Liz Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things is a beautiful work of fiction. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid, Possession by A.S. Byatt, A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Enjoy your break!

All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr – a common recommendation, but so good!).

State of Wonder (Ann Patchett).

A Homemade Life (Molly Wizenberg).

Two Hours by Ed Caesar is a great non-fiction running book. The best fiction book I’ve read in the past year is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. It made such an impact that I still think about it a couple of times a week.

Jessica’s selections (above) are also some of my favorites. I’d also suggest The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (I just got around to reading this and loved it so much.)

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections by Nora Ephron (A favorite!)

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (This one has stayed with me. It’s an interesting look at one marriage from both husband and wife.)

The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin by Gordon S. Wood (I really loved this one and learned a lot about someone I thought I knew about already.)

I just finished the first book of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series, My Brilliant Friend. So, so, so good and I am running out tomorrow to get the next one. If you loved Beautiful Ruins, I think you might like this!

i just suggested when breath becomes air on your instagram post! i loved it, and need to process it. i am a single mama, and wish i had someone to talk to about it…12×12 was also highly inspiring to me.

The best fiction book I’ve read this year is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, but if you’re looking for another good non-fiction option I would recommend Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

I second The Signature of All Things, All the Light We Cannot See, and State of Wonder. I also highly recommend A Little Life (Hanya Yanagihara).

You by Caroline Kempnes

These aren’t new so you may have already read them, but I liked The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and my all time fave book is Tiny, Beautiful things by Cheryl Strayed. Love, love, love it and can’t recommend it enough.

I’ve read recently and would recommend Inferno by D. Brown, Go Set a Watchman by H. Lee, Food: A Love Story by J. Gaffigan, The Painted Girls by C. Buchanan, One Click by R. Brandt. I read Brooklyn (dont remember the author but same as the new movie) and would not recommend.

Let’s talk!

The Martian
Cutting for Stone
Me Before You (JoJo Moyes books)
State of Wonder
Non fiction:
Unbroken
Trapped Under the Sea … (swidey)

I highly suggest you check out ModernMrsDarcy.com and/or her podcast What Should I Read Next? Both are my go-to source for book recommendations (my TBR list usually gets another 5+ books added to it every time I listen to the podcast)
Being Mortal – Atul Gawande (I’ve heard many compare this with When Breath Becomes Air)
The Marie Kondo books, if you haven’t already read them.
Dark Places – Gillian Flynn (gritty, realistic fiction)
Dead Wake – Erik Larson
Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth – Warsan Shire (not really a full length book but excellent modern poetry!)
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (historical fiction, one of the best books I’ve ever read)
:)

A few faves that are a mix of light and heavy (I tend to bounce back and forth depending on my mood and even the weather):
Age of Miracles
Station Eleven
The Corrections
Anything by Liane Moriarty – my fave is What Alice Forgot
Also almost all of JoJo Moyes books are great, especially Before You
Among the Ten Thousand Things
This is Where I Leave You
Prep

I’m glad to see “When Breath Becomes Air” on your list–it was my first thought when I read the post title. I read it a couple of months ago and loved it. Like you, I read some fiction, but my reading lists are heavy on non-fiction. All of my favorite books are non-fiction. Looking at your list, I think we probably have similar taste in books.

Some others I’ve read in the last few months and loved:

“Voices in the Night” by Steven Millhauser. This is short stories, but the first several stories were breath-taking. I will admit I didn’t care for many of the stories/retellings at the end of the book, but I still whole-heartedly recommend this one for the first half.

“The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring” by Richard Preston. Older non-fiction about the Coast Redwoods in California and the people who are most passionate about exploring them. This was just fascinating–the facts about the trees themselves were astounding and the people were interesting and inspiring.

“The Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery. Perhaps best for animal lovers because it’s a little light on hard science, but I loved it. It turns out octopuses are unbelievably intelligent and full of personality.

“Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” by Barbara Demick. I’ve read a lot of books about North Korea in the last year. All are interesting, but this one was my favorite. While providing plenty of detail about how the Kim Regime operates in the country, the story was tightly focused on ordinary people (hence the title) and the trials that led them to eventually defect to South Korea. The stories are inspiring and the details about North Korean history were so informative.

