A myth-shattering, inspiring book that combines research, reportage, and memoir to explore the growing phenomenon of estrangement from toxic relatives—showing it not as a tragedy, but as an empowering and effective solution to the heartbreak of family abuse.

After decades of enduring his mother’s physical and psychological torment, after years of trying in vain to set boundaries, Eamon Dolan took a radical step: he cut his mother out of his life. No more phone calls, no more visits, no more contact. Parting with his abuser gave him immediate relief and set him on a path toward freedom, confidence, and joy like none he had ever felt before.

In The Power of Parting, Dolan has written the book he wishes he’d had when he was struggling to free himself from his mother’s abuse. In the process, he discovered how widespread estrangement really is. At least 27 percent of Americans are estranged from a parent, sibling, or other family member. He also learned why so much stigma surrounds this common—and often lifesaving—phenomenon. Even among therapists—the professionals who would seem most attuned to the pain relatives can inflict—there’s a bias toward reconciliation, when millions of their patients need instead to escape their abusers’ grip. Estrangement, Dolan realized, should be understood and embraced, not shrouded in shame.

Drawing on his own suffering and healing, as well as experts’ advice and the testimony of other courageous survivors, Dolan first explains why abuse is much different and more prevalent than we may think, how it harms us in childhood and beyond, and why limiting or eliminating contact might be our best possible choice. Then, he walks readers through the steps of a successful, positive estrangement: how to take crucial time for yourself; how to make sure no one can gaslight you into minimizing or forgetting; how to set rules for your abuser and—if they can’t or won’t respect your limits—how to end a toxic relationship. He also offers valuable counsel on how to ease the guilt and grief that often accompany parting, and how to break the cycle of abuse that was likely passed down to you through many generations.

With a convincing blend of clarity and empathy, Dolan encourages others to do what he ultimately did for himself: determine whether the people in your life treat you with the care and concern you deserve—and part ways with them if they don’t.

In her latest book, five-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Dr Brene Brown, writes, "If we want to find the way back to ourselves and each other, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories, and to be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection."

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and lays out an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances - a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heart-breaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

Over the past two decades, Brown's extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as Brown's singular skills as a researcher/storyteller, to lay out an invaluable, research-based framework that shows us that naming an experience doesn't give the experience more power, it gives us the power of understanding, meaning and choice.

Brown shares, "I want this to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves. Even when we have no idea where we are."

Why is it so difficult to find the perfect partner? Is God preventing me from finding that special someone for a reason? Is there something wrong with me? Will I ever meet someone—or am I going to remain single forever?

Perhaps as a Christian single, you’ve asked yourself some or all of these questions—and you’re not alone. The good news is that God has a plan for you.

Author David Brühlmann tackles these questions head-on in his honest, heartfelt book, Single for a Season. Through his own challenges as well as the stories of twelve other Christian singles, Brühlmann reveals profound insights so that you may find peace, inspiration, and meaning during this season of your life.

Single doesn’t need to be lonely. Instead of wasting time on what-ifs and should’ve-beens, Single for a Season will help you:

• Dispel myths about the single life—and why you’re still single
• Experience true joy, satisfaction, and contentment in being single
• Find your God-given purpose as a single
• Deepen your relationship with Him
• Take key action steps to change your life right now

By demonstrating how living as a Christian single not only builds up God’s kingdom but also leads to a life of satisfaction and purpose, you’ll discover a new passion for your life, regardless of relationship status. Single for a Season will help you make the shift from the impatience and anxiety that comes from waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right, to living a life filled with purpose and passion.

From step-by-step exercises and real-life stories that help you implement the concepts presented, to additional resources and insightful questions to consider, this is the perfect book for any single wanting to live a fulfilling life—or for your next Bible study. Start your journey today and make this time one of the most exciting, meaningful seasons of your life.

"I forgive you."

Three simple words behind which sits an intriguing and complex concept. These words can be used to absolve a meaningless squabble, or said to someone who has caused you great harm. They can liberate you from guilt, or consciously place blame on your shoulders.

