhood—and the beacons of light. Penetrating the fog of her mother’s advancing dementia and myriad health issues with humor, frustration, and compassion—and wine—Staebler slowly comes to accept and respect the mother she got, if not the one she wished for. In the process, she manifests non-negotiable self-care and learns more than she wants to know about aging, cognitive loss, and the healthcare system. Any reader who is looking for a road map in caring for a family member, has ever had a mother, or is looking aging in the eye will find company on the journey in this candid, multi-award-winning memoir. Author: Gretchen Staebler Publication Date: October 18, 2022 -
"In Motherhood Reimagined, Sarah Kowalski speaks to a generation of women who were told that they could have it all―only to discover that career success often comes at an emotional and physical cost. This honest, often heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting memoir chronicles Kowalski’s race against the ticking clock of infertility. The discoveries she makes about her body and mind translate into a compelling and poignant read . . . This book is a must-read for any women who hears the ticking of her biological clock.” ―Marika Lindholm ,CEO and founder of ESME.com (Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere) At the age of thirty-nine, Sarah Kowalski heard her biological clock ticking, loudly. A single woman harboring a deep ambivalence about motherhood, Kowalski needed to decide once and for all: Did she want a baby or not? More importantly, with no partner on the horizon, did she want to have a baby alone?Once she revised her idea of motherhood—from an experience she would share with a partner to a journey she would embark upon alone—the answer came up a resounding Yes. After exploring her options, Kowalski chose to conceive using a sperm donor, but her plan stopped short when a doctor declared her infertile. How far would she go to make motherhood a reality? Kowalski catapulted herself into a diligent regimen of herbs, Qigong, meditation, acupuncture, and more, in a quest to improve her chances of conception. Along the way, she delved deep into spiritual healing practices, facing down demons of self-doubt and self-hatred, ultimately discovering an unconventional path to parenthood. In the end, to become a mother, Kowalski did everything she said she would never do. And she wouldn't change a thing. A story of personal triumph and unconditional love, Motherhood Reimagined reveals what happens when we release what's expected and embrace what's possible. Author: Sarah Kowalski Publication Date: October 17, 2017 -
2016 IndieFab Finalist in Anthologies Approximately 1 in 7 women suffer from postpartum depression after having a baby. Many more may experience depression during pregnancy, postpartum anxiety, OCD, and other mood disorders. Postpartum depression is, in fact, the most common pregnancy-related complication—yet confusion and misinformation about this disorder are still widespread. And these aren’t harmless myths: the lack of clarity surrounding mothers’ mental health challenges can have devastating effects on their well-being and their identities as mothers, which too often leads to shame and inadequate treatment. In this one-of-a-kind anthology, thirty mothers break the silence to dispel myths about postpartum mental health issues and explore the diversity of women’s experiences. Powerful and inspiring, Mothering Through the Darkness will comfort every mother who’s ever felt alone, ashamed, and hopeless—and, hopefully, inspire her to speak out. Author: Stephanie Sprenger and Jessica Smock Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
2016 Shelf Unbound Winner, Memoir 2017 IPPY Gold Medal Winner, Autobiography/Memoir “Motherlines is a deep treasure written in the inimitable voice of a woman whose work was a lighthouse for me when I first wrote Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom. There is pure gold healing in these pages. Let it touch and heal you.” —Christiane Northrup, MD, OB/GYN physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers Goddesses Never Age; Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom; and The Wisdom of Menopause When she was twenty and living a bohemian life, Patricia Reis’s mother asked, “What about your spiritual life?” Years later, this question drives her midlife quest to reconcile the desires of her body with the mandates of her spirit. During the 1980’s—a rich and turbulent period in American history when feminism, the women’s spirituality movement and liberation theology were all very much alive— Reis encounters a number of uncommon women who witness, encourage, and nourish her potential. She discovers an unlikely confidante in her maternal aunt, Ruth, a free-spirited Franciscan nun. Their many letters, and a handful of pivotal visits, bring immediacy and intimacy as they each become radicalized by feminism and a new theology of