Survival isn’t about who’s right; it’s about who’s left.

Earth spirals into chaos.
World war ravages every border.
The human race teeters on the edge of extinction.

Survival hinges on the success of one colony located in a decimated valley.

Walt Marshall, government contractor, is no stranger to loss after the death of his wife and son.
Now he’ll honor them by doing whatever it takes to ensure the survival of humankind.

Walt gets more than he bargained for when he uncovers a puzzling clue left behind by a mysterious woman. Destined to unveil the truth, he embarks down a dangerous path of espionage and treason.

He quickly learns the dark truth about the past, and the future in this daring science fiction novel.

Get your copy today and find out what you were never meant to know about The Cost of Survival.

On the planet Fortune, tech is low, tensions high, and heroes… unlikely, and none more unlikely than thief-turned-soldier, Gideon Quinn.

Wrongly convicted of treason, Gideon Quinn has spent six years harvesting crystal under the killing suns of the Morton Barrens, until the day a general of the Colonial Corps arrives with an offer of freedom, and the chance to clear his name.

Gideon doesn’t have to think twice, and with his pet draco Elvis on his shoulder he takes 'ship for the city of Nike in search of revenge—and justice. But mostly, revenge.

What he finds is a dodger named Mia, a city steeped in corruption, and a menace at the heart of the Corps which could bring Fortune's new and fragile peace to an explosive end.

And that’s just his first night in town.
 

Soldier of Fortune is first of The Fortune Chronicles, a science fiction-fantasy hybrid set in the distant future, on the engineered planet Fortune. Here readers will discover elements of the Old West, steampunk, and urban fantasy, with a dash of noir and a generous serving of humor.

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Reese Witherspoon Book Club Summer Reading Pick!

One of Amazon's Best Books of June!

One of Goodreads' Best Books of June!

A Summer Book Pick from Good Housekeeping, Parade, Library Journal, Goodreads, Liz and Lisa, and BookBub

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

“Both funny and heartbreaking, this epic journey of two courageous women is an unforgettable tale of little-known wartime glory and sacrifice. Quinn knocks it out of the park with this spectacular book!”—Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of America's First Daughter

GRR Martin meets M.Night Shyamalan: a tale that combines the rich political and cultural landscape of epic fantasy with slow-creeping horrors and mysteries, told from the POV of three minor characters: a run-down mercenary, a merchant, and a seamstress. The trilogy emphasizes their personal quests as they weave through a traditional fantasy plot of heroes old and new, conflict, revenge, and lost kingdoms. At the crux of it all: a creature of legend, a witch's beast, whose possession promises enough power to bring the continent to its knees.

Praised for complex character development and rich, diverse worldbuilding. A must-read for the discerning epic fantasy fan.

"K.S. Villoso is a new voice in fantasy that any fan of the genre should be taking note of right now."

"[This author] uses characters like a garrote to strangle your heart."

"A rip-roaring epic adventure...the story is a rich tapestry of adventure, heartbreak, violence, and hope."

"For those who enjoy fantasy without reservations."

Award-winning author Lucy Carol delivers a sparkling fun page-turner, launching the madcap series, Madison Cruz Mysteries. Secrets, spies, and sexy guys complicate things for Madison Cruz as she tries to connect with her FBI mother, yet hide evidence for her grandfather. Out of her league, and out of control, she won’t stop trying to unmask the treacherous villain who endangers her family. As the mystery heats up, so does her attraction to a couple of sexy guys who vie for her affections. With two to choose from you’d think Madison could have double the fun. But she can’t think about that right now, because the enemy is right behind her. First-place winner of Chanticleer’s Mystery & Mayhem Best Novel Award, Humor Category.

Dear Reader:

This is not your mother's madcap mystery. It's mine. I wrote it. She didn't. Don't believe her if she says she did. You might have a problem on your hands and may need to call someone. My editor tells me that it's not very professional for me to say things like that. But hey, she's not the one about to have a throw-down with your crazy mother. Oh great, now my editor is leaving. I have to go stop her. I really, really need her. She knows how to make a good martini.
Stay classy,
Lucy Carol

Charles Dickens is one of England's best-loved authors.

A literary phenomenon in his own time, his is still immensely popular across the globe, nearly 150 years after his death.

Walter Dexter's classic biography of Dickens, first published in 1937 examines Dickens' life as a journalist, a writer, an actor and, perhaps most importantly, as a reader.

