National Bestseller Best Book of the Year: NPR, Shelf Awareness “I didn't know how much I needed a laugh until I began reading Stephen McCauley's new novel, My Ex-Life. This is the kind of witty, sparkling, sharp novel for which the verb ‘chortle’ was invented.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air “McCauley fits neatly alongside Tom Perrotta and Maria Semple in the category of ‘Novelists You’d Most Like to Drive Across the Country With.’” —The New York Times Book Review David Hedges’s life is coming apart at the seams. His job helping San Francisco rich kids get into the colleges of their (parents’) choice is exasperating; his younger boyfriend has left him; and the beloved carriage house he rents is being sold. His solace is a Thai takeout joint that delivers 24/7. The last person he expects to hear from is Julie Fiske. It’s been decades since they’ve spoken, and he’s relieved to hear she’s recovered from her brief, misguided first marriage. To him. Julie definitely doesn’t have a problem with marijuana (she’s given it up completely, so it doesn’t matter if she gets stoned almost daily) and the Airbnb she’s running out of her seaside house north of Boston is neither shabby nor illegal. And she has two whole months to come up with the money to buy said house from her second husband before their divorce is finalized. She’d just like David’s help organizing college plans for her seventeen-year-old daughter. That would be Mandy. To quote Barry Manilow, Oh Mandy. While she knows she’s smarter than most of the kids in her school, she can’t figure out why she’s making so many incredibly dumb and increasingly dangerous choices? When David flies east, they find themselves living under the same roof (one David needs to repair). David and Julie pick up exactly where they left off thirty years ago—they’re still best friends who can finish each other’s sentences. But there’s one broken bit between them that no amount of home renovations will fix. In prose filled with hilarious and heartbreakingly accurate one-liners, Stephen McCauley has written a novel that examines how we define home, family, and love. Be prepared to laugh, shed a few tears, and have thoughts of your own ex-life triggered. (Throw pillows optional.)

A candid, albeit at times tongue-in-cheek, expose of the challenges facing today's blended family. Written from the next wife's point of view, it delves into the murky waters of step-mothering, climbs the treacherous terrain of reluctant in-laws, and warns the next-wife against tripping in the footsteps of the woman who came first.

David Hedges is having an unusual midlife crisis. His boyfriend, Soren, has left him for an older man, albeit a successful surgeon. His job--helping the spoiled children of San Francisco's elite get into college--is exasperating. As his life reaches new lows, his weight reaches new highs. The only good thing he has is his under-market-value apartment that has a view so stunning he is the envy of all of San Francisco. But when the landlord finally decides to sell--to Soren and the surgeon courtesy of his supposed realtor friend--David hits rock bottom.Across the country, Julie Fiske isn't having a much better time herself. Carol, the woman (younger, of course) that Henry, her second husband, left her for, is downright likable--more likeable than Henry was. The bills that she files by throwing into the back seat of her car keep piling up--so much so that she has turned her rambling home into an illegal B&B in the seaside tourist town where she lives. Her sullen teen daughter adamantly refused to apply to college (as David says, "I'm always drawn to sadness in teenagers, which I take to be a sign of intelligence. What teenager with half a brain looking at the condition of the planet they would inherit wouldn't be sad?"). And Julie can't seem to quit smoking weed (Why should she? It's the one good thing she has). Henry lays down an ultimatum--if Mandy doesn't start applying to college, she's going to come live with him and Carol. And then Mandy surprises Henry, and stuns Julie, by saying she's been working with David Hedges, Mom's first husband from long ago. It's a lie, but a good one, and, Julie thinks, not a bad idea. So when Julie calls David up out of the blue and asks if he'll help Mandy, he says of course. And when Mandy tells David he should come visit them and stay in one of their B&B rooms, he surprises everyone, including himself, by accepting.Soon David and Julie are living together and in many ways pick up exactly where they left off. But while the chemistry between them is still there, and they can finish each other's sentences, there's one conversation they never finished that is unavoidable.

Finding God in the Seasons of Divorce A daily devotional for individuals working through the emotions and difficulties of divorce, this first volume, Autumn and Winter, deals with the early days of divorce, when so much of life is falling apart, becoming so difficult and uncertain. The book helps readers learn how to cope and to see that they are not alone, that God does care, and that the struggles have been faced by others as well. This devotional is designed to coincide with the “seasons” of the process of divorce or other loss. Hence, readers may read daily or read the devotional at their own pace in an order that will bring help and encouragement as they slowly heal from divorce. A topical index addresses specific needs. Richard’s experiences result in a book that is a comforting, encouraging “voice in the wilderness” as readers seek to find God’s hand in new ways. This book is a resource, not only for pastors and counselors, but for anyone who desires to help a struggling friend or family member in the wake of divorce.

This book provides practical hard-to-find help to fathers who are separated from their kids. It covers various relevant areas from legal and financial to emotional and recreational. This work is delivered in a down-to-earth and accessible style. Contents: 1. Separation; 2. Seeing your kids:the first few months; 3. Contact arrangements; 4. Court orders: dealing with family courts; 5. Mediation services; 6. Your financial responsibility to your children; 7. Ongoing parenting: become a great dad; 8. Building your own support network; 9. Paternity issues; 10. Parent Alienation Syndrome; Useful contacts; Index.

You absolutely deserve to be happy, but first you must overcome the belief you’re not worthy of it. We all have pasts that unfortunately have taken hold of us and turned us into victims of our own experiences. To move forward in life, we cannot stay in this role because it produces negative ripple effects. In Healing Within, Loving Throughout, author Megan McCarthy uses her experiences, and of those around her, as examples to illustrate how the victim mentality happens, why it happens, and to help you prevent it from occurring again. The examples provided in this guide help you shed the old wounds so you can become the magnificent soul you are. McCarthy presents a step-by-step approach for following a positive and victimless lifestyle. Through exercises and tools, she walks you through identifying your why and addresses the topics of dream writing, the law of attraction, and others. She shows you it’s time to get out of your way and own your life again.

In that Rhymes and Reasons are songs, not poems, I’ve left them in the accepted patterns necessary to set them to music. There may be some repetition but rare is the song sang in its entirety without repeating verses or choruses especially, what is now considered the chorus. The earlier songs were primarily AABA or ABAC patterns which were the norm back then. As patterns evolved into the more contemporary verse-chorus mode, I’d suspect that happened because repetition of the chorus allows for more rousing concert finales in which audience might be tempted to sing along.