liberation. Starting in the early 1980s—a rich period in American history when feminism, the women’s spirituality movement, and liberation theology were all very much alive—and continuing over a ten-year period, Reis encounters a number of uncommon women who witness, encourage, and nurture her potential. She discovers an unlikely confidante in her maternal aunt Ruth, a free-spirited Franciscan nun. Their many letters, and a handful of pivotal visits, bring immediacy and intimacy to their unfolding relationship. Candid and compelling, Motherlines is a story of sex (with men and with women, and of abstaining altogether), illegal abortions, making vows and breaking them, spiritual practices, and creative ambition—and, at its heart, one woman’s quest for a place in her maternal lineage and a spiritual maturity outside religious concepts. Author: Patricia Reis Publication Date: October 11, 2016 -
Thirteen-year-old Elisha lives in a village near Shechem in the Land of Canaan in ancient Israel. She wants to be like other girls but is unmarried, speaks to an angel, and composes and sings her own songs—a pursuit her parents disapprove of. When she tells the village women to stand up for themselves, the men are outraged he tribe banishes her. After journeying alone through the desert, escaping bandits, wild animals, and men who would sell her as a servant, Elisha makes it to Jerusalem, where the angel guides her to study with Abraham and Sarah. She learns much including reading and writing, and Abraham even gives her Doron, his servant, to accompany her as she sings her songs throughout the country. Doron becomes her lover and her songs are well accepted—until she sings one about equality for women. Mountain of Full Moons explores how we overcome our fears, go out into the world, and gain the courage to speak up and be whom we choose to be. Author: Irene Kessler Publication Date: April 14, 2020 -
Orphaned at age eight, JoAnna Wilson was raised by her eccentric aunt in the bucolic southern community of Mt. Moriah. Now a twenty-six-year old would-be writer, JoAnna faces several crossroads: in her marriage, in her career, and in her faith. She left home for Chicago in 1997 immediately following the murder of her best friend, Grace. Now she comes back to Mt. Moriah for the first time in four years to attend her aunt’s funeral—and realizes that she must confront both the profound sorrow she feels over Grace’s death and the mysterious guilt she carries. She must finally grieve. A hauntingly sweet story of love and loss that alternates between JoAnna’s childhood in Mt. Moriah, her life in Chicago and her present encounters upon returning home, Mt. Moriah’s Wake ponders deep questions: When we experience unspeakable tragedy, do we see ourselves as victim or survivor? Is it possible to regain happiness in the face of such? And how do we find our faith again, once it is lost? As her past and present worlds collide, JoAnna grapples with these questions—and her journey moves toward an unexpected conclusion. Publication Date: July 27, 2021 Author: Melissa Norton Carro -
Winner IPPY Silver in Mystery and IndieFab Finalist in Mystery and Multicultural Fiction “One of the best mysteries I've read in a long time. Kept me from doing ten important things I should have been doing because I just had to finish it! Kate Raphael writes great women characters and does a fantastic job of portraying the realities of Palestinian life as background to a gripping story.” —Starhawk, best-selling author of The Fifth Sacred Thing and The Spiral Dance “Both [Chloe] and Rania work, in their own ways, to protect the innocent from easy labels like terrorist―labels that Raphael dismantles and examines in this provocative novel.” —Publishers Weekly When Rania—the only female Palestinian police detective in the northern West Bank, as well as a young mother in a rural community where many believe women should not have such a dangerous career—discovers the body of a foreign woman on the edge of her village, no one seems to want her look too deeply into what’s happened. But she finds an ally in Chloe—a gay, Jewish-American peace worker with a camera and a big attitude—and together, with the help of an annoying Israeli policeman, they work to solve the murder. As they do, secrets about war crimes and Israel’s thriving sex trafficking trade begin to surface—and Rania finds everything she holds dear in jeopardy. Fast-paced and intricately plotted, Murder Under The Bridge offers mystery lovers an intimate view of one of the most fraught political conflicts on the planet. Author: Kate Raphael Publication Date: November 3, 2015 -
