Author: Books That Inspire

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Artfelt Inspiration: Let Your Freak Fly

PASSION, CONNECTION, AWARENESS. Are you feeling empty…on a rat wheel, meeting responsibilities, or barely so, and wondering if this is all there is to life? With the dawn of the Industrial and Digital Ages, our culture has become increasingly disconnected from our inner selves, resulting in depression, addiction, and anxiety being at an all-time high. Laurie Ritchie has been there. She was the classic “do-gooder” on a path of self-destruction until she found the value of expressive arts. Initially a mental health occupational therapist, Laurie ached for “something more,” realizing she’d been drawn to the arts her entire life. Self-described as a “schizophrenic art enthusiast”—loving many forms, but not traditionally gifted at any—Laurie initially resisted with the typical excuses she hears from her clients at Whole Arts Connection: “I’m not an artist. I don’t know what to do with that blank page.” She quickly found out—at first through writing and then later through expressive arts therapy—that art was the fast track to unveiling passion, deep connection, self-awareness, and a way to remove all the stumbling blocks along the way. Artfelt Inspiration will inspire you to unleash your innermost creative self, and reconnect with that “inner freak”, just waiting to be set free. Each of the 12 chapters offers inspiration through art, poetry, story and creative exercises, helping you re-discover hidden talents, your unique beauty, and awakened spiritual connection. If you are ready to “Let Your Freak Fly,” this book is for you!

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Inspiration for Living

Thank you my readers for your willingness to be inspired. We never know where our answers might lie. Our most important insights may come from a sentence in a book. I hope this is true for you.

Creating this book is the answer to a dream for me. I have wanted to be a writer since I was thirteen, but in those early days I had nothing to say. After I wrote THE COURAGE TO GRIEVE and then YOU DON’T HAVE TO SUFFER, I thought I was done writing books.

Still I never stopped wanting to inspire others with ideas about living well. It has always disturbed me that there is no training to be a human being, no lessons in coping with trauma, illness, loss and tragedy. Ours is a world filled with people learning in hit or miss ways how to confront the inevitable troubles and sorrows in life or how to have satisfying lives and successful relationships.

Unfortunately there is also no training for the biggest jobs most of us take on – like being a parent or a spouse. It’s startling that we have so little assistance or support for dealing with the things that matter most to us in life. Seeing that we really don’t have any “curriculum” other than our own trial and error ways for coping with our emotional lives led me to write all of my books and now these articles.

Beginning my newsletter project, I thought or hoped to write maybe fifteen articles at most. Instead I have found an endless stream of inspiration, the sharing of which has been one of the greatest joys in my life. This book came as a surprise to me. My hope is that it is valuable for you. I am living Goethe’s words: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” May those words encourage you too in whatever are your endeavors.

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The Hellfire Club

The debut political thriller from Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent and the New York Times best-selling author of The Outpost – 1950s DC intrigue about a secret society and a young congressman in its grip

Charlie Marder is an unlikely Congressman. Thrust into office by his family ties after his predecessor died mysteriously, Charlie is struggling to navigate the dangerous waters of 1950s Washington, DC, alongside his young wife, Margaret, a zoologist with ambitions of her own. Amid the swirl of glamorous and powerful political leaders and deal makers, a mysterious fatal car accident thrusts Charlie and Margaret into an underworld of backroom deals, secret societies, and a plot that could change the course of history. When Charlie discovers a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of governance, he has to fight not only for his principles and his newfound political career…but for his life.

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Circe

The daring, dazzling and highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times best seller The Song of Achilles 

One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018

“An epic spanning thousands of years that’s also a keep-you-up-all-night page turner.” (Ann Patchett)

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child – not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring, like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power – the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. 

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur; Daedalus and his doomed son, Icarus; the murderous Medea; and, of course, wily Odysseus. 

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or the mortals she has come to love. 

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and pause-resisting suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, and love and loss as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.

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Bro Code

 There’s pretty much only one rule when you’re a guy.
 

Don’t be a douche.
 

Turns out, the fastest way to break that rule is to fall for your best friend’s sister.
 

Ava’s brilliant, sharp-tongued, gorgeous, and five years younger than me.
 

She’s the sexual equivalent of running with scissors. In a word, she’s dangerous. And completely off-limits.
 

Falling for her could ruin everything.
 

Yet I can’t seem to stop, even when her company is threatened by a lawsuit, and my promotion hinges on representing the opposing client-and winning.
 

I can’t see a way out of this mess that doesn’t end in a broken friendship, a broken heart, or a ruined career.
 

I may have broken the bro code when I fell for Ava. But do I have the balls to handle what comes next?                              

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SELF-ish: A Transgender Awakening

SELF-ish is a narrative drawn from an international life, beginning with some early glimpses out at the world by a girl in a boy’s body. Chloe Schwenke was raised as Stephen in a Marine Corps family, and was sent off at age fourteen to “man-up” at a military academy. Later―and still embodied as a man―she ventured abroad to work in some of the roughest regions of Africa, the Gaza Strip, Turkey, and many other locales. Her far-flung global journey was matched in intensity by an inner identity and spiritual struggle and the associated ravages of depression, before she came to the revelation of being a transgender woman. At a time when many Americans are just waking up to the reality of the transgender phenomenon, this portrayal of Chloe’s life, her challenging gender transition, and her many accomplishments and adventures along the way (including being among the first three transgender political appointees in U.S. history, under President Obama), creates a poignant story of authenticity, self-discovery, and the meaning of gender set against a fascinating international backdrop.

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Queens Are Born In May: XL 8.5×11 Lined Journal with 110 Inspirational Quotes, Gifts for Women (Journals for Women to Write in)

Best Present for Women who were born in May!

Only $5.99! This Journal (Diary, Notebook) features: 110 motivational quotes from famous people 8.5x 11 size Thick Cardstock Matte Cover 110 lined pages

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War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence

A harrowing exploration of the collapse of American diplomacy and the abdication of global leadership.

American diplomacy is under siege. Offices across the State Department sit empty while abroad, the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. We’re becoming a nation that shoots first and asks questions later.

In an astonishing account ranging from Washington, DC, to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea in the years since 9/11, acclaimed journalist and former diplomat Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history. His firsthand experience in the State Department affords a personal look at some of the last standard-bearers of traditional statecraft, including Richard Holbrooke, who made peace in Bosnia and died while trying to do so in Afghanistan. Farrow’s narrative is richly informed by interviews with whistle-blowers, policymakers, and a warlord, from Henry Kissinger to Hillary Clinton. Diplomacy, Farrow argues, has declined after decades of political cowardice, shortsightedness, and outright malice – but it may just offer America a way out of a world at war.

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The 17th Suspect

A series of shootings exposes San Francisco to a methodical yet unpredictable killer, and a reluctant woman decides to put her trust in Sergeant Lindsay Boxer. The confidential informant’s tip leads Lindsay to disturbing conclusions, including that something has gone horribly wrong inside the police department itself.

The hunt for the killer lures Lindsay out of her jurisdiction, and gets inside Lindsay in dangerous ways. She suffers unsettling medical symptoms, and her friends and confidantes in the Women’s Murder Club warn Lindsay against taking the crimes too much to heart. With lives at stake, the detective can’t help but follow the case into ever more terrifying terrain.

A decorated officer, loving wife, devoted mother, and loyal friend, Lindsay’s unwavering integrity has never failed her. But now she is confronting a killer who is determined to undermine it all.