“In Highlight Real, Emily Paulson has given women—not just those who struggle with alcohol but all women—a true gift. It is a page-turning, starkly honest account of a beautiful-on-the-outside life that was in truth a collision course of self-destruction. Highlight Real is the rare memoir that should be considered an instant classic in the addiction recovery genre.” – Lisa Smith, recovery advocate, lawyer and award-winning, bestselling author of Girl Walks Out of a BarA music prodigy, head of her class, and well-liked in school, Emily Paulson decided early that embellishment paved the road to success. As she grew up, she figured out how to make the picture look even better - with a successful husband, five beautiful children, and all the required accompanying accoutrements.Then along came social media, where those pictures of the perfect life grew her a following of women who believed that everything about Emily was blessed and inspiring. But behind the filtered façade was a reality filled with trauma, addiction, and dysfunctional behavior. From disordered eating to breaking the law and nearly destroying her marriage, Emily had been running from her own trauma for years. Living a life shot through with more self-destruction than she could track, Emily knew things had to change when she woke up one morning and realized that she was barely participating in the picture she had so carefully crafted.
Highlight Real: Finding Honesty and Recovery Behind the Filtered Life is the true story of what happens when a so-called perfect mother and businesswoman is forced to find reckoning with her past and build a future based on the authenticity she has always sought. Searingly honest, heartbreaking and packed with uncountable did-she-actually-just-say-that moments, Highlight Real is a memoir of healing as well as a fully modern look at what happens when the filters fall off and real life emerges into the light.

Highlight Real: Finding Honesty & Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Paulson, Emily Lynn

Addiction & Recovery

Launch Pad Publishing

As the star of the E! Reality series Pretty Wild, Alexis appeared to be living the glamorous life. In reality, she was battling depression, drug addiction and trauma. Her firsthand experience with sexual assault and substance abuse, combined with the explosive effects of social media storytelling, ignited a desire in her to eradicate shame around our greatest struggles.
In Recovering from Reality, Alexis shares how she learned to turn embarrassment into empowerment, using her public meltdown as an opportunity to pull back the covers on the misogyny and abuse that fuels so much of popular culture. With profound insight, Alexis shows how women can stand up and heal from the institutionalized and systemic trauma that keeps them from recognizing how powerful they truly are.
From panhandling drugs on the streets to partying with some of the biggest rock stars in the world (often on the same day), Alexis’ life was more than just pretty wild; it was nearly fatal. After facing up to six years in the correctional system due to her burglary conviction, Alexis got sober at the age of 19 and began to build the extraordinary life she lives today. Recovering From Reality documents her journey, tells the true story behind the “Bling Ring” and explains why her involvement became a defining moment in her life.
In this gripping memoir, Alexis shares what it’s like to go from hot mess to hot mom, showing how we all have the power to change the world and to find our true passion and meaning through some of our most shameful experiences. Inspired by her public journey from reality TV meme to sobriety, motherhood and wellness, Alexis is living proof that you can heal yourself—if you’re willing to recover from reality.

Recovering From Reality

Biographies & Memoirs

Haines, Alexis

Leaders & Notable People

Dr. Steven Farber grew up in a wholesome New Jersey Jewish family. He never used drugs for most of his adult life. An excellent student, he graduated from medical school and launched a career as a cardiologist. 
That’s when everything spun out of control. 
The stresses of the world of medicine led to severe depression and burnout. That stress, coupled with the repression of childhood trauma, launched Farber into using Xanax—which eventually gave way to street drugs such as cocaine and crack. Fearful of discovery, he tried to lead a double life but eventually, his secrets were exposed. After several unspeakable tragedies, Farber found himself on his knees with nearly nothing left. As Sick as Our Secrets is a disgraced doctor’s story out of the hell of addiction and back into the light.