Hamas has taken power in Palestine, and the Israeli government is rounding up threats. When Palestinian policewoman Rania Bakara finds herself thrown in prison, though she has never been part of Hamas, her friend Chloe flies in from San Francisco to get her out. Chloe begs an Israeli policeman named Benny for help—and Benny offers Rania a way out: investigate the death of a young man in a village near her own. The young man’s neighbors believe the Israeli army killed him; Benny believes his death might not have been so honorable. Initially, Rania refuses; she has no interest in helping the Israelis. But she is released anyway, and returns home to find herself without a job and suspected of being a traitor. Searching for redemption, she launches an investigation into the young man’s death that draws her into a Palestinian gay scene she never knew existed. With Chloe and her Palestinian Australian lover as guides, Rania explores a Jerusalem gay bar, meets with a lesbian support group, and plunges deep into the victim’s world, forcing her to question her beliefs about love, justice, and cultural identity. Author: Kate Raphael Publication Date: September 19, 2017 -
“My brain was famous, but I was not. Not every gifted child invents a pollutant-free fuel, paints a masterpiece, or finds the cure for cancer,” Jack MacLeod tells us. “Some of us just live out our lives.” Jack died in 1974, and he narrates his story from beyond the grave. His prodigious memory, which allows him to memorize books, and his penchant for psychic connections give him unusual insights into the events of his past life and make him fiercely curious about his current state of existence. Jack immerses us in interconnected tales of his childhood participation in a research study on the intellectually gifted, his dual career as a clinical psychologist and university professor, his participation in the unmasking of an unscrupulous colleague, his long-term health issues, his brief but life-changing love affair with a student, his deep friendship with another man, and his eventual acceptance and celebration of the circumstances of his fate. How Jack dies, and how he deals with the murder of someone close to him, mirrors how he has lived and grown, and marks the significance of everyone and everything that has brought him to yet another level of brilliance. Author: Diane Wald Publication Date: October 5, 2021 -
She wants to travel the world; he wants to keep working. At sixty, Leah Fisher is ready to Love, Honor, and Negotiate. The result is a long-married couple’s decision to commence an unconventional experiment. Fisher takes readers on two journeys: an intriguing global journey—her year of solo travel—and the relational journey she and her husband embark upon as they skillfully negotiate their different priorities and preferences. We accompany them through a series of reunions and poignant farewells as they stay connected and gradually grow comfortable being together and apart. After the marriage sabbatical is over, both spouses are surprised by the outcome of their daring experiment. With gray divorce on the rise, Leah Fisher’s memoir demonstrates a creative way to fulfill individual needs without having to make the painful choice between forfeiting heartfelt dreams or leaving one’s marriage to achieve them. A riveting travel story that offers wise guidance on maintaining marital friendship, My Marriage Sabbatical is proof that couples can keep growing as individuals and partners all through their lives. Author: Leah Fisher Publication Date: January 7, 2025 -
For fans of Educated and The Glass Castle, a former music industry insider’s journey of healing—from childhood trauma through spiritual practices and self-discovery to a place of peace—with some incredible celebrity encounters along the way. A transformative memoir chronicling Wendy Correa’s journey to heal from childhood traumas, including the death of her father, emotionally distant siblings, and a violent, alcoholic stepfather, My Pretty Baby is a story of not belonging and, ultimately, of the healing that comes from building a chosen family. After escaping her turbulent home life, Wendy’s path of self-discovery takes her through Buddhism, meditation, plant medicine, yoga, Native American spirituality, 12-Step programs, and psychotherapy. Along the way, she has extraordinary experiences: singing “Give Peace a Chance” on the Rose Bowl stage with rock ’n’ roll royalty, attending AA meetings with legendary musicians while working at A&M and Geffen Records, and meeting her musical hero, Joni Mitchell. Native American sweat lodge and vision quest ceremonies further strengthen her sobriety and mental well-being. Her life takes a new turn when she moves to Aspen and becomes a radio DJ and assistant to gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson. There, she meets her future husband and begins to build the family she always longed for—but despite her newfound peace, she is repeatedly drawn back into her family’s dysfunction. It’s only after her mother’s death that Wendy uncovers a painful family secret that finally answers her lifelong question: What really happened to my family? Author: Wendy B. Correa Publication Date: November 4, 2025 -