My favorites from the past year:

All the Light You Cannot See
Circling the Sun – same author at The Paris Wife
The Nightingale

These are good thriller books!
The Girl on The Train – Paula Hawkings and Pretty Baby – Mary Kubica

Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time by Brigid Schulte

Cutting for Stone, Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Here’s my list of latest reads that I would recommend: Factor Man by Beth Macy. Mr. Owita’s Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall. Both Gold and Little Bee by Chris Cleave (his novel Incendiary is next on my list). Small Blessings by Martha Woodruff. Pastrix and Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

I’m a big fan of Canadian lit, being Canadian and all, but some that come to mind are:

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill just won the CBC’s “Canada Reads” competition (where famous Canadians recommend books on a theme that they believe every Canadian should read. There’s a website for Canada Reads where you can find lots of great books.) Confession: I haven’t read this one yet. It’s on my list as I really admire his writing. Lawrence Hill also wrote “The Book Of Negroes” which is an amazing book. In the US, the title was changed to “Someone Knows My Name”

The Outlander by Gil Adamson (Set in the far north of Canada)

Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay (again, set in the far north)

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (An interesting, yet hard read on loving a family member with mental illness. It reflects some of the author’s personal experience.)

The Birth House by Ami McKay (About a midwife in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. I found very interesting as my great-grandmother was a midwife in Nova Scotia in the early 1900s.)

If you want non fiction/history, In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson is very interesting. Bound Feet and Western Dress is a great memoir too.

For fiction, anything by Barbara Kingsolver is amazing. I especially love The Poisonwood Bible or Prodigal Summer.

My best fiction recommendation is L.M. Montgomery (of Anne of Green Gables fame)’s The Blue Castle. It’s a short, quick read, but you can’t help but fall in love with the protagonist and feel for the situation she finds herself in. I sometimes describe it as a grown-up fairy tale. It’s a perfect curled-up-on-the-couch afternoon read. ^_^

My husband and I both were utterly swept by Paul Kalanithi.

If you can handle a BIG book (I always have to really think about the number of pages before I commit), then I highly recommend A Little Life – I’m halfway through after bringing it on our own spring break and am so glad I am reading it!

Ahhhh! I just finished When Breath Becomes Air as well (love Joanna Goddard) and have no one to discuss it with. I’m making my husband read it now:) Some recent great fiction reads:
Fates & Furies
At the Waters Edge
Where’d you go, Bernadette

Enjoy!

I second (third?) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Such beautiful writing, and I’m a sucker for WWII fiction. In that same vein, I enjoyed Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, and the follow-on book (but it would also stand alone), A God in Ruins. I’m waiting patiently for my turn at the library copy of Anthony Doerr’s Four Seasons in Rome, which received rave reviews and chronicles the year he, his wife, and newborn twins lived in Rome while he was supposed to be writing All the Light we Cannot See. Enjoy your trip!!

Ooooh…and if you’re looking for a book (thriller but not too freaky) that sticks with you…
The Paying Guests
SO good. Like…so, so, good.

The Nightingale was very good, but I’ve enjoyed most of Kristin Hannah that I’ve read. I also read To Kill a Mockingbird this last year, and there’s a reason it’s a classic! Enjoy your trip.

I also loved Station Eleven! Not my usual genre, so I was pleasantly surprised. Memoir: North of Normal. Fiction: Three Wishes by Liane Moriatry(?), or any Kate Morton book.

For a vacation, I love a short story collection. Easy to dip in and out of when you have time, without getting totally lost in a really meaty, good novel. The best that I’ve read recently is This is How You Lose Her, by Junot Diaz. Magical realism done really, really well.

I have lost touch with this blog recently, but Pancakes and French Fries used to host The Phenomenally Indecisive Book Club and it was a great series. I got quite a few excellent recommendations over there.

I recommended The Casual Vacancy, by JK Rowling, to someone the other day. It’s not light reading and the ending is very heavy, but it was so SO good.

The Nightingale is the best fiction I’ve read in a long time. Also, More Love (Less Panic). A true story about a family who adopted a boy from another country.

