Army Wife: A Story of Love and Family in the Heart of the Army

Vicki Cody

August 16, 2016

From the last days of the Vietnam War to the present-day war on terrorism, this story is a moving and poignant tribute to love, marriage, family, and the men and women who serve this nation. In describing her thirty-three-year journey as an Army wife, Cody gives an in-depth look at what it takes to keep a marriage strong, raise a family―oftentimes as a single parent―create a home, and face separations and loneliness amid the uncertainty and stresses that are so much a part of Army life.

Over the years, Cody learns to embrace the uniqueness of her circumstances, and she finds joy, self-fulfillment, and pride in her role. But when both her sons follow in their dad’s footsteps, becoming Army Aviators and flying Apache helicopters in combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, Cody faces her greatest challenges as a mother and again, must balance the needs of her family with her husband’s position. Full of humor and honesty, Army Wife brings the reader into Cody’s private life in a very personal way, and in doing so opens the lens for a broader view of world events.

Sportscaster’s Daughter: A Memoir

Cindi Michael

August 23, 2016

Cindi Michael appears to live a charmed life: she’s happily married, has a successful career, and is a loving mom to two wonderful children. Yet she longs for a father who hasn’t spoken to her in twenty years, and even secretly watches him on TV when the longing becomes unbearable.

When Cindi was eleven, her father fought for sole custody of her and her siblings, raising three children on his own despite being a bachelor and rock ’n’ roll DJ in New York in the 1970s. But with his rising fame as the host of the popular show Sports Machine, his 80-hour-a-week work schedule, and his second marriage, the close relationship Cindi shared with her father began to crack; she did everything to earn his love and attention, but for perfectionist George, it was never enough―and when she was eighteen and a freshman in college, in a burst of anger he told her never to come home again. As the years went on, Cindi struggled to steel her heart while still remaining hopeful that they would one day reconcile, just as her father did with his own dad, and transcend painful family patterns that span generations. Candid, moving, and ultimately hopeful, The Sportscaster’s Daughter is a family story of forgiveness, faith, and strength.

Naked Mountain: A Memoir

Marcia Mabee

September 6, 2016

This compelling memoir of one woman’s journey of enchantment, tragedy and romance unfolds against the backdrop of a stunning mountaintop in rural Virginia. Purchased on a lark for weekend camping by a clueless suburban couple, the mountain brings Marcia Mabee and her husband Tim surprising wildlife encounters, dramatic botanical discoveries, and a passion for conservation that leads to its dedication by the state as the Naked Mountain Natural Area Preserve.

Naked Mountain veers in an unexpected direction when Marcia faces a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. Struggling with energy-sapping treatments, she continues to battle environmental threats to the beloved mountain where her ashes are to be spread. Just as her prognosis brightens, the story takes a darker turn, extinguishing the couple’s hopes for the future and throwing Marcia into the depths of despair. But in a surprising twist, she confronts the divergent forces of deep grief and new love to remake a life. Naked Mountain is an amazing personal journey that explores the joys of discovery, the uncertainties of life and the enduring bonds of marriage.

Scattering Ashes: A Memoir of Letting Go

Joan Z. Rough

September 20, 2016

When her alcoholic and emotionally abusive mother’s health declines, Joan Rough invites her to move in with her. Rough longs to be the “good daughter,” helping her narcissistic mother face the reality of her coming death. But when repressed memories of childhood abuse by her mother arise, Rough is filled with deep resentment and hatred toward the woman who birthed her, and her dream of mending their tattered relationship shatters. Seven years later, when her mother dies, she is left with a plastic bag of her mother’s ashes and a diagnosis of PTSD. What will she do with them?

Courageous and unflinchingly honest, Scattering Ashes is a powerful chronicle of letting go of a loved one, a painful past, and fear―a journey that will bring hope to others who grapple with the pain and repercussions of abuse.

Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters

Lizbeth Meredith

September 20, 2016

In 1994, Lizbeth Meredith said good-bye to her four- and six year-old daughters for a visit with their non-custodial father―only to learn days later that they had been kidnapped and taken to their father’s home country of Greece.

Twenty-nine and just on the verge of making her dreams of financial independence for her and her daughters come true, Lizbeth now faced a $100,000 problem on a $10 an hour budget. For the next two years―fueled by memories of her own childhood kidnapping―Lizbeth traded in her small life for a life more public, traveling to the White House and Greece, and becoming a local media sensation in order to garner interest in her efforts. The generous community of Anchorage becomes Lizbeth’s makeshift family―one that is replicated by a growing number of Greeks and expats overseas who help Lizbeth navigate the turbulent path leading back to her daughters.

 Not Exactly Love: A Memoir

Betty Hafner

October 11, 2016

It was 1969, and all the rules were changing, when Betty, a woefully single French teacher on Long Island, met the handsome but edgy new teacher at her school, a hippie just back from Woodstock. His vitality opened up a new world to her―but when they married, his rages turned against her, and often ended with physical violence. Like millions of women who discover they’ve married an abusive man, Betty was forced to make daily decisions―to suppress her feelings or risk confrontation, to keep it secret or report, and ultimately, to live with it or leave.

