The publishing industry has endured many changes over the past two decades that have surely tested our collective mettle. It’s all the more reason that booksellers might want to take a peek at Growing Through the Narrow Spots by cancer survivor Ruth Bachman, who is the founder of the Hourglass Fund Project, which funds organizations offering resources that help people “live life wholeheartedly.” Bachman will be signing copies of Growing Through the Narrow Spots at Tristan Publishing’s booth (1732) today, 1–2 p.m.

In Growing Through the Narrow Spots, Bachman shares through her words and her husband’s photographs the journey through a cancer that resulted in the loss of her dominant left arm. Bachman emphasizes to the reader through her story that there is one constant in life, and that is change. Once we all accept that our existence is a series of inevitable transformations, she points out, we can accept whatever life brings with a more positive attitude and resilience.

“Think of an hourglass,” Tristan publisher Brett Waldman urges in explaining Bachman’s philosophy. “As the sand flows down, it becomes refined and redefined after passing through the narrow spot. It’s the same sand from top to bottom, but it’s in a different arrangement.” Sheila Waldman, Tristan’s president of relationships, notes that Growing Through the Narrow Spots is not a self-help book: it’s a gift book, “meant to inspire, uplift, and provide hope” to any recipients facing their own personal difficulties.

Tristan is giving away antique-style bronze hourglass charms to promote Growing Through the Narrow Spots.