Yay for impromptu getaways! Some of our family’s best adventures have been found this way. IF you happen to be into mid-century design and IF you happen to interested in Northwest design/architecture then you should check out Roland Terry: Northwest Master Architect, available from amazon. He was a personal friend and has done some incredible work like the Canlis restaurant in Seattle. He was and is such an inspiration!
“Though no photographs can do justice to this magical dwelling tucked among the pines and rocks on a windswept cliff overlooking Puget Sound, these images do make evident the fact that this is one of those buildings so appropriately sited and scaled that it feels organic, as if it grew out of the site rather than having been imposed upon it.” – Justin Hendersen, author, describing Roland Terry’s San Juan home in Washington.

Two of my all-time favorite nonfiction books: Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh and True Love: A Practice for Awakening Your Heart by Thich Nhat Hanh.
For nonfiction that reads like fiction: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. Both are fascinating.
For fiction: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri and The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Ivan is middle grade fiction, but it tugged on my heart like Charlotte’s Web did as a kid.
On my to-be-read list–Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande.
Happy reading :)

I just finished The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende and The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. Both were great!

A window opens by Elisabeth Egan. I gravitate to nonfiction these days too, but this was a fast, thought-provoking read.

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes struck a deep chord with me. Definitely one of those books you can’t stop thinking about and need to debrief with someone after finishing! The Nightingale was probably one of my favorite works of historical fiction. I also recommend The Night Circus – such a fun, mysterious read! I couldn’t put it down.

Happy reading!!!

The Round House or The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse By Louise Erdrich

I know you’re looking for fiction, but I’m still going to name a few nonfiction books that are excellent and that you might want to read at some other time.

Nonfiction:
THE BOYS IN THE BOAT by Daniel James Brown (very inspiring)
WILD by Cheryl Strayed (if you haven’t already read it, it’s super inspiring)
TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS by Cheryl Strayed
UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand
THE INVISIBLE LINE: A SECRET HISTORY OF RACE IN AMERICA by Daniel J. Sharfstein (this is about black families that over time crossed the racial line to pass for white, absolutely fascinating)

Now for what you asked for, fiction!
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah – this is totally worth reading
A DICTIONARY OF MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING by Jackie Copleton (disclosure, I’m the editor on this book, but it is deeply moving and if you like historical fiction it’s set in Japan around the time of the bombing of Nagasaki, really fascinating stuff)
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden (to continue the Japanese theme)
STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett (beautiful writing, intriguing story)
ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes (if you want a tearjerker)
OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon (if you want pure escapist vacation reading)

I have more!

I second every one of these recommendations!

Anything by C.S. Lewis- Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Bronze Bow, Seabiscuit or Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand were both really good.

I’m so surprised no one recommended Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner. I preferred it over The Nightingale.
I’d also recommend The Invention of Wings.
My all-time favorite book ever is Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi

I just finished Love Minus Eighty last night, and it was so intriguing. The plot sounds strange (it’s sci-fi), but I so enjoyed it and read it in 2 days.

book talk – one of my favourite things :)
I second Modern Mrs Darcy for book recommendations – her summer reading recs would be perfect for a short vacation.
Just finished Nightingale and really enjoyed it.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles was a book that I was instantly captivated by and had me thinking about it for weeks afterwards.

Another vote for The Nightingale. I also enjoyed The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.

The Queen of the Tearling
The Invasion of the Tearling
The Cuckoo’s Calling
The Silkworm
Fates and Furies
Brooklyn
The Girls Guide to Hunting & Fishing
A Darker Shade of Magic

Still Alice by Lisa Genova. I didn’t realize until i went to look up the author that this book has been made into a movie. It’s about a professor who is diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s her dealing with the disease and what it does to her and her mind, told thru her eyes. So good!

On the books you’ve mentioned:
When Breath Becomes Air: JUST incredible. So, SO beautifully written by both Paul and Lucy. I couldn’t quite imagine being in their shoes going through something so incredibly life altering and yet at the same time, I felt like he really let us in on that journey.
Simple Matters: Loved this. I keep it on my nightstand as a reminder to live more simply. Your blog and Erin’s happen to be my two favorites so…your book is next :P
Born to Run: Helped motivate me through my Boston Marathon training last year. I found it fascinating.

I just finished The Fever — which was a captivating, fast read. And now, I am reading The Nightingale which I am really, really enjoying. Also, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace was fantastic.