On her 30th birthday, Yale-educated Zoe Greene was supposed to be married to her high-school sweetheart, pregnant with their first baby, and practicing law in Chicago. Instead, she’s planning an abortion and filing for divorce. Zoe wants to understand why her plans failed—and to move on, have sex, and date while there’s still time. As she navigates dysfunctional penises, a paucity of grammatically sound online dating profiles, and her paralyzing fear of aging alone, she also grapples with the pressure women feel to put others first. Ultimately, Zoe’s family, friends, incomparable therapist, and diary of never-to-be-sent letters to her first loves, the rock band U2, help her learn to let go—of society’s constructs of female happiness, and of her own. Author: Emily Wolf Publication Date: August 2, 2022 -
For anyone who’s ever gone on terrible date, a vulnerable memoir that explores dating in midlife after divorce, with bad dates—from terrible one-night stands to promising matches who ultimately disappoint—anchoring the theme of every chapter. After two life-shaking events—losing her father and divorcing the man she’s spent half her life with, who happens to be an actor from a famous family—Rachel Lithgow leaves a thirty-year career to write full time and pursue a relationship with a calming, delightful man she recently met online. She thinks she has it all figured out . . . until he announces he’s joining a cult and moving to Phoenix with a blonde real estate agent. Through a year of terrible dates, peppered with a few great experiences and a lot of pinot noir, the author learns that patterns can be changed, that asking for help is sometimes necessary, and that there’s only one way to repair her brokenness: by facing her trauma and demons head-on. With a unique mix of humor, self-deprecation, and gritty vulnerability, this dark yet hopeful memoir tackles divorce, dating, single motherhood, PTSD, grief, loss, and starting over in midlife. From emotional rock bottom to a peaceful acceptance of the woman she truly is, Lithgow finds the humor in the blackness, redemption in the pathos, and fulfillment in the idea that “happily ever after” isn’t always a storybook ending—and doesn’t need to be. Author: Rachel J. Lithgow Publication Date: November 11, 2025 -
-
2016 Best Book Award Finalist, Autobiography/Memoirs 2016 Foreward INDIE Awards Finalist, Nature 2016 Nautilus Book Awards Silver Medal Winner, Death & Dying/Grief & Loss 2017 IPPY Bronze Medal Winner, Best Regional Non-Fiction: Mid-Atlantic Marcia Mabee and her husband were a clueless suburban couple when they bought a mountain in a forgotten corner of rural Virginia as a weekend getaway—but after enchanting wildlife encounters, and a spectacular botanical discovery, they become passionate conservationists. Shortly after their property is dedicated as the Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve, Marcia is diagnosed with ovarian cancer; and before she finishes chemotherapy, Tim is struck down with pancreatic cancer. Each has promised the other to scatter their ashes among the wildflowers on their beloved mountain, but it is Marcia who survives. In the midst of grieving so deeply she nearly loses her grip on life, Marcia meets David at Tim’s memorial service. He is there on his wife’s behalf—a woman who was Tim’s high school sweetheart, and who is now divorcing David. Months later, David calls Marcia, and they enter into an intimate relationship, compelling Marcia to struggle with the twin forces of deep grief and new love. Author: Marcia Mabee Publication Date: September 6, 2016 -
More than a year has elapsed since the ghetto gates were destroyed and Ancona’s Jewish community liberated by Napoleon’s troops. Yet Mirelle is ostracized—by the community, her erstwhile best friend, and even her mother—and labeled a “ruined woman.” As her efforts to nurture her family’s legacy are thwarted, she realizes she might have lost her last chance at love. Meanwhile, Daniel, now a lieutenant in the French army, and Christophe, the man responsible for Mirelle’s disgrace, set sail to an unknown destination with General Bonaparte’s forces. There, Napoleon and his men face a harsh and unforgiving landscape and new, implacable enemies, and Daniel’s faith in and loyalty to the commander he once worshiped are put to the test. Epic and rich with well-researched detail, Napoleon’s Mirage is a novel of misguided ambition leading to brutal warfare, failures of cultural appropriation, and a military defeat that just may have changed the course of history. Author: Michelle Cameron Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