Dickens had great presence on the stage, and the readings he organised of passages of his novels were always a sell-out success.

No-one could bring to life Dickens' characters, with all their humour, sympathy, darkness and light, like Dickens could himself.

He became a celebrity, not just for his serialised, and increasingly popular novels, but for his performance art.

Walter Dexter reflects on Dickens' life to illuminate what shaped the man behind the novels, and what influences he drew from to create his infamous characters.

This short biography is essential reading for anyone wanting to learn more about Charles Dickens the man, the author, and the actor.

Walter Dexter (1877-1944) devoted his leisure time to studying Charles Dickens. He became a member of the Dickens Fellowship in 1905 and spent much of his spare time in travelling throughout England seeking to identify towns, villages and other scenes associated with the life and writing of his favourite author. Relinquishing the Honorary Treasurer of the Dickens Fellowship, a post he had held for some years, he became editor of Fellowship's magazine 'The Dickensian' in 1925 and he held the post until his death. He was also the first Honorary Secretary of the Dickens Fellowship Dramatic Society, formed in 1905. He had also been one of the joint editors, along with Arthur Waugh, Sir Hugh Walpole and Thomas Hatton, of the splendid Nonesuch Editions of Dickens' works and had been solely responsible for the monumental undertaking of preparing three volumes of Dickens' letters, the most complete collection ever made to that time, running to almost 2500 pages. After his death a Walter Dexter Memorial Fund was established to ensure that his name would be associated in perpetuity with The Dickens House at Doughty Street, as he was closely associated, with B W Matz, in the concept of securing the House as a centre, a museum, and a library from which to foster the love of the novelist and his works.

Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography
A New York Times 2016 Notable Book
National Best Seller
Named one of TIME magazine’s "100 Most Influential People"
An Amazon Top 20 Best Book of 2016
A Washington Post Best Memoir of 2016
A TIME and Entertainment Weekly Best Book of 2016

An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world
 
Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. Her first book is a revelatory treatise on plant life—but it is also so much more.

Lab Girl is a book about work, love, and the mountains that can be moved when those two things come together. It is told through Jahren’s remarkable stories: about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom’s labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and learned to perform lab work done “with both the heart and the hands”; and about the inevitable disappointments, but also the triumphs and exhilarating discoveries, of scientific work.

Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with a brilliant, wounded man named Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them from the Midwest across the United States and back again, over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.

Jahren’s probing look at plants, her astonishing tenacity of spirit, and her acute insights on nature enliven every page of this extraordinary book. Lab Girl opens your eyes to the beautiful, sophisticated mechanisms within every leaf, blade of grass, and flower petal. Here is an eloquent demonstration of what can happen when you find the stamina, passion, and sense of sacrifice needed to make a life out of what you truly love, as you discover along the way the person you were meant to be.

An arranged marriage leads to passionate love in this classic Scottish historical romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood.
 
By edict of the king, the mighty Scottish laird Alec Kincaid must take an English bride. His choice is Jamie, youngest daughter of Baron Jamison—a feisty, violet-eyed beauty. Alec aches to touch her, to tame her, to possess her...forever. But Jamie has vowed never to surrender to a man she considers a highland barbarian.
 
Alec is everything Jamie’s heart has warned her against—an arrogant scoundrel whose rough good looks speak of savage pleasures. While Kincaid’s scorching kisses set fire to her blood, she is determined to resist him...until one rapturous moment quells their clash of wills, and something far more dangerous than desire threatens to conquer her senses...

Includes an excerpt of another beloved Julie Garwood highland romance, The Wedding


Praise for #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Julie Garwood
 
“[Garwood] attracts readers like beautiful heroines attract dashing heroes.”—USA Today
 
“Julie Garwood creates masterpieces every time she writes a book.”—The Kansas City Star
 
“The talented Ms. Garwood keeps you enthralled.”—Rendezvous
 
“Undoubtedly Garwood is a pro.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“If a book has Julie Garwood’s name on it, it’s guaranteed to be a meticulously written...and thoroughly engaging story.”—Sun Journal (ME)

“Dickens was my great hero — my “Chief” — in the pleasant bygone days when we were “on the road” together — by day and by night, week after week, month after month, right through the English and American tours”

One of the most famous and best-loved English writers of the nineteenth century, Charles Dickens is the author of such familiar tales as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, and The Pickwick Papers.

He is less well-known, however, for the several Reading tours he undertook in the years prior to his death, breathing life into his works for his readers from Glasgow to Washington, DC.