I slammed through When Breath Becomes Air in an hour and a half late one night. I could. Not. Put. It. Down. What an amazing essay on civility, humility, grace and love. I’m so glad you recommend it.

Non-fiction: I’ve been reading Marion Coutts’ The Iceberg, an account of her husband’s (Tom Lubbock, the art critic for The Independent) illness and death. Like When Breath Becomes Air, it’s luminous in its matter-of-fact-ness. Also: Stacy Schiff’s The Witches, a new examination of the Salem trials. Her writing is just amazing. And the story is a pretty cautionary tale given some of the things we’re seeing in the political arena today.

Fiction: I just read Bill Clegg’s Did You Ever Have a Family. It’s much more than you might expect from the press it’s been getting. I thought the plot was really terrific. Would love to read Lauren Groff’s Facts and Furies, since I heard her on Studio 360, and am so glad to see others recommend it. Have you read The Goldfinch? It’s older (well, las year) but really, truly amazing…plot AND prose. If you haven’t read either of Hilary Mantel’s ictionalized accounts of politics in Henry VIII’s England (Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies), I’d highly recommend those too. In mysteries, Louise Penny’s books are amazing examinations of character, and anything by Katherine Hall Page is a marvelous cozy with great writing (and recipes) to boot. And I recently discovered the laugh-out-loud mysteries of Ben Aaronovitch, who wrote for Doctor Who and who here introduces London’s first amateur wizard detective.

My favorite book is Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night. I reread it every year. It’s part of the Lord Peter Wimsey series but really, it’s much less a mystery than an examination of the really complicated state of male-female relations in England in the 1920s…and most of the lessons are applicable to today (Sayers was a somewhat unacknowledged feminist).

LOVE book talk…thank you so much, Dana!

I second most of the recommendations already suggested, but do have one more to add.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It’s from a few years ago, but it’s a great story, multi-layered that spans several years.
It really stuck with me and is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
It’s quite long, but stick with it and you won’t regret it….the last chapter is just….illuminating.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle! It’s long, but you can’t put it down once you start. Best book I’ve read in a long time!

Oh, you should read Marilynne Robinson’s books. Gilead is probably my favorite novel ever, and I read about 50 novels a year. Gilead is followed by Home and Lilah, the latter of which will break your heart open.

Also, any of Wendell Berry’s fiction. I always recommend Hannah Coulter as the first book people should read by him.

So many incredible recommendations, thanks for opening up your comment section for this — I’m jotting so many of these down. My go-to recommendation is Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. It has stuck with me after more than a year of finishing!
My friend and I are doing a little blogger book club for April and we’re reading Her Fearful Symmetry (by Audrey Niffenegger), which I think is going to be a little bit ghost-y and I can’t wait to get into it! If you or any of your readers want to join us you can click through to my blog for more info.

House:Diane Keaton !
When breath becomes air is unforgettable. The forward is so compelling and poignant. What a life changer.
Precious Marisa de los Santos , excellent. She is a wordsmith!!!!!!
and lastly Elizabeth is Missing

I admittedly am a fiction lover (and an English teacher), but the Fates and Furies is the best book I have read in years. I finished it on New Year’s Day and I still can’t stop thinking about it. Happy reading!

Try sleepwalkers guide to dancing by mira Jacob. Read it this summer and still think about it all the time.

I recommended “When Breath Becomes Air” in response to your twitter post. Such a beautiful book, I’m not surprised to see that you and so many others have read it already. I’ll throw out another book that a friend suggested to me (and I just started): “Stories I Only Tell My Friends” by Rob Lowe. He is a gifted writer, and from Dayton. O-H!

All of John Irving is good but especially A Prayer for Owen Meany. As a mom of boys, Katrina Kennison’s Celebrating the Gift of an Ordinary Day, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. One of my favorites also is Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Happy reading!!

I love everything Kate Morton puts out! My husband just read The Tulip by Anna Pavord and that was extremely interesting.

Just finished Tinderbox by Lisa Gornick and really enjoyed it. Also, one I just thought of from a book club years ago is The Stone Carvers by Urquhart.

I second this suggestion! Such a good book!

