Real-life lessons of grit and growth that come from being a bona fide Badass! Overcoming life’s many disappointments begins with one thing: grit. But what is grit, and how can we know what it looks like in the sh*tshow of life? Drawing from her own experience and psychology practice, psychologist Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt, author of Getting to Good Riddance: A No-Bullsh*t Breakup Survival Guide, weaves together a collection of gritty stories of survival, hope, and healing in the face of overwhelming pain and adversity. Badass Stories illustrates how real people have used tools like grit and hope to make it through life’s challenges—great and small—and foster growth and healing in the process. These seriously motivational tales will inspire you to harness the grit it takes to succeed, show up for the fight, call out your own bullsh*t, and become the Badass you were meant to be!

All the champions, as selected by thousands of voters from over 70 countries, plus honorable mentions and editor's choice selections from Purplewallstories.com.

Ben Thompson—author of Badass, creator of the epic website badassoftheweek.com, and the Internet’s foremost expert on badassitude—is back to enthrall lovers of skull-smashing, bone-crushing bad behavior with his latest compendium, Badass: The Birth of a Legend. Like its macho predecessor, Badass: The Birth of a Legend celebrates fearless berserkers of every stripe, male and female, but this time pulls them from the hoary pages of mythology, fantasy fiction, and the silver screen—from Zeus to Beowulf to Dirty Harry Callahan, the most merciless gods, monsters, heroes, villains, and mythical creatures ever envisioned. Forget your whiny Twilight vampires and werewolves, these badasses kick butt!

Moving from Trauma to Triumph to Transformation. These are the stories of women who courageously chose themselves and to share their stories to help other women own the power to live their best life.

From bestselling author Abbi Glines, comes the next sultry affair in the Sea Breeze series. For rock star and notorious bad boy, Krit Corbin, addiction is part of his nature - and women have always been his favourite obsession. But that's the life of a lead singer in a band. He can have any woman he wants - anywhere, anytime. Well, except for one… Blythe Denton is used to being alone. The minister's family who raised her have never accepted her as their own, and made sure she understood just how unworthy she was of love. So when Blythe finally gets the chance to leave, she takes it and moves into an apartment building with a loud upstairs neighbour who keeps throwing parties all night long. During one such party Krit opens the door to find his new neighbour standing there. Blythe wants him to turn down the music, but he convinces her to stay. Blythe is nothing like the women who usually parade in and out of his apartment, but Krit can't resist her. Determined to win Blythe over, Krit Corbin may have just found his biggest addiction yet.

“Bringing together rigorous research and a vibrant writing style” (School Library Journal), Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds in this riotous, spirited biography of the most dangerous of all Allied spies, courageous and kickass Virginia Hall. When James Bond was still in diapers, Virginia Hall was behind enemy lines, playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Hitler’s henchmen. Did she have second thoughts after a terrible accident left her needing a wooden leg? Please. Virginia Hall was the baddest broad in any room she walked into. When the State Department proved to be a sexist boys’ club that wouldn’t let her in, she gave the finger to society’s expectations of women and became a spy for the British. This boss lady helped arm and train the French Resistance and organized sabotage missions. There was just one problem: The Butcher of Lyon, a notorious Gestapo commander, was after her. But, hey—Virginia’s classmates didn’t call her the Fighting Blade for nothing. So how does a girl who was a pirate in the school play, spent her childhood summers milking goats, and rocked it on the hockey field end up becoming the Gestapo’s most wanted spy? Audacious, irreverent, and fiercely feminist, Code Name Badass is for anyone who doesn’t take no for an answer.