Each day I rise knowing that I have the grit and determination to rise above life’s barriers, no matter what the cost. At times, that cost has been high. I have built an awesome life from the ashes of childhood tragedy and I try to absorb today’s lessons, for I never know what’s just around the corner. I love and live life to the fullest because after all, we are only given one shot at it. My recent memoir depicts my strengths, my weaknesses, my loves, and my disappointments. All have been valuable inspirational tools in my wonderful journey through life.
This powerful and immensely nostalgic story centers around Olympic hopeful Carole, whose promising career as a swimmer is devastatingly shut down at the age of fourteen. Born in unusual circumstances and raised by loving, but strict disciplinarian parents, while still just a child, Carole faces tragedy born out of ignorance.
Growing up in a Catholic environment in a small mining town in the sixties, this damaged child digs deep and rises above her circumstances to become an elite sportswoman, a loving mother, and a highly successful business women with an obsession for travel.
It will be difficult for you to remain untouched as you travel Carole's pathway through life arriving at this strong determined woman’s eventual rise from the ashes of her past.
This story follows Kya who, as a result of her father’s drunken behaviour is abandoned in the harsh, but beautiful marshlands of North Carolina.
My overall feeling throughout, was that this child and later young woman, was resourceful and definitely a survivor. She portrayed such a great inner strength, that never did I feel that she would drown under the fierce ridicule and abuse that life handed her. It was Kya’s naivety and her appreciation of the simple things in her life that had me championing her cause.
This read conveys the worst and the best of life in a small backwater community and is without a doubt, one of the best novels I’ve read. It left me feeling that we can all rise above our circumstances to find happiness and success in life.
OVER 12 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE A NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be…
While reading this dystopian novel, my thoughts constantly swung between “make-believe” and “what if this was actually true”. It’s a fascinating perspective on just how easily our lives can be adversely affected by those who believe their intentions are for the greater good.
This scenario could so easily become a reality in the not-too-distant future and in spite of this, the story enticed me to travel along with the courageous Handmaids’ constant battle to stay mentally strong and to do whatever was necessary to stay alive.
It is a gripping tale and a testament to humanity’s instinct for survival.
* In interviews with Atwood, she has been known to say that she based her novel on events that have already happened somewhere in the world.
** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER ** **A BBC BETWEEN COVERS BIG JUBILEE READ**
Go back to where it all began with the dystopian novel behind the award-winning TV series.
'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it' Guardian
I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.
Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford -…
If you are looking for riveting reading, this book kept me awake into the early hours of the morning.
It isn’t just the poverty of Mandela’s beginnings that captured me, nor the cruelty of Apartheid that was so much a part of his family’s history, it is his ability to “turn the other cheek”. His defiance in the face of certain retribution because he believed that he had to make a better world for his fellow man, is an example of what true belief is all about.
Even during his hardest times during the quarter of a century that he spent on Robbin Island, Mandela portrayed his steely grace.
This read is a blueprint for all of humanity. It will not leave you untouched.
'The authentic voice of Mandela shines through this book . . . humane, dignified and magnificently unembittered' The Times
The riveting memoirs of the outstanding moral and political leader of our time, A Long Walk to Freedom brilliantly re-creates the drama of the experiences that helped shape Nelson Mandela's destiny. Emotive, compelling and uplifting, A Long Walk to Freedom is the exhilarating story of an epic life; a story of hardship, resilience and ultimate triumph told with the clarity and eloquence of a born leader.
Born into poverty in Chairman Mao’s regime, Li’s peasant life was altered when he was chosen to be one of the special guards for Mao’s new China.
I found this small boy’s courage and his understanding, both forged by his longing for freedom, to be one of life’s most great motivators. I cried for him in his times of desperate loneliness and was proud of him in his moments of success, however small.
Li’s dream to become the world’s finest dancer becomes a reality when, after many years of heartache and desperation, eventually overcome by his determination and grit, he dances with some of the world’s leading ballet companies.
The extraordinary memoir of a peasant boy raised in rural Maoist China who was plucked from his village to study ballet and went on to become one of the greatest dancers of his generation.
From a desperately poor village in northeast China, at age eleven, Li Cunxin was chosen by Madame Mao's cultural delegates to be taken from his rural home and brought to Beijing, where he would study ballet. In 1979, the young dancer arrived in Texas as part of a cultural exchange, only to fall in love with America-and with an American woman. Two years…
There have been several books written about the life of Dawn Fraser, one of Australia’s greatest female swimmers to date. I like this original one which was recommended to me by Bill Sweetenham A.M and Hall of Fame who wrote the foreward for my own memoir. I borrowed this when both Bill and I were starting in our swimming careers.
I think this one portrays both sides of Dawn’s character. From her rise from humble beginnings in the poorer part of Sydney’s Balmain to her great accomplishments on the world sporting stage, she inspired me to reach for the stars: to always be the best that I could be.
Through it all—the kudos of being the best, through the heartache of losing her mother, the tragic car accident on the eve of a major event, and the eventual breakdown of her marriage, Dawn remained herself: just a loveable Aussie with an awesome swimming style.
I felt then as I do now, that this book is gold for anyone wanting to learn how to overcome the odds and achieve, despite them.
Creative expression has been one of my most cherished values since childhood. I've always had a creative hobby of some kind since I was a kid. Not sure how that happened – my parents were tolerant of my interests at best. I made my day job career in the arts, fostering the creativity of community members and supporting the work of artists. Art (in the general sense of all forms of creative expression) is, to me, a defining characteristic of humanity, it makes life worth living, and the way it’s devalued under Capitalism both saddens and inspires me as a creator myself. I’m a writer of speculative fiction and I write about creative people.
Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon where everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn’t take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job, and when the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes’ head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him or face vivisection.
With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But when the boss sets the circus up to take the fall for his about-to-get-busted narcotics operation, Jes and his friends decide to bring the mobster down. And if Jes can also avoid going back to being the prize subject of a scientist who can’t wait to dissect him? Even better.
Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon where everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn't take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job, and when the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes' head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him or face vivisection.
With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But…
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