Charles Dickens As I Knew Him intimately reveals the Dickens behind the writer, depicting a man devoted to his work and determined to satisfy his audience despite severe and ongoing health problems.

Told from the perspective of his manager, George Dolby, Dickens is shown as a man of many facets, whose seeming serious nature was often interrupted by moments of levity, and whose intense passion in reading his works captivated audiences in multiple countries.

Yet Dolby’s tale is woven through with the overhanging menace of Dickens’s illness and eventual death.

The devotion Dickens poured into his final two Reading tours — in America, and then in England, Scotland, and Ireland — so severely damaged his health that it soon became clear that nothing but giving up the tours would have any hope of restoring his vigour.

But Dickens was determined: for himself, for his audience, and for his publishers, he insisted upon continuing until he was at death’s door.

Dickens’s end is a matter of history, but Dolby’s account of the final years of the writer’s life offers a glimpse into a side of a great man not often seen.

Praise for Charles Dickens As I Knew Him

‘Dolby was Dickens’ sometime manager and this is as intimate, as vivid, as deeply moving (and sometimes as deeply funny) as anything ever written about the great man.’ – Simon Callow, author of Charles Dickens

George Dolby (1831-1900) served as Charles Dickens’s third manager, scouting out and organising the author’s second Reading Tour to America as well as his Farewell Tour throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland. Prior to working with Dickens, Dolby was a Theatre Manager.

Can two fractured hearts come together to create one great love?

Billionaire Vintner, Harry Pearson returns from overseas to his family’s vineyard on Hauraki Island in New Zealand with plans to develop the estate into the finest vineyard complex in the country—and bring some much needed prosperity to the Island. Emotionally traumatised from an affair gone astray and struggling with the aftermath of his late father’s drinking, womanising and disastrous business deals, he vows he will never love again.

Grace Richards wants out of New Zealand and away from Hauraki Island. After a stressful stint at university studying commerce, she’s hiding out and licking her wounds in the family bach at tranquil, Spindle Bay. Grace decides the only way forward with her life is to follow her dream and study photography in Europe. All she needs now is to make enough money to get on the plane and leave the painful past behind her.

When the lure of big money means that Grace ends up working as Harry’s PA she struggles to keep the relationship professional. What Harry doesn’t count on is Grace’s fiery passion for Hauraki Island reigniting his capacity to open his heart to the possibility of love.

Can Harry convince Grace to let go of her dream to escape and create a life with him as head of the Pearson dynasty?

“They saw him flung clear of the waves almost upon the rocks and twice the sea snatched him back. It seemed to play with him like an angler with a fish on the line; and, like a hooked fish, Fergus was tiring…”

When Fergus saved his sister, Stella, from drowning in Tangie Bay, it should have been a triumph.

But now that Stella is head of her own company, Fergus seems to have festered in his retirement, growing more and more resentful, caring only for his fish.

His wife, Flora, can feel him slipping away. Flora views her husband’s inadequacies with wry tolerance and occasional despair and it and doesn’t help that their ghastly neighbours, Eleanor and Letty, keep calling at all hours and indulging Fergus’s drinking habit.

Now that Stella is visiting again, Flora is hoping for brother and sister to reconcile, for another miracle.

But it doesn’t look like she will get it.

If anything, Fergus and Stella seem to be dragging each other down.

Hoping to escape, Fergus and Flora take their fateful trip to Tangie Bay...

A delicately crafted tragicomedy, The Daisy Rock is a book that refuses to let you go.
 

Praise for Eva Hanagan

‘Eva Hanagan tells a story of supernatural evil with such quiet conviction and sets it in such pleasing rural domesticity that its full force only slowly pervades the reader’s consciousness. When it does it is absolute …’ - Shirley Toulson, British Book News

‘Eva Hanagan writes with an easy and natural grace which gives to the life of her recluse an evocative, unforced descriptiveness of an impressive order.’ - Derek Stanford, Scotsman

‘Mrs Hanagan is good at uneasy states of mind and feelings, and very good at the temptations of suicide … an accomplished beginning.’ - Robert Nye, - Guardian

‘Between the covers of this book is a really thrilling story … It should restore to many a reader his faith in the pleasure of reading for reading’s sake.’ - West Sussex County Times

‘ … so beautifully and precisely visualised that I too was enthralled … a delicious piece of water-colour Gothic.’ - Michael Maxwell-Scott, Daily Telegraph

Eva Hanagan was a Scottish author, who died at the age of 85, in 2009. During a Foreign Office posting to Vienna after the Second World War, Hanagan met her husband, with whom she had two sons. She published her first novel, In Thrall, in 1977. Following which, there was a fairly rapid succession of novels: Playmates (1978), and A Knock at the Door (1982). She settled in Sussex, from where she authored her novels.

