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What does it take to overcome deeply embedded family traumas, career-ending betrayals, and failed relationships? What is the personal cost of keeping secrets—and staying in the closet? These are questions that Mary Means explores in her memoir, as she navigates growing up as a young closeted lesbian in Georgia during the 1960s and learning to love—and be loved—as an adult. Through the deaths of loved ones, the fear of discovery, and the budding of a legacy that would come to change lives across the nation, Something Worth Saving tells a story of resilience and self-discovery perfect for anyone who has ever struggled to maintain a flawless facade when inside they were crumbling. Mary Means is an award-winning leader, founder of the Main Street revitalization movement that has brought vitality back to countless town centers. Her candor and vulnerability permeate her remarkable story. -
Every family has a story. Every story, eventually, must be told.
For most of their lives, Julian Perel and his sister, Paula, lived in a house cast in silence, witnesses to a father struggling with a devastating secret too painful to share. Though their father took his demons to the grave, his past refuses to rest.
As adults, brother and sister struggle to find their voices. A scientist governed by numbers and logic, Julian now lives an ordered life of routine and seclusion. In contrast, Paula has entered the world as eagerly as Julian retracts from it. An aspiring opera singer, she is always moving, buoyant with sound.
Yet both their lives begin to change on a Wednesday, miercoles, the day that sounds like miracles.
Before embarking on a European opera tour, Paula asks her housekeeper, Sola, to stay at her place--and to look after Julian in the apartment above. Sola, too, has a story.
As Paula uncovers pieces of her father's early life in Budapest and the horrifying truth of his past, Julian bears witness to Sola's story--revelations that help all three learn how to both surrender and revere the shadows that have followed them for so long.
The Speed of Light is a powerful novel about three unforgettable souls who overcome the tragedies of the past to reconnect with one another and the world around them. Elizabeth Rosner has created a beautifully interwoven story of love and redemption that proves the pain of the untold story is far greater than even the most difficult truth.
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Experience the rhythm of life within an elephant family. Journey with Lua as she leads her family along the interwoven paths that she shares with humans and other animals as they confront a land on the brink of collapse. Both fiction and nonfiction, Knowing Wonder: An Elephant Story invites you to explore the world of elephants within the context of real behavior and events connected with scientific insight into their inner lives. Know the family’s intimacy in birth and death, joy and sorrow. As Lua navigates the seasons of her life, she will challenge you to change the way you see her and the world. You will never look at elephants the same. -
Prepare for an adventure beyond your imagination. Martial artist and fencer Lucian Stiles, longs for an exciting life and finds himself teleported from our reality to a realm that holds the Duras Kingdom. Caught in the middle of a war between a king and a powerful baron, Lucian finds excitement, love and danger in a world of sword fighting and sorcery. Joining the Duras Knights, he and his true love, Princess Raven, embark on an incredible journey full of terrifying creatures and deadly assassins. - Featuring original score by SOVAS-award winning composer, Daryl Bolicek at Wild Horse Recording To best experience the Cinematic Music & Full Sound Design, please listen with earbuds or headphones! Currently available exclusively on AMPlify Audiobooks! -
Have you ever had a resentment toward someone or yourself that just won’t go away? Does it keep you up at night as you toss and turn in anger? If you answered yes to either of these questions, The Art of Forgiveness is a valuable book for you to read. It guides you on a journey that resolves your feelings of resentment. It brings you peace and freedom from resentment, such that you gain a calm and serene attitude. It helps you heal from old wounds you’ve struggled with for years. Using her life as an example, Carolyn CJ Jones shares a little bit about her upbringing and the trauma and abuse she suffers as a child. While at home, she learns to keep a smile on her face and her mouth shut. As an adult, CJ becomes an angry, bitter, blaming victim, and finds fault with everything and everyone. She lets you see how she manages her feelings by drinking