Forgiveness can often be perceived as saccharine and overtly religious, something just for the spiritually superior or mentally strong. But really it is a gritty, risky concept that is so often relevant to our ordinary everyday lives. Forgiveness explores the subject from every angle, coming from a place of enquiry rather than persuasion, presenting it as an offering, never a prescription.

Marina Cantacuzino seeks to investigate, unpick and debate the limits and possibilities of forgiveness – in our relationships, for our physical and mental wellbeing, how it plays out in international politics and within the criminal justice system, and where it intersects with religious faith. Cantacuzino speaks to people across the globe who have considered forgiveness in different forms and circumstances. She talks to a survivor of Auschwitz; to someone who accidentally killed a friend; to people who have lost loved ones in acts of violence; to a former combatant in The Troubles as well as to the daughter of someone he murdered.

Through these real stories, expert opinion and the author’s experience from two decades working in this field, the reader gets to better understand what forgiveness is and what it most definitely isn’t, how it can be an important element in breaking the cycle of suffering, and ultimately how it might help transform fractured relationships and mend broken hearts.

In Love & Intimate is a book borne out of love. In June 1980 Jerry got married to his wife Claudine and they have been together since. This book is an exploration of the tools that have seen them now enter their 35th year of marriage.

It looks at the how and when. It is a manual of how you transition from a young newly wedded couple to a couple that has grown, studied, worked and ministered together. It further explores how couples work and exist independently of each other but can also form also a dream team that makes you unique.

Jerry and his wife have spoken on and facilitated workshops and seminars on Love, Courtship and Marriage from as early as the 1980s and have explored the themes in their width and breath.

There are countless books about menopause on the market. We've all accepted that women change at midlife. However, there is another much ignored change that affects hundreds of millions of women across the globe: manopause - the changes that all men go through starting at about age 40.

In this groundbreaking book, Lisa Friedman Bloch and Kathy Kirtland Silverman look at men's changes from a new and uplifting perspective. Aimed at women, Manopause explores how biological and psychological factors collide with the societal pressures men face, and provides advice on how women can help themselves and their men move through and enjoy this sometimes challenging phase.

Laying out the commonly accepted rules of what it means to 'be a man' - rules like 'Your worth is only as great as your power, money and status,' 'Push down your emotions,' and 'Always be aggressive and strong' - the authors explore how men strive to live up to these expectations, and how shouldering this burden becomes harder at midlife. Both physical changes and emotional realizations play in to men's fear that they are losing their grip. And yet, as the authors explain, it is these very changes that can open the door to a far richer and more fulfilling life. With a goal of creating greater understanding and compassion for the subject of manopause, Bloch and Silverman solidly ground readers with information about men's changes before guiding them through a practical discussion of how to handle the outward effects they experience. They address emotional reactions, behavioural issues, hormone loss, sex and intimacy, and family and work relationships with an eye to how all can be immeasurably improved.

By bringing this topic more into the public eye, they hope to help women and men everywhere learn to better alleviate the confusion, misunderstanding and discontent of manopause.

Popular parenting expert Dr Laura Markham has garnered a large and loyal readership around the world, thanks to her simple, insightful approach that values the emotional bond between parent and child. However, as any parent of more than one child knows, it's challenging for even the most engaged parent to maintain harmony and a strong connection when competition, tempers, and irritation run high. In this highly anticipated guide, Dr Markham presents simple yet powerful ways to cut through the squabbling and foster a loving, supportive bond between siblings, while giving each child the vital connection that he or she needs. Calm Parents, Happy Siblings presents hands-on, research-based advice on: Creating deep connections with each one of your children, so that each truly believes that you couldn't possibly love anyone else more. Fostering a loving family culture that encourages laughter and minimizes fighting. Teaching your children healthy emotional self-management and conflict resolution skills - so that they can work things out with each other, get their own needs met and respect the needs of others. Helping your kids forge a close lifelong sibling bond, as well as the relationship skills they will need for a life of healthy friendships, work relationships, and eventually their own family bonds.

