I’ve struggled with weight and body issues most of my adult life. When I first wrote Worth The Weight (nearly 20 years ago), I had just lost a lot of weight and was coming to terms with what that meant to my self-image vs my body image. Package deal? Able to be separate the two? The weight loss romances on this list spoke to me. But the “love all those curves” books spoke to me on a different level. And the body-positivity movement has spoken to me on yet another level as I evolve into the imperfect, but hopefully always learning, person I am still becoming.
One of the first books I remember reading that had lots of sex with a plus-size heroine. There are many now (thank goodness – a long time coming!), but when this first came out, it was quite unique.
Grace Jenkins has long wanted Noah Harper. She gets her chance, but her body image makes her hesitate.
I loved Noah’s flat-out desire of Grace and all her curves. This made me come up with a mantra that I use to my friends, on myself, and in my writing: To men; any naked is good naked.
"Lori Foster delivers everything you are looking for in a romance." —Jayne Ann Krentz
He Made Her Feel Beautiful
Awkward, insecure Grace Jenkins has had little experience with men. But that hasn't stopped her from dreaming hard about Noah Harper. Gorgeous, strong and darkly sexy, Noah has a rough edge beneath his polish that promises no mercy in the bedroom. When Grace learns Noah's engagement has ended in scandal, she shyly offers him her support and her friendship. But Noah's looking for something extra . . .
Noah wants Grace--badly. He wants to possess those curves that go on forever,…
The library has always been my favorite place to visit. As a child, I would travel the world through books. I learned about different cultures and studied other languages. Through these experiences, I gained a deep appreciation for cultures around the world. I also learned an important lesson that inclusion is the thread that weaves together a rich multicultural tapestry. Fast forward to today, I share these lessons through my work as an author, leadership scholar, and law professor. My booklist reflects a celebration of diverse cultures, introduces learning tools for becoming an inclusive leader, and provides an invitation to join me in taking intentional action for justice and equity.
It introduced children from all backgrounds to the possibility of what they can become.
It challenges the limitation of stereotypes and biases. It is a reminder that you can be not just who you want to be, but also fulfill the destiny of who you oughtto be.
A melodic mantra with a powerful message: Black boys can be a doctor, a judge, the president . . . anything they want to be!
Each page depicts a boy looking into the future, seeing his grown-up self, and admiring the greatness reflected back at him. This book is created to teach Black boys there are no barriers--if you can dream it, you can be it!
This book is for Black boys so they see themselves as the heroes of the story.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been intrigued by how people make decisions and why the words we use can significantly impact those decisions. After years of conducting customer research and writing marketing messages for clients, my interest in finding and delivering compelling messages at just the right time to the right audience has only grown. I’ve poured my experience in the online marketing trenches into my book, Finding the Right Message, where I reference more than one of the authors on my recommendation list.
Don’t let the title turn you off. This book helps any type of creator develop the most critical skill of connecting with their audience: empathy. Pressfield reminds us that we need to ask ourselves continually what’s in it for our reader, viewer, listener. Otherwise, we’ll end up speaking to no audience at all.
There's a mantra that real writers know but wannabe writers don’t. And the secret phrase is this:
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T.
Recognizing this painful truth is the first step in the writer's transformation from amateur to professional.
“When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, you develop empathy. You acquire the skill that is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs—the ability to switch back and forth in your imagination from your own point of view as writer/painter/seller to the point of view of your reader/gallery-goer/customer. You learn to ask yourself with every sentence and every phrase:…
I’ve been pulled to rich, deep, complex fiction all my life. And I started building my own world when I was nine, adding to The Kota Series over two decades. Even while getting an English Literature degree, I was bored by simple worlds, characters, and stories and always found myself more interested in unique books and fresh reads. Really, the weirder the world, the better! That’s what I’ve continued to look for as a reader, and I’ve been lucky to encounter new authors that a lot of people might not have heard about yet. I’ve found some real world-building gems, like these I’ve discussed. I hope to find many more!
This is one of the very few books that made me yelp out loud in surprise when the twist happened, and I will forever recommend it because of how unique it was. The feel is reflective of The Road with the main part of the story showing a pained journey through a dangerous landscape. It also feels post-apocalyptic as these survivors struggle to cross the abandoned world that’s been overtaken by nature. The author wrote in a unique language that makes Idyll feel otherworldly but familiar too. All this blends together for really great world-building. I don’t want to give anything away, but there is a definite twist where the whole story flips into something different. You go from feeling like this is a Western to suddenly — Oh, yep, there’s the sci-fi!
Hold on tight for a New-Adult Sci-Fi Adventure that’s caught in the crossfire between Westworld and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road!
Idyll is a rugged planet—a new, simpler start for some 10,000 settlers who have fled Mother Earth. But a strange ‘plague’ of contagious sleep has devastated their Settlement, sparked by a mysterious mantra called the Lullaby.