and drugging as they deaden the pain she feels. CJ relays the journey that led her to her bottom with her 30-year drinking habit. It was an unrequited love that takes her out. CJ grieved what never was to be for seven years until she discovered five things about the rejection for which she could be grateful. That was a major turning point for her. Throughout The Art of Forgiveness are tidbits of wisdom that CJ learned the hard way throughout her life. Those bits of wisdom are life savers for you to use in your own journey to wholeness. Gratitude plays an important role in the process, as does positivity. CJ shares the YIPPEE Method of Healing that she created to guide you through your difficult feelings to resolve resentment so you can heal. YIPPEE is an acronym that stands for Yearn, Investigate, Process, Practice, Evolve, and Empower. At the end of the Empower stage, you discover you have forgiven the offense, or you are on the verge of forgiveness, and you begin to gain peace. Each section of YIPPEE is powerful as you examine your feelings, your resentment. If you are searching for words, ideas, or wisdom to feel better. -
“Heart-Dreamer: Stepping into Life, Love, Creativity and Dreams – No Matter What” is an award-winning motivational book written for anyone who has a dream, lost their dreams along the way, or never knew how to dream. Rooted in the ebb and flow of Cheryl Melody Baskin’s life as an unstoppable dreamer, creative visionary, musician, and motivational life coach, Heart-Dreamer lights the way toward more moments of self-discovery, self-love, inner healing, soaring dreams, and hope. “As soon as I saw the sentence 'allow your heart to guide you,' I knew Heart Dreamer contained the truth about life." - Bernie Siegel, MD., New York Times best-selling author and physician As you listen to the author’s heart-centered and interactive presentation, breathe in all the support, journal writing prompts, life wisdom, self-talk dialogues, inner child healing, creative imagination, soothing visualizations and meditations, self-care strategies, life-changing positive affirmations, sound healing, inspirational songs, and transformational wisdom from people around the world. "This isn't just a book, it's a way of life." Ricky Kej, Grammy award-winner and United Nations humanitarian artist. With Heart-Dreamer by your side, discover how to believe in yourself and in new possibilities; release fears, doubts and the perfection syndrome; shoo away your inner critic; ignore the inner voices of naysayers from your past or present; unleash your creative spirit; tap into your inner child's imaginative side; experience nerve-busting tools and how to write effective positive affirmations; listen to the intuitive voice of your wise inner guru; learn how to become your own best friend; ignite a spark of adventurous curiosity and choose to begin again with new visions of hope. “Melody invites me to be gentle with myself and with everyone around me, and at the same time, she challenges me to dare to dream big.” Reverend Dr. Deborah L. Clark, Multi-faith coordinator, pastor, and yoga instructor Simi -
Rachel likes to think of herself as a nice Jewish girl, dedicated to doing what’s honorable, just as her parents raised her to do. But when her husband, David, survives a plane crash and is left with severe brain damage, she faces a choice: will she dedicate her life to caring for a man she no longer loves, or walk away? Their marriage had been rocky at the time of the accident, and though she wants to do the right thing, Rachel doesn’t know how she is supposed to care for two kids in addition to a now irrational, incontinent, and seizure-prone grown man. And how will she manage to see her lover? But then again, what kind of selfish monster would refuse to care for her disabled husband, no matter how unhappy her marriage had been? Rachel wants to believe that she can dedicate her life to David’s needs, but knows in her heart it is impossible. Crash tackles a pervasive dilemma in our culture: the moral conflicts individuals face when caregiving for a disabled or cognitively impaired family member. -
