Readers' Favorite Memoir & Autobiography
Share on Twitter
New to Goodreads? Get great book recommendations! Start Now

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Rate it:
WINNER 26,085 votes
When Breath Becomes Air
by
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 trans ...more

All Nominees •
159,408 votes total

26,085 votes
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
18,412 votes
The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling
14,124 votes
The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper
13,501 votes
Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton
12,308 votes
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
11,621 votes
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
11,470 votes
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
11,030 votes
Hungry Heart by Jennifer Weiner
8,129 votes
Buffering by Hannah Hart
8,011 votes
Shrill by Lindy West
4,119 votes
A Mother's Reckoning by Sue Klebold
3,731 votes
A Thousand Naked Strangers by Kevin Hazzard
3,701 votes
Unashamed by Lecrae Moore
2,780 votes
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
2,342 votes
Party of One by Dave  Holmes
2,324 votes
Lust & Wonder by Augusten Burroughs
2,287 votes
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
1,324 votes
Sex Object by Jessica Valenti
1,045 votes
Keeping Kyrie by Emily Christensen
509 votes
A Smile in One Eye by Ralph  Webster