Second these:
Being Mortal
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Book Thief
The Martian
The Color Purple

Also:
Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson. The main character is a cool-seeker who’s allergic to logos/branding.
Phryne Fisher mysteries, by Kerry Greenwood. Light; awful crimes not to be taken seriously; girl power in 1920s Australia. Also an amazingly beautifully wardrobed series on Netflix.
The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold. A supremely decent guy caught up in alarming events.

I would recommend All The Money In The World by Laura Vanderkam – it is a great nonfiction read that really make my wheels churn but yet was fun and fairly easy to read. Perfect for spring break!!

For nonfiction, anything by brene brown! Also, since you liked quiet you may also enjoy the highly sensitive person.

Fiction: the Martian (fast and exiting), Jane Eyre (classic and romantic), and astonish me (if you like ballet at all).

I LOVED The Nightingale. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Longest-Mile-Footrace-Rallied-Community/dp/1631520431/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459474029&sr=1-1&keywords=the+longest+mile

Personal pick because I’m a member of this team, even though I wasn’t on it at the beginning. We’ve got a great story and Dr Meyer has a gift with words.

Wow, what a lot of great suggestions! Right now I’m reading Paris by Edward Rutherford, and it is wonderful. Historical fiction that walks back and forth through the lives of a handful of families over the centuries. Engaging and difficult to put down (but with good stopping places as the stories shift, for those with reasonable levels of self-control!).

Agreed…loved this book. I bought it at a garage sale to use on bookshelf as decor and I decided a couple of years later to read it!

I am heading to Charleston, SC tomorrow and will be enjoying the Charleston Home and Garden event. In anticipation of a special luncheon and guided tour about the Grimke sisters, I read “The Invention of Wings”. It is the true, but fictionalized, story of two sisters who were the first female abolitionists of their time. They also wrote some of the earliest literature supporting women’s rights. We will be doing a walking tour of the home and area of Charleston where they lived. I just loved this book. It gives you such a moving look into slavery, of both African Americans and women, each a different kind of slavery and the struggle to be free. I think you would enjoy it and it is an easy and quick read, but perfect for your trip.

oops!

*Also, I have always been curious when I read your blog if the IKEA sheepskin I see in this picture is the faux or real version? I want to get the real one but it seems so yellow. Just wondering:)

Such great suggestions. I loved All the Light We Cannot See!!

I was totally going to say The Red Tent! Great book. Can’t wait to read The Signature of All Things when I have some time. =)

Cuckoo’s Calling
Daring Greatly
She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems – This book lives on my night stand
Life of Pi
Eat, Pray, Love
The Red Tent
I love this post! So many great recommendations! Yay books!

I third the recommendation for Station Eleven- I loved it.

I agree with so many…
Unbroken – one of my favorite books ever
All The Light We Cannot See – also
The Boys in the Boat
The Nightingale
The Goldfinch
Me Before You
State of Wonder
The Signature of all Things
The Orphan Train
Gilead
The Story of Edward Sawtelle
Rules of Civility
Wild
But.. if you want to read something that you won’t be able to put down… and if you’ve never read it – I think it’s about 40 years old…please read The Education of Little Tree… I’ve never cried while reading a book before… but I became so attached to this character… I burst out crying … and if you read it… you’ll know where….I was disappointed to learn of the author’s shenanigans regarding this book, but that does not change this moving story…

Read Quiet a few years ago, might be time for a reread I think!

Highly recommend Practical Perfection by Kelly Exeter. Fairly quick (& cheap) read, but one I’ll be going back to. Helped me realign my life and really get serious about what I value.

Now to read all those comments and make my own list!

I read voraciously (loving all these recommendations), and my all time favourite book this far is The Spark – a mother’s story of nurturing genius, by Kristine Barnett. I’m not really into non-fiction, but this is an absolutely amazing story. I love how non-lateral it is, a different way of seeing the world.
Also, if you’re into crime I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes is great

I agree with Cutting for Stone, Me Before You and Unbroken. Also loved The Goldfinch and Where’d You Go Bernadette.

