Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius the Great Is Not Okay
Author: Adib Khorram
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2024-04-02
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0593857054

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA. Winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award “Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real. I’d live in this book forever if I could.” —Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life. Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they’re spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city’s skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush—the original Persian version of his name—and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he’s Darioush to Sohrab. Adib Khorram’s brilliant debut is for anyone who’s ever felt not good enough—then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.

Just Be Honest

Just Be Honest
Author: Clint Watkins
Publisher: The Good Book Company
Total Pages: 135
Release: 2024-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 178498938X

Learn how to lament (wrestle with God in prayer) and experience genuine hope and joy amidst grief and pain. Suffering often causes deep spiritual agony. You might be left thinking, “Where is God? Why is he allowing this? Why doesn’t he do something?” And then guilt whispers to your soul, “Am I allowed to say these things? Shouldn’t I trust God without hesitation? Am I just a faithless Christian?” This honest, warm and personal book shows us that we don’t need to wrap up our stories of suffering with lessons and silver linings or suppress our pain. Being honest with God, and with others, about our heartache is not only “allowed” but encouraged in the Scriptures. In fact, lament is authorized by God as an act of worship. Weaving in his own story of pain and loss with biblical reflections, Clint Watkins shows us how lament is permitted by Jesus, shaped by Scripture, fueled by grace, and filled with hope. And when we lament as communities through worship and testimony, we minister hope to a hurting world. Learn how to pray without pretending by sharing your hurts with God. As you draw near to the Father, experience genuine hope and joy amid grief and pain. A great gift for Christians who are suffering and a useful resource for church leaders and others who are walking alongside them. Clint Watkins is a missionary to college students.

A Little Life

A Little Life
Author: Hanya Yanagihara
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 833
Release: 2016-01-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0804172706

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

Typical Girls

Typical Girls
Author: Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2021-12-03
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 135029215X

In a mental health unit inside a prison, a group of women discover the music of punk rock band The Slits and form their own group. An outlet for their frustration, they find remedy in revolution. But in a system that suffocates, can rebellion ever be allowed? Written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Emilia), Typical Girls is a funny, fierce and furious part-gig, part-play, co-commissioned by Clean Break theatre company.

Hey, you

Hey, you
Author: Alex James Eccleston
Publisher: Alex James Eccleston
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2021-12-01
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN:

"Gripping from the first page until the last..." "Great story, great characters and a great read..." Love, betrayal and Hollywood... Like everyone, Will Miller has a dream. A dream of one day becoming the creator of his own TV show. But unlike most, Will is determined to transform his dream into a reality, even if that means going to the most extreme measures and having the most ambitious expectations. Ellie is a world-famous Hollywood actress, with her face on billboards and people screaming her name no matter where in the world she may find herself. Even though she loves to act, she loathes the fame that comes with it. All Ellie seeks is a normal life, a life where she can walk down the street in peace, without worrying about being chased by paparazzi. Purely by chance - and after a slightly dramatic incident involving tomato soup, these two opposites find friendship through forming the most unlikely of partnerships as they strive to take on Hollywood together.As love blossoms, trouble lurks on the horizon. Following false accusations that result in a police investigation, Will and Ellie are torn apart by society and face a series of challenges to be together once again...

The Heavenly Baker

The Heavenly Baker
Author: J J Monroe
Publisher: Headline Accent
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2014-01-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1783754958

Cariad means love... discover the new Cariad Singles collection of spicy romances. Ava Michaels, the proprietor of “Little Angels” bakery is a born romantic who harbours a torch for celebrity baker, Matt Richards. When she catches her current boyfriend in flagrante delicto she seeks solace and vodka in the shape of her best friend who decides there and then to enter Ava into the latest Heavenly Baker competition. Thinking nothing more of it, Ava is shocked to receive a call from the Heavenly Baker’s assistant asking her to travel up to London for an audition. Unwilling to get her hopes up, Ava nonetheless wows all who meet her including the Heavenly Baker himself. When their eyes meet across a crowded television studio there is no turning back and the blue touch paper is well and truly lit. Sugar and spice and all things very naughty; is it lust or love that propels Ava into the arms of Matt Richards? She doesn’t care as she is having so much fun until the arrival of Roxy McQueen, an old flame, and then the stakes are upped. Can Ava compete with the minxy Roxy McQueen or is she destined to be unlucky in love?

Secret Gifts

Secret Gifts
Author: Elena Aitken
Publisher: Elena Aitken
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2013-11-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 099170939X

A sexy movie star with a secret. The woman hired to protect him from himself. An attraction they never expected—and can't deny. Public relations rep, Megan has her work cut out for her keeping the movie star of the moment, Gage Mitchell out of the lime light and most importantly—out of trouble, or both of them will be looking for new careers. Surrounded by wilderness, and tucked away in a remote mountain lodge far away from the paparazzi, there isn't much for Megan and Gage to focus on—except each other. But when a dark secret from Gage's past threatens to ruin everything, Megan and Gage stand to lose it all—including each other.

Healing Honestly

Healing Honestly
Author: Alisa Zipursky
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2023
Genre: Mind and body
ISBN: 1523001410

"Healing History is a candid, poignant, and often funny survivor-to-survivor guide to navigating the salty waters of untrue stories and victim-blaming narratives that you hear every day. Survivors of sex abuse are inundated with untrue stories of their abuse, the aftermath, and what their healing journey should look like. The truth is those stories are a load of crap. Healing Honestly is a survivor-to-survivor guide to breaking through the negative self-talk and debunking the myths that plague victims of sex abuse, such as: there is a "real" survivor out there, and we are not it; it happened so long ago that we should be over it by now; we are having too much sex because of our trauma and, also, we are having too little sex because of our trauma. With an approachable style that makes stigmatized topics not so scary, this book shows how trauma survivors will can learn to identify these untrue stories within themselves and find guidance on day-to-day struggles, such as "how to date" and "how to navigate flashbacks." Full of wit and humor, this book offers practical strategies for survivors of sex abuse to fight stigma and self-blame with radical honesty"--

1000 Days of Celibacy: A Race Against the Cockatoo

1000 Days of Celibacy: A Race Against the Cockatoo
Author: Erin Dunphy
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2009-12
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 0557229812

Join '1000 Days', the celibate blogger read around the world, as she embarks on a thousand day, sex-less quest to find the elusive Mr. Possibility.Through her sarcastic commentary on the dating world and her many dating mis-adventures, we enter a world of scheming ‘Bar-Whores,’Rocky ‘Quasi-Relationships’ and lying ‘Cockatoos’.So sit back, grab a glass of wine and a slice of pie, and read about what it takes to survive the dating world.Oh, and learn why it’s important to learn to say - Screw You, Cockatoo.