Recommendations based on The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Lessby Terry Ryan

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom

    by Corrie ten Boom
    A remarkable testament to faith and courage in the face of unfathomable odds and unspeakable horrors.

    The book begins with the ten Boom family celebrating the 100th anniversary of the family business; they sell and repair watches under the family's elderly father, Casper ten Boom . The business takes ... (Wikipedia)

  2. A Girl Named Zippy

    by Haven Kimmel
    A charming account of growing up in rural Indiana, exploring the joys and hardships of life.

    When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965 in Mooreland, Indiana, it was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation

    by Elizabeth Letts
    The true story of a horse named Snowman, rescued from a slaughterhouse and transformed into a champion show jumper.

    #1, NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER,November 1958: the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Into the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and tradition comes the most unlikely of ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

    by Anonymous
    A collection of ancient records and testimonies of Jesus Christ's mission and teachings.

    The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement , which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

    by Vicki Myron
    The heartwarming true story of a library cat who touched the lives of a small-town community.

    How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually ... (Goodreads)

  6. Obama: An Intimate Portrait: The Historic Presidency in Photographs

    by Pete Souza
    A photographic tribute to the 8-year presidency of Barack Obama.

    This is the definitive visual biography of Barack Obama's presidency, captured in intimate, unprecedented detail by his official White House photographer. Pete Souza began photographing President ... (Goodreads)

  7. The Five Love Languages of Children

    by Gary Chapman
    A guide to understanding and communicating with children through their primary emotional needs.

    More than 1 million sold! ,, You know you love your child. But how can you make sure, your child, knows it?, The #1, New York Times, bestselling, The 5 Love Languages®, has helped millions of couples ... (Barnes & Noble)

  8. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

    by Steve Martin
    A memoir of the comedian's rise to fame, from the early days of stand-up comedy to the heights of success.

    In the midseventies, Steve Martin exploded onto the comedy scene. By 1978 he was the biggest concert draw in the history of stand-up. In 1981 he quit forever. This book is, in his own words, the ... (Goodreads)

  9. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box

    by The Arbinger Institute
    A exploration of how self-deception can lead to ineffective leadership and a guide to overcoming it.

    The "disease" of self-deception (acting in ways contrary to what one knows is right) underlies all leadership problems in today's organizations, according to the premise of this work. However well ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography

    by Sidney Poitier
    Sidney Poitier reflects on his life, career, and spiritual journey, exploring the meaning of success and the importance of personal integrity.

    In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguable the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence ... (Goodreads)

  11. Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy

    by Stephanie Nielson
    A woman's inspiring story of surviving a plane crash, and the journey of rebuilding her life afterwards.

    Stephanie Nielson began sharing her life in 2005 on nieniedialogues.com, drawing readers in with her warmth and candor. She quickly attracted a loyal following that was captivated by the upbeat ... (Goodreads)

  12. Gift from the Sea

    by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
    Exploring the depths of the ocean, seeking solace and wisdom.

    In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down ... (Goodreads)

  13. Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works

    by Evelyn Tribole
    A guide to breaking free from diet culture and learning to trust your body's signals to nourish yourself intuitively.

    We've all been there-angry with ourselves for overeating, for our lack of willpower, for failing at yet another diet that was supposed to be the last one. But the problem is not you, it's that ... (Goodreads)

  14. Drinking: A Love Story

    by Caroline Knapp
    A memoir of addiction and recovery, exploring the author's relationship with alcohol and the impact it had on her life.

    The roots of alcoholism in the life of a brilliant daughter of an upper-class family are explored in this stylistic, literary memoir of drinking by a Massachusetts journalist. Caroline Knapp ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Devil's Highway: A True Story

    by Luis Alberto Urrea
    A harrowing account of a group of Mexican migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, and their struggle for survival.

    "The single most compelling, lucid, and lyrical contemporary account of the absurdity of U.S. border policy." (The Atlantic), The author of Across the Wire offers brilliant investigative reporting of ... (Goodreads)

  16. Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

    by Nadia Bolz-Weber
    An exploration of faith, grace, and redemption through the stories of ordinary people.

    What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?,...And what if that's the point?, In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. My Story

    by Elizabeth Smart
    True story of a young girl's survival of abduction and captivity.

    The harrowing true story of abduction and survival from the courageous young woman who lived it—now the subject of a Lifetime original movie,, I Am Elizabeth Smart., In this memoir, Elizabeth Smart ... (Barnes & Noble)

  18. The Sound of Gravel

    by Ruth Wariner
    A memoir of growing up in a polygamist cult in Mexico, and the author's journey to escape and find her own path.

    An instant, New York Times, bestseller “A haunting, harrowing testament to survival." —, People Magazine, “An addictive chronicle of a polygamist community.” —, New York Magazine, “Unforgettable” —, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  19. Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

    by Gregory Boyle
    A memoir of Father Boyle's work with gang members in Los Angeles, emphasizing the power of compassion and kinship to heal and transform lives.

    Father Gregory Boyle’s sparkling parables about kinship and the sacredness of life are drawn from twenty years working with gangs in LA. How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Tender Bar: A Memoir

    by J.R. Moehringer
    An intimate look at an unconventional family and the power of storytelling.

    In the grand tradition of landmark memoirs - a classic American story of self-invention and escape, of the fierce love between a single mother and an only son, it's also a moving portrait of one ... (Goodreads)

  21. I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World

    by Malala Yousafzai
    The inspiring story of Malala Yousafzai, who stood up against the Taliban for girls' education and survived an assassination attempt.

    When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when ... (Goodreads)

  22. The Art Book

    by Phaidon Press
    A comprehensive guide to 500 of the world's greatest works of art.

    An A to Z guide to 500 great painters and sculptors from medieval to modern times, it debunks art historical classifications by throwing together brilliant examples of all periods, schools, visions ... (Goodreads)

  23. This Boy's Life

    by Tobias Wolff
    A young man's memoir of his tumultuous childhood and his struggle to overcome obstacles.

    In the 1950s, nomadic and flaky Caroline Wolff wants to settle down and find a decent man to provide a better home for herself and her son, Tobias "Toby" Wolff. She moves to Seattle, Washington and ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

    by John Elder Robison
    An honest account of a man's life with Asperger's, exploring his unique perspectives.

    Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, ... (Goodreads)

  25. All Over But the Shoutin'

    by Rick Bragg
    Memoir of a young man's journey from poverty to achieving the American Dream.

    The extraordinary gifts for evocation and insight and the stunning talent for storytelling that earned Rick Bragg a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1996 are here brought to bear on the ... (Goodreads)

  26. Teacher Man

    by Frank McCourt
    A memoir of the author's 30-year career as an English teacher in New York City.

    McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he ... (Goodreads)

  27. Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

    by Jean Sasson
    An inside look at the life of a Saudi princess, filled with struggles and struggles for freedom.

    Sultana is a Saudi Arabian princess, a woman born to fabulous, uncountable wealth. She has four mansions on three continents, her own private jet, glittering jewels, designer dresses galore. But in ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Our Hearts and Homes

    by James L. Ferrell
    Exploring how to bring peace to one's life and relationships through Christ.

    How is Christ the answer to a strained relationship with child, parent or sibling? What if I am being mistreated — what does the atonement say about that? How can I discover the desire to repent when ... (Barnes & Noble)

  29. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

    by Atul Gawande
    An exploration of the human experience of mortality and the importance of end-of-life care.

    In, Being Mortal, author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending Medicine has triumphed in modern ... (Goodreads)

  30. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

    by Barack Obama
    An exploration of the Obama family history, tracing the threads of identity and race.

    In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New ... (Goodreads)