Ali's Picks

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (Hardcover)

By Elizabeth Gilbert

$26.00

ISBN: 9781594634710

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Riverhead Books - September 22nd, 2015

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This book is so inspiring! As soon as I finished reading Liz Gilbert's Big Magic, I wanted to start it again. A starburst, lighthouse, magic lantern, and salve for any creative soul. Beautiful writing, too! If you're a creative-living-leaning person, and definitely if you also liked her vibe in her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, you'll love this one. It's a dazzler.

You Are a Badass®: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life (Paperback)

By Jen Sincero

$16.00

ISBN: 9780762447695

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Running Press Adult - April 23rd, 2013

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You Are A Badass, by Jen Sincero, is a refreshing, encouraging, funny, and effective kick-in-the-pants. The format is great--easy and fun to read and apply to whatever in your life needs some inspired cheerleading.

The Art of Memoir (Paperback)

By Mary Karr

$15.99

ISBN: 9780062223074

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Published: Harper Perennial - September 6th, 2016

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"At unexpected points in life," Marry Karr begins in The Art of Memoir, "everyone gets waylaid by the colossal force of recollection...but there are also memories that you dig for: you start with a clear fix on a tiny instant, and pick at every knot until a thin thread comes undone that you can follow back through the mind's labyrinth to other places..."

Anyone interested in the nature of memory and storytelling, or curious about the art of reading or writing memoir will delight in this book. Karr's voice is terrifically alive with humor, wit and wisdom. A true pioneer and apostle of her genre!

Mindfulness A to Z: 108 Insights for Awakening Now (Paperback)

By Arnie Kozak

$19.66

ISBN: 9781614290575

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Published: Wisdom Publications - September 22nd, 2015

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Arnie Kozak's Mindfulness A to Z is a creative and friendly invitation to explore the principles and practices of mindfulness. Nicely organized and puzzled together--insightful and accessible at once. Some wonderful entries you might not expect, like "Flourishing", "Landscape", and "Joy'. Enjoy!

The Boy Who Lost Fairyland (Hardcover)

By Catherynne M. Valente, Ana Juan (Illustrator)

$16.99

ISBN: 9781250023490

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Published: Feiwel & Friends - March 3rd, 2015

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Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series will forever be a favorite of mine: It's imaginative, meaningful, whimsical, playful, and is really--seriously--gorgeous writing. Her prose is some of the best I've seen. Next on my to-read list is this fourth book in the series, which stars (for the first time) a boy! Confession: I love Valente's writing so much that I procrastinate starting her books so I can postpone the sad situation of having to finish them. Great for: A Middle Grade reader and/or any-aged reader with an imaginative inner world who wonders, wanders, and wishes her/his way out of this one.

What Comes Next and How to Like It: A Memoir (Hardcover)

By Abigail Thomas

$27.84

ISBN: 9781476785059

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Published: Scribner - March 24th, 2015

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This is a lovely memoir about time, family, creativity, and friendship, and I really enjoyed its somewhat-unusual-for-memoir form (prose blocks/vignettes--with titles!) and the general cadence of the story. It's woven together with memory fragments, distilled moments, and sudden(-feeling) reflections. Richly peopled, intimate, and honest, this is a narrative that's settled in the telling, like life, where the threads cross. Great for: Anyone contemplating the familial and creative implications of time and aging, and/or interested in unconventional narrative forms. Especially if you are a dog person! Lots of dogs in this one.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage (Paperback)

By Ann Patchett

$15.99

ISBN: 9780062236685

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Published: Harper Perennial - October 7th, 2014

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This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage isn't about marriage! It's a "sparkling" (The New Yorker) collection of writings about all sorts of things, from dogs to opera to reading to the nature of truth and invention. Ann Patchett is beloved for her fiction mostly, but she's such a thoughtful and inspired writer that she can make any (every) thing interesting, relevant, and meaningful just by spinning words around it.

A great choice for fans of Patchett's fiction, for readers interested in the narrative and/or autobiographical essay, and for quiet but curious thinkers on ordinary and extraordinary things.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Paperback)

By Cheryl Strayed

$16.95

ISBN: 9780307476074

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Published: Vintage - March 26th, 2013

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I LOVED this book. (Please read it before you see the movie! Quick! I promise you won't be sorry.) Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, is a truly wholehearted, dangerously honest, and exceptionally moving memoir about a lost woman who wanders into the woods to find her way. A really engaging and beautiful read. A wonderful story for anyone looking to get lost and found at once.

The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation (Paperback)

By Thich Nhat Hanh

$15.00

ISBN: 9780807012390

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Published: Beacon Press - May 1st, 1999

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A blurb on the back of this book calls it "one of the best available introductions to the wisdom and beauty of the meditation practice", and I couldn't agree more. Thich Nhat Hanh's work is always affectionate, wise, bright-spirited, and accessible to anyone at any level of the practice--from a novice in her living room to in Vermont to a monk at his monastery in France. The Miracle of Mindfulness is for all of us. Peace!

Fierce Medicine: Breakthrough Practices to Heal the Body and Ignite the Spirit (Paperback)

By Ana T. Forrest

$15.99

ISBN: 9780061864254

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Published: HarperOne - July 10th, 2012

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This is a very powerful book about the truly healing and transformative potential of the yoga practice. In Fierce Medicine, Ana Forrest will challenge you to get curious about yourself and the truth of your experience of living. It's equal parts physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical guidance, as well as a glimpse into Ana's own journey. Ana Forrest is a highly respected and cherished teacher and is an inspiration to many around the world. Highly recommend!