Part memoir, part warm-hearted look at the ’70s, and part therapeutic journey, Not Exactly Love: A Memoir is an intense and inspirational story of a woman who grew from her experience.

Motherlines: Love, Longing, and Liberation

Patricia Reis

October 11, 2016

When she was twenty, 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. Motherlines is a candid and compelling story of sex with men and with women, of celibacy, illegal abortions, making vows and breaking them, dreams, body wisdom, creative ambition, and inspiring relationships with memorable characters.

This unflinching memoir illuminates the unvarnished truth of growing up female in the 1980’s a rich and fertile period in American history when gender roles were undergoing a revolution, a time that includes feminism, the women’s spirituality movement and liberation theology.

In her soul-searching quest for meaning, and longing for maternal connection, Reis discovers an unlikely confidante in her aunt, a free-spirited Franciscan nun. Their letters and relationship are a thread that weaves throughout this memoir – an increasingly intimate and honest exchange between two women who are living very different lives yet are both kin and kindred spirits. A spiritual journey and a creative tour de force, this memoir is a potent and tender love song to the Motherlines that connect us all.

Blinded by Hope: My Journey Through My Son’s Bipolar Illness and Addiction

Maureen Murdock

November 8, 2016

One day a teenage boy gets on his bike and rides forty miles up California’s Pacific Coast Highway to avoid causing an earthquake he fears will endanger his mother and sister. But the quake he is experiencing is not coming from beneath the earth; it’s the onset of bipolar illness.

Blinded by Hope describes what it’s like to have an unusually bright, creative child―and then to have that child suddenly be hit with an illness that defies description and cure. Over the years, Murdock attributes her son’s lost jobs, broken relationships, legal troubles, and periodic hospitalizations to the manic phase of his illness, denying the severity of his growing drug use―but ultimately, she has to face her own addiction to rescuing him, and to forge a path for herself toward acceptance, resilience, and love. A wakeup call about the epidemic of mental illness, substance abuse, and mass incarceration in our society, Blinded by Hope shines a light on the shadow of family dynamics that shame, ignorance, and stigma rarely let the public see, and asks the question: How does a mother cope when love is not enough?

Searching for Normal: The Story of a Girl Gone Too Soon

Karen Meadows

November 8, 2016

Karen Meadows had a normal, happy family until depression consumed her daughter, Sadie―a struggle that ended with Sadie’s suicide at age eighteen. In Searching for Normal, Meadows shares her family’s journey as she tries to help her daughter Sadie cope with her mental illness, expertly intertwining her own storyline with excerpts from her daughter’s diaries. The years Meadows chronicles are characterized by Sadie’s heartbreaking bouts of running away, cutting, and living with Portland street families while Karen and her husband desperately search for solutions―trying medication, hospitals, therapy, wilderness and residential treatment programs, and more. Ultimately, however, they find themselves the victims of the devastating shortcomings of the US’s mental health system.

Including hindsight advice from Meadows, along with an extensive list of resources that she wishes someone had provided her when she was trying to help Sadie, this book will help parents of struggling teens feel less isolated and better equipped to navigate their teenager’s mental illness. Meadows also describes recent developments that are paving the way for better diagnoses and treatment options.

Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey

Edited by Joy Meyers PhD and Brooke Warner

November 15, 2016

The Magic of Memoir is a memoirist’s companion for when the going gets tough. Editors Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner have taught and coached hundreds of memoirists to the completion of their memoirs, and they know that the journey is fraught with belittling messages from both the inner critic and naysayers who don't understand or support the idea of writing a memoir. These voices make it hard to stay on course with the writing and completion of a book. The inherent challenges presented by the emotional journey itself often stalls memoirists from completing their dream of finishing and publishing a book.

In this collection, writers share their stories of hard-earned wisdom, including tips for dealing with the inner critic, practical strategies that provided motivation in dark times, and lessons learned from mistakes made and overcome. Also included are interviews of high-profile memoirists by Myers and Warner. Their encouragement and inspiring stories are sprinkled throughout the book, giving readers a broad perspective on the discipline and inspiration it takes to write a memoir from memoirists who have one important thing in common: they made it to the finish line!

Unexpected Bride in the Promised Land: My Journey Through Palestine and Israel

Iris Keltz

November 22, 2016

After hitchhiking from Paris to Jerusalem, Jordan in 1967, Keltz had to wait three days for permission to cross a U.N. checkpoint into Jerusalem, Israel. That was enough time for this young Jewish woman from New York to meet a Palestinian poet, musician, and world traveler. After a whirlwind courtship of less than three weeks, they married and were planning their honeymoon when the Six Day War broke out. The day Israeli soldiers barged into the basement apartment where the newlyweds had found sanctuary with other Palestinians, Iris was frozen with fear. She meant to cry out, “I’m Jewish, American and these are my friends.” Her silence that day compelled her to write this book.