Fed up with happiness gurus telling you that you can’t be happy unless you get rid of all of your negativity? Sick of all those perky Positive Pollys receiving all the happiness glory? Negatively Ever After will provide the guidance you need to find happiness without the impossible task of eradicating negativity from your life. This book debunks the popular misconception that being positive and being happy are synonymous. Using a simple “Happiness Bank” analogy, the author shares her research, experiences, and missteps in discovering that negativity is not the enemy. From achieving self-adoration and learning what gratitude truly means to determining whether sharing happiness is really a good idea, this book explains how to develop “Negativity Wisdom” in order to embrace and effectively utilize your inherent negative tendencies. Realistic and accessible, Negatively Ever After will help you harness your negativity and find your own inner happiness. Author: Deanna Willmon Publication Date: September 12, 2017 -
Jeremy Ivester is a transgender man. Thirty years ago, his parents welcomed him into the world as what they thought was their daughter. As a child, he preferred the toys and games our society views as masculine. He kept his hair short and wore boys’ clothing. They called him a tomboy. That’s what he called himself. By high school, when he showed no interest in flirting, his parents thought he might be lesbian. At twenty, he wondered if he was asexual. At twenty-three, he surgically removed his breasts. A year later, he began taking the hormones that would lower his voice and give him a beard—and he announced his new name and pronouns. Never a Girl, Always a Boy is Jeremy’s journey from childhood through coming out as transgender and eventually emerging as an advocate for the transgender community. This is not only Jeremy’s story but also that of his family, told from multiple perspectives—those of the siblings who struggled to understand the brother they once saw as a sister, and of the parents who ultimately joined him in the battle against discrimination. This is a story of acceptance in a world not quite ready to accept. Author: Jo Ivester Publication Date: April 21, 2020 -
Jo’s mother, Babe, liked to drink, dance, and stay up very late. When the husband she adored went on sales calls, she waited for him in the parking lot, embroidering pillowcases. Jo grew up thinking that the last thing she wanted was to be like her mother. Then it dawned on her that her own happiness was derived in large part from lessons Babe had taught her. Her mother might have had tomato aspic and stewed rhubarb in her fridge, while Jo had organic kale and almond milk in hers, but in more important ways they were much closer in spirit than Jo had once thought. At a turbulent time in America, Never Sit If You Can Dance offers uplifting lessons in old-fashioned civility that will ring true with mothers, daughters, and their families. Told with lighthearted good humor, it’s a charming tale of the way things used to be—and probably still should be. Author: Jo Giese Publication Date: April 23, 2019 -
At eighteen, Paula is already a seasoned traveler, having begun life in England, crisscrossed the US as a young child, and survived a year in a London boarding school, immersed in her mother’s heritage. But when, at eighteen, she leaves home for Israel to explore her father’s Jewish roots and learn Hebrew on a kibbutz ulpan (a work/study program on a collective farm), her quest will change her life forever. Seduced by her love of language, she continues the journey to France for several years before returning at last to settle to Israel. As she navigates her odyssey from vision to reality, she will learn much more than two new languages—and realize that if she is ever to forge her own identity, she must also separate from her twin sister and follow her own path. Author: Paula Wagner Publication Date: July 30, 2019 -
When I have wandered long enough what am I still beholden to? Ifá. Nature. Illness. Love. Loss. Misogyny. Aging. Africa. Our wounded planet. In this sweeping yet intensely personal collection, Lauren Martin tells the untold stories of the marginalized, the abused, the ill, the disabled—the different. Inspired by her life’s experiences, including the isolation she has suffered as a result both of living with chronic illness and having devoted herself to a religion outside the mainstream, these poems explore with raw vulnerability and unflinching honesty what it is to live apart—even as one yearns for connection. But Night of the Hawk is no lament; it is powerful, reverential, sometimes humorous, often defiant—“Oh heat me and fill me / I rise above lines”—and full of wisdom. Visceral and stirring, the poems in this collection touch on vastly disparate subjects but are ultimately unified in a singular quest: to inspire those who read them toward kindness, compassion, and questioning. Author: Lauren Martin Publication Date: May 14, 2024 -
