Adversity is a series of events that build character. Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is stronger than any challenge. This book will show you that obstacles do not block the path, they ARE the path! You will learn how to: ❖ Make peace with yourself ❖ Make yourself a priority ❖ Break the chains that bind you ❖ Understand the importance of nutrition and exercise ❖ Use gratitude to shift your attitude ❖ And so much more

One Blink at a Time is Ismail and Cheryl Tsieprati's story of living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease} for more than 30 years. One Blink at a Time is upbeat, inspiring and full of optimism as Ismail and Cheryl recount in alternating chapters how they deal with their daily challenges. Although ALS has stolen Ismail's ability to move, speak, even to breathe on his own, it has not taken away his determination to live a happy and productive life. Ismail spelled out his chapters using eye blinks, letter by letter, word by word. Cheryl and Ismail's distinctive voices add to the impact of this exceptional book. Full of practical advice from training caregivers to preparing for emergencies to surviving the hospital, the book also includes an extensive glossary and resources for anyone dealing with ALS and other disabling conditions. But above all else, One Blink at a Time is an inspiring love story. Ismail and Cheryl are as devoted to one another today as they were the day they were married nearly 50 years ago.

West is a high school senior who has everything going for him until an accident leaves him paralyzed. Strapped down in his hospital bed, slipping in and out of consciousness, West is terrified and alone. Until he meets Olivia. She's the girl next door-sort of. A patient in the room next to his, only Olivia can tell what West is thinking, and only Olivia seems to know that the terrible dreams he's been having are not just a result of his medication. Yet as West comes to rely on Olivia-to love her, even-certain questions pull at him: Why has Olivia been in the hospital for so long? And what does it mean that she is at the center of his nightmares? But the biggest question of all comes when West begins to recover and learns that the mysterious girl he's fallen in love with has a secret he could never have seen coming.

“A highly personal, deeply affecting account of what it is to be yanked from a happy, well-ordered life and thrust into a sudden, unimaginable, terrifying darkness. Rikke Schmidt Kjargaard has done the impossible of putting into words an experience that would seem to be beyond expressing.”—from the foreword by Bill Bryson It was New Year’s Day. Rikke Schmidt Kjargaard, a young mother and scientist, was celebrating with family and friends when she was struck down with a sudden fever. Within hours, she’d suffered multiple organ failure and was clinically dead. Then, brought back to the edge of life—trapped in a near-death coma—she was given a 5 percent chance of survival. She awoke to find herself completely paralyzed, with blinking as her sole means of communicating with the outside world. The Blink of an Eye is Rikke’s gripping account of being locked inside her own body, and what it took to painstakingly relearn every basic life skill—from breathing and swallowing, speaking and walking, to truly living again. Much more than an account of recovery against all odds—this is, at its heart, a celebration of love, family, and every little thing that matters when life hangs in the balance.

Two street kids get tangled in a plot over their heads - and risk an unexpected connection - in this heart-pounding thriller by Tim Wynne-Jones. (Age 14 and up) Boy, did Blink get off on the wrong floor. All he wanted was to steal some breakfast for his empty belly, but instead he stumbled upon a fake kidnapping and a cell phone dropped by an "abducted" CEO, giving Blink a link to his perfect blonde daughter. Now Blink is on the run, but it’s OK as long as he’s smart enough to stay in the game and keep Captain Panic locked in his hold. Enter a girl named Caution. As in "Caution: Toxic." As in "Caution: Watch Your Step." She’s also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won’t let her go. When she spies Blink at the train station, Caution can see he’s an easy mark. But there’s something about this naïve, skinny street punk, whom she only wanted to rob, that tugs at her heart, a heart she thought deserved not to feel. Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel trails two deeply compelling characters as they forge a blackmail scheme that is foolhardy at best, disastrous at worst - along with a fated, tender partnership that will offer them each a rare chance for redemption.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A charmingly relatable and wise memoir-in-essays by acclaimed writer and bookseller Mary Laura Philpott, “the modern day reincarnation of…Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, Jean Kerr, and Laurie Colwin—all rolled into one” (The Washington Post), about what happened after she checked off all the boxes on a successful life’s to-do list and realized she might need to reinvent the list—and herself. Mary Laura Philpott thought she’d cracked the code: Always be right, and you’ll always be happy. But once she’d completed her life’s to-do list (job, spouse, house, babies—check!), she found that instead of feeling content and successful, she felt anxious. Lost. Stuck in a daily grind of overflowing calendars, grueling small talk, and sprawling traffic. She’d done everything “right” but still felt all wrong. What’s the worse failure, she wondered: smiling and staying the course, or blowing it all up and running away? And are those the only options? Taking on the conflicting pressures of modern adulthood, Philpott provides a “frank and funny look at what happens when, in the midst of a tidy life, there occur impossible-to-ignore tugs toward creativity, meaning, and the possibility of something more” (Southern Living). She offers up her own stories to show that identity crises don’t happen just once or only at midlife and reassures us that small, recurring personal re-inventions are both normal and necessary. Most of all, in this “warm embrace of a life lived imperfectly” (Esquire), Philpott shows that when you stop feeling satisfied with your life, you don’t have to burn it all down. You can call upon your many selves to figure out who you are, who you’re not, and where you belong. Who among us isn’t trying to do that? “Be forewarned that you’ll laugh out loud and cry, probably in the same essay. Philpott has a wonderful way of finding humor, even in darker moments. This is a book you’ll want to buy for yourself and every other woman you know” (Real Simple).

They call me criminal. Monster. Cursed. But I'm no killer. I'm just a girl who lost her sister and got stuck with powers I never asked for. Now I'm on the run in a city that wants me dead. My only hope is the rebel group trying to expose the government's sick experiments on people like me. And Jameson - the dreamy agent who makes me feel alive even as he hides dark secrets. With enemies everywhere, I don't know who to trust. But I'll master my gifts and find the truth, or die trying. They stole my life, my hopes, my freedom. Now I'm taking it all back. I guess you could say I'm the monster they created, and I'm ready to show them what monsters can do. This is book 1 in the addictive Rebel Minds post apocalyptic romance series. Follow Aria on her quest for justice in a future world filled with mind reading, genetic engineering, and telekinetic powers, combining star-crossed love and thrilling sci-fi action. All books should be read in order. Some installments end on cliffhangers and continue story arcs. Also available as two sets, books 1-3 and books 4-6.