In Love In The Time Of Contempt Joanne Fedler won’t tell you how to be the ‘perfect’ parent. She’s not a psychologist or an academic. But she is the mother of two teenagers, and she knows how it feels to be the parent of someone sprouting hair, zits and attitude all over the place.

This is a gritty, hilarious look at the day-to-day interactions with teenagers, and the tussled, frazzled and complex business of remaining mature while supporting someone to become an adult.

Fedler shares her philosophy that we are meant to parent imperfectly – our mistakes are the start of the important conversations we need to have with our kids. She guides us through enduring intermittent bouts of contempt and not taking it personally, picking the fights that are worth having, and surviving the journey from frustration, to confusion, to elation and back again.

Love In The Time Of Contempt is a funny, poignant account of the dramas and delights of parenting teenagers who know it all, who don’t yet have a fully functioning brain and who desperately need us to parent them – just not in the way we’re used to.

Hard-hitting divorce lawyer James J. Sexton shares his insights and wisdom to help you reverse-engineer a healthy, fulfilling romantic relationship with How to Stay in Love.

With two decades on the front lines of divorce Sexton has seen what makes formerly happy couples fall out of love and “lose the plot” of the story they were writing together. Now he reveals all of the “what-not-to-dos” for couples who want to build―and consistently work to preserve―a lasting, loving relationship. Sexton tells the unvarnished truth about love and marriage, diving straight into the most common issues that often arise from simple communication problems and relationships that develop by “default” instead of design.

Though he deals constantly with the heartbreak of others, he still believes in romance and the transformative power of love. This book is his opportunity to use what he has learned from the mistakes of his clients to help individuals and couples find and preserve lasting connection.

Previously published as If You're In My Office, It's Already Too Late.

Relationships are foundational to our lives, yet we often lack the tools to create and sustain healthy relationships. How can we learn to understand ourselves better? How can we foster more honesty and trust? How can we navigate conflicts and challenges while still cultivating love?

In his latest book, yung pueblo explores how building meaningful and fulfilling relationships - whether with friends, family or romantic partners - starts with self-awareness and personal growth. Filled with personal anecdotes, practical advice and a collection of new poetry, yung pueblo shares profound wisdom on how we can heal our trauma and unprocessed emotions, release judgement, communicate effectively and handle disagreements with others.

How to Love Better will empower you to approach your relationships with understanding, compassion and vulnerability so you can build authentic connections and transform the way you love.

Shirley, Goodness & Mercy is a heart-warming, yet compellingly honest story about a young boy growing up in the coloured townships of Newclare, Coronationville and Riverlea during the apartheid era.

Despite Van Wyk’s later becoming involved in the struggle, this is not a book about racial politics. Instead, it is a delightful account of one boy’s special relationship with the relatives, friends and neighbours who made up his community, and of the important coping role laughter and humour played during the years he spent in bleak and dusty townships.

In Shirley, Goodness & Mercy Chris van Wyk – poet, novelist and short story writer – has created a truly remarkable work, at once both thought-provoking and vastly entertaining.

A “must-read” (The Washington Post) funny and practical guide to help you find, build, and keep the relationship of your dreams.

Have you ever looked around and wondered, “Why has everyone found love except me?” You’re not the only one. Great relationships don’t just appear in our lives—they’re the culmination of a series of decisions, including whom to date, how to end it with the wrong person, and when to commit to the right one. But our brains often get in the way. We make poor decisions, which thwart us on our quest to find lasting love.

Drawing from years of research, behavioral scientist turned dating coach Logan Ury reveals the hidden forces that cause those mistakes. But awareness on its own doesn’t lead to results. You have to actually change your behavior. Ury shows you how.

This “simple-to-use guide” (Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone) focuses on a different decision in each chapter, incorporating insights from behavioral science, original research, and real-life stories.

