Awake
By Jen Hatmaker
A bestselling author, speaker and podcaster known for her honest, funny, big-sister voice on faith, family and social justice, Jen Hatmaker is a mom of five and long-time church leader. She drew a wide audience with practical, humorous books about everyday small-town life and Christianity, then – not to everyone’s liking – evolved into an outspoken advocate for empathy and inclusion. In 2020, after 26 years of marriage, her husband confessed to an ongoing affair. With a house full of kids, she was overwhelmed at the idea of him leaving, understanding that things would never be the same again. Married since age 19, Hatmaker didn’t know how to be alone; many household duties they’d shared would now fall on her shoulders. As if that were not enough — along with the humiliation and shame of a failed marriage — Hatmaker wrongly assumed she could rely on her church community. When her personal life turned into nasty online commentary, she leaned on family and a few devoted friends. Hatmaker writes openly about rebuilding and reimagining her home, identity and belief system — with warmth, wit and straight talk that keep readers and listeners coming back for more.
When Breath Becomes Air
By Paul Kalanithi
A man who loved both brains and books, Dr. Paul Kalanithi studied literature and biology at Stanford, philosophy at Cambridge, and attended medical school at Yale before returning to Stanford for a neurosurgery residency. When stage 4 lung cancer interrupted his career, he wrote with rare clarity about purpose, love and the fine line between doctor and patient. Kalanithi describes what it feels like to watch everything you’ve dreamed of and worked for crumble overnight — and to rearrange the unthinkable when, at only age 36, you receive a terminal diagnosis. He faces time head-on: “If only I knew how many months or years I had left.” With three months, he’d choose family; with a year, he’d write; with 10, he’d return to work. He ultimately chose to write and have a child, knowing he would not see his book on the shelf or his daughter grow up. That’s the ache at the heart of this memoir: choosing meaning when the clock comes into view. Exceedingly well-written and published after his death, this heartbreaking, thoughtful account of illness and life is one I will be thinking about for a long time.
A Different Kind of Power
By Jacinda Ardern
As the world’s youngest female head of government at age 37, Jacinda Ardern notched a string of “firsts”: the first elected national leader to take maternity leave while in office, the first New Zealand prime minister to give birth while serving, the first head of government to bring her baby to the United Nations General Assembly, and the first New Zealand prime minister to march in a Pride parade, to name just a few. Throughout her memoir, she explains that if her leadership had to be distilled to a single word, it would be “kindness” — not as niceness or sentimentality, but as a governing method that centers on dignity, fairness and inclusion for all. Ardern was in office during tragic volcanic eruptions, the unprecedented Christchurch shootings and the COVID pandemic. She remained an optimist, even though she’s a worrier by nature. Ardern could be tough and act fast, but is also a well-known hugger. Every chapter of this memoir introduces the reader to a different facet of her life, both personal and professional. Ardern is a natural-born leader and a woman to follow.
WorthWatching: “Prime Minister”: An intimate, behind-the-scenes portrait of Jacinda Ardern — delivered mostly straight to the camera by Ardern herself, with footage and select interview snippets woven in. A clear-eyed account about the cost of leadership both personally and professionally. Now streaming on HBO Max.
