The best books about human perseverance and the human spirit

Why am I passionate about this?

I love stories that show humanity persevering, stories that show life is lived through easy times and hard ones too. I like stories where there is something worth celebrating in everyday life. Stories that remind us we’re just human and that isn’t too bad and that no matter what hell we’re going through, there’s something on the other side worth enduring for. I have a passionate love for stories like this. I always seek out stories that give me a similar feeling. When I write, I try to write stories that make others feel like how I do when I come across a similar story.


I wrote...

Book cover of Angel

What is my book about?

What if angels were real? What if demons were? Heaven and Hell? Witches and witchcraft? Spirits and the living dead? God and the Devil? Samael is an angel of the Lord. Or at least, he used to be. Thousands of years ago he fell from grace and roamed the Earth as a fallen angel, misguided by what he thought was the lesser of two evils. Now, he’s trying to redeem himself, but it’s not as simple as it seems. Finding himself stranded in Los Angeles, Samael meets some new acquaintances on his journey of redemption. Along the way, they help Samael with both his inner demons and the ones ravaging the city hunting him down. How far would you go for forgiveness?

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of Good Omens

Luis Ramirez Arellano Why did I love this book?

Gaiman and Pratchett come together to tell a hilarious story with plenty of heart to it.

Taking inspiration from biblical fantasy, the story focuses on the humanity in the cosmic, the mundane in the absurd. After misplacing the Antichrist, a pair of celestial beings set out to find him before the end of the world.

What could easily be simplified to slapstick situations out of a sitcom is given incredible weight and care. Even in the face of the end of everything, it’s a very human story that shows it’s okay to still be a kid for just a bit longer.

Good Omens is truly a story to remind everyone that in the end, it isn’t too bad growing up slowly.

By Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman,

Why should I read it?

18 authors picked Good Omens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE BOOK BEHIND THE AMAZON PRIME/BBC SERIES STARRING DAVID TENNANT, MICHAEL SHEEN, JON HAMM AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

'Ridiculously inventive and gloriously funny' Guardian

What if, for once, the predictions are right, and the Apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just after tea?

It's a predicament that Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon, now find themselves in. They've been living amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and, truth be told, have grown rather fond of the lifestyle and, in all honesty, are not actually looking forward to the coming Apocalypse.

And then there's the small…


Book cover of Kiss Every Step: A Survivor's Memoir from the Nazi Holocaust

Luis Ramirez Arellano Why did I love this book?

A memoir written by a holocaust survivor’s experience, as well as that of her family, Martin tells the story of how the war came to their lives and uprooted their daily lives.

I met Martin when she signed my copy of her book, so this one holds a special place for me. The story is told from multiple perspectives, as Martin and her siblings take turns describing the ordeals they went through both inside concentration camps and out.

Heartbreaking and harrowing at times, the story also makes a point to address things that helped Martin’s family smile in spite of it all. Martin’s story reminds us of why we keep going, as well as shows us how her family endured the six long years of the war. 

By Doris Martin, Ralph S Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Kiss Every Step as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The German army swept into Poland on September 1, 1939, and four days later into Dora Szpringer's home town of Bendzin. To begin their reign of terror, the Nazis burned down Bendzin's beautiful synagogue with some 200 helpless Jews inside. Most Jewish families in Bendzin, and rest of Poland were completely wiped out by the Holocaust. The Szpringers were just an ordinary middle-class family, but through many incredible strokes of luck, or perhaps miracles, all seven of them survived. For an entire Jewish family in Poland to survive the Holocaust is amazing--likely unique. What is more remarkable is how they…


Book cover of They Both Die at the End

Luis Ramirez Arellano Why did I love this book?

Silvera’s novel is very candidly named, but the title just acts as fuel for the story.

After finding out they’re both dying the same day, Mateo and Rufus set out to make their last day an amazing one. With plenty of fun to be had, the story takes its time to explore what it would be like to know you won’t see the next morning, the things you’ll never do, and what you can do with the time you have left.

It’s a very human story that always reminds one to treat every day as if it could be their last.