You’ll learn:

• What’s holding you back in dating (and how to break the pattern)
• What really matters in a long-term partner (and what really doesn’t)
• How to overcome the perils of online dating (and make the apps work for you)
• How to meet more people in real life (while doing activities you love)
• How to make dates fun again (so they stop feeling like job interviews)
• Why “the spark” is a myth (but you’ll find love anyway)

This “data-driven” (Time), step-by-step guide to relationships, complete with hands-on exercises, is designed to transform your life. How to Not Die Alone will help you find, build, and keep the relationship of your dreams.

In this poignant, funny, and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.

There’s a madman dog beside me, and the hounds of memory ahead of us . . . It’s love and beasts and wild mistakes, and regret, but never to change things.

What happens when the Zusak family opens their home to three big, wild, street-hardened dogs—Reuben, more wolf than hound; Archer, blond, beautiful, destructive; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm?

The answer can only be chaos: There are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property damages, injuries, hospital visits, wellness checks, pure comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that must be read to be believed.

There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love—and the joy and recognition of family.

Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) is a tender, motley, and exquisitely written memoir about the human need for both connection and disorder, a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty—but also the visceral truth of the natural world—straight to our doors and into our lives and change us forever.

The beloved relationship coach, teacher, and host of the top relationship podcast Jillian on Love reveals nine core truths about love and self-acceptance and provides powerful self-healing techniques and strategies to help us repair our relationship with ourselves and start building the rewarding relationships we deserve.

Jillian Turecki’s holistic, compassionate, yet no-nonsense approach to love has attracted a devoted following of millions. In her highly anticipated debut book, she makes clear that if you want a meaningful relationship filled with connection, security, and intimacy, you have to look within. The common denominator in all your relationships is you.

Drawing from decades of experience helping clients heal themselves and their relationships, It Begins with You introduces the 9 core truths we must accept in order to change our lives:

Truth 1: It begins with you.
Truth 2: The mind is a battlefield.
Truth 3: Lust is not the same thing as love.
Truth 4: You have to love yourself.
Truth 5: You must speak up and tell the truth.
Truth 6: You need to be your best self (even after the honeymoon).
Truth 7: You cannot convince someone to love you.
Truth 8: No one is coming to save you.
Truth 9: You must make peace with your parents.

Blending therapeutic strategies, somatic techniques, client case studies, practical tools, tips, and guiding questions, It Begins with You gives us a roadmap to finally start doing the work needed to love ourselves and find the love we deserve. It's never too late to choose yourself.

Embark on a heartwarming journey through the lives of three exceptional children living with disabilities. Meet Jabu, Melody, and Gugu in this delightful storybook, where their unique qualities reveal the beauty of our differences. Jabu, a wheelchair user, imparts the value of setting healthy boundaries. Melody, who relies on crutches, encourages us to advocate for our beliefs, and Gugu, who is blind, demonstrates that confidence and self-love can lead to limitless achievements. This book aims to initiate discussions on empathy and understanding, encouraging children to embrace their potential. 

Immediately in the aftermath of his wife Andrea’s death, Gerry Pelser began documenting his thoughts and feelings about his brand-new life as a ‘reluctant’ widower on social media as no one wants to be an ‘enthusiastic’ widower. Semi-daily snippets of candid and raw expressions of grief, fear, and confusion – punctuated with unexpected humour – went up on Facebook for the world to see.

Several posts went viral, and messages of support poured in from strangers as far away from India and New Zealand. Numerous of these encouraged Gerry to publish his posts as a book, simply because his posts helped people with their own healing and who wanted to share their recovery with other people.

In a surprisingly funny and heartfelt manner, Gerry breaks the fourth wall and tells his tale directly to the reader in a way that puts them with their feet up on his living-room couch: a memoir of an unlikely courtship, of love, dogs, a literal fairy-tale wedding, cricket, marriage, and the importance of stuffed animals. Of illness, personal wars and the eventual – unavoidable defeat – of dealing with the insistent question of ‘what now’ that follows in its wake. And ultimately, the possibility of healing.

This memoir is an honest tale of Love, Death and Life; heart-warming in its humour, heart breaking in its content and hopeful in its message. Chronicles of a Reluctant is a raw tale paying homage to Gerry’s late wife Andrea.