When you finish looking through Habitat again (because it’s so beautiful), you should pick up the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. It’s written during an era I’ve never read another novel in: first century AD. I’ve read that one three times now, and it means different things to me each time as I get older. For a fun vacation-y read, any of the Bosch books (by Michael Connelly, also a series on Amazon now). Thanks for asking; your comments section is a goldmine! Off to the library…

The Red Tent is so good! I’ve read that book multiple times! Also, Mary called Magdalen is a great read too.

Dana,

Some other favs are Merle’s Door (about a man and his dog – so good), all of Jon Krakauer’s books!, In the heart of the sea, Wild, Cutting for stone, and the middle place. I could go on and on and on…

I’ve just started reading Philip Pullman’ Northern Lights trilogy (I think the first book is called The Golden Compass in the US actually!) and I’m totally hooked! I don’t seem to have the patience for none fiction but LOVE reading fiction :) Enjoy your break

ModernMrsDarcy.com is what I was going to recommend too. She has book list after book list available on her website and I look forward to her podcast every week.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry… my absolutely favorite book

Your Voice In My Head- Emma Frost (non-fiction, but beautiful);
Eleanor & Park- Rainbow Rowell (fiction! and makes your feel nostalgia for your teenage self);
Between the World and Me- Ta-Nehisi Coates (everyone in American should read this- America is on a race precipice right now);
Crazy Rich Asians- Kevin Kwan (because you’re on vacation! and it’s laugh out loud funny);
Cooked- Michael Pollan (non-fiction, it explores humanity and what it means to cook);

Also- for your kids; if they haven’t started already- the Percy Jackson series is amazing- and there are SO many follow ups. Great stories- and the best part is that they learn about greek mythology.

I’ve read a lot of the books already recommended (and loved them) – the only thing I’d add is the nonfiction book: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder. If you ever thought one person couldn’t have an amazing impact on our world – the story of Dr. Farmer will change your mind. The book also challenged my idea of “the greatest good for the greatest number” as he spent thousands of dollars to help one patient who ended up dying. When asked how he could justify that, he said something along the lines of – whoever walks through the door of my clinic (in Haiti) will receive every care/help I can provide regardless of cost. Every life matters.

This is probably far from your normal, but I just finished “Six Years” but Harlan Coben. He has a snarky way of writing and I can never figure out his books until the end. It was hard to put down. I am also a big fan of classic John Grisham novels. All great vacation reads. The Street Lawyer was a particular favorite. Have a great trip!

And I am sure you have read it… and it was WAY better than the movie (which I found hard to follow will all the stuff they cut out) but Gone Girl is amazingly hard to put down.

The Nightingale was amazing! I passed it on to my mom and both my sisters and they couldn’t put it down either. Really a wonderful read.

Not adding any spice here, but since you’ve developed a fondness of running: Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

I was just coming here to suggest Station Eleven. It was my favorite book I read last year. I’ve been recommending it to everyone!

Hello fellow Canadian! You should check out Station Eleven!

1. “Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities” by Claudia Kalb

2. “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah

3. “The Light Between Oceans” by M.L. Stedman

4. “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr

5. “The Rosie Project” by Graeme Simsion

The Nightingale!! I know a few other people recommended this already, but for reals read it. Read it now!! Get some tissues bc it will make you cry, but holy god its good!!

If you like non-fiction, I cannot recommend “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” enough. It’s an incredible read about science, the human cells that never died, human rights, and the life of the woman who kinda sorta definitely changed the world. I loved it, and I’ve given away a bajillion copies of it.

And as a Canadian (Canadian priiiide!!!!) you could get Suitable For the Wilds: Letters from Northern Alberta. You’re thinking “uhm….” but they’re the letters home from the first female doctor in Northern Alberta. (British expat). The letters are so good. It’s blogging before blogging, yanno.

If you’ve never read it, American Gods by Neil Gaiman is so good. It’s being made into a TV series at the moment, and you won’t regret reading it first. #obsessed

Some of my favs:
The Kitchen House by Grissom
The Martian by Weir
Room by Donoghue
A Man Called Ove by Backman
The Rosie Project by Simsion
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie
Everything I Never Told You by Ng
Inside the O’Briens by Genova
The Book Thief by Zusak
Rebel Queen by Moran
The Girl on the Train by Hawkins

Being Mortal: medicine and what matters in the end by Atul Gawande. Non-fiction. When I finished it I made everyone in my family read it, and all my coworkers have read it. Even people that would see me with it would check it out. I think it pairs well with When Breath Becomes Air.

