What an excellent collection of stories. This is a book I like to keep on hand just when I feel the despair of the world creeping in a little much. It never fails to remind me of the courage of people and how important it is to keep going.

This was a very inspiring and positive book. It reminded me to focus on the blessings in my life and to be thankful for them. The author shares the tale of 10 people that have faced impossible challenges and how they overcame their situations. It also highlighted their contributions to others through the handling of these difficulties. I highly recommend this book which shows us all what life can become no matter what lot in life we are dealt.

I'll start this review by saying that I liked the premise behind the collection. As the tagline states, these are inspirational stories of everyday people. I appreciate that this is the topic of the book, the idea of bringing attention to the people who may get overlooked on a daily basis. I did enjoy hearing about some of these people who have been through major events and somehow still came out positive on the other side of it.

However, the focus of each story got lost on me as it the timeline of each narrative jumped around. It seemed as though there was no outline when writing the 'essay' about each person. We would be told something about the person who was the focus of the story and a few paragraphs later it would repeat itself as if that fact hadn't just been shared with the reader. I just think it could have used better continuity throughout each person's tale.

I thought this book was going to be something new and something different about extraordinary people and what they went through. I did get bits and pieces of that but it all was just a bunch of regurgitated stuff from each of their own books and then at the end.......if you want to donate here is their website. I felt so disconnected and wasn't as impressed. There were 2 stories in the books that really sucked me in but the rest of it was just slow and boring.

The essays in the collection feature a number of individuals who have been through extremely difficult experiences, emerging with positivity and hope on the other side. Though each story is different, the way they are told is uniform and therefore doesn't entice the reader to complete the entirety; the stories are amazing but become formulaic as the book goes on. Most (if not all) of the stories feature the strong presence of God, faith or religious belief for the people involved, which was a struggle for me as an ardent non-believer. Usually I find these books inspirational regardless, but the formulaic nature of the storytelling here made this element too persistent throughout. The author also makes heavy use of quotations from the books these individual people (or their families) have written, meaning the stories are devoid of an 'author's voice' in their own right. If you enjoy short stories about overcoming diversity which share similar religious themes, I think this would be a winner.

Inspirational! I liked the links to different organizations to help the reader also become involved.

After reading two novels depicting terrible deprived human behavior it was time for a positive read. I found that in Keith Maginn's (Extra)Ordinary: More Inspirational Stories of Everyday People.

Maginn shares stories of ten men and women who have faced an array of extraordinary challenges - abuse, addiction, abandonment, physical deformities, severe burns, homelessness, health issues. Each profile details not only how that person overcame their situation but what they have contributed to others through inspiration and deeds.

I was deeply stirred by Mick; a driving force in doing what can't be done. Using technology and a worldwide network of, "...high intelligent, if eccentric, 'crazies'..." Mick has overseen solutions for physical challenges faced by others. First with an EyeWriter enabling those with paralysis to communicate with eye movement and later taking a 3-D printer to war torn Sudan to fabricate "robohands" for young amputees.

These ten "Everyday People" have written books, become motivational speakers and established websites to share their stories and inspirations. Links are given for readers to learn more about the subjects and their organizations.

Another reviewer was troubled by religious references in many of the features. While they attribute faith and a believe in God to their recovery this is only one element to their stories - yet, one important to them that would be dishonest to overlooked.

I would challenge the title of this book as I don't believe any of these were ever "Everyday People". There is no question that what they have faced, overcome and accomplished is (Extra)Ordinary and inspirational.

I found this book a highly fascinating read, with ten different stories of people who have faced hardship and seemingly insurmountable odds, such as the young boy who suffered almost 100% burns, and the child born without arms or legs. In all of these cases, the individual has gone on to achieve great things, many of them in motivational speaking. These stories are highly inspiring and show just how resilient the human body and mind is, and how much can be overcome.

With ten individual stories, it's easy to read this book a story (or chapter) at a time, however I rushed through this in just one evening, as I found it fascinating! The only thing I didn't like about these stories was the focus on religion and God - as an atheist this was a slight negative for me, as it's difficult to relate to the stories when there is such focus on the idea of these people being helped and supported on their journey by a God. Other than that, I highly recommend this book!