“WHAT A BLAST! Magical gang wars, betrayal, hard core battles, laughter (including my own - out loud), love, and death.” ★★★★★

Something bad's about to go down at a supernatural gangland summit. Being part Djinn gives Edge a razor-sharp ability for knowing what’s ahead. It’s why his gang, the Forsaken, is undefeated. But this time he’s plagued by a vague, supersized case of the dreads.

Sure enough, the brown stuff hits the spinning thing at the summit. The gang’s been double-crossed and Edge finds himself at the center of an ancient power struggle he never knew existed. Now he’s running with what’s left of his gang through enemy territory thick with bloodthirsty gangs of shifters, witches, vamps and demons hunting them for the bounty on their heads.

Good thing Edge has an angel sitting on his shoulder–albeit a depressed one–because it looks like it’s going to be a hell of a night.

If you like Dresden Files and Iron Druid Chronicles, you’ll love this fast-paced urban fantasy thriller inspired by the cult hit movie, The Warriors.
 

Hit the BUY NOW button to dive into this edgy, supernatural adventure TODAY!

"It is not my intention in my prison diary to discuss the constitutional or legal question of arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of non-combatants, but to present to my readers a picture of the daily routine of prison life as I saw it, together with incidents related to me by fellow-prisoners..."

Originally published in 1911, James J. Williamson's Prison Life in the Old Capitol tracks his time served as a prisoner in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington D.C during the time of the American Civil War. Throughout this memoir, Williamson presents a true picture of the daily life and routine observed by those in the prison as William himself saw it. William’s diary of prison life is given added scope through his appended facts concerning the treatment of prisoners of war during the period, claiming that in giving a frank and honest account prejudice and hostile feeling may be overcome and a reunion may be achieved by ‘all those who have the peace and prosperity of the country at heart’. Were these the true intentions of the memoir? Or did Williamson pen the work as a propagandist celebration of the Confederate lives lost and a damnation of the North’s actions following their victory? Read on, and decide for yourself…

James J. Williamson was one of Mosby's Rangers in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, who was arrested and imprisoned for a stint in Old Capitol prison. His other works include the often studied part-Confederate memoir, part-biography of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, Mosby’s Rangers.

Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

"Magpie Murders is a double puzzle for puzzle fans, who don’t often get the classicism they want from contemporary thrillers." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times

From the New York Times bestselling author of Moriarty and Trigger Mortis, this fiendishly brilliant, riveting thriller weaves a classic whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie into a chilling, ingeniously original modern-day mystery.

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.

Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder.

Masterful, clever, and relentlessly suspenseful, Magpie Murders is a deviously dark take on vintage English crime fiction in which the reader becomes the detective.

#1 for Top 5 All Ears on Audible!
#6 for Top 10 Most Read Nonfiction Books in 2017!

Throughout your life, you've had parents, coaches, teachers, friends and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself?

Using the science of habits, riveting stories and surprising facts from some of the most famous moments in history, art and business, Mel Robbins will explain the power of a “push moment.” Then, she’ll give you one simple tool you can use to become your greatest self.

It takes just five seconds to use this tool, and every time you do, you’ll be in great company. More than 8 million people have watched Mel’s TEDx Talk, and executives inside of the world’s largest brands are using the tool to increase productivity, collaboration, and engagement.

In The 5 Second Rule, you’ll discover it takes just five seconds to:

Become confident
Break the habit of procrastination and self-doubt
Beat fear and uncertainty
Stop worrying and feel happier
Share your ideas with courage

The 5 Second Rule is a simple, one-size-fits-all solution for the one problem we all face —we hold ourselves back.

The secret isn’t knowing what to do—it’s knowing how to make yourself do it.

I want a baby more than anything.
Luckily, I have two gorgeous studs who want to help me out.
Who’s gonna be the first to get me pregnant?
Who’s gonna win the baby bet?