This book promises to be a landmark of exploration on a subject that eventually touches us all: dealing with grief. And the life that follows.

A fusion of conversations, observations, and personal reflections on his own experiences, work with men, and scholarship, Why Men Hurt Women and Other Reflections on Love, Violence and Masculinity is Kopano Ratele’s meditation on love, violence and masculinity.

This book seeks to imagine the possibility of a more loving masculinity in a society where structural violence, failures of government and economic inequality underpin much of the violent behaviour that men display. Enriched with personal reflections on his own experiences as a partner, father, psychologist and researcher in the field of men and masculinities, Why Men Hurt Women and Other Reflections on Love, Violence and Masculinity is Kopano Ratele’s meditation on love and violence, and the way these forces shape the emotional lives of boys and men.

Blending academic substance and rigour in a readable narrative style, Ratele illuminates the complex nuances of gender, intimacy and power in the context of the human need for love and care. While unsparing in its analysis of men’s inner lives, Ratele lays out a path for addressing the hunger for love in boys and men. He argues that just as the beliefs and practices relating to gender, sexuality and the nature of love are constantly being challenged and revised, so our ideas about masculinity, and men’s and boys’ capacity to show genuine loving care for each other and for women, can evolve.

Jordan Lee Dooley knows how devastating it can be to almost achieve a goal, almost reach a dream, or almost get to where you want to be, only to land just short of the finish line or watch it all fall apart at the last minute.

Disrupted, delayed, or even seemingly destroyed dreams have a way of making us rethink everything. But perhaps rethinking dreams is not always the worst thing. In those moments, you have a chance to pause and consider what matters most to you as well as redefine what success looks like for you in a world that’s constantly telling you what you should want or should do.

Believe it or not, it is possible to cultivate a life you really like—and one where you can succeed—in the tension of the middle, between where you started and where you hoped to be.

Discover:

• the single most important question to ask yourself as you set goals and make plans
• practical steps to move forward when your plans don’t go according to plan
• how to clarify which goals are right for you to pursue (and which are not)
• • what to do when dreams seem to come true for everyone but you
• the unexpected gains that can arise from unwanted pain
• how to know when it’s time to let go of a dream—and what to do with the space left behind

Life is filled with unexpected interruptions, almost-but-not-quite moments, uncertainty, and in-between seasons. As hard as those experiences may be, they also offer a unique invitation to align your dreams and goals with what matters most.

50 Bybelverhale uit die Ou en Nuwe Testament. Hierdie boek is vol lewendige en prettige illustrasies wat kinders aan God se Woord en Sy liefde vir hulle bekendstel. Elke Bybelverhaal het: 'n gebed om kinders te help om met God 'n band te vorm. 'n Christel

Multiple award-winning author Elsa Joubert's memoir about life after the death of her beloved husband. She must come to terms with the loss of independence, friends who die and the changes in her memory and bodily powers. Vivid memories of her eventful life as a celebrated writer are skilfully woven into her story. Filled with wisdom, compassion and humour, this book will leave no reader untouched.

You deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you.

Have you ever felt stuck in a cycle of unresolved pain, playing offenses over and over in your mind? You know you can't go on like this, but you don't know what to do next. Lysa TerKeurst has wrestled through this journey. But in surprising ways, she’s discovered how to let go of bound-up resentment and overcome the resistance to forgiving people who aren’t willing to make things right.

With deep empathy, therapeutic insight, and rich Bible teaching coming out of more than 1,000 hours of theological study, Lysa will help you:

• Learn how to move on when the other person refuses to change and never says they're sorry.
• Walk through a step-by-step process to free yourself from the hurt of your past and feel less offended today.
• Discover what the Bible really says about forgiveness and the peace that comes from living it out right now.
• Identify what's stealing trust and vulnerability from your relationships so you can believe there is still good ahead.
• Disempower the triggers hijacking your emotions by embracing the two necessary parts of forgiveness.