As Sick as Our Secrets

Farber, Steven

Mental Health

Jesus Unplugged: Finding God's Light Without Religion

Victoria, Rachel

Let’s face it: the nonprofit sector has a major branding issue. Seen as either poorly run charities looking for handouts or the pet projects of well-meaning, ineffectual civil servants, the world of the 501c3 is misunderstood, maligned and sometimes mismanaged. And Matt George is here to change the narrative. As the CEO of the Children’s Home Association of Illinois, a nonprofit leader facing the state’s most serious social ills, George draws his unorthodox philosophies straight from the frontlines. In Nonprofit Game Plan, he reveals the real story of nonprofits, the one no one talks about: they are the world’s best defense against the gnawing grind of social decay, poverty, homelessness and crime. Whether he’s breaking tennis world records, partnering with star athletes or making deals with Fortune 500 companies, George demystifies nonprofit management while inspiring a new generation to take up the mantle of social service. What emerges is a strong case that non-profits ought to run like businesses, not charities. Though it might ruffle some feathers, the message is a wake-up call that’s sure to radicalize the nonprofit world. For anyone who cares about making the world a better place, from volunteers to CEOs, Nonprofit Game Plan is a must-read that’s much more than just a how-to guide—it’s a gut-punch.

Nonprofit Game Plan: The Proven Strategy for Nonprofit Success

George, Matt

Business & Money

THE INSPIRING ADDICTION MEMOIR THAT MADE HEADLINES EVERYWHERE As a teenager, Courtney Friel was a shy girl tormented by constant, cruel bullying. Then, at the age of 15, she got drunk for the first time. That's when she formed her alter ego, "Reporter Friel"--a whip-smart girl who partied hard, bulldozed any haters in her path and went on to become the youngest on-air anchor ever hired at Fox News. After falling in love with the big city and the fast life of broadcast television, Friel moved to New York City, married a handsome fellow newscaster and had two beautiful children. Her career and her status were skyrocketing, and from the outside, her life seemed perfect. In reality, Friel was living a double life as a professional newscaster by day and a debauched party girl by night. To keep the trauma of the mass shootings, murders and car accidents she covered at bay, Friel drank more alcohol and ramped up her use of Adderall, Xanax and cocaine...until she ended up in rehab. What came next was a rocky divorce, a spiritual crisis and a hopeful shot at a new life--if she could reckon with who she really was. In Tonight at 10, Friel gives her tell-all account of everything from paying off cops in Mexico after a cocaine bust to sober sexcapades to, ultimately, adventures in holistic healing to achieve deep inner peace. At every detour along the way, her sobering story stays packed with irreverent humor and hard-won optimism. What emerges is a front-line report on living life to the fullest, #KeepingItFriel and celebrating your inner party girl--even in sobriety.

Tonight at 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News

Friel, Courtney

Professionals & Academics

Make Your Mess Your Memoir

These days, there's no better business tool than a book. But most people don't know how to write one-or even where to start. Turns out the best place is the messy middle.Anna David knows this more than anyone. When the New York Times bestselling author of seven books got sober and sold a book about her recovery to the biggest publisher in the world, she thought she'd made it. Then she learned the hard way that trying to make a living by selling books to traditional publishers was a cruel joke-and that accepting the unacceptable was no way to live. The publishing industry was ripe for disrupting. But first David had to make a mess and then learn from it.After years of struggle and self-discovery, she ended up not only mentoring and publishing hundreds of bestselling authors but also thriving personally and professionally. Now she's sharing what she's learned-and showing others how to do the same.In this page-turning and useful memoir-meets-manual, David reveals her personal lows (doing cocaine by herself while contemplating suicide), her career lows (a past-his-prime celebrity hurling a phone at her as she wrote his biography) and how her life today wouldn't be possible without those experiences.With deft humor and unique insight, David demonstrates how much early childhood programming can set us up to repeat our own dysfunctional patterns-until we're ready to shift our behavior. The last quarter of the book is a practical guide so that readers can make their own mess into a message-and memoir.

