Carolyn Dolen made it back from the brain injury she suffered in a car crash and now she shares what she has learned in over 30 years of recovery.

Originally published by Viking Penguin, 2014.

They were both twenty-something's living productive and successful lives when all of a sudden they were both struck by different types of brain injuries. Kara suffered a massive stroke, and Chris was in a coma that left him paralyzed after a bout with meningitis and encephalitis. Despite facing tough odds, the two spent countless hours in therapy, tirelessly working to regain control and triumph over their brain injuries. Little did they know that when they met in speech therapy they would instantly bond, fall in love, and get married within a couple of years. Despite being told they would not return to their previously productive lifestyle, this is the true story of Kara and Chris's personal and combined efforts to return to a "normal" life. A big lesson the two learned while recovering is that while you may look normal on the outside, brain injuries affect you every day for the rest of your life. Wheelchairs, walkers, canes, bumps and bruises on the outside may disappear over time, but the damage on the inside of the brain is always there. Through their recovery the two have learned to adapt to their new brains while taking it one day at a time. Recovery and rehabilitation remains a constant in their lives. Inspired by each other, the two would like to share their stories in hopes that it may have a positive impact on brain injury survivors, caretakers, friends, and family members. Kara Ellsworth and Chris Russo are living happily together with perhaps a full brain between the two of them in Sacramento, CA. Working as a RN, Kara continues to pursue her goal of helping as many people as she can. Chris is busy working in his shop, establishing himself as the best cobbler in the Sacramento area. In their free time you can find them relaxing, watching movies, traveling in small spurts, and taking care of their small animal sanctuary, which includes two rescue dogs, turtles, eels, and several fish.

"Panicking never helps." Tuesday's breakfast was interrupted by a stroke, and the only available help is the author's second grader. Launched into a medical crisis, Kimberly Davis Basso (and her brain) respond with wit, wisdom, and wishful thinking. From surviving a stroke to surviving a zombie apocalypse, "I'm a Little Brain Dead" is alarmingly irreverent. No matter how critical or ridiculous the situation, Kimberly abides by their family rule "Panicking never helps." You'll get an inside look at being a middle aged stroke patient as she hosts a neurological event, juggles doctors, undergoes a heart procedure and asks the really big question - how tiny is tiny when it refers to dead tissue? What would you do? Are you prepared to have a medical crisis, unable to speak or walk? Would your kids know what to do? It's time to make an escape plan. Kimberly will walk (or rather shuffle) readers through her experience in an honest, hilarious look at the site of the world's smallest zombie apocalypse - her brain.

Head Cases takes us into the dark side of the brain in an astonishing sequence of stories, at once true and strange, from the world of brain damage. Michael Paul Mason is one of an elite group of experts who coordinate care in the complicated aftermath of tragic injuries that can last a lifetime. On the road with Mason, we encounter survivors of brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new worlds they inhabit. Underlying each of these survivors' stories is an exploration of the brain and its mysteries. When injured, the brain must figure out how to heal itself, reorganizing its physiology in order to do the job. Mason gives us a series of vivid glimpses into brain science, the last frontier of medicine, and we come away in awe of the miracles of the brain's workings and astonished at the fragility of the brain and the sense of self, life, and order that resides there. Head Cases "[achieves] through sympathy and curiosity insight like that which pulses through genuine literature" (The New York Sun); it is at once illuminating and deeply affecting.

Sometimes, a little brain damage can help. A book of original humor pieces by beloved comic George Carlin. Filled with thoughts, musings, questions, lists, beliefs, curiosities, monologues, assertions, assumptions, and other verbal ordeals, Brain Droppings is infectiously funny. Also included are two timeless monologues, "A Place for Your Stuff" and "Baseball-Football." Readers will get an inside look into Carlin's mind, and they won't be disappointed by what they find: I buy stamps by mail. It works OK until I run out of stamps. What year did Jesus Christ think it was? A tree: first you chop it down, then you chop it up. Have you ever noticed the lawyer is always smiling more than the client? I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. If you ever have chicken at lunch and chicken at dinner, do you ever wonder if the two chickens knew each other? Carlin demolishes everyday values and yet leaves you laughing out loud.