I also thought The Ghost In my Brain: How a Concussion Stole my life and the new science of brain plasticity helped me get it back by Clark Elliot was fascinating.

Both are nonfiction easy to read, well written, so interesting.

For easy-to-read, “suck you in” fiction, I recommend anything by Jojo Moyes and/or Liane Moriarty. Other good fiction I’ve read lately: Wonder by R.J. Palacio, I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. The best nonfiction work I’ve read recently is Missoula by Jon Krakauer – a must-read.

Enjoy your vacation!!

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

It is real. There is a HUGE variance in the white/yellow tones between them! I had to search through piles to find the ones I wanted. I like the real ones because they are virtually indestructible. Ours has seen food, vomit, spilled drinks, etc. and I just use some OxiClean then take it outside and hose it off like nothing ever happened, air dry. If I knew the faux versions would hold up as well, I’d give them a try.

I loved What Alice Forgot too!

Everything I Never Told You-Celeste Ng
My Name is Lucy Barton-Elizabeth Strout
The Martian-Andy Weir (good for your Hubby too)
Brooklyn-Colm Toibin
Station Eleven-Emily St. John Mandel
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Mark Haddon
My favorite book last year was Ruby-Cynthia Bond (It was brutal and not for sensitive readers)

I could go on and on. Happy reading!

I couldn’t get into Pretty Baby for some reason…but I LOVED The Good Girl by Mary Kubica.

I love The Blue Castle!!! I agree, it is definately on my list of favorite books. When I read it I felt like I had found a treasure.

Here to chime in for The Nightingale!

I have some that I really love for different reasons. I really enjoyed Euphoria, which you recommended in one of your posts. My book club loved it, BTW. Girl on the Train is an excellent mystery/thriller that is very well done. Two WWII books I love are Is Paris Burning by Larry Collins, which is an account of Paris during the last days of the war. It is amazing, because there almost wasn’t a Paris, really. Another one is City of Thieves, which is a fictional account of the siege of Leningrad during WWII, when 3//4’s of the population starved to death because they were cut off from all outside sources. The Orenda is an account of the Native Americans and missionaries outside of Quebec Canada during the 1700’s; you won’t ever forget it. Finally, The Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, so funny! About hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Chiming in for The Nightingale. So, so good.

I just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for a book club. Apparently lots of people read it in middle school but I never did. I adored every second.

Big Little lies Lies by Liane Moriarty is about a group of kindergarten moms in Australia. It’s funny, sad, and there’s a mystery.

11/22/63 by Stephen King! Not a thriller and extremely long but it moves so quickly. Its a great story centered around the assassination of JFK, with a fictional love story taking the lead. I loved it and then you can watch the cool mini-series with James Franco that just came out! Its a mid-century time-piece.

For fiction- Cutting for Stone is amazing!
For non fiction (serious and interesting)- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (it’s about HeLa cells, you’ll love it!)
For non fiction (light-hearted)- Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress

Love these suggestions! I am primarily a fiction reader but I’ve reserved When Breath Becomes Air at my library.
Either agreeing or adding to the list- Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal; Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Series (fierce, powerful); anything by Edna O’Brien, but if you prefer non-fiction then I recommend her memoir; Amor Towles’ Rules of Civility; Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn; Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory and Claire of the Sea Light; Vendela Vida’s The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty;Ivan Doig’s The Whistling Season; anything by Jane Gardam (I especially loved Queen of the Tambourine); I could go on and on!

Speaking of Canadian authors, Margaret Atwood’s most recent, The Heart Goes Last is great!

Unbroken by far is amazing and inspiring!!

Favorites so far this year: Rules of Civility, All the Bright Places, My Sunshine Away and We Were Liars.

Anything by Erica Bauermeister… but I heartily recommend her “The School of Essential Ingredients.” Fantastic fiction!

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and The Ghost in my Brain: how a concussion stole my life and the new science of brain plasticity that gave it back by Clark both are non-fiction, read pretty quickly, but that could be because I couldn’t put them down. Being Mortal handles the topic in the best way, I think it would pair well with When Breath Becomes Air.