David, Anna

Arts & Literature

The clinical side of addiction-a disease that takes the lives of over 150,000 people a year-is written about, analyzed and hotly debated by media outlets the world round. As a result of the overwhelming attention to the facts and figures, the personal side often gets neglected. The Addiction Diaries: Stories of Darkness, Hope and All That Falls in Between is here to remedy that. By turns amusing and insightful, disturbing and illuminating, 18 writers from all socioeconomic levels, races and relationships with addiction share stories that will stay with you long after you read them. A woman trying to save her brother from his gambling addiction. A child heroin user who recovers and finds a calm life. A mother of two addicts who watches them go from jail to freedom. A former bank robber reflecting on nearly two decades of sobriety. Some of the stories may rattle, disturb and bemuse you; all will illuminate addiction like nothing that has come before. An instant classic in the addiction recovery genre, The Addiction Diaries will leave you astounded by the triumph of the human spirit and give you an understanding of addiction that goes far beyond the headlines.

The Addiction Diaries

Colleen Connaughton

Monique Elise

Ryan Hampton

Jessica Lopez

Jennifer Lovely

Jacq Maren

Victoria English Martin

Paul Roux

Lauren Schwarzfeld

&#65279;In October 2016, 59-year-old Chris Joseph was stunned when he learned he had third-stage pancreatic cancer. In the midst of the panic and tremendous fear that immediately ensued, Joseph followed the doctor's orders without hesitation and underwent chemotherapy-a choice that was almost a fatal mistake. Months of chemotherapy poisoned his body and nearly destroyed his spirit. With no immediate plan in mind, Joseph fired his oncologist and embarked on an alternative path of recovery, including both natural and Western medicine immunotherapy-one that, against all odds, opened his eyes and healed him, both physically and spiritually. Life is a Ride documents Joseph's journey from terror and doubt to independence, redemption, love and hope. Whether he's launching a "borrow and pay back" company for all manner of musicians in New Orleans, making his journey to Germany for cancer treatment and watching his friends put together a GoFundMe campaign to make the trip possible, or finding opportunities to bond with family and friends, Joseph's spirit, determination and courage will inspire anyone who's struggled-with illness or any other seemingly hopeless situation. By changing the narrative and choosing to write his own story, Joseph found new levels of determination and courage, as well as joy, wisdom and gratitude. Life is a Ride is the tale of a man that turned a death sentence into a life embrace.

Life is a Ride

Joseph, Chris

Diseases & Physical Ailments

We've all made a mess.And that means we all have a message.This is the book that shows you how to take the former and make it into the latter.FROM THE NY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR When Anna David got sober and sold a book about her recovery to the biggest publisher in the world, she thought she'd made it. She was wrong.Still, after years of struggle and self-discovery, she ended up thriving personally and professionally. Now she's sharing what she's learned-and showing others how to do the same.In this page-turning and useful memoir-meets-manual, David reveals her personal lows (doing cocaine by herself while contemplating suicide), her career lows (a past-his-prime celebrity hurling a phone at her as she wrote his biography) and how her life today wouldn't be possible without those experiences.The last quarter of the book is a practical guide so that readers can make their own mess into a message-and memoir.In this completely comprehensive "biz-oir" packed with proven and authentic tools and techniques, memoirists-in-the-making will travel with David on her journey from struggling addict to New York Times bestselling writer/entrepreneur and also learn: -How to determine a memoir message and "why"-How to select scenes-The advantages and disadvantages of traditional and self-publishing-How to come up with a title, rewrite a book and hire editors-Potential legal concerns and how to avoid them-How to gather blurbs, write acknowledgments and arrange for a foreword-How to be set up for success on Amazon-The importance of an Advanced Reader TeamAnd much more. The best time to write a book was 10 years ago. The second best time is now. To start creating the business tool that will change your career-and life-click ADD TO CART before the price changes.

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