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By age four, Claudia Marseille had hardly uttered a word. When her parents finally had her hearing tested and learned she had a severe hearing loss, they chose to mainstream her, hoping this would offer her the most “normal” childhood possible. With the help of a primitive hearing aid, Claudia worked hard to learn to hear, lipread, and speak even as she tried to hide her disability in order to fit in. As a result, she was often misunderstood, lonely, and isolated—fitting into neither the hearing world nor the Deaf culture. This memoir explores Claudia’s relationships with her German refugee parents—a disturbed, psychoanalyst father obsessed over various harebrained projects and moneymaking schemes and a Jewish mother who had survived the Holocaust in Munich—and with her own identity. Claudia shares how she emerged from loneliness and social isolation, explored her Jewish identity, struggled to find a career compatible with hearing loss, and eventually opened herself to a life of creativity and love. But You Look So Normal is the inspiring story of a life affected but not defined by an invisible disability. It is a journey through family, loss, shame, identity, love, and healing as Claudia finally, joyfully, finds her place in the world. -
In stories tailor-made for pet lovers, a seasoned veterinarian shares her good, bad, and messy days on the job—and highlights the undeniable magic of the human-animal bond. Dr. Dawn Filos’s own menagerie of pets, including Willie the woolly monkey, primed her for a. career as a veterinarian. With emotional honesty, Dr. Dawn shares her heartfelt, and often hilarious journey, from nervous novice to seasoned, self-assured doctor. This modern-day James Herriot finds her niche as a house-call vet, with unique, intimate access into the homes and lives of her beloved patients and their human families. She understands with all of her heart that no visit or emergency is too trivial to a pet parent. After reading Tales of a Pet Vet you will never see your own vet the same way. Sometimes heartwarming, sometimes sad, and often hilarious, Tales of a Pet Vet will resonate deeply with pet lovers everywhere. -
2024 Best Book Awards Winner in Best New Fiction 2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Mystery/Suspense: General 2024 Zibby Awards Winner: Best Family Drama Category Called a “sensational debut” by Rea Frey, this psychological thriller delves into themes of reproductive rights and healthcare, confronting the complexities that define family—or the risks that lose it all. Billie Campbell, a Massachusetts adoption specialist grappling with fertility issues, dreams of adopting a baby, but not just any baby—her pregnant client’s baby. While her longing threatens to send her down a dark path, her husband, Tyler, is keeping secrets: he’s full of doubts about becoming a father, and he’s also trying to figure out who is sending him upsetting anonymous texts and photos. On the other side of town, Anne, a woman scarred by childhood abuse, obsesses with a second chance at becoming a family with the two people she regrets ever having let go of: the baby she gave up for adoption twenty years ago, and the man of her dreams. Their lives get tangled when the client’s newborn is abducted, and Billie becomes a prime suspect. Amid the chaos unleashed by the abduction, Tyler uncovers a link between the person tormenting him and the abduction—but now Billie has disappeared too. The race to find both her and the baby is on; but will they find them before it’s too late? -
2025 IPPY Awards Silver Medalist for Sexuality/Relationships 2025 ZIBBY Most Anticipated Book of 2025 2025 ZIBBY Summer Reads Selection Can a loving relationship endure career setbacks, infidelities, and mismatched sexual desires? This is the question psychologist Bonnie Comfort grapples with as she navigates her unpredictable thirty-year marriage to Hollywood screenwriter Bob, while she provides marital therapy to others. Bob is affectionate, brilliant, and hilarious—but his sexual desires are incompatible with Bonnie’s. Despite her misgivings, she indulges his kinks, which often included photographing her in lingerie. Their Hollywood life is exciting, but eventually Bob’s growing career frustrations lead to his complete sexual shutdown. Tensions rise, and Bob suggests Bonnie have discreet affairs and not tell him. She does just that—but when she confesses her infidelities five years later, his sexual demands become more extreme. When she complies, Bonnie feels shame; when she refuses, as she increasingly does, their fights threaten to tear their marriage apart. Bonnie understands the rhythm of disconnection and repair that is common in love relationships. As we follow the journey of her own life, she shares with the reader the nature of intimacy, distance and expectations placed on long-term love. With honesty and vulnerability, she recounts the passionate highs and lows of her own marriage which sadly ends with Bob’s death. As she grieves, Bonnie reflects on her role in their marital struggles and offers profound insights about marriage from her personal and professional experience. Her story lays bare the complexities of love, the ongoing challenges women face in intimate relationships, and how even difficult marriages can find a way to thrive.