In the 1950s, nurses served as handmaidens to the physician; by the start of the new millennium, they had become admired independent practitioners. Nightingale Talesis a peek into that transition, as told by a nurse who lived it. Each chapter is a stand-alone story depicting the ridiculous mores nurses have been subjected to over the years, the archaic equipment they’ve had to struggle with, and the changes in the profession, brought about by time, the feminist movement, and advances in technology. Told with humor and compassion, the stories of Nightingale Tales provides an unusual—and highly entertaining—window into the world of medicine from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Author: Lynn Dow Publication Date: October 3, 2017 -
For fans of Suzanne Heywood’s Wavewalker and Cea Sunrise Person’s North of Normal comes Leslie Johansen Nack’s emotional follow-up memoir about her battle with addiction following a traumatic childhood—and her inspiring journey toward healing and happiness. In the mid-1970s, Leslie Nack’s family returned from sailing to French Polynesia and began the integration process into American life again, which included being tossed back and forth between an alcoholic, mentally ill mother and an abusive, overbearing father. To find love and acceptance, Leslie chases a myth that throws her into the path of nefarious older men, where she eventually falls into drug and alcohol addiction. Her father dies in his plane in the jungles of Mexico when Leslie is nineteen, but his abuse lingers in her psyche. She spirals, her only solace her next fix—until, somehow, she finds the grace, despite her abjectly dysfunctional family background, to believe in her worth. This newfound self-love changes everything for her, and finally she is able to find her way to sobriety and recovery. Raw and intense but ultimately hopeful, this sequel to the popular memoir Fourteen tells the rest of Nack’s turbulent—and incredible—story. Author: Leslie Johansen Nack Publication Date: October 14, 2025 -
Allison Hong is not your typical fifteen-year-old Taiwanese girl. Unwilling to bend to the conditioning of her Chinese culture, which demands that women submit to men’s will, she disobeys her father’s demand to stay in their faith tradition, Buddhism, and instead joins the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then, six years later, she drops out of college to serve a mission—a decision for which her father disowns her. After serving her mission in Taiwan, twenty-two-year-old Allison marries her Chinese-speaking American boyfriend, Cameron Chastain. But sixteen months later, Allison returns home to their Texas apartment and is shocked to discover that, in her two-hour absence, Cameron has taken all the money, moved out, and filed for divorce. Desperate for love and acceptance, Allison moves to Utah and enlists in an imaginary, unforgiving dating war against the bachelorettes at Brigham Young University, where the rules don’t make sense—and winning isn’t what she thought it would be. Author: Allison Hong Merrill Publication Date: September 21, 2021 -
For fans of No Matter Our Wreckage, this memoir explores the emotional impact of sexual abuse and how this debut author not only faces it but recovers from the trauma. Stephanie Maley’s life is beautiful. She has her husband of thirty years and two sons—all healthy and making their way in the world. Other than the unwelcome memories of the past that flash in her mind like blinding television ads, things couldn’t get much better. But when COVID-19 comes to the United States in 2020, Stephanie is seized by a deep panic, certain that she is going to die. Suddenly, her newfound fear of death triggers memories of the past she’s fought so long to repress: she was molested at a young age, groomed by two different men, and still feels the void left by her birth father and stepfather’s absence. In the face of a chaotic world wrought with both physical and mental illness, Stephanie must embark on a journey of healing. With the help of her therapist, her husband, and the solace she finds in writing, Stephanie discovers that she doesn’t have to be defined by the pain and abuse she’s suffered. No Longer That Girl is a touching memoir about a woman who bravely faces health issues, betrayal, and abandonment—and proves that no matter the obstacle, we too can overcome our trials and become more resilient souls. Author: Stephanie L. Maley Publication Date: November 4, 2025 -
It’s 1973 and Will Ross, a divorced American geologist, has signed on to work on a troubled dam in a remote, rugged part of Turkey. He decides to take his children with him, but they think they’re only going for their usual two-week stint of shared custody, not to live there. Once in Turkey, Will struggles for control—of his family, his work, the landscape the dam is to be built on, and, ultimately, himself. Alongside these emotional conflicts, he, his children, and everyone else involved in the dam face powerful external forces—of erosion, dissolution, landslides, and earthquakes. Whether they let themselves see it or not, natural hazards impact their lives every day. And so do their intractable human natures. Science can help them understand those forces and engineering can help control them, but each character gradually comes to realize that the landscape they stand upon, and the landscapes of their lives, will shift and shake regardless of the choices they make. The question, then, is: how will they respond? Timely and gripping, No More Empty Spaces will make you think about how you relate to yourself, your family, and the Earth and its ever-changing processes. Author: D. J. Green Publication Date: April 9th, 2024 -
