Stronger: Courage, Hope, and Humor in My Life with John McCain by Cindy McCain

 

 

In Stronger, the widow of Senator John McCain opens up about her beloved husband, their thirty-eight-year marriage, and the trials and triumphs of a singular American life.
 
My husband, John McCain, never viewed himself as larger than life—but he was. He had more tenacity and resolve than anybody I ever met. Being with him didn’t hold me back—it gave me flight, a courage I never would have felt on my own.
 
Cindy Hensley was just out of college when she met and fell in love with the celebrated Navy hero John McCain. They embarked on a thrilling life together that put her at the center of American politics for over four decades. Stronger, her moving and inspiring memoir, tells the story of her adventurous life with John for the first time. 
 
Raising their four children in Arizona while John flourished as a six-term senator in Washington, D.C., Cindy McCain brought her own flair to the role of political wife. She eagerly supported John’s career even as she tried hard to stay out of the spotlight and maintain her own health and well-being. In Stronger, she is honest in revealing her own successes and missteps, discussing how she dealt with political attacks targeting her children, her battle with opioid addiction, and the wild whirl of campaigning for president.
 
As they built their life together, Cindy and John continued the multi-generation McCain tradition of service to country. With both immense pride and deep worry, she sent two sons off to active duty in the military. She describes her own brave efforts bringing medical support to countries in crisis and empowering women in Africa and around the world. And she reveals her feelings about the tumultuous effects of the Trump presidency on the military.
 
Most important, this book shares how John’s humor and strength helped Cindy grow into the confident woman she is now. More than a political story, Stronger is the unforgettable journey of one woman who believes in family, honor, and country—and is willing to stand up for all of them.

The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down by Andrew McCarthy

 

 

“A soulful and searching book. Vibrant and elegant…McCarthy’s prose shines with intelligence and intimacy. One feels pulled along…the book gaining momentum and meaning page by page” (Cheryl Strayed, The New York Times Book Review).

With absorbing honesty and an irrepressible taste for adventure, award-winning travel writer and actor Andrew McCarthy takes us on a deeply personal journey played out amid some of the world’s most evocative locales. Unable to commit to his fiancée of nearly four years—and with no clear understanding of what’s holding him back—McCarthy finds himself at a crossroads, plagued by doubts that have clung to him for a lifetime. Though he ventures from the treacherous slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro to an Amazonian riverboat and the dense Costa Rican rain forests, McCarthy’s real journey is one of the spirit. Disarmingly likable, McCarthy isn’t afraid to bare his soul on the page, and what emerges is an intimate memoir of self-discovery and an unforgettable love song to the woman who would be his wife.

Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage by Anne Lamott

 

 

“Anne Lamott is my Oprah.” -Chicago Tribune

From the bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow comes an inspiring guide to restoring hope and joy in our lives.

In Dusk, Night, Dawn, Anne Lamott explores the tough questions that many of us grapple with. How can we recapture the confidence we once had as we stumble through the dark times that seem increasingly bleak? As bad newspiles up—from climate crises to daily assaults on civility—how can we cope? Where, she asks, “do we start to get our world and joy and hope and our faith in life itself back . . . with our sore feet, hearing loss, stiff fingers, poor digestion, stunned minds, broken hearts?”

We begin, Lamott says, by accepting our flaws and embracing our humanity.

Drawing from her own experiences, Lamott shows us the intimate and human ways we can adopt to move through life’s dark places and toward the light of hope that still burns ahead for all of us.

As she does in Help, Thanks, Wow and her other bestselling books, Lamott explores the thorny issues of life and faith by breaking them down into manageable, human-sized questions for readers to ponder, in the process showing us how we can amplify life's small moments of joy by staying open to love and connection. As Lamott notes in Dusk, Night, Dawn, “I got Medicare three days before I got hitched, which sounds like something an old person might do, which does not describe adorably ageless me.” Marrying for the first time with a grown son and a grandson, Lamott explains that finding happiness with a partner isn't a function of age or beauty but of outlook and perspective.

Full of the honesty, humor, and humanity that have made Lamott beloved by millions of readers, Dusk, Night, Dawn is classic Anne Lamott—thoughtful and comic, warm and wise—and further proof that Lamott truly speaks to the better angels in all of us.

Overliked: Finding Direction, Courage, and Meaningful Relationships in a Society Crippled by Social Media by Rob Singleton

 

 

How to Connect with What's Most Important in a Hyperconnected World

Social media has the power to do a lot of good, but it can also get in the way of authenticity and create a sense of disillusionment. In Overliked, pastor and author Rob Singleton, asks readers to take a closer look at the optics in their lives and in the world around them. This is a book about understanding how to see ''likes'' and ''selfie'' culture for what they really are and how to connect with the heart of God to build out a new way of thinking about social image.

We have technology and social tools all at our disposal, but when we recognize that so many in our culture now look for acceptance in how they're perceived, feel pressure to project something about themselves that isn't true, or take action based on facts that have been spun, that's a problem that runs deep. Singleton shows readers how to find their way through the complexities by pointing them to God, who created truth, genuine love, and meaningful relationships. Written for those who believe ― for this generation and the next ― that they need to get a better handle on what's real in this culture and in the lives of those they care about, this book brings authenticity and hope to the center of it all.

Singleton offers powerful insights into how we can better leverage the information in the world around us without losing who we are. When we begin to see the real us behind the avatars, we gain the clarity we need to live better, love bigger, and become who we were always meant to be.