NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion that explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage—and a life, in good times and bad—that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child. Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later—the night before New Year’s Eve—the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma. This powerful book is Didion’ s attempt to make sense of the “weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness ... about marriage and children and memory ... about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.

"You want to what?" Barb regards her husband with incredulity at the prospect of paddling down the entire length of the mighty Mississippi River in their recently completed tandem kayak. Paddle for a Purpose sweeps the reader into a journey of faith and personal discovery, as Barb and Gene feel called to volunteer with charity organizations in quaint river towns along one of the most scenic and powerful river systems in America. Against a backdrop of picturesque settings and the river's changing moods, exciting and often humorous accounts of adventure and mishap intermingle with inspiring stories of healing, renewal, beauty, compassion and trust in God.

St. Ignatius Loyola is one of the great shapers of the Catholic tradition. The Spanish soldier turned pilgrim for Christ bequeathed not only an extraordinary institutional legacy but also a distinctive spirituality that today nourishes men and women looking for ways to integrate faith and life. Informing Jesuit education, ministry, and training in communities around the world, Ignatian spirituality offers a practical vision-of engaged, responsible, discerning men and women striving to find God in all things-that resonates in this age of transition. Drawn from the vast body of Ignatius's writings, these 365 maxims help everyone reflect on the presence of God in daily life. First complied by the Jesuit scholar Gabriel Hevenesi in 1715 as Scintillae Ignatianae, these brief thoughts, supplications, prayers, directions, and other aphorisms were first published in an English translation in 1928 but have been unavailable in book form for many years.Organized into a daybook for contemplation, Ignatius's words serve as personal spiritual exercises. They touch on a range of topics, from affirmations of God's presence and Christ's love to practical advice for living a life of virtue in service to others. In this accessible gathering, anyone seeking a richer spiritual life will find words that inspire, challenge, enlighten, and transform.FROM THE BOOKA little holiness and great health of body does more in the care of souls than great holiness and little health.Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."The sharper you are at noticing other people's failings, the more apt you will be to overlook your own."Go and set the whole world on fire. This wonderful habit of devotional calendars can only change us for the better and often offer soothing advice for each day of the year.

Transform your life with daily inspiration, affirmations, and meditations from A Year of Positive Thinking. Yes, you can change your life by changing your thoughts. In A Year of Positive Thinking, you'll transform your mindset and motivate positive life changes one thought, one day, and one year at a time. From day one, this book teaches you the power of positive thinking through quick and digestible affirmations based in positive psychology, neuroscience, and personal development. Spanning one full year, from January to December, these daily meditations guide you towards visualizing and living your best life. A Year of Positive Thinking includes: 365 days of positive thinking with exercises, mantras, and reflections for self-respect, kindness, and love. A flexible structure around the calendar year (January-December) that can be started any time, any day, and any moment that you're ready. Inspiration for personal development that draws on positive psychology, neuroscience, and other secular schools of thought for motivating positive thinking. Choose to see the good over the bad. Choose optimism over pessimism. Choose positive over negative thinking with A Year of Positive Thinking.

From the time-honored sagacity of Confucius to the contemporary words of Deng Xiaoping, The Great Thoughts of China brings together - for the first time - quotations from the wisest, most insightful voices of Chinese history. Compiled by one of China's foremost cultural experts, the quotations have been carefully selected and translated for this edition to make them accessible to contemporary readers, while preserving their original meanings and context.