The Worst Day Of My Life So Far

In this smart, funny, and wonderfully Southern novel, Jeanne Roth is forced to come to terms with a past filled with the shadows of her mother, a once-vibrant femme fatale now suffering from Alzheimer's.

Nobody knew adversity like King David. He was called and anointed to reign in life, and yet he had to find a way in God to keep form losing it all. In What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life,Brian Zahnd looks into the life of David to discover a pattern of faith we can apply to overcome life’s daunting obstacles. In David’s story we find a timeless model for how to encounter God’s restorative power in the midst of deep tragedy. Join Brian Zahnd, and see what David did on his worst day. You’ll see David weep but not get bitter. You’ll see him reorient his vision and regain his passion. All along the journey you’ll be reminded that God’s great work in David’s life was not an odd, one-off miracle but a pattern of faith for all who are facing the worst day of their life.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Adulting comes a story about how to make something when you’re capable of nothing. Kelly Williams Brown had 700 Bad Days. Her marriage collapsed, she broke three limbs in separate and unrelated incidents, her father was diagnosed with cancer, and she fell into a deep depression that ended in what could delicately be referred to as a “rest cure” at an inpatient facility. Before that, she had several very good years: she wrote a bestselling book, spoke at NASA, had a beautiful wedding, and inspired hundreds of thousands of readers to live as grown-ups in an often-screwed-up world, though these accomplishments mostly just made her feel fraudulent. One of the few things that kept her moving forward was, improbably, crafting. Not Martha Stewart–perfect crafting, either—what could be called “simple,” “accessible” or, perhaps, “rustic” creations were the joy and accomplishments she found in her worst days. To craft is to set things right in the littlest of ways; no matter how disconnected you feel, you can still fold a tiny paper star, and that’s not nothing. In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. Surprising, humane, and utterly unforgettable, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the unexpected, messy coping mechanisms we use to find ourselves again.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

When the colonial powers divided the Great Lakes Region of Africa in the nineteenth century, new states were created based on nothing more than lines drawn on a map. Despite having their homelands in the Congo, the Banyamulenge tribe have always been perceived as foreigners in their own country. Alex's extraordinary journey begins with childhood memories of grazing cattle on the plains and mountains of South Kivu. As a teenager, living away from his family, his joy of attending school in the city is tempered by the challenges he faces as an outsider. Struggling to make sense of social, tribal and economic divisions, he witnesses the catastrophic breakdown in order that precipitates the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and the subsequent violence and conflict in the region fuelled by tensions linked to Tutsi and Hutu ethnicity. As a result, tragically, he lost eleven members of his family in the violence. Not My Worst Day is a coming of age tale, set against a backdrop of nightmarish events. While pursuing an education and a dream to publicise the plight of his people, Alex must navigate the dangers of a life lived in the shadow of poverty and discrimination. His journey through the complicated realities of life in the Great Lakes Region of Africa in the 1990s is a triumph of hope, persistence and the will to succeed in his quest. It is "an essential book for anyone who wishes to know - or thinks they know - what life is really like for those caught up in the terrible wars in DRC. This is book offers an explanation of what lies behind the violence and is a moving account from a brave and resilient survivor." Linda Melvern, Investiguative Journalist. The book is "a compelling story of the triumph of humanity over ludicrous odds. This book gives a rich and unprecedented insight into the life of a community fighting for its very existence while a failing state falls apart around them." Richard Wilson, author of Titanic Express and Don't Get Fooled Again

Pearl Littlefield's first assignment in fifth grade is complicated: She has to write an essay about her summer. Where does she begin? Her dad lost his job, she had to go to a different camp—one where her older sister Lexie was a counselor-in-training (ugh!)—and she and her good friend James Brubaker III had a huge fight, which made them both wonder if the other kids were right that girls and boys can't be good friends and which landed one of them in the hospital. And there's much, much more on the list of good and bad things, as Ann Martin takes this appealing character into new adventures through which young readers will see that good or bad, life is what happens when you're making other plans.

The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

For the first time—and in the best translation ever—the complete Book of Disquiet, a masterpiece beyond comparison The Book of Disquiet is the Portuguese modernist master Fernando Pessoa’s greatest literary achievement. An “autobiography” or “diary” containing exquisite melancholy observations, aphorisms, and ruminations, this classic work grapples with all the eternal questions. Now, for the first time the texts are presented chronologically, in a complete English edition by master translator Margaret Jull Costa. Most of the texts in The Book of Disquiet are written under the semi-heteronym Bernardo Soares, an assistant bookkeeper. This existential masterpiece was first published in Portuguese in 1982, forty-seven years after Pessoa’s death. A monumental literary event, this exciting, new, complete edition spans Fernando Pessoa’s entire writing life.