They call him ‘One Shot’
Sean Fletcher: gorgeous hunk and ex-sniper.
He’s certain he can get the job done with one shot.
Only his hot-as-hell army buddy, Frank ‘the Tank’ Graves, thinks he can do better.
The boys are oh-so competitive.
They’ve even made a bet.
There’s a lot riding on it,
But I’m going to have to ride with them first.
Who’s going to give me what I want?
Who will be the first to make their mark?

This is a full-length romance, with steamy love scenes, a beautiful HEA and utterly no cliffhangers!

When twelve-year-old Congolese boy, Joseph Muamba, is sold to a wealthy American family he wants to die.

Eventually, he comes to love the family and lives the life of the all-American boy. However, he cannot rid himself of a nagging feeling that he has a greater calling in life.

Fourteen years later he competes at the Beijing Olympics for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and wins his birth country’s first ever medal – gold in the decathlon. However, the nagging feeling persists, not satisfied by Olympic gold.

Revered, he returns to the Congo as a guest of the president and is mobbed by adoring crowds. Maya Tansi, his closest childhood friend, has metamorphosed into a beautiful woman, and they become reacquainted. When Maya tells him Western countries are bribing politicians and plundering the country’s mineral wealth, he does not believe her.

He soon finds Maya is right. Government induced bribery, corruption, rape, and murder are taking place in the Congo on a grand scale. Western and Chinese mining companies are ripping gold and minerals out of the earth without paying compensation or taxes. When the poor, oppressed people protest, they are imprisoned or murdered.

Finally, Joseph realizes what his calling is, but it involves risking his life, and the lives of those whom he loves.

Can he bring down rapacious, Western billionaires and an evil government?

Tarot cards, a trapeze artist who doesn’t age, and a magician who really can disappear…

In the fifth Promise McNeal mystery, set in the Western North Carolina Mountains, Promise’s psychic abilities prickle when Little People of America’s past president, Dick Jest, stocks up on Cuban cigars and drives his Winnebago from Florida to build an academy for circus performers on the site of an abandoned amusement park. When the magician’s assistant is murdered in a dilapidated tram car, the dramatic, Czech trapeze artist, Ruta, draws Promise into the mystery with a strange Tarot Card deck---which she insists she’s held for Promise since 1939---and a bizarre story of the magician Reznik and the Old Towne Clock in Prague. Promise’s husband, Perry County Sheriff Daniel Allen, is determined to go with the facts of the case, but when they meet the other members of Jest’s circus family, Daniel realizes no one is who they seem, and the facts are masked in past violence and lies. Though, as the murder goes unsolved, Promise is haunted by nightmares and struggles with an elusive illness, she and Daniel are determined to bring the murderer to justice. Fact by fact, they narrow the field of suspects until another death at the academy forces them to reconsider Ruta’s wild stories and think like the killer, if they are to catch him before he disappears for good.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Esquire • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage

Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

Praise for When Breath Becomes Air

“I guarantee that finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option. . . . Part of this book’s tremendous impact comes from the obvious fact that its author was such a brilliant polymath. And part comes from the way he conveys what happened to him—passionately working and striving, deferring gratification, waiting to live, learning to die—so well.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“An emotional investment well worth making: a moving and thoughtful memoir of family, medicine and literature. It is, despite its grim undertone, accidentally inspiring.”—The Washington Post

“Possesses the gravity and wisdom of an ancient Greek tragedy . . . [Kalanithi] delivers his chronicle in austere, beautiful prose. The book brims with insightful reflections on mortality that are especially poignant coming from a trained physician familiar with what lies ahead.”—The Boston Globe

“Devastating and spectacular . . . [Kalanithi] is so likeable, so relatable, and so humble, that you become immersed in his world and forget where it’s all heading.”—USA Today

He’s my brother’s best friend.

Back in high school, I gave him my heart. He broke it and left to join the Army.

Now he’s at my brother’s house for our family Christmas. I know I should run, go back home before I let Carson hurt me again. But I can’t disappoint my brother’s kids by leaving.

He’s still gorgeous and arrogant, but the pain in his eyes draws me in.

I can’t resist him. This sizzling attraction is stronger than ever.

Every stolen kiss, every secret rendezvous just makes me fall deeper for him. We’re sneaking around my brother’s house like teenagers, hot and breathless.

But something’s wrong—he keeps pushing me away, wrestling his own demons from the war—I want to be there for him and make him forget everything else but us. What if he won’t let me?

Maybe this is my chance to be naughty for Christmas. Or maybe he’s the answer to all my dreams.