Thank you for always loving me, Aimee Kaufman’s daughter, Sam, wrote in a Mother’s Day card at twenty-two years old. Reading those words, Aimee knew she’d been right to follow her heart throughout her younger daughter’s tumultuous childhood. Aimee spent many years doubting herself and fielding hurtful criticism about the way she was raising her daughter. But through it all, she stubbornly held to the belief that whatever tools and tricks she and Sam picked up from her own copious research and the experts she sought out to help her daughter, the true key to Sam’s happiness and success was unconditional love. In the end, the strong bond she cultivated with her daughter is what allowed them both to survive all the ups and downs—and, eventually, get Sam through school and into a career where she thrived. Heartfelt but clear-eyed, No One Else I’d Rather Be is an encouraging resource for parents looking to feel more confidence in the decisions they make regarding their child with a disability—and a testament to the power of a parent’s unconditional love. Author: Aimee Kaufman Publication Date: January 28, 2025 -
At sixteen, Sharon leaves home to escape the limited life her parents have planned for her—it’s 1971 in Connecticut, and they think that, because she’s a girl, she should become a clerical office worker after high school and live at home until she marries and has a family. But Sharon wants to join the hippies and be part of the changing society, so she heads to California. Thrown into an adult world for which she is unprepared, she embarks on a precarious journey amid the 1970s counterculture. On her various adventures across the country and while living on a commune, with friends and lovers filtering in and out of her life, she realizes she must learn quickly in order to survive. In this colorful memoir, Sharon navigates difficult lessons as she searches for a place to belong. She reconciles her spirituality and her Catholic upbringing. Most important, she recognizes how the changes that reshaped her during the 1970s women’s movement have transformed society’s expectations for girls and women today. And through it all, she shares moments of triumph, joy, love, and awakening. Author: Sharon Dukett Publication Date: June 2, 2020 -
People who are disabled or handicapped and/or beginning to have physical difficulties as they grow older have much to contend with. It can be hard for spouses, children, and friends to adapt to the changes people go through as they age—to drop expectations and meet their loved ones where they are. And often the advice well-meaning but clueless folks give is just unrealistic and doesn’t help solve problems. In No Spring Chicken, Francine Falk-Allen—a polio survivor who knows a thing or two about living with a disability—offers her own take on how to navigate the complications aging brings with equanimity (and a sense of humor). The handbook is divided into three sections: Part I is a jaunt through accessible travel pleasures and pitfalls in several parts of the world; Part II addresses the adaptation people who love a handicapped or aging person could make in order to have a lighter, more mutually rewarding relationship with him or her, as well as advice for physically challenged and aging persons themselves regarding self-care, exercise, pain management, healthcare, and more; and Part III discusses the challenges, rewards and logistics of engaging with groups of people who share similar issues. Publication Date: June 29, 2021 Author: Francine Falk-Allen -
Through eight humorous essays, Keturah Kendrick chronicles her journey to freedom. She shares the stories of other women who have freed themselves from the narrow definition of what makes a “proper woman.” Spotlighting the cultural bullying that dictates women must become mothers to the expectation that one’s spiritual path follow the traditions of previous generations, Kendrick imagines a world where black women make life choices that center on their needs and desires. She also examines the rising trend of women choosing to remain single and explores how such a choice is the antithesis to the trope of the sorrowful black woman who cannot find a man to grant her the prize of legal partnership. A mixture of memoir and cultural critique, No Thanks uses wit and insight to paint a picture of the twenty-first-century black woman who has unchained herself from what she is supposed to be. A black woman who has given herself permission to be whomever she wants to be. Author: Keturah Kendrick Publication Date: June 18, 2019
