Blooming: Finding Gifts in the Shit of Life PDF Download

Author: Carrington Smith
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
ISBN: 9781544523781
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Are you a little too comfortable with self-loathing? Tired of feeling like you are not enough? This book is for you. Carrington Smith spent a lifetime trying to be someone else-to fit in, to be loved, to keep the peace, and to make others happy. Until finally, Carrington discovered that her own path to happiness wasn't based on fitting in but on standing out-celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past. Candid and raw, Blooming takes you on a treasure hunt to discover the gifts in the shit. Shit is quite literally fertilizer. It is in the messes, failures, trauma, and difficulties of life that we discover what we need to bloom into our greatness. From trauma to triumph, through the depths of sexual assault, religious mind-fuckery, family rejection, body dysmorphia, mid-life metamorphosis, physical scarring, and death into happiness, forgiveness, empathy, purpose, belonging, and joy, Blooming is a poignant, powerful account of finding your way through the shit.

Author: Cami Walker
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
ISBN: 0786745991
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
After a devastating MS diagnosis, one woman shares her inspirational journey in gratitude and generosity--in this New York Times bestseller. At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was burdened by an intensified struggle with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological disease that left her debilitated and depressed. Then she received an uncommon "prescription" from South African healer Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days. 29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author's life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving. Many of Walker's gifts were simple--a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By Day 29, not only had Walker's health and happiness improved, but she had also created a worldwide giving movement. 29 Gifts shows how a simple, daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world.

Author: Anchee Min
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408840855
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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The acclaimed memoir from the bestselling author of Empress Orchid 'Historically remarkable ... intensely moving' SUNDAY TIMES 'The book sings. It is a small masterpiece' VOGUE Born into a devoutly Maoist family in 1950s Shanghai and forced to work on a communal farm from the age of seventeen, Anchee Min found herself in an alienating and hostile political climate, where her only friendships were perilous and intense. Both candid and touching, this compelling memoir documents her isolation and illicit love against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution. From her coming of age in the Red Guard to her recruitment into Madame Mao's burgeoning industry of propaganda movies, Red Azalea explores the secret sensuality of a repressive society with elegance and honesty.

Author: Jesmyn Ward
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 140882700X
Category : African American children
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
A hurricane is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch's father is growing concerned. He's a hard drinker, largely absent, and it isn't often he worries about the family. Esch and her three brothers are stocking up on food, but there isn't much to save. Lately, Esch can't keep down what food she gets; at fifteen, she has just realized that she's pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pit bull's new litter, dying one by one. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child's play and short on parenting. As the twelve days that make up the novel's framework yield to a dramatic conclusion, this unforgettable family - motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce - pulls itself up to face another day.

Author: Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0307433714
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Before there was Eleanor and Park, there was Francesca and Will. A compelling story of romance, family, and friendship, with humor and heart, perfect for fans of If I Stay, The Spectacular Now, and Looking for Alaska. Francesca is stuck at St. Sebastian’s, a boys' school that pretends it's coed by giving the girls their own bathroom. Her only female companions are an ultra-feminist, a rumored slut, and an impossibly dorky accordion player. The boys are no better, from Thomas, who specializes in musical burping, to Will, the perpetually frowning, smug moron that Francesca can't seem to stop thinking about. Then there's Francesca's mother, who always thinks she knows what's best for Francesca—until she is suddenly stricken with acute depression, leaving Francesca lost, alone, and without an inkling of who she really is. Simultaneously humorous, poignant, and impossible to put down, this is the story of a girl who must summon the strength to save her family, her social life, and—hardest of all—herself. Melina Marchetta is the Printz-winning author of Jellicoe Road, as well as Looking for Alibrandi and Finnikin of the Rock.

Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471135535
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 453

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{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Arial;}} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\lang2057\fs18 Coney Island, 1911: Coralie Sardie is the daughter of a self-proclaimed scientist and professor who acts as the impresario of The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a boardwalk freak show offering amazement and entertainment to the masses. An extraordinary swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl,and a 100 year old turtle, in her father's ""museum"". She swims regularly in New York's Hudson River, and one night stumbles upon a striking young man alone in the woods photographing moon-lit trees. From that moment, Coralie knows her life will never be the same. \par The dashing photographer Coralie spies is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father's Lower East Side Orthodox community. As Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the mystery behind a young woman's disappearance and the dispute between factory owners and labourers. In the tumultuous times that characterized life in New York between the world wars, Coralie and Eddie's lives come crashing together in Alice Hoffman's mesmerizing, imaginative, and romantic new novel. \par }

Author: Jedidiah Jenkins
Publisher: Convergent Books
ISBN: 1524761397
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “With winning candor, Jedidiah Jenkins takes us with him as he bicycles across two continents and delves deeply into his own beautiful heart.”—Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things On the eve of turning thirty, terrified of being funneled into a life he didn’t choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent sixteen months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and reflections drew hundreds of thousands of followers, all gathered around the question: What makes a life worth living? In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Jed narrates his adventure—the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world—as well as the internal journey that started it all. As he traverses cities, mountains, and inner boundaries, Jenkins grapples with the question of what it means to be an adult, his struggle to reconcile his sexual identity with his conservative Christian upbringing, and his belief in travel as a way to wake us up to life back home. A soul-stirring read for the wanderer in each of us, To Shake the Sleeping Self is an unforgettable reflection on adventure, identity, and a life lived without regret. Praise for To Shake the Sleeping Self “[Jenkins is] a guy deeply connected to his personal truth and just so refreshingly present.”—Rich Roll, author of Finding Ultra “This is much more than a book about a bike ride. This is a deep soul deepening us. Jedidiah Jenkins is a mystic disguised as a millennial.”—Tom Shadyac, author of Life’s Operating Manual “Thought-provoking and inspirational . . . This uplifting memoir and travelogue will remind readers of the power of movement for the body and the soul.”—Publishers Weekly

Author: Jacquelyn Mitchard
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501115588
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Joining the volunteer rescue effort in Brisbane after the Christmas Eve tsunami, American expat Frank Mercy is transformed by his rescue of a telepathic little boy, who he illegally takes back with him to America and struggles to protect.

Author: Caroline Zancan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399573127
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Named one of the summer's best books by People, Glamour, The Huffington Post, and Pure Wow Publishers Weekly Book of the Week Named one of Refinery 29’s “21 New Authors to Watch” in 2015 The first person to break your heart isn’t always your boyfriend. Sometimes it’s your best friend. Maggie, Lindsey, and Nina have been friends for most of their lives. The girls grew up together in a dead-end Florida town on the outskirts of Orlando, and the love and loyalty they have for one another have been their only constants. Now nineteen and restless, the girls spend empty summer days bouncing between unfulfilling jobs, the beach, and their favorite local bar, The Shamrock. It’s there that a chance encounter with a movie star on the last night of his life changes everything. Passing through Orlando, Sam Decker comes to The Shamrock seeking anonymity, but finds Maggie, Lindsey, and Nina instead. Obsessed with celebrity magazines that allow them a taste of the better lives they might have had, the girls revel in his company. But the appearance of Lila, the estranged former member of the girls’ group, turns the focus to their shared history, bringing all their old antagonisms to the surface—Lila’s defection to Orlando’s country club school when her father came into some money, and the strange, enchanting boy she brought into their circle, who fundamentally altered dynamics that had been in play for years. By the night’s end, the escalation of these long-buried issues forces them to see one another as the women they are now instead of the girls they used to be. With an uncanny eye for the raw edges of what it means to be a girl and a heartfelt sense of the intensity of early friendship, Local Girls is a look at both the profound role celebrity plays in our culture, and how the people we know as girls end up changing the course of our lives.

Author: Tracy Bloom
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0008434298
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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‘Feisty and fabulous. Love it. Love Tracy Bloom!’ Milly Johnson ‘Pure Joy!’ Katie Fforde ‘Love this – just the pick me up I needed!’ Jo Thomas 'Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.' Debbie Johnson ‘It's laugh out loud!’ Adele Parks