"Thirty years ago, I lay in the womb of a woman, conceived in a sexual act of rape, being carried during the prenatal period by an unwilling and rebellious mother, finally bursting from the womb only to be tormented in a family whose members I despised or pitied, and brought into association with people whom I should never have chosen." This is the searing opening to Edna "Gertrude" Beasley's raw and scathing memoir, originally published in Paris in 1925 but ultimately suppressed and lost to history-until now. Only five-hundred copies were printed, very few of which made it into readers' hands, having been confiscated by customs inspectors or removed from bookshelves by Texas law enforcement. Her book was essentially banned, her voice silenced. In 1927, Beasley-a self-proclaimed socialist and staunch feminist who fought for women's rights-disappeared. Her fate remained a mystery until researchers began digging into her story. While living in London, she had been thrown out of her lodgings-for reasons that remain unclear-arrested and placed in a mental ward. A few months later, she returned to the U.S. and was committed to a psychiatric center on Long Island. She never left, dying there of pancreatic cancer in 1955. My First Thirty Years reveals the story of a woman who grew up in abject poverty in rural Texas during the early 1900s, where she battled ongoing internal wars with herself concerning her family, faith, sexual reckoning, and quest for education at a time when women were not supposed to discuss those things. Beasley's memoir is one of the most brutally honest coming-of-age historical memoirs ever written. Her story deserves to be heard.

Bernadette (Terence Stamp) is a middle-aged transsexual mourning the recent death of her lover. She embarks on a cabaret tour with two transvestite friends, Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) and Felicia (Guy Pearce) and together they set out for a professional engagement in Alice Springs in a gaudily painted bus they christen Priscilla. Along the way they encounter various macho characters - one of whom, Bob (Bill Hunter), begins to form a romantic attachment to Bernadette.

Sunflower Spirit gives anyone diagnosed with cancer a handbook overflowing with creative, simple ways to stay mindful and self-connected during what is usually a stressful, chaotic journey. Each idea begins with a different letter of the alphabet and consists of a one-two page essay on the topic as well as an easy-to-follow activity for you to try at home. The author shares the stories of her own two cancer journeys throughout the book. This wisdom from her personal experience offers the reader a calm feeling of knowing that she is not alone on her own journey with cancer. Starting with "A is for Anchors," the author tells the story of her second cancer diagnosis and how she decided to choose four Anchor Words that brought her peace of mind during many invasive tests as well as the subsequent surgeries and chemo treatments. Other chapters include: creative expression, journaling, community connections, loving-kindness meditation, Metta, prayer, expressing emotions, quiet rest, physical needs and more. Sunflower Spirit contains lots of space for your own notes and ideas, as well as links to three audio recordings of the author's own guided imagery meditations which hit just the right chord for anyone on a cancer journey. You can listen to these audios online, or download them as MP3 files. The book is very easy to use. You can just pick it up and read a few pages and you'll have somewhere to begin Cancer patients love it because it doesn't take a lot of energy to dive into. We all know how surgery and treatments can sap our energy. Well, the beauty of this book is in its simplicity. It challenges the reader but it makes the challenge easy at the same time. Sunflower Spirit also resonates with those who have finished their cancer surgeries and treatments. Life doesn't always go back to "normal" for a cancer survivor, and the ideas in this book are just as applicable for someone past treatment who still needs to process what happened to them.