After a three-year quarantine, Walt and Samuel Starboard set out from their ranch on a mission to cure their comatose mother and find their missing father. For days they ride through a blighted landscape: deserted cabins and gravestones and the ruins of towns destroyed…
When agile
software development emerged, many developers saw it as a way to end the era of
death march projects. The more "agile" caught on, the less it looked
like the original concept.
In the face of the corruption of the movement, Joy
Of Agility is a wonderful return to positive ideas that make you agile, not
hasty. As we all push back against the industrial complex that has appropriated
the agile movement, this book is the white wizard shining blinding light that
chases away the monsters.
Agility enables you, your team, and your organization to streamline slow and awkward actions, overcome obstacles quickly, and adapt to change with ease and grace.
Agility isn’t a formula, a framework, nor a set of roles and rituals to follow. It’s a timeless way of being that matures with practice and skill. Becoming agile involves knowing the difference between being quick or hurrying, moving with ease or difficulty, being in or out of balance, graceful or awkward, adaptable or rigid, resourceful or resentful.
With Joy of Agility, Joshua Kerievsky, CEO of Industrial Logic, one of the oldest and most-respected agile…
In 2014, Alyssa Padgett convinced her husband Heath to take her to all 50 states for their honeymoon. Somehow he tricked her into doing it all in an RV. They’ve lived and traveled in an RV ever since. With her husband, Alyssa runs The RV Entrepreneur Podcast, a resource for anyone who wants to run a business while RVing.
Jumping into full-time travel in an RV is daunting. Joe and his wife Kait quit their high-paying jobs, sold their house, and set off to see the world. In his book, Joe covers the whole transition from normal life to becoming a digital nomad, all following the mantra his father passed down to him: take risks.
What if you could walk away from the pressures and stresses of corporate life, and live outside of the routines and restrictions? What if you could choose where you live on a daily basis, have a beach view on Monday and a view of the mountains on Friday? What if, instead of trading your days and weeks and years for a life deferred, you just went and lived that life right now?These were the questions Joe and Kait Russo asked themselves as they faced endless corporate meetings, inconvenient business trips, and the crushing stress of ‘making it.’ It all changed…
I can’t say enough good things about this one. I was laughing one minute and crying the next, but the laughter definitely outweighed the tears.
Min Soo is orphaned as an infant in Korea, but thanks to a foster mother’s prayers and perseverance, he is adopted by Brian and Sarah Hampshire in America. Diagnosed with a genetic disease, autism, and an earth-shattering illness, Min faces life with the wit and wisdom of a sage and the refreshing faith of a child.
I love the insights this developmentally disabled young man has on life, love, and Jesus and the courage with which he faces the future.
I loved the clarity of the writing and the enthusiasm of Mr. Shatner for life and everything about it. He urges us to carpe every diem. To see the beauty of the Earth and our connection to the universe.
I was also captivated by his mantra: never say “no.” If I could be anyone else on Earth, it would probably be William Shatner.
The beloved star of Star Trek, recent space traveler, and living legend William Shatner reflects on the interconnectivity of all things, our fragile bond with nature, and the joy that comes from exploration with "the insights he's gleaned over his long, productive life" (Booklist) in this inspiring, revelatory, and exhilarating collection of essays.
Long before Gene Roddenberry put him on a starship to explore the galaxy, long before he actually did venture to space, William Shatner was gripped by his own quest for knowledge and meaning. Though his eventful life has been nothing short of extraordinary, Shatner is still never…
I’m a native of Texas who loves bluebonnets, big skies, and barbecue! With 25+ books in print, I write about imperfect characters who discover their inner strength as they lean on God and learn to trust each other and themselves. I’m fascinated by the dynamics of personalities and relationships, as well as the backstories that made the individuals who they are now. If you’re looking for stories of true-to-life characters growing deeper in faith while dealing with all the messiness human relationships entail, here are some novels you may enjoy.
I love a good sisters novel—maybe because I always wished for a sister of my own? This cast of unique and engaging characters quickly drew me into their lives as these young women with very different personalities found ways to accept their widowed dad's plans to reopen the summer camp where he’d met their mother. I also enjoy a good plot twist, and the one at the end of this book was just right, a touching way to tie everything together. This book was primarily the eldest sister Cam's story, which means more books to follow with insights into the other sisters’ lives. Have I mentioned I love sequels? Once I connect with a set of characters, it’s hard to let them go!
Sometimes love hurts--and sometimes it can heal in the most unexpected way.
Camden Grayson loves her challenging career, but the rest of her life could use some improvement. "Moving on" is Cam's mantra. But there's a difference, her two sisters insist, between one who moves on . . . and one who keeps moving.
Cam's full-throttle life skids to a stop when her father buys a remote island off the coast of Maine. Paul Grayson has a dream to breathe new life into the island--a dream that includes reuniting his estranged daughters. Certain Dad has lost his mind, the three…
