A brutally honest memoir of life as an obese woman— the pain, humiliation . . . and hope
Jennifer Joyner was slowly killing herself with food. She didn’t know what to fear more: dying, or knowing that she was causing her own death. She was powerless to stop. She weighed 336 pounds. She had uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure. She’d lost jobs and friendships, and her marriage was hanging by a thread. She disgusted herself. She couldn’t even attempt a sex life. She’d never felt so desperate or alone. 
Designated Fat Girl tells her story. It is a painfully honest account of Joyner’s experiences as an obese woman—of always having to buy new clothes that fit, pretending to order for two people at drive-through fast-food joints, the constant cycle of binge and regret, not fitting into her wedding dress, the cruel comments. It’s a story about her decision to have gastric bypass surgery and the resulting complications. In the end, it is also a story of recovery and survival.

Designated Fat Girl: A Memoir

Biographies & Memoirs

Joyner, Jennifer

Community & Culture

Skirt

In this book, Dr. Lisa Masterson--star of the hit daytime show "The Doctors"--focuses on the life-altering work she does as hands-on head of a foundation called Maternal Fetal Care International, through which she’s established clinics in India and Africa devoted to helping ensure that mothers and babies survive in regions where resources are few and maternal mortality is high. Here her fans, along with the broader universe of readers drawn to the pathbreaking stories of role models like this accomplished woman of color, will discover the vulnerable and very human side of the TV doc, and the inspiring journey that has allowed her to become an advocate for so many. Her book traces her inspiring life, moving back and forth between her current work and her upbringing--how her resourceful and resiliant single mother broake away from family in the segregated South to find new opportunities. Dr. Masterson’s mother is a woman of beauty and accomplishment, as her daughter will be, but in those early years, the two of them face discrimination, financial challenges and tumult, moving every few months to avoid paying rent so there will be enough money for what’s most important—the child’s education.

Paper Dollhouse: The Story Of My Mother, Her Strength And Sacrifices, And My Journey To Become A Doctor

Masterson, Lisa

Professionals & Academics

AfterImage: A Brokenhearted Memoir Of A Charmed Life

In this fiercely personal account of her battling the before, and surviving the after, of losing her husband to cancer, Carla Malden takes us on a journey through grief to gratitude that alerts the entire forever-young generation: this is not your mother’s widowhood. AfterImage is a story of love more than loss, memory more than sorrow, life more than death.

Malden, Carla

Arts & Literature

Delving into the extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of self-help book, exploring Chanel’s philosophy on a range of universal themesfrom style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.

Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons From The World's Most Elegant Woman

Arts & Photography

Karbo, Karen

Graphic Design

This book is about unraveling the layers of our lives, delving beneath the surface in order to better understand ourselves, our relationships, and our path. Author Susannah Conway uncovered this process following a tragedy—the sudden death of the man she loved. In sharing her journey of self-discovery first through her blog, then her online courses, and now in these pages, she reveals how grief reshaped her life and led her to reconnect with her creativity, make peace with her past, and learn to appreciate herself. 
This is a guidebook of sorts, a collection of thoughts and theories, each chapter culminating in a small creative exercise for the reader to reflect upon and apply to her own life. The author's signature dreamy Polaroid images are also included throughout. Conway reminds readers that they are not alone, that living mindfully is a process, and that unraveling is not about coming undone or losing control, but rather letting go in the best possible way. By untangling the knots that hold you back, unearthing the potential that's always been there and ditching the labels and should-haves you can let yourself be who you were always meant to be.

This I Know: Notes On Unraveling The Heart

Self-Help

Conway, Susannah

Death & Grief

A beautifully illustrated collection of wisdom from around the world with heartfelt insights for any age.

What I Wish For You: Simple Wisdom For A Happy Life

Digh, Patti

Motivational

How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons On The Art Of Living

A fresh, revealing look at the artist who continues to inspire new generations of women.

Karbo award-winning author of the New York Times Notable Book THE DIAMOND LANE, Karen

Humor & Entertainment

Amy Sedaris meets Woody Allen in an uproarious memoir of self discovery. In her critically acclaimed memoir Dork Whore, Iris Bahr finally lost her virginity in the summer between high school and Brown University. In this book, she's ready for love a year later―but not much wiser. Through all of her uproarious capers, she tries to reconcile her craving for mindblowing sex with her desire for a meaningful relationship―all in an attempt to become an adult. Sort of.

Machu My Picchu: Searching For Sex, Sanity, And A Soul Mate In South America

Travel

Bahr, Iris

Travel Writing

Fresh, funny, and poignant, My (not so) Storybook Life is old-fashioned humor mashed with literary spoofery. Elizabeth thinks of herself and her husband, Matt, as a modern-day Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Together they’ve endured paint-color mishaps, sewage disasters, pest infestations, and a schnauzer that poops at tornado sirens. It’s hardly the domestic perfection a young Liz imagined while reading Anne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice. Could it be that these literary stalwarts had led her astray? Liz tells the story of her own path to happiness, along the way seeking revenge on her literary heroes: Jo March has to cope with a soul-sucking job, Elizabeth Bennett shepherds a Duggar-size brood of kids, and Anne Shirley deals with a penny-pinching husband. But every comedy is balanced by tragedy. Angela was one of Liz’s closest friends, a kindred spirit who, at age thirty-one, was diagnosed with cancer. Before Angela, Liz was discontented. But it was the journey she took with this friend that made her realize that her house and its decorations and plumbing and dirty-clothes-covered Man Cave were not burdens to be tweaked and perfected, but blessings to be thankful for.

My (not so) Storybook Life: A Tale of Friendship and Faith

Owen, Elizabeth

Jane Austen has become our patron saint of romance, our goddess of happy endings. Her name is synonymous with romantic sighs, period costumes, and the ideal of what love should be. But if she could give us advice about life and love, what would she tell us? What would she make of Match.com, of our Real Housewives, or of our obsession with finding The One?
Austen’s stories give us relationship advice that still works today, but her life offers us so much more wisdom than just that pertaining to love. In our fame-obsessed culture, it’s refreshing to think that Austen preferred to remain anonymous. Ironically, Jane Austen—master of love stories—never married and can teach us something about being single. She also endured many painful circumstances and managed them with grace and humor. 
In this light biography and guide, author Lori Smith surmises about Austen’s sensible advice for twenty-first-century women—on everything from living our dreams, being a woman of substance, finding a good man, managing money, and much more.
As such an astute student of human nature, Austen can teach us an awful lot about ourselves and about what it means to live well.

Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons For The Modern Woman

Smith, Lori

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