"To a parent, there is no more frightening prospect than the thought of losing one's child. Parents aren't supposed to outlive their children, but sometimes it happens. When it does, the experience wrenches one's soul. While this is a hurt that will forever burden the heart, it is in sharing the burden with others that a portion of that weight is lifted. That is why a book like Joy, Interrupted is so needed. It is through reading the insights of real people sharing real experiences, that we begin to allow the process of self-healing. As we begin that process we might just discover how to assist others to do the same. Whether you've lost a child through death, adoption or some other means, you need to read this book...and then share it with a friend." by Kevin Jenkins, Staff writer, Daily Journal -- from the back cover.

A widely acclaimed young writer's fierce new novel, in which childbirth and new motherhood are as high-stakes a crucible as any combat zone.

Nora Ephron and Allie Brosh fans take note: Alisa Jones' memoir Gotham Girl Interrupted is a smart stand-up comedy about the power of falling down. "Get to your safe spaces, people. Here comes the shimmer..." From irreverent NYC blogger Alisa Kennedy Jones comes an account of her "misadventures in motherhood, love, and epilepsy" that James Patterson calls "smart, harrowing, heart-warming, and very funny." What do Da Vinci, Agatha Christie, and blogger Alisa Kennedy Jones have in common? If you said "timeless artistic genius", stop sucking up--the answer is ecstatic epilepsy. In this hilarious and moving dispatch from the frontlines of neurodiversity, Jones chronicles life with these terrifying-yet-beautiful grand mal seizures. Characteristic of Jones's condition are attacks which leave her with what Zen Buddhists sometimes refer to as a "beginner's mind": a vast, open expanse of headspace, coupled with a creative euphoria. With bracing candor and humility, Jones describes living with chronic illness, single motherhood, and her day-to-day life as a hapless writer in NYC. Above all, Jones reminds us to fight the battle for becoming who we are supposed to be--no matter how much flopping around on the ground and wetting ourselves we have to do to get there.

From the author of How Should a Person Be? (“one of the most talked-about books of the year”—Time Magazine) and the New York Times Bestseller Women in Clothes comes a daring novel about whether to have children. In Motherhood, Sheila Heti asks what is gained and what is lost when a woman becomes a mother, treating the most consequential decision of early adulthood with the candor, originality, and humor that have won Heti international acclaim and made How Should A Person Be? required reading for a generation. In her late thirties, when her friends are asking when they will become mothers, the narrator of Heti’s intimate and urgent novel considers whether she will do so at all. In a narrative spanning several years, casting among the influence of her peers, partner, and her duties to her forbearers, she struggles to make a wise and moral choice. After seeking guidance from philosophy, her body, mysticism, and chance, she discovers her answer much closer to home. Motherhood is a courageous, keenly felt, and starkly original novel that will surely spark lively conversations about womanhood, parenthood, and about how—and for whom—to live.

By the year 2030, as many as 171 million people in the U.S.- more than half of all Americans-will be living with at least one chronic medical condition (data from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Illness or disability can easily derail a person's sex life-but it doesn't have to be that way. Using kindness, honesty, and humor, Iris Zink, BSN, MSN, ANP, RN-BC, explores the ways illness or disability can affect a sexual relationship and offers suggestions on how to regain intimacy. She also describes existing myths about sex and debunks them with real-life examples. Most importantly, you'll learn that, no matter how a person's body changes, no-one should have to give up sex. Ms. Zink has 20 years of experience in treating sexual health complications related to chronic illness, and in writing and lecturing to healthcare providers on sexual health subjects. She has enabled thousands of people to experience fulfilling sex and meaningful intimacy-she can help you, too!

A provocative and deeply important study of women’s lives, women’s choices—and an ‘unspoken taboo’—that questions the societal pressures forcing women into motherhood Women who opt not to be mothers are frequently warned that they will regret their decision later in life, yet we rarely talk about the possibility that the opposite might also be true—that women who have children might regret it. Drawing on years of research interviewing women from a variety of socioeconomic, educational, and professional backgrounds, sociologist Orna Donath treats regret as a feminist issue: as regret marks the road not taken, we need to consider whether alternative paths for women currently are blocked off. She asks that we pay attention to what is forbidden by rules governing motherhood, time, and emotion, including the cultural assumption that motherhood is a “natural” role for women—for the sake of all women, not just those who regret becoming mothers. If we are disturbed by the idea that a woman might regret becoming a mother, Donath says, our response should not be to silence and shame these women; rather, we need to ask honest and difficult questions about how society pushes women into motherhood and why those who reconsider it are still seen as a danger to the status quo. Groundbreaking, thoughtful, and provocative, this is an especially needed book in our current political climate, as women's reproductive rights continue to be at the forefront of national debates.

"Striking, original, and stimulating. Even readers with extensive familiarity of the literature regarding women in prison will learn something new."--Mona Danner, PhD Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice