Dagböcker & memoarer

Originally published as "A dutiful boy: a memoir of a gay Muslim's journey to acceptance", London: Square Peg, 2020.

Each one of us wants to protect and nurture our loved ones. But if a friend or family member is grappling with a mental illness, it's likely there will have been times when you have felt powerless to help.Having spent years in psychiatric hospitals, Gisel Josy has learned that ultimately, recovery is a decision - a choice that a patient must make. But the first steps are rarely made alone; loved ones can provide the incentive needed to help someone start on the road to full recovery. Through detailing her own struggles with borderline personality disorder and Anorexia Nervosa, Gisel is determined to answer the questions that people might have about such an experience, from her perspective as a survivor. What exactly makes recovery feel so tough? Why might someone appear to be choosing not to recover? There are still many misinterpretations surrounding issues with mental health, which Gisel is passionate about dispelling. This book is more than an informative memoir; it is a heartfelt personal story, which the author hopes will impact on many people's lives, for the better.

A moving memoir of a love affair with an addict, weaving personal reckoning with psychology and history to grapple with addiction, codependency and our appetite for obsessive love.

A memoir by journalist Ito Shiori, recounting her rape by one of Japan's best-known TV journalists; making the experience public in a country where few do; and her struggle for justice for victims of sexual assault and rape in Japan.

The incredible true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Horse and The Eighty-Dollar Champion.In 1954, Annie Wilkins, a sixty-three-year-old farmer from Maine, embarked on an impossible journey. She had no relatives left, she'd lost her family farm to back taxes, and her doctor had just given her two years to live--but only if she "lived restfully." He offered her a spot in the county's charity home. Instead, she decided she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean just once before she died. She bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men's dungarees, loaded up her horse, and headed out from Maine in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow. She had no map, no GPS, no phone. But she had her ex-racehorse, her faithful mutt, and her own unfailing belief that Americans would treat a stranger with kindness.Between 1954 and 1956, Annie, Tarzan, and her dog, Depeche Toi, journeyed more than 4,000 miles, through America's big cities and small towns, meeting ordinary people and celebrities--from Andrew Wyeth (who sketched Tarzan) to Art Linkletter and Groucho Marx. She received many offers--a permanent home at a riding stable in New Jersey, a job at a gas station in rural Kentucky, even a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher who loved animals as much as she did. As Annie trudged through blizzards, forded rivers, climbed mountains, and clung to the narrow shoulder as cars whipped by her at terrifying speeds, she captured the imagination of an apprehensive Cold War America. At a time when small towns were being bypassed by Eisenhower's brand-new interstate highway system, and the reach and impact of television was just beginning to be understood, Annie and her four-footed companions inspired an outpouring of neighborliness in a rapidly changing world.

'Not until college days do I discover the shocking secret of my father's death.'With a journalist's background Philip Yancey is widely admired for taking on the more difficult and confusing aspects of faith. Now in Where the Light Fell he shares, for the first time, the painful details of his own origins - taking us on an evocative journey from the backwoods and Bible-belt pockets of the South to the bustling streets of Philadelphia; from trailer parks to church parking lots; from dark secrets and family oddballs to fire-and-brimstone preachers and interminable church services. Raised by their impoverished single mother, Philip and his brother Marshall struggle to comprehend her speeches about their dead father, an Old Testament Bible story, and sons sacrificed for a divine cause.This coming-of-age story is a slice of life, both intensely personal and broadly resonant, set against a turbulent time in post-WWII American history shaped by the racism and paranoia of fundamentalist Christianity and reshaped by the mounting pressures of the Civil Rights movement and 60s-era forces of social change. An unforgettable read, it is at once hugely funny, deeply disturbing and achingly poignant. A testament to the power of the human spirit, Where the Light Fell illuminates Yancey's ability to bring comfort to those bruised by the church, and hope to those who can't imagine ever finding a healthy faith.

Warning: This book is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any of your problems.

From former football player and star of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette comes a fascinating and eye-opening behind-the-scenes look at his drama-filled season on the hit reality show. Before Colton Underwood captured the hearts of millions on The Bachelor, he was a goofy, socially awkward, overweight adolescent who succeeded on the football field while struggling with personal insecurities off it. An All American gridiron hero, he was also a complex, sometimes confused, soft-hearted romantic wondering how these contradictions fit together. Old-fashioned and out of step with the swipe right dating culture of today, he was saving the most intimate part of life for the love of his life. If only he could find her Now, in The First Time, Colton opens up about how he came to find himself and true love at the same time via the Bachelor franchise. Unencumbered by cameras and commercial breaks, he delivers a surprisingly raw, endearing, and seriously juicy account of his journey through The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and The Bachelor, along with what has happened with him and Cassie Randolph since his season wrapped. He opens up about being dumped by Becca, his secret dalliance with Tia, what it was like to be the world's most famous virgin, his behind-the-scenes conflicts with production, and how his on-camera responsibilities as the Bachelor nearly destroyed him after he knew he had already fallen in love with Cassie. A memoir for Bachelor Nation and anyone who believes in the magic of love, The First Time carries a simple but powerful message: It's okay to laugh and cry and occasionally jump over a fence, if it means coming one step closer to the right person.

Always steered by Alex Paterson, The Orb were the mischief-making pioneers of the late 80s acid house revolution. Inventing "e;ambient house"e;, they took it to the top of the charts, before continuing its idiosyncratic flight path through subsequent decades, battling meteor storms en route. Babble On An' Ting, the first full account of Paterson's life, written by long-time friend Kris Needs in close collaboration with Alex, reveals a frequently astonishing journey from traumatic childhood through punk, Killing Joke and KLF to starting The Orb in 1988, then the five decade roller coaster that followed. Moving, shocking, hilarious and inspiring, at the heart of this story lies a true survivor doggedly following their musical passion.First-hand interviews include those with Youth, Andrew Weatherall, Primal Scream, Jah Wobble, Jimmy Cauty and a parade of friends, collaborators and starship mechanics.

A thought-provoking look at the biggest challenges facing society through the unique lens of an experienced police officer and hostage negotiator

Writer's Letters is a collection of fascinating letters written by great writers, from Dickens to De Beauvoir

Southern Man tells the story of Alan Walden, one of the most colourful and influential personalities to emerge from the history of R&B and Southern rock n roll.

Few soldiers are deemed good enough to be selected and trained as snipers and even fewer qualify. As a result, snipers are regarded as the elite of their units and their skills command the ungrudging respect of their fellows - and the enemy. The Author is one such man who recently served a full tour of duty with 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. James describes the highs and lows of almost daily front line action experienced by our soldiers deployed on active service in arguably the most dangerous area of the world. As part of the Battle Group’s crack Mobile Operations Group, James’s mission was to liquidate as many Taliban as possible. The reader experiences sniper tactics and actions, whether in ambush or quick pre-planned strikes, amid the ever present lethal danger of IEDs. His book, the first to be written by a trained sniper in Afghanistan, reveals the psychological pressures and awesome life-and-death responsibility of his role and, in particular, the deadly cat-and-mouse ‘games’ with the enemy snipers intent on their own kills. These involved the clinical killing of targets at ranges of 1,000 meters or greater. Sniper in Helmand is a thrilling action-packed, yet very human, account of both front line service in the intense Afghanistan war and first-hand sniper action. Andy McNab inspired James to join the army and has written a moving foreword.

Introduced by leading historian Helen Graham, Homage to Catalonia is Orwell's first-hand account of the Spanish Civil War.

Barely educated and valued since childhood strictly for his labour, Ernaux's father had grown into a hard, practical man who showed his family little affection. Narrating his slow ascent towards material comfort, Ernaux's cold observation in A MAN'S PLACE reveals the shame that haunted her father throughout his life.

A powerful, raw and unflinchingly honest account of a life coming undone

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Memoir of the year' - Vogue'A wondrous, sensuous memoir of salt-stung survival .

"One day you will know that the world is a beautiful place to be and that you are so loved."A 10 year-old holds a letter to the light, trying to read the handwritten scrawl that looks so familiar. At the bottom of the lined page, finished with a confident flourish, is a similarly familiar signature. The realisation comes, with a shock - it''s a letter from the child''s future self. What does it say?If you could write a letter to your childhood self, would it be a handbook of survival, a missive of near misses? Or a soul-lifting celebration of triumph over adversity? In this heartwarming anthology, twenty-five extraordinary everyday people write to their 10-year-old selves, delivering wisdom, witticisms and warnings aimed to smooth the winding road into their future. Along with the lessons learned from the highs and lows of growing up, comes the reassurance of experience and the cumulative benefits of endurance, destined to provide a guiding light to those looking for inspiration.