By Adam Silvera,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked They Both Die at the End as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

From the author of the INTERNATIONAL NO. 1 BESTSELLER THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END comes an explosive examination of grief, mental illness, and the devastating consequences of refusing to let go of the past.

Please note that covers may vary.

You're still alive in alternate universes, Theo, but I live in the real world where this morning you're having an open casket funeral. I know you're out there, listening. And you should know I'm really pissed because you swore you would never die and yet here we are. It hurts even more because this isn't the first promise you've…


Book cover of Every Day

Luis Ramirez Arellano Why did I love this book?

This story follows a bodiless person simply named “A”, who every day wakes up in a new body and has to spend a day in someone else’s life.

A themself doesn’t have much of a life, as no one knows they exist and they would never be able to have anything permanent from day to day, but then they meet Rhiannon, who makes them want to live. The story shows A’s innate desire for a life of their own and a connection, as well as a romanticism for the mundane and the pitfalls of idealizing others.

Every Day shows that any day could be the best day of your life.

By David Levithan,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Every Day as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day…


Book cover of Sold

Luis Ramirez Arellano Why did I love this book?

Told in a series of vignette-style chapters, Sold tells the story of Lakshmi, a young girl from Nepal sold to a brothel in India.

The book charts Laksmi’s young innocence and contrasts it with what’s to come. Painted with tragedy, Sold takes time to focus on the people around Lakshmi who help her endure her hardships. In spite of everything Lakshmi suffers, she still holds onto what makes her Lakshmi, on what she's living towards.

It’s a story about resilience and hope that one day, things won’t be so bad and the experience won’t have been for nothing.

By Patricia McCormick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Lakshmi's family is desperately poor, but village life in the mountains of Nepal has its share of pleasures. When the monsoons wreck their crops yet again, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. She arrives at 'Happiness House' full of hope, but soon learns the unthinkable truth - she has been sold into prostitution.This new world becomes a nightmare from which there is no escape. But, very gradually, Lakshmi makes friends with others in the house, and gathers her courage, until the day she has to face the hardest decision of all:…


You might also like...

The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

By Kathryn Betts Adams,

Book cover of The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

Kathryn Betts Adams Author Of The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I was first a clinical social worker and then a social work professor with research focus on older adults. Over the past few years, as I have been writing my own memoir about caring for my parents, I’ve been drawn to memoirs and first-person stories of aging, illness, and death. The best memoirs on these topics describe the emotional transformation in the writer as they process their loss of control, loss of their own or a loved one’s health, and their fear, pain, and suffering. In sharing these stories, we help others empathize with what we’ve gone through and help others be better prepared for similar events in their own lives.

Kathryn's book list on Memoirs illness aging death moving vivid prose

What is my book about?

The Pianist's Only Daughter is a frank, humorous, and heartbreaking exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family.

Social worker and gerontologist Kathryn Betts Adams spent decades negotiating evolving family dynamics with her colorful and talented parents: her mother, an English scholar and poet, and her father, a pianist and music professor. Their vivid emotional lives, marital instability, and eventual divorce provided the backdrop for her 1960s and ‘70s Midwestern youth.

Nearly thirty years after they divorce, Adams' newly single father flies in to woo his ex-wife, now retired and diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Their daughter watches in disbelief…

The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

By Kathryn Betts Adams,

What is this book about?

Grounded in insights about mental health, health and aging, The Pianist’s Only Daughter: A Memoir presents a frank and loving exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family.

Social worker and gerontologist Kathryn Betts Adams spent decades negotiating evolving family dynamics with her colorful and talented parents: her English scholar and poet mother and her pianist father. Their vivid emotional lives, marital instability, and eventual divorce provided the backdrop for her 1960s and ‘70s Midwestern youth.

Nearly thirty years after they divorce, Adams' father finds himself single and flies in to woo his ex-wife, now retired and diagnosed with…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in gay teenagers, satire, and the Holocaust?

11,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about gay teenagers, satire, and the Holocaust.

Gay Teenagers Explore 37 books about gay teenagers
Satire Explore 151 books about satire
The Holocaust Explore 391 books about the Holocaust