Mary Laura Philpott is the best-selling author of I Miss You When I Blink. Her new memoir in essays, Bomb Shelter, prompted when her teenage son unexpectedly collapsed one morning, is about living joyously in the face of uncertainty.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
Best novel ever? Maybe. Saddest? Definitely. I will forever be awestruck by how Ishiguro cuts right to the heart of the most haunting question: Why, oh why, can't love be enough to save someone? I also appreciate the hopeful truth he salvages from the tragic emotional wreckage. Even when all seems to be lost, it is never a futile act to care for one another. Buy it here.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (2013)
Experiencing this hilarious illustrated essay collection is like getting into a bumper car with a child behind the wheel: wild, unpredictable, and utterly thrilling. You'll end up laughing so hard you can't breathe. I envy anyone discovering it for the first time. Buy it here.
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