Through my grandmother's eyes, I can see clearly The way things used to be, The way things ought to be, The way things really are. Ed Cunningham Long ago, my grandma thought I should write a book about my life. For years, I wondered, "What's so special about my life?" I finally got it. I was physically very different. In this book, I tell of my many struggles and many successes. For the first time, I share my innermost thoughts on life as a triple amputee. This book is the story of my life. This book describes the life of a congenital triple amputee who overcomes incredible odds and finds happiness. This life was quite ordinary and yet, the more one reads into the story, it was nothing short of extraordinary.

In her delightful and moving memoir, Sissy Spacek writes about her idyllic, barefoot childhood in a small East Texas town, with the clarity and wisdom that comes from never losing sight of her roots. Descended from industrious Czech immigrants and threadbare southern gentility, she grew up a tomboy, tagging along with two older brothers and absorbing grace and grit from her remarkable parents, who taught her that she could do anything. She also learned fearlessness in the wake of a family tragedy, the grief propelling her "like rocket fuel" to follow her dreams of becoming a performer. With a keen sense of humor and a big-hearted voice, she describes how she arrived in New York City one star-struck summer as a seventeen-year-old carrying a suitcase and two guitars; and how she built a career that has spanned four decades with films such as Carrie, Coal Miner's Daughter, 3 Women, and The Help. She details working with some of the great directors of our time, including Terrence Malick, Robert Altman, David Lynch, and Brian De Palma-who thought of her as a no-talent set decorator until he cast her as the lead in Carrie. She also reveals why, at the height of her fame, she and her family moved away from Los Angeles to a farm in rural Virginia. Whether she's describing the terrors and joys of raising two talented, independent daughters, taking readers behind the scenes on Oscar night, or meditating on the thrill of watching a pair of otters frolicking in her pond, Sissy Spacek's memoir is poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, plainspoken and utterly honest. My Extraordinary Ordinary Life is about what matters most: the exquisite worth of ordinary things, the simple pleasures of home and family, and the honest job of being right with the world. "If I get hit by a truck tomorrow," she writes, "I want to know I've returned my neighbor's cake pan."

One of the world's greatest classical pianists reveals how the "other world" transformed his life and career By any measure, Byron Janis has had an extraordinary musical career. His discovery of two long-lost Chopin scores made headlines around the world, and he has been honored many times for his breathtaking performances of some of the most exciting and challenging works in the standard classical piano repertoire. As he retraces this remarkable journey in Chopin and Beyond, he shares something even more extraordinary: the other-worldly experiences that have shaped his life and music in surprising and profound ways. Shares milestones and memories from the life and musical career of one of the world's greatest pianists Includes lively anecdotes of famous classical musicians and other notable figures, including Vladimir Horowitz and Pablo Picasso Describes his long-secret but ultimately triumphant battle with arthritis Recounts the paranormal experiences that deepened his personal association with Chopin, effected near miraculous recoveries from serious accidents, and more Like the best music, Chopin and Beyond will open your mind to explore the wonder and possibility of a different world.

Satisfy your intrinsic desire to rise above the norm. Isn’t it true that we long to see the extraordinary, experience the extraordinary, do the extraordinary? Yet, so often we settle for mediocrity when greatness is within our grasp. Why are we drawn to stories of heroic triumph over seemingly impossible circumstances? In our fascination with adventure movies, superheroes, and tales of incredible human feats, do we reveal an inherent desire for something larger and greater in life? Maybe what we think is a need to escape or be entertained is actually a God inspired longing…for the extraordinary. Best-selling author John Bevere reveals how all of us were “meant for more,” extraordinarily created and intended for a life that is anything but ordinary. Here is the roadmap for your journey of transformation. You are marked for a life that far surpasses the usual definitions of success or fulfillment. Isn’t it time to pursue your extraordinary life?

"Give me everything in the till. Notes only! Don't make me nervous or I'll shoot!" The waitress handed me twenty dollars. I fled back to the car and John hightailed itoutta there. At seventeen she was living in an old car, fleeing across the Australiandesert, committing armed robberies to please the convicted child molester who had 'befriended her'. Taking handfuls of drugs to block out her memories of an abused childhood, life was on the streets, years in and out of mental institutions, cold and hungry days on the run, and panic attacks in jail. Slashing herself was the only thing Roxanne knew to do even when the drugs could not keep the terror at bay. Living with severe dissociative disorder, and a lifetime of abuse. Her abusers broke her down, before she had chance to build herself up. 'Roxanne' is a fascinating, sometimes confronting, insight into a life most of us will only hear about fleetingly on the six o'clock news. There's always more to the story, and this is Roxanne's.

Sam Hill always saw the world through different eyes. Born with red pupils, he was called "Devil Boy" or Sam "Hell" by his classmates; "God's will" is what his mother called his ocular albinism. Her words were of little comfort, but Sam persevered, buoyed by his mother's devout faith, his father's practical wisdom, and his two other misfit friends.

After being diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease I began journaling. It became a healing process. In between relapses I began writing stories of my youth and continued to what could now be called the last third of my life. Reflections of happy days spent with my grandparents, helping to care for my younger siblings, to my escape from a controlling mother. I began to realize how the conditions and environment they were living under created the turmoil and circumstances of those years. I continued to write my life through marriage, foster children, exchange students, several businesses and countless friends. The entire process made me realized what an extraordinary life I’d lived so far. How much better can it get? I can hardly wait.