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FEISTY: Dangerously Amazing Women Using Their Voices & Making An Impact
Feisty is a powerful anthology filled with essays, memoirs, and poetry by over twenty women who each share their personal battles with shame, oppression, trauma, and the search for self-worth. From raw, searing accounts of domestic abuse to triumphant awakenings of creative and spiritual freedom, this book presents a vivid mosaic of female resilience. Each story is deeply personal, yet collectively they echo a shared defiance of being called “too much,” “too loud,” or “too emotional.” Through these narratives, the authors reclaim the word “feisty” as a badge of honor.
What I loved most was the book’s refusal to sugarcoat the truth. The writing is honest, even when it’s uncomfortable. Some passages left me gutted, like Adrienne MacIain’s story of surviving assault or Mimi Rich’s slow unraveling and eventual reclaiming of her life after intimate partner violence. These women don’t pretend to be saints. They tell the truth. Their voices, different in style and rhythm, pulse with pain and fire. The range of experiences is striking, covering motherhood, racism, sexual trauma, divorce, and identity, all of which weave in and out, but each tale feels grounded in something fierce and unbreakable. As a reader, I didn’t just learn about their lives; I felt their rage, their heartbreak, and their quiet victories.
The format of the book offers a vibrant diversity of thought and emotion, allowing each woman to speak in her own way, whether through raw poetry or richly detailed memoir. Every story has its own rhythm and tone, and that variety keeps the reading experience fresh and dynamic. I found myself drawn into some pieces, surprised by others, and always curious about what would come next. These women aren’t telling one tidy story. They’re sharing their own truths, in their own style, and that’s what makes the book feel so alive.
Feisty left me both exhausted and inspired. This isn’t a book you read to escape. It’s a book you read to understand. To witness. To honor. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to hear what courage actually sounds like, not the polished kind, but the scratchy, trembling, soul-shouting kind. This is for readers who are ready to feel something real, who might be grappling with their own dragons, and who need to hear that they are not alone, and that “too much” might actually be just enough.
Pages: 214 | ASIN : B09Q5923Y6
An Incredible Journey
![An incredible journey: From a mud hut to Cambridge (HEARING OTHERS’ VOICES Book 21) by [John L Shabaya]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bKWSREemL.jpg)
John L. Shabaya has led an amazing life full of both challenges and triumphs. Born in Kenya and raised in a culture that offered him little chance to hope for a college education, Shabaya was able to overcome virtually every obstacle placed in his path and achieve the dream many never reach. His story is one that makes readers think deeply about the injustices faced by young people in cultures outside of their own. He brings to light prejudices in educational systems the world over, and he gives young people hope as they strive to create their own futures in a world full of challenges.
An Incredible Journey: From Mud Hut to Cambridge, an autobiography by John L. Shabaya, details the fascinating success of the author and follows his life from his birth in Kenya to his life as a college-educated pastor, world traveler, founder of a school, and educator in his own right. Shabaya’s story is an amazing testament to the benefit of an education and what sheer determination and hard work can do. After reading Shabaya’s truly incredible life story, I have been brought back down to earth about many of the problems I think I have. Everyone needs to read a story like Shabaya’s once in a while to be truly humbled.
As a teacher, I was moved to tears reading of the author’s experiences in elementary school. It is reprehensible to imagine the treatment he and countless others endured at the hands of so-called educators. It’s a thousand wonders any child makes it out of a school like that with their wits intact. His ability to express his pain is unmatched and his writing eloquent. Readers can only imagine the pain endured by Shabaya, but his writing now provides readers everywhere with a clear picture of the true story that played out (and continues to do so) in schools everywhere. Children all over the globe are fighting battles most of us will never realize, and Shabaya sheds light on the horror while at the same time showing us the light at the end of the tunnel.
Autobiographies are always fascinating reads, but Shabaya’s story is somehow different. There is a lesson to be learned about determination and self-respect in Shabaya’s life story. I think we can always learn something from others, and John L. Shabaya gives readers the perfect opportunity to learn from his successes, his trials, and his steadfastness. I highly recommend Shabaya’s book to anyone who enjoys autobiographies, but especially to educators.
Pages: 289 | ASIN: B08G5DFS7B
Panorama: The Missing Chapter from the Memoir Views from the Cockpit
A true story of love, loss, and finding one’s true self, Panorama: The Missing Chapter from the Memoir Views from the Cockpit by Ross Victory is remarkable. We follow our author Ross Victory while he is in Seoul, South Korea, on a work abroad program. While in Seoul, Ross meets Alveré and slowly a romance blooms. Ross and Alveré are both masculine bisexual men trying to find their way in a world that denies their existence.
The stunning writing is what sets this book apart! Victory has a talent for taking life events and turning them into a page-turning work of art. While the author is going on his journey, you feel as if you are along for the ride with him; the scenes where Ross is in distress, you feel his pain.
Victory touches on sensitive topics with truth and grace, male bisexuality, toxic masculinity, and trauma, just to name a few. Victory seeks to not only educate himself through his life experiences but the reader as well. We learn the importance of finding and having someone in your life who understands you.
My favorite section is Panorama The Essay. Victory discusses in-depth the previously mentioned topics on a social-political level, while still captivating you with his writing. This is a memoir and self-help book combined into one! There is personal growth to be found among the pages. Quick but informative, Panorama: The Missing Chapter from the Memoir Views from the Cockpit by Ross Victory is a thought-provoking and engaging read.
Pages: 81 | ASIN: B08719F8CC
LITERARY TITAN 