The loss of a loved one can lead people to question life and its purpose, and that is never truer than when a loved one is taken at a young age and unexpectedly. After Laura Hayden’s husband, Larry, died suddenly at the young age of forty-nine when he did not survive a preemptive surgery intended to prolong his life, Laura struggled to carry on but found her strength in needing to be there for her young son and daughter. The story of how this family worked through their grief is told in Laura Hayden’s new memoir, "Staying Alive: A Love Story."

Vladimir Shvartsman, author, inventor, and artist, has brought together many aspects of his varied and interesting life in his new book, "How to Paint Chickens and Other Stories." The book includes stories he has written over the last twenty years that provide a glimpse into the spiritual world of a contemporary thinker. Living half of his life in Communist Russia expanded Shvartsman’s awareness of reality, and his move to the United States provided him with new opportunities, as well as interesting experiences, all of which he details in his new book.

Accomplished MMA fighter and award-winning writer Cameron Conaway presents in Caged the true story of a young man who overcomes a family background and his own inner torment by learning to channel his frustrations into the physical world of mixed martial arts fighting and the cerebral world of poetry and writing. It teaches the value of personal reflection, how life's most painful moments can lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of human nature, and just what is possible when optimism and determination combine to overcome tough odds. "Caged" shows how the pursuit of two seemingly disparate passions helped a struggling boy blossom into a simple man. The result is a literary and lyrical philosophical journey into the heart and mind of a modern-day warrior.

"Iraq Through a Bullet Hole" is a unique on-the-ground account of a country shattered. Iraqi playwright Issam Jameel returned to Iraq after a 12-year exile. Giving up the relative safety of Jordan, he made a perilous journey to Baghdad for a reunion. Unfortunately, the reason for his trip was to grieve for his nephew, recently killed by American forces while guarding an Iraq parliament member from insurgents. Jameel also mourns the loss of a formerly secular civil society replaced by vehement sectarianism, intolerance, and ignorance. Basic human needs like food, water, and power have become an endless daily struggle amidst the shards of infrastructure. Routine tasks, such as selling a house or getting a job are fraught with peril as old scores continue to be settled on religious, ethnic, and political fronts. Everywhere he turns, people are desperate to leave, but fear for the worst. After escaping this madness, he recorded his eyewitness report, desperate to provide an honest and impartial tale of an epic tragedy which has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced many more.

Josh Wilker recounts the story of his youth and young adulthood and ties every chapter to a different Baseball Card featuring one of the 'cardboard gods' he grew up idolizing.

Most people will, at some point or another, either find themselves dressed in a tiny hospital gown or staring at someone else dressed in a tiny hospital gown. Whether from the perspective of a patient, a family member, or a medical professional, we all have a significant stake in the process of medical education. While numerous memoirs recount physicians' grueling experiences during residency, few focus on the even more formative portion of medical training: the third year of medical school-the clinical year. "Short White Coat" by author James Feinstein is the disarmingly honest, yet endearing and sometimes funny account of a medical student's humbling initiation into the world of patient care.

Ride in the back of the ambulance with author Sherry Jones Mayo. Share the innermost feelings of emergency services workers as they encounter trauma, tragedy, redemption, and even a little humor. Mayo has been an Emergency Medical Technician, Emergerncy Room Nurse, and an on- scene critical incident debriefer for Hurricane Katrina. Most people who have observed or experienced physical, mental or emotional crisis have single perspectives. "Confessions of a Trauma Junkie" allows readers to stand on both sides of the gurney; it details a progression from innocence to enlightened caregiver to burnout, glimpsing into each stage personally and professionally.

A civilian view of life in Iraq

"Addiction: What's Really Going On?" by author Barabara Sinor contains powerful true- life stories woven together to form a tapestry filled with pain, joy, defeat, and success. The entire book is molded around Deborah McCloskey's heartfelt desire for her clients to be free of drugs. Her counseling methods both endeared her as "the counselor to get" and locked her into a decade of searching for better ways to help those she felt were stuck on the merry- go-round of a methadone system. This book should be read by teachers, hospitals employees, college students, government officials, and our general adult population whether addicted, sober, or straight.

Author D.J. Rino's compulsive gambling made him feel so low he decided to name his book "Beneath Rock Bottom." He came to Las Vegas as an electrical specialist and should have prospered in the city's lucrative construction industry, but compulsive gambling soon became his downfall. Rino makes a point of detailing how normal his life was until he became a compulsive gambler. As he describes his childhood, teenage years, and service in the U.S. Air Force, he can find nowhere in his past a direct, dysfunctional or dramatic reason to trigger his gambling addiction.