Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
*Grab your current read
*Open to a random page
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
*Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“We’ve activated an Amber Alert and sent Angela’s picture to all the media outlets, but so far nothing,” she said, lowering the static on her radio.  “The missing girl is four.  Four.

If you have followed me over this past year, you have an idea as to what type of books interest me and which ones don’t. However, Tricia from Media Muscle (The Book Trib) contacted me asking if I may be interested in reading and reviewing this particular book. After reading the synopsis, not only was I interested, I informed her that I would also like to be a host to introduce the authors to all of you. So please help me welcome Linda and Tony Cole today and I hope you find this book intriguing as I did.

Tricia, from Media Muscle, and The Cole’s have generously offered to give one of my lucky followers the chance to win this extraordinary book.

   Tony and Linda Cole co-wrote Resurrecting Anthony: A True Story of Courage & Destination, which tells the story of their 12-year-old son’s heart attack and brain injury. A look back over the decade since the event helps the reader see how her once perfect family survived the devastating loss of a child and how a new family has come to be. Visit www.resurrectinganthony.com for more information and to purchase
   The Coles launched Anthony Cole Training in 1991, a company that builds sales cultures within organizations nationwide. An immediate success, by the end of 1998, the little company of two grossed half a million dollars. However, when their son became severely brain injured, the company down shifted for several years. In 2003, having adjusted to a new life and family, the company began to grow once again. Visit www.anthonycoletraining.com for more information.
   Linda founded Alexandra Publishing in 2009 to bring stories of personal courage to those who are enduring difficult times. Her goal is to provide real life experience, insight and useful strategies and resources, empowering readers to meet and overcome their challenges. Linda’s vision is to compile thousands of courageous stories from the multitudes of people who have weathered tragic personal storms and have found their way to a new life. Each Personal Courage® book will contain narratives from different contributors dealing with a specific life challenge such as Alzheimer’s in a loved one or a young family losing a parent or divorce and the aftermath. Visit http://resurrectinganthony.com/courage.html to share your Story of Personal Courage.

   Then came the call every parent dreads.
   Their twelve-year-old son Anthony had collapsed on the school playground. In the ensuing panic-stricken moments, Anthony lay motionless, unconscious, not breathing. These critical minutes without oxygen left his brain damaged. In one heartbreaking afternoon their idyllic world was shattered and the son that Tony and Linda Cole knew was gone.
   Resurrecting Anthony is the true, inspiring story of an unexpected tragedy that steals a child from his family and initially leaves them full of grief and sorrow. It reveals the Cole family’s incredible devotion and determination—despite the medical evidence and advice of health professionals—to return Anthony to his previous self.
   Steadfast and single-minded of purpose, Tony Cole tries to balance stressful business demands and the emotional dynamics of a devastated family as he desperately tries to bring his son back.
   Ultimately, it is a story of courage—the courage to summon inner strength to make hard decisions, the courage to do what must be done, and finally the courage to accept a new life and family.

   “Courage is the one telling trait that allows us to soldier on in the face of life’s greatest challenges,” writes Linda Cole. “We never know who we are capable of becoming until we are put to the test.” In this remarkable story RESURRECTING ANTHONY: A True Story of Courage & Destination (Alexandra Publishing, January 2011) authors Linda and Tony Cole find themselves stretched beyond anything they could have ever imagined when their 12-year-old son, Anthony, declares to a friend “I have no pulse” and collapses on the school playground.
   It takes paramedics 13 tries to shock Anthony back to life, only to discover that the healthy, athletic boy has had a heart attack caused by a rare abnormal electrical pathway in his heart. It took four to five minutes to resuscitate him which deprived his brain of oxygen setting into motion a chain of medical events that ultimately resulted in global traumatic brain injury.
   Drawing courage from their family and faith, the Coles face the enormity of Anthony’s situation and search for answers that will give them back their son. Ever the pragmatist, Linda plans for all of Anthony’s day-to-day care while Tony intensifies his efforts to coach his boy back to the person he was before his heart attack. Driven by the need to make progress before the window for optimal recovery closes, they begin an experimental treatment hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), to restore whatever function Anthony has left.
   Slowly, glimpses of Anthony emerge, a light in his eyes, a brief smile, and one day, his first words since his journey began – “yeah, baby!” – inspired by cheerleaders during a football game on TV.
   Anthony’s incremental progress leads to a series of personal revelations for his father. Tony’s test is to understand his new Anthony, whose greatest gift now is the ability to live totally and completely in the moment, the riveting heart of this tender tale. “I realized I must let go of my first Anthony in order to accept and love this new and different one,” Tony says.
   “This was not an easy story to tell,” writes Linda Cole. “We found the courage to tell it because we hope that those in crisis will learn how to cope, how to be open and accepting of offered help, and how to advocate for needed services. We hope to inspire people to summon the courage they need to persevere, to commit without reservation, to adapt. We hope that others might learn from our mistakes and gain from our progress. We wrote this book and created the “Personal Courage SeriesTM” as a vehicle for people who have experienced life changing crisis to share their stories, learning and hope.”
   The book also includes helpful “Toolbox” or takeaways for living through crisis which includes organizational advice for dealing with the maze and mountain of paperwork that results from hospital and insurance bills. It also has an indispensible directory of resources that includes contact info for groups such as: Brain Injury Association of America and the National Association of the State Directors of Developmental Disabilities. For more information please go to www.resurrectinganthony.com
   Tony and Linda Cole are the founders of Anthony Cole Training Group established in 1991 to help sales people and their organizations drive consistent and predictable results through a unique, multi-faceted approach custom tailored to each organization.
Watch for my review this month!!

Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
agent and/or author. This blog hosts the giveaway on behalf of the
above.  I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in
exchange for my honest review.  No items that I receive are ever
sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books (books are
shipped from agents).
I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries if
rules of giveaway are not followed

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
*Grab your current read
*Open to a random page
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
*Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“We’ve activated an Amber Alert and sent Angela’s picture to all the media outlets, but so far nothing,” she said, lowering the static on her radio.  “The missing girl is four.  Four.

OK….so Self and I have been having a dialogue over the past few days.  We agree that I am a lost cause when it comes to challenges.  It was either Gina, my buddy from Hott Books, or Julie, my other buddy from Reading Without Restraint…sorry having a senior moment..has brought it to my attention why they think I like challenges, not only for the concept but also for the adorable buttons.  And I know if I say they are right, I’ll never hear the end of it, but, they are right!!!! 

2010 was the first time ever that I kept record of how many books I read in a year.  I had signed up for the 2010 100+ Challenge knowing that I would never get close but wanted to see just how close I would get.  I didn’t do too bad considering I had some rough months with surgeries and slumps and still accomplished to get 68 books read.  And then today…the Musing Monday question was just about this topic.  I have been debating if I should sign up again for a 2011 100+ to see if I get any closer.  I have had some very encouraging comments all day from from very kind visitors and Self and I have talked about:

I am challenging you to beat your 2010 record this year! Can you read over 100 books this year?
RULES:
*The goal is to read 100 or more books.
*Anyone can join.
*You don’t need a blog to participate. Posting on GoodReads or wherever you post your reviews is good enough.
*Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts.
*What doesn’t count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible.
*No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
*Crossovers from other reading challenges count.
*Books started before the January 1st do not count.
*You can join at anytime.

OK….so Self and I have been having a dialogue over the past few days.  We agree that I am a lost cause when it comes to challenges.  It was either Gina, my buddy from Hott Books, or Julie, my other buddy from Reading Without Restraint…sorry having a senior moment..has brought it to my attention why they think I like challenges, not only for the concept but also for the adorable buttons.  And I know if I say they are right, I’ll never hear the end of it, but, they are right!!!! 

2010 was the first time ever that I kept record of how many books I read in a year.  I had signed up for the 2010 100+ Challenge knowing that I would never get close but wanted to see just how close I would get.  I didn’t do too bad considering I had some rough months with surgeries and slumps and still accomplished to get 68 books read.  And then today…the Musing Monday question was just about this topic.  I have been debating if I should sign up again for a 2011 100+ to see if I get any closer.  I have had some very encouraging comments all day from from very kind visitors and Self and I have talked about:

I am challenging you to beat your 2010 record this year! Can you read over 100 books this year?
RULES:
*The goal is to read 100 or more books.
*Anyone can join.
*You don’t need a blog to participate. Posting on GoodReads or wherever you post your reviews is good enough.
*Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts.
*What doesn’t count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible.
*No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
*Crossovers from other reading challenges count.
*Books started before the January 1st do not count.
*You can join at anytime.

Some of us have a huge problem.

Cheryl from CMash Loves to Read and Gina from Hott Books are two such people. We each can stand proudly and say,

I am a Reading Challenge Addict.

So we are challenging each of you who can also say that you also are a Reading Challenge Addict.

We’ll be giving away quarterly prizes and recognizing those who are meeting their own expectations by completing the challenges they’ve entered.

How addicted are you?  How many Challenges have you signed up for?

Easy as Pie: 1-5 Challenges (Entered & Completed)

On the Roof: 6-10 Challenges (Entered & Completed)

In Flight: 11-15 Challenges (Entered & Completed)

Out of This World: 16+ Challenges (Entered & Completed)

RULES:
We’re not making this a difficult challenge, actually, it’s going to be very simple!

This challenge will begin on January 1, 2011 and end on December 31, 2011.

Write a starting post joining the challenge and outlining your challenges.

Track all of your challenge accomplishments – good & bad.

Stop by to join us in the mini-challenges, updates & extra giveaways throughout the year./li>

Easy, right? Who wants to be in on the fun? What else will we be doing? We’ll have giveaways for our participants to enter and unannounced special drawings for commenters on the site so be sure to leave your email address with your comment! Are you ready?

This week’s musing is a simple one to start off the new year…
How many books did you read in 2010? If you had a reading goal, did you meet it? What books are you most looking forward to reading for 2011 (either new, OR ones that have sat on your shelves for a while)?
  I read 65 books in 2010.  I am disappointed with that number, however, I am thinking that I guess it isn’t too bad since I had 2+ months that I didn’t read due to my surgeries in April and then a slump in September/October.  I had signed up for the 2010 100+ Challenge, not expecting to finish it but seeing how close I could get, since this was my first year at blogging and reviewing and had never kept track of my books in the past.
  For 2011, I am changing some of my reading habits.  I read like a robot in 2010, reading books in the order of receiving them, no matter what mood I was in.  In 2011 I will be taking the liberty of choosing books from my request pile, out of order, and also selecting books from my personal pile.  I think that was a reason for the slump I had in September.  However, I will be guaranteeing 3-4 ARCs a month.  So yes, there are quite a few books that are on my shelves that I can’t wait to pick up.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of The Printed Page and is now on tour.
According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”
Before sharing my mailbox, I want to thank Rose City Reader for generously hosting this meme in January.

“Meet Me On Monday!”
  Blogging is a funny thing…we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, “who is this person!?” I know them…but yet I don’t know them! I want to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great way for all of us to “meet” each other!
  Every Sunday I will post five get to know you questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!
  “Its a great way to to meet new friends and for others to get to know me better….one Monday at a time!!!”….as quoted by the Chacogirl!!

Because it is still difficult for me to stand and bend from