"Rising above the scars is the true account of Johnnetta McSwain's triumphant life journey. Born to an alcoholic mother and absent father, the odds were unceremoniously stacked against her even as she drew her first breath, By the innocent age of five, she was viciously raped and incessantly battered by her three uncles while she was in custody of her grandparents. After battling extreme, traumatic experiences of child abuse and neglect and self destruction, Johnnetta McSwain beat all odds and not only narrowly escaped poverty, self destruction, prison, death, but has broken every generational cycle and is a symbol and voice of survival." -- Page 4 of cover.

A U.S. Army Platoon Leader shares an honest account of Iraq War combat and his long journey of healing from trauma in this military memoir. During his time in Iraq, Jeff Morris saw and experienced some truly harrowing events, such as the time he had to pulled shards of another man's skull from the palm of his hand. When he got home, he struggled for years just to face his own reflection. In Legion Rising, Morris provides a candid account of his service—from the rigors of military training through the thrills, dangers, and tragedies of combat. Morris tells of losing eight men in the line of duty, and of the second battle he faced once his combat service was over. Scarred by trauma and haunted by the past, Morris faced a long struggle before his ultimate rise from adversity.

My principal purpose in writing this book is to encourage individuals to recognize within themselves any serious emotional scars caused by painful, unresolved experiences. I hope they will have the desire to seek to rise above these difficulties by breaking down any barriers to seeking help. For those already on a path upward, perhaps my experiences, thoughts, and insights will be helpful in their journeys. I want others to share in my elevated joy.

From a writer whose work has been called “breathtaking and dazzling” by Roxane Gay, this moving, illuminating, and multifaceted memoir explores, in a series of essays, the emotional scars we carry when dealing with mental and physical illnesses—reminiscent of The Collected Schizophrenias and An Unquiet Mind. In this stunning debut, Laura Lee weaves unforgettable and eye-opening essays on a variety of taboo topics. In “History of Scars” and “Aluminum’s Erosions,” Laura dives head-first into heavier themes revolving around intimacy, sexuality, trauma, mental illness, and the passage of time. In “Poetry of the World,” Laura shifts and addresses the grief she feels by being geographically distant from her mother whom, after being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, is relocated to a nursing home in Korea. Through the vivid imagery of mountain climbing, cooking, studying writing, and growing up Korean American, Lee explores the legacy of trauma on a young queer child of immigrants as she reconciles the disparate pieces of existence that make her whole. By tapping into her own personal, emotional, and psychological struggles in these powerful and relatable essays, Lee encourages all of us to not be afraid to face our own hardships and inner truths.

Beyond the bright lights and casinos lies the real Las Vegas where four lives will be brought together by one split-second choice.

'A compelling tale... a narrative that makes such a brave effort to see history as it evolves and not as it becomes.' SPECTATOR Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the times, and with brilliant portraits of Hitler, Goebbels, Goering and Himmler amongst others, Erik Larson's new book sheds unique light on events as they unfold, resulting in an unforgettable, addictively readable work of narrative history. Berlin,1933. William E. Dodd, a mild-mannered academic from Chicago, has to his own and everyone else's surprise, become America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany, in a year that proves to be a turning point in history. Dodd and his family, notably his vivacious daughter, Martha, observe at first-hand the many changes - some subtle, some disturbing, and some horrifically violent - that signal Hitler's consolidation of power. Dodd has little choice but to associate with key figures in the Nazi party, his increasingly concerned cables make little impact on an indifferent U.S. State Department, while Martha is drawn to the Nazis and their vision of a 'New Germany' and has a succession of affairs with senior party players, including first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as the year darkens, Dodd and his daughter find their lives transformed and any last illusion they might have about Hitler are shattered by the violence of the 'Night of the Long Knives' in the summer of 1934 that established him as supreme dictator . . .