Thank you so much for posting this! I agree with so many of the recommendations above. If you’re looking for a page-turner, Tana French is excellent. Her first one took me a bit to get into, but then I plowed through all of them. I was reading it on a plane and bonded with the woman across the aisle over our love for her stuff. :)

I am so happy I came across this blog post! I am a big non-fiction fan too and I have added “When Breath Becomes Air” to my TBR list. I recently read a really enthralling memoir about prison life by author Don Alfredano called “Real Men Wear Beige” (http://realmenwearbeige.com/). This book gives you a fascinating real life look at the criminal justice system as well as what life is like in state prison. The author manages to inject humor, insight, and deep emotions throughout his memoir. I couldn’t put it down. I am a big fan of Orange is the New Black and this reminded me of it but gave me a whole new perspective of what it’s like as a man. Hope you will check it out

I loved “The Year of Living Danishly”. Boy, do the Danes know how to do work/life balance. No wonder Bernie cites them as a model for civilized, caring society.
I like gritty memoirs, and heard the author of “The big fix” interviewed on Fresh Air. She is a recovered heroin addict and chronicles her story. Haven’t read it yet, but it is on deck next.
I also tend to enjoy medically themed nonfiction, and really liked “Do no harm” by Henry Marsh.
I am super picky re: non-fiction, but can count on Jonathon Franzen and Barbara Kingsolver to entertain. I also really liked The Passage by Justin Cronin. Best vampire book ever!

Anything by or about Norah Ephron
The Boys in the Boat is truly beautiful; a remarkable read, truly. For the whole family!
Just Kids by Patti Smith was a wonderful, poetic memoir that I read on vacation two years ago–still resonates, and I had to buy it, since I only had it on loan from the library at the time
Isabel’s Bed by Elinor Lipman is super fun

Second the Elena Ferrante’s series – beautiful writing.
Second many of the above as well. Will have to order The Station Eleven- hadn’t heard of this one.

all great books:

All the light we cannot see
Past imperfect
The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared
Unaccustomed Earth
The Rembrandt affair

I think I’m a little late in the game…
but my favorite book to “get away” in is I Capture the Castle.

Also… my kids love to read the “who was” books. They are very enjoyable to read aloud and are so interesting. We just read one about Joan of Arc. So inspiring for reader and listener:)

I hadn’t heard of The Year of Living Danishly…it looks wonderful! Adding to my wish list. Thanks for sharing!

I see we follow the same blogs. ModerMrsDarcy is great. So I’m curious to know about other blogs. Maybe you should do a “what blogs do you follow” post?

Sorry I’m a bit late to this discussion but here is my 2c worth (these are some of my all time favourites)
Anything by Barbara Kingsolver, my favourites are Prodigal Summer & Flight Behaviour. I read them years ago when they first came out and still think about them. Have read them both again recently.
The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Berniers
Big Little Lies & The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (an Aussie writer!) – easy reads but totally gripping & believable)
The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins – great thriller. See if you can guess whodunnit
Anything by Tim Winton. He is my favourite Australian author. Especially Cloudstreet (my no. 1 favourite book of all time) & Breath
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (my no.2 favourite of all time)

Occasionally I read some kids fiction for my daughter who is 10, some of my favourites are
The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nightime by Mark Haddon
Counting By Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloane
The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

And finally, some of my favourite non-fiction titles
Anything by Michael Pollan especially In Defense Of Food & Cooked
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande – a must read actually
The Blue Zones by Dan Beuttner – this book changed the way I eat
The New Puberty by Drs Julianna Deardorff & Louise Greenspan another must read for mothers of girls, no matter what age they are.
Slow Death By a Rubber Duck by Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie
Fat Chance by Dr Robert Lustig
The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb (another Australian writer) compelling read

I’m bound to think of others! Let us know what you think, maybe a book review now and then would make for a great blog post?!

I would LOVE to more book-related posts.

Awesome idea!!

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, quite a large book, but so, so, so good!

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Also Helena by same author, quick read.

All the Light You Cannot See (loved the entire book until the end : ( )

Windswept House by Malachi Martin

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. Just getting back into reading fiction after years of reading only non-fiction, as well. Time to feed the